Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby dusz » Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:54 pm

They say practice makes perfect.

You are certainly getting plenty of practice with the Dremel, filler, sanding and rattle can spray painting.
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby wolfie » Fri Dec 11, 2020 2:05 pm

Spotted the car in practical performance car the other week
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sat Dec 12, 2020 5:39 pm

wolfie wrote:Spotted the car in practical performance car the other week


Cheers wolfie - gave me a big boost!

After getting my car featured in PPC this month, it's given me a bit more mojo. Have I done anything? Well... yes and no. I have a bit of a confession. My name is Dave and my garage is an utter tip. I decided to do something about the ridiculously overcrowded work bench. So I went in there with the sole purpose of clearing that up. Which didn't exactly go according to my initial plan. Nope, Instead I thought it would be a much better idea to a) move my big red cabinet to the back of the garage and b) build some new shelves to move other stuff around and stop me tripping over stuff or leaving it on the work bench. There was a c) as well: put up the various pieces of Mini and other motoring regalia and other number plates I have acquired.

Once Mrs Bounce and I had moved the big red cabinet - a freebie a few years ago from work, I needed to move 2 shelves 6 inches up to fit it under. Fun - took a little while but I was able to also go through what was on the shelves. I then set about creating. Only problem was, I didn't have any large bits of wood. Off I trundled to Wickes and bought some plywood. As I no longer have my "sensible" car, I got it home the best way I could: take the roof off and use the sky. Made perfect sense - it was above 2 degrees, so that's ok isn't it? Much chopping, drilling and screwing occurred, and I now have a shelf under the drill workbench which my tool box is on and underneath is a convenient place to store the garage hoover. There's also an additional shelf next to it which houses the chop saw and the boxes of aluminium offcuts, steel offcuts and brackets.

It was then time to sort the various regalia I've acquired over the years along with the number plates. A few screws, some more drilling and rawlplugs and we had some wall art and plates to display. There's also a ton more room!

My Mum: "Will a 2 seater be practical enough for you?"

Me: 8-)

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Plates up on the rafters

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New shelves complete with stuff on them

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Regalia everywhere

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And a little reminder to me on the fridge door to actually do some car stuff some time soon...

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby Geoff Butcher » Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:44 pm

A very cosy little den! :D
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby fozzza » Wed Dec 16, 2020 6:49 pm

The perfect man cave :lol:
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:59 pm

A very minor update this time round as I've been snowed under with work and Christmas stuff. I've had precious little time to do much, but one thing has been bugging me since I sorted the heater pipes. There were a couple of 90 degree joiners and an assortment of straight pipes and jubilee clips. "This just will not do!" I said to myself, and credit card in hand went to Car Builder Solutions and ordered 3x 90 degree hoses instead. With a bit of trimming (cut a straight bit of pipe off one end), they went on looking much better and with a significantly smaller amount of clips. Much tidier, and less chance of leaks.

I've also had a thought about how to hang the exhaust. I've decided to use a late model Mini rubber hanger in the middle, and weld a bit of round steel bar to the exhaust so it can hang via said hanger. I have bent a bit of bar to size - I actually cut up and used part of the old handbrake set-up. Waste not, want not as they say. Yes, it's only an hour's worth of time in the garage, but given time is precious at this time of the year, I think I can forgive myself...

Tidied up the heater pipes. Much nicer, and less likelihood of leaks.

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And exhaust "bar" bent to shape. This is of course a first draft and will doubtless need amending...

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Sun Dec 27, 2020 5:32 pm

Do you ever get that feeling where setting the garage on fire seems to be the only solution to your car building issues? Today was that day where said feeling has reared its ugly head again. As I had left it for so long, I felt today was time to trial fit the exhaust and figure out where to cut/weld and also to add hangers etc. This should be a simple process, and one that would doubtless have been considerably easier if I'd simply bought a centre-exit system. But oh no, Mr Clever thought it would be a good idea to make his own.

The first issue I encountered was a pretty obvious one I should have considered beforehand, but for some reason never thought of. For those that don't know, the Midas has a 3 3/4" longer rod mechanism than a Mini. A Mini RC40 or Maniflow front pipe has a bend in it to clear this. My exhaust will clear this easily won't it? Nope. The bend comes EXACTLY where the bracket for the mechanism is fitted to the car. If I leave it as it is it will knock like an absolute pig. So before I do anything else, I will need to extend the front of the exhaust by said 3 3/4". So that will have to come off again and be modified. I *think* I have enough spare pipe lying around.

Second issue is that nothing seems to line up at the back either. Because of where the exhaust will hang, the hangers I have are a couple of inches too short and in slightly the wrong place. Because of the issue at the front of the exhaust I cannot make any notes of where the hangers should be or line up the back box for cutting/welding.

Add to the fact that I am working on my own lying underneath a car that won't play ball with a heavy exhaust that won't stay put, I have locked the garage door and will come back to play another day when I feel more like it. It's at times like this I REALLY want a lift in my garage, but it won't fit, and I don't have the money. I have to admit I was sorely tempted to coat the car in petrol and casually toss in a match. However, over time I have come to realise that nothing fits properly on this car and I have to deal with it. I will come back to it another day. Now is not the day to try and do stuff - I will only make things worse,

Front pipe won't clear rod change bracket (the blue bit)...

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...which means nothing this end will be right. Time to reassess.

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Mon Dec 28, 2020 12:57 pm

When your day goes badly in the garage so you log on to Mini Spares and buy more exhaust parts to help with yesterday's issues, but mainly to cheer yourself up again! :lol:
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby l_jonez » Mon Dec 28, 2020 3:52 pm

A fair few of my projects have come very close to being torched.
I'm glad in a way that I made my exhaust from scratch rather than mess around trying to get things to fit although I'm not happy with it I've got to the point that things will have to do for the sake of progress.
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

Postby MrBounce » Wed Feb 03, 2021 5:21 pm

Just a very brief update to let you all know that I haven't forgotten about this project or updating the thread. We lost my Mum last week so I have been doing a lot for Dad these last few weeks as he's understandable devastated after 52 years of marriage.The project is understandably not my priority right now. I will be back on it soon, but please don't expect any updates for the time being.

Dave.
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