Stateside 998c Build Thread
Turbo Mini Forums

I've had my thread lost over in 998c land because I started it in the wrong place long ago but I really feel like it belongs here.
I've been plugging away on my car for the past two years and transferred the project between three different houses and 3000 miles across the country. It's been a busy couple years!

I started with a '79 Mini 1000 and planned to turbo the car over the winter and get it driving but once I started working on it I realized I should restore the whole thing (classic case of scope creep). In the meantime I moved to California (from the north east) and discovered a ton of rust on the original shell.

Ended up finding a rolling shell in really good shape so I sent that off to a body shop since I thought I wouldn't have the time or skill to do it right. Sadly I totally got scammed by the guy and it took over a year to get it back. It's finally back now and I'm getting things put back together. I might even get it started soon.

I'm going to use the next couple posts to transfer over updates from my other thread.

Here is the car as it basically sits now:

Edited by seahuston on 15th Mar, 2016.

Here are some of the tools I made a while back

I've been spending a lot of time making drifts and tools to help things along as and effort to make sure I don't bodge anything:
Camshaft bearing presses from these plans:
http://www.3dcontentcentral.com/download-m...d=171&id=423572
Essentially a drift with a tapped hole up the middle with a sleeve for alignment. The plans called for threads all the way through which is pretty insano on a 3" piece. I shortened the thread and drilled clearance on the back.


I put together this little setup for pressing out the wrist pins. The base is notched to fit into the piston, the flat stock is used to fill the gap so that the piston doesn't get crushed and the pin fits into the wrist pin. I think the press got up to 5 tons before it broke the fit.


This is a press for the diff oil seals:


And this is a combo press for the diff and final drive gear bushings:


I also made a connecting rod balancing stand which you can read about here:
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=556328


I also modified my oil pump shaft to fit the turbo pump in the 998 block. You can read about that here:
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=556199


Besides time in the machine shop, I got my gearcase soda blasted and power washed and ready to assemble. I'm not quite sure where it is the stress relieving was recommended though:

Thanks to Guessworks and TurboDave for getting my gears replaced:

I'll be happy for this pile to go back together:



Built my RTS which was easier than I expected. I used a lathe to turn off the rivet heads but I'm not sure it is much better than just drilling them but more fun!

I used grade 8 5/16-24 screws which I tapped the threads for without englarging the holes first. I did use the mill to help the tapping along and keep things square.

Edited by seahuston on 15th Mar, 2016.

Here is the car in it's new California home:
Some photo updates:
Black roller shell in the garage getting stripped for the body shop.
Also, another one of my toys


Powder coating is a lot cheaper than I expected so I had a lot done!


Front subframe, built up


Engine built up


Got the turbo all plumbed up and the manifold fitted! Spent waaay too much time filing the washing and fighting with the tight clearances but it's all on now.


Still need a hose between the turbo and the plenum. What are people using for that? Looks like maybe I need a 45 degree hose but what about the diameter? The 2" hose I got here is really loose on the plenum.

Fabbed up a little bracket for the coil pack. Made some mistakes but I'm quite proud of the design so I made a little tutorial in the how-to section.


And I got myself a new toy:
Finally placed

Spent the past weekend wiring up the car. I used an 8 circuit universal wiring harness which worked out pretty nice. I don't love the Rover wiring design, too many shared circuits and too few fuses! I found tracing things too hard. This setup worked pretty well but definitely designed around American cars and switches so I had to do some modifications.


Dash all in:


Still need some clean up back here:

Looking great.

I would be careful using that pump, personally I'd strip it down and take it out!

Not worth the hassle. It won't seal so won't stay primed. Unless you are very lucky.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Check out my minus thread a few pages back.

All looking very good.

I'd echo Jonny's comments on the pump though. I'd at least check the sizes and make sure it is able to seal between the ports and the cam bearing chamfer

Dang it! That is the offending pump isn't it!

Is there anyway to check it without taking it all the way out? I assume not.

When I first turned it over I had trouble building pressure but then I poured oil in the transfer pump hole, rotated it backwards and it build pressure pretty quickly. Haven't tried again since.

Bummer is that getting a spare pump isn't so quick when you're in the states. Another delay!
And also, the EVO pump won't work with my block since it's a 998 and that pump won't let you shorten the shaft.
Unless someone has a non-disseambly method I'll tear into the block and see what I find.

Edited by seahuston on 16th Mar, 2016.

You'd have to strip it to check. Being the engineer you are, someone made a spacer plate to solve the issue on the 1275. May work on the 998 without the need for a new pump

Well I took it all out today and it's definitely part of the bad pump lot. The sealing area looks even worse than some of the pictures I've seen. Maybe the chamfer is slightly bigger on a 998 block but I took the internals out of the pump housing and put it back in the block. You can pretty clearly see the chamfer of the cam bearing just looking through. Emailing Minispares, hopefully they can help out.

As an aside, can someone define engineer in British English?
Over here an engineer means someone with an engineering degree (designer or similar) but I feel like I keep reading it used to describe what I would call a machinist.

well that's certainly not going to work! Its a pain but at least you found out now and not once it is in the car.

Phil R made up a sandwich plate to make his pump work. Given your engineering ability, I'm sure you could do something too. its on the last page of this thread

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.p...d=581351&fr=175

Edited by Rob Gavin on 18th Mar, 2016.

That is the worst that has been photo'd on here.
Maybe as you say the ports in the 998 block could be bigger making it worse.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

If they have a technical skill set that is specific to that trade, we might use 'engineer' to mean 'installer' / 'maintainance'. Mostly, but not always with qualifications though e.g. Photocopier engineer. Also, just to confuse things many people genuinely believe a 'mechanical engineer' means 'mechanic'

My oil pump sandwich plate seems to be working fine.

Edited by PhilR on 18th Mar, 2016.

Well glad that's cleared up! I'm actually an engineer (manufacturing) for work but machinist by hobby. That's where my confusion was!

Regarding the pump, I heard back from Minispares and it sounds like they are very close to releasing an updated pump with wider sealing surface so I should be able to just use that one.

The sandwich plate looks would have been my next best option. I was actually looking into getting it laser or water jet cut. I can't imagine there is a huge market for them but if I get a dxf drawn up for it, I'd be happy to share.

Replacement pump is the easiest option. I was just thinking, with your location and timescales, you would have been easier to sort the issue.

Interesting news from MS though. Clearly thry have realised the issue and addressed it

That was lucky!

Are they going to give you a refund?

Sounds like MS is sorting out a new batch of pumps from the supplier, I'll let them share the details when they are ready but I think it should be within the next week or so.

Made some progress this weekend.
Engine bay is still looking lonely but pretty much ready to go


Fitted up my Cobra seats and held up the dash to mock it up. Really happy with the look!


Got the rear arches fitted, still need to wet sand the clear but I'm happy with the fitment. I had to put some new holes in since the body shop bodged the mounting. Not super happy about that but once a couple holes peaked through and wth some rubber grommets it's hardly noticeable. Once I save up some cash I'll probably have it fixed.


Now here is a challenge that I'd like some advice on. When I fit my intake tube to the plenum it fouls on the throttle cable bracket. Anyone had this problem? Found a solution?

Fantastic build. Best thing to do with the misaligned hoses is fit an intercooler.

Love the Cafe Racer, I keep hankering after such a thing, but I'm not really cool enough to ride one!

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

The throttle cable bracket should be on the other side of the carb

I knew I'd get an intercooler suggestion!
I'd like to fit one eventually but firstly I just want to get the silly thing driving.

Good call on the bracket moving to the other side. I got thrown off because the cable stops are on this side of the carb. I imagine I can fashion up a similar bracket.

Definition of an engineer.

Man who can make for 10 cents what any fool can make for a dollar

OK! Back at it and figured out the bracket setup. The one I had was definitely designed for the side I had it on so I tried to bend it for the offset on the other side. That ended up making it too long with a long for manifold interference so I cut it off and welded it back on shorter. Here is my crappy welding:

Next I needed to make a bracket for the cable hanger so I fabbed that up quick out of a piece of Aluminum hanging around. It ain't pretty but it works and I'm over pretty at this point. I just want to drive!


Mini Spares has a new oil pump with improved sealing area, it should arrive today. Hopefully I can get that in quickly and then I'm on the home stretch!

Are you using a na carb? I'm going to have to do a similar mod on the na lever i have to fit it on the other side too

loving the home made tools!

I guess it is a NA carb, that explains why the linkage is on the other side.
It's a pretty easy mod, I'd just start with cutting it and welding it, that will help with the spacing and the length. I'm sure I've made the pull ratio slightly less than ideal but that seems to be the trend of this car.
The cable hanger was really easy, I had to relieve it because of the thickness of my stock but if you had the right thickness it would be even easier.

Thanks on the tools! Hoping that others can learn from them if I share them.