Talk me out of buying a Mini

You mean on the master cylinder? That's a pig I'll admit though the clutch is worse on the Jem, as it has a centre console.

Fiddly too, but I use a slightly shorter bolt than the others so I can change the clutch plate in situ if necessary.

I now have the type with captive nuts. Brilliant solution! I drop the subframe if I want the engine out.

I use LCBs. All clamps easily accessible underneath. The early Minis used to break the flange on the down pipe because the engine rocked back and forth too much but you could get a flexible pipe to cure that one.

Manifold nuts are easy enough to get at. I just slacken them off enough to lift the manifold and carbs out together, complete with cables.

I've never done that to myself. You didn't mention getting the steering rack U-bolts in with the subframe in. The trick is to squeeze them up in the vice first so they go in easily.

The secret is to take them to bits often enough that they don't get completely rusted up. You also acquire the best spanners for awkwardly placed nuts and bolts.

Reply to
Richard Porter
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Take the head and head studs off first so you don't have to jack the car up so far. Disconnect everything you can think of, then lift the car off the subframe. Put it back, undo the speedo cable and try again (hopefully you remembered the brake pipe). With two people you can wheel the car back on its rear wheels, otherwise just leave it on axle stands and drag the subframe forwards. Having a trolley for this purpose helps. Disconnect drive shafts, engine mounts etc.

My trick for man-handling the lump is to put it down on two bricks (on edge), move the subframe so that the front edge is next to the bricks and as low as possible, then place two more bricks in front of the subframe. You can now shuffle the engine forward onto the new bricks and get the subframe out of the way. Finally remove the bricks one at a time leaving the engine on the floor.

Been there. Done that. I now take the wheels off first so I can drop the subframe a bit lower. Trying to roll the engine and subframe out on the road wheels turns out to be a bad idea!

What was the gear stick doing still on the engine?

So you're a bit more careful now? We live and learn. Sometimes.

Reply to
Richard Porter

Plaster round your finger, then superglue the bolt at right angles to your finger. It also works if you superglue the bolt to your finger but hurts more

Or leave the bolt out, but either is still a fudge and doesn't alter my first opinion

You still have to slide your hand in/around all the sharp edges

Another fudge

and another.

Can't remeber that being a problem.

I thought you only ever needed one spanner (9/16ths ) for a Mini?

Reply to
marc

Hadn't thought of that!

Eh? I just remove the four bolts from the outside and the subframe drops down. With loose nuts and washers just hold the inside ends with an open-ender. Replace bolts from the inside with a piece of stiff wire.

That's not a fudge. It's a sensible tuning modification along with modified cylinder head, camshaft, carb needles, K&Ns, RC40, etc.

That's not a fudge either. It's just a sensible way of doing things. It's much easier to get the carbs off the inlet manifold once you've got the whole caboodle off the car. If you don't need to do anything to the SUs then it's best to keep all the carbs, linkages and cables together as one item until they're ready to go back on.

7/16, 1/2, 9/16, 5/8, 11/16, 3/4, 15/16, 1 1/4, 1 1/2 AF, various BA, some Whitworth ones for unions, drain plugs, etc. Anyway the point was to find spanners with the best length and offset for the job in hand.
Reply to
Richard Porter

After 3-4 hours of hanging upside trying to hold the bolt between two fingers , then dropping it, then repeat, etc... I came up with the superglue idea.

But you have to take the previous exhaust clamp off first. I'm not gainsaying the mods, but the car in question woudn't have had them.

If you don't need to do anything ,why take them off at all?

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Reply to
marc

marc ( snipped-for-privacy@jaceeprint.demon.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

Then, the next time, you thought of adding the plaster to the idea?

Reply to
Adrian

Errrr Yes.

Reply to
marc

Because (a) you might want to take the head off for something or (b) you might want to drop the subframe out and the carbs are obstructed by the bulkhead cross-member if you don't take them off or (c) you might want to get at the mechanical fuel pump.

Anyway, apart from renewing the throttle spindle and bushes, you can do most jobs on SUs without taking them off the manifold.

Reply to
Richard Porter

That's OK unless you have a hydrolastic car.

Reply to
Chris Bolus

Thanks everyone for your input to this thread. As you probably guessed and almost certainly for the best, I didn't get the car. I've found the discussion very interesting though and have filed away all manner of useful info for the future, when I may start looking properly for a Mini van to do up. Not now though, I really do need to get on with the Morris 1000...

Reply to
Willy Eckerslyke

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