The ClubVan... Back in business!!
Turbo Mini Forums

Nothing stopping me now 👍

Heater take off valve arrived first thing this morning... only ordered it yesterday so was a surprise..





Also re-plumbed the intercooler..



All a bit squarer now...





Where it was previously sitting it was starting to crush one of the hoses from the oil filter to cooler...



Made a mock up bracket.. something like this for the intercooler to sit on..



And it still sits nicely in the airflow, slightly better position too..



The foreman popped in again... he was happy with the progress..



Also been thinking about location of air filter.. the real only place it can go is in this location..



Or this way...



Anywhere else and its binding with the front coming down.. routing of pipe to filter will have to go something like where this bit of braided fuel tube is...



Should I extend the piece of silver tube (the bendy stuff) or should I make it look nice using the same stuff that I've used for the intercooler? The bendy stuff would make my life easy... but would it look pony?

Hmmmmmm....

I always liked the way nala56 did his intake feed: he had the air filter below the alternator

I just looked that up.... yeah looks nice..

So finally the big day arrived.. A big thank you to Gary (theoneeydlizard) who helped me get her started. Turned out he was only 5 mins away from me so was very handy..

The problem I originally had was not blocking off various ports on the carb, we sorted this quite quickly with some old pipe and bolts to block them off... then we had no spark but quickly figured I had not earthed the cables from the edis...

When we were checking for a spark after that with no.4 plug out she tried leaping into life! After waiting 3 years to start her, she fired up without a bother.. first turn of the key! A fine build Steve, cheers!

You can see here start here...

https://vimeo.com/200997867

Edited by evad1980 on 25th Jan, 2017.

Phew. No arse crack on display either!

Car looks great in the flesh. Beautifully presented. Very jealous of the well thought out wiring job too.

Look forward to seeing it on the road. I bet you'll either have a huge boost in progress or project completion syndrome.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Ha!! If there was arse crack I wouldn't have posted it, I'm not that bad!

I must say, thanks again! Couldn't have done it without you. I forgot to show you the pub, we could have had an ale to celebrate.. oh well, next time!

I have both of those syndromes now! Need to get in it and drive it! No doubt I'll be in touch soon regarding some MJ help, and to return your fuel pressure gauge.. Thanks!!

Sounds sweet!

Indeed she does 👍

Good work!

Thanks guys...

So in my usual 'leave everything to the last minute' fashion... I'm now in panic mode to get the mini ready for L2B... for a while now I've been thinking its ages away, but its Sunday week... uh oh...

Took it down to Neil Slark to get it set up on his rolling road a couple of days ago. So hired a trailer and set off on a 130 mile road trip..

At the services.. for a healthy McDonalds brekkie..



Arrived an hour late after usual fun on the M25..



Ready for abuse...



And finally on the rolling road, 3 years later than planned!
Note the very technical apparatus holding up the front, another job that needs addressing!



Routed air filter across the top of the engine just in front of the rocker cover.. and made a bracket that fixes to one of the head studs..





And then stood around for around 5 hrs whilst Neil worked his magic. He was very thorough with his work, he must have changed the needle in the carb 6 or 7 times alone.



So he managed to get 132 bhp at 9 psi, with the potential for quite a bit more at another date. Thats where I'll be leaving it for a while whilst I get used to driving it. One step at a time eh..

Many thanks to Neil, a very nice chap indeed. Would certainly recommend using him.

Now panic stations to get her through an MOT in the next week!!

That place is familiar to me - but I thought that I read somewhere that Neil was packing the business up ?

He is moving, closer to home... somewhere in Hereford I believe..

I was there with my mini yesterday,

excellent chap!

the rolling road is moving to bristol, next to his brothers body shop!

your on the home run now.

Brilliant progress Dave!

Bet you can't wait now. 132 bananas on 9psi is good going. I bet you can't wait to have a drive now.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Good work! Nice power that.

See you at L2B

Excellent dave.
It's makes all the hard work worth while.
Get ready for the next 6 months sorting all the daft niggles that WILL appear.
Hope you enjoy the summer driving it. Looks mint.

Roy B

Yeah thanks lads... nearly there indeed. 😎

Your fuel pressure gauge was very handy Gary thanks, I've still not forgotten about it! Anywhere local to us Gary that you'd recommend taking it for the MOT?? Someone not as picky as others lol.. 😂😂

awesome result! so much room in that engine bay.... could swing a donkey!

Many thanks again chaps...

Just took the indicator stalk off for an inspection as there is a loose connection somewhere... opened it up (stupidly) and all the springs pinged out all over the shop..

School boy error!

Ok fixed the stalk... all back together and working fine..

But..... Houston, we have a problem!!

Ok, now she's not wanting to start.. kept cranking and fuel pissing out everywhere underneath.. can't put finger on where but looks like its coming from the turbo. Im wondering is the float in the carb stuck?
With the fuel pump on, it seems to be pissing straight through and flooding my floor... took out plugs, lots of fuel in the cylinders, got rid of that and tried again with the pump disconnected. No signs of life at all.. tried again with pump on, still nowt and pissing out again..

Help me please... pretty please... arggghhhh!!

oh man, I feel your pain. Mine is also at Neil Slark's and I'm also having issues, the bronze clubman estate that I noticed in the background of one of your pictures.
Hope you get it sorted before L2B.