Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

If you're taking on the task of rebuilding the whole Midas, please put the project in here.

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby MrBounce » Sat Sep 17, 2016 2:37 pm

Mount now fits snugly in place.

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Tower Bolt washers looking more presentable.

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And captive nut plate for the wiper motor ready to go on the car.

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby kelvink » Sun Sep 18, 2016 9:59 am

MrBounce wrote:So I am back from holiday after spending a lot of time in a car the other end of the size scale:
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I know how that is with those stupidly big cars. Spent quite a few months years back in California in an F350 which we put a 7.25 litre turbo diesel in and then went round towing a 4 horse trailer on the back. Sometimes we even had two horses and a stage coach in the trailer too! Nowadays I'd be looking at hauling a Midas or two with it instead!
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How many Midas could we put in this rig
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby MrBounce » Sun Sep 25, 2016 4:14 pm

Kelvin that makes our GMC look tiny! It's a leviathan!

It has been a frustrating time - mainly because my garage is in an utter state. I bought a couple of cabinets with plastic drawers at a boot sale last weekend and have been cleaning them and sorting out places for them to go. This meant moving lots of stuff, and so far I have only managed to move it from one side to another... I need to get rid of the fridge in the garage but of course that doesn't fit in a Bora's boot. So of course that means roping in friends - and only one has an estate car...

As such I have got very little done. I have however, revised the way that the battery clamp works on this car. Originally it had a hideous chunk of angle iron with a "T" piece that was screwed into the bulkhead buttress using self-tappers. I have instead used a proper battery clamp (cut down slightly) and have made an "L" shaped bracket which bolts through the bulkhead behind where the battery sits. My battery box had been modified (badly), presumably to allow fitment of a standard Mini battery, so I have used a dead one of these to line stuff up. I have used a couple of spacers between the bracket and bulkhead due to clearance issues but once I used these, it works very well, using the standard "tent-peg" arrangement. Hopefully there'll be a bigger and more exciting update soon.

Bracket spaced out (nuts used as spacers in this pic were just for size purposes).

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And the clamp in all its glory. If I am being slightly OCD, it does make the battery sit oh-so-slightly diagonally, but hey - it works and nothing else is going there...

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby MrBounce » Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:05 pm

Big update time!

I decided that I was going to pop the steering column in, and if I was going to do that it was probably a good idea to pop the clevis pins and split pins in to connect the pedals to the master cylinders. You're all probably going to hate me when I say this, but I found it a piece of cake - presumably because everything is stripped out the car. Split pin 1 (Clutch) took 1 1/2 minutes. Split pin 2 took less than 5 minutes and both involved me folding my chunky frame in and out of the car (no easy task).

Right - now that bit was out of the way, I needed to do a few modifications to ensure fitting the column was a breeze. My Midas was different to a Mini in that it had two "cotton reel" spacers which mounted to the bracket on the column. The original bolts that I had was cut off as they were so rusty. I had some spare bolts, but they were too long and the thread did not reach far enough up the shaft. No problem - out came my tap & die set and Harry Hacksaw, and two suitable bolts were created. I was also unhappy with just bolting straight through the fibreglass, so I found some 3mm steel plate in the garage and cut it to shape and drilled some holes. Viola! One spreader plate. I then cleaned it and painted it. Whilst I had the grinder out I also modified the bottom of the brake master cylinder. The pedal box is for a single-line system, and the studs are shorter, meaning I could barely get a nut on to mount it. I gave the "foot" a tickle with the grinder which improved matters no end.

Whilst I was fiddling about by the master cylinders I figured it would be a good idea to redrill the hole for the throttle cable (the old one is now covered by the brake valve). So I did that and also popped in a grommet. Should be nice and straightforward now when I come to fitting the cable.

Fitting the steering column was actually pretty straightforward thanks to the prep work I'd already done. Spreader plate went on first, then I loosened the bolts holding the steering rack on so it could be moved where necessary. On went the column and after a bit of fiddling the pinch bolt slotted into place. A bit more careful lining up and the bolts went through the cotton reels and mount before being tightened up. I re-tightened the rack nuts before I forgot. Then I couldn't resist popping the steering wheel on for a quick look. Awesome day.

Column - you're going on the car matey...

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"Cotton reels" and newly created bolts.

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Spreader plate created

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby MrBounce » Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:05 pm

Modification to brake master cylinder "foot".

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Throttle cable bracket fitted

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Column in place

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby MrBounce » Sat Oct 01, 2016 6:06 pm

And just because I couldn't resist!

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby MrBounce » Thu Oct 13, 2016 10:12 pm

Just a quick update this evening. Once again I have been far too busy on other stuff so have left precious little time in the garage. However, have done a bit as Andy has been round to help out. I have the front subframe fitted loosely with mounts ready to fit (no pics) but this evening we turned our attention to the rear end. Typically for me, I had built up the full rear beam including radius arms without looking at the pictures taken when I took it apart. There was no way in hell that the bolts on the edges would go through with the radius arms in place... No bother - as the thing was on the bench anyway, out came the spanners and the two of us had the arm off within 5 minutes.

We then did a trial fit of everything then we bolted the beam to the car. I remember reading somewhere that the Mk 1s & 2s are ever so slightly different from side to side (can't quite remember why) and the bottom bolt on the nearside is right next to the bodywork. This meant modifying the washer - I remember the one I took off having about 1/4" taken off one side - so out came the grinder and I gave the washer a little tickle until it fitted perfectly.

I should stress that the beam is only on temporarily. I am not happy with the fit of the fuel pipe (bends are in slightly the wrong place) so will whip the beam off again next week and sort the fuel pipe before refitting everything properly. Who knows - there might even be wheels attached next time...

That's a rear beam - attached to my car!

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Modified washer on lower bolt so it will actually fit! (Apologies for poor focussing...)

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby MrBounce » Sat Oct 22, 2016 5:11 pm

Right now I am an angry man. I am not sure exactly who to aim my anger at though. Let me explain: when I started on the rebuild for this car, I decided to use dual circuit Mini brakes using a "yellow tag" master cylinder and brake limiter valve on the bulkhead. I had used this set-up on 3 of my old Minis and they all had very good brakes - it just seemed a better and more cost effective idea to do this than buying a brand new Cooper S master cylinder and rear valve which would have cost £150. Of course, the main problem I had was that I needed new brake lines - not a problem as I was going to replace them anyway. And this is where the problem starts - BL or Austin Rover or whatever they were called that week thought it would obviously be a really good idea to have the two different ends of the brake pipe with different threads, one UNF, one metric. And obviously they were going to make it where one would fit the other, but only for a couple of turns - and it won't tighten up. However, for some reason, there is also an all metric brake line available (I know that Mini Sport sell one - https://www.minisport.com/bp96m-brake-p ... l?___SID=U ). I have just discovered this, as the one I have fits perfectly in the valve on the bulkhead, but at the rear, it won't go in to the UNF 3-way union at all. I think that I have been accidentally sold an all-metric pipe because before I fitted it, I only checked the fit on the valve. More fool me. My problem is, I can't remember where I bought the pipe from so I can't yell at anyone but myself.

Therefore I will now have to remove the whole pipe and replace it with the correct one unless anyone knows where I can get a 3-way union with a metric inlet and two UNF outlets? This will take an annoying amount of time and will also require the help of an assistant, to hold a screwdriver so I can undo the bolts for the P clips. I am hoping that I can squeeze the new line in without having to fully remove the rear beam because...

I have re-done the fuel line, and it was a good idea that I did - I found a kink in the last 3 inches, which would have made fuel delivery a touch restricted. I cut the kinky bit off and it now sits nicely over the top of the beam, ready to be connected up to the fuel pump and filter I have. I have also fitted the first of the two radius arms. Using the help of a conveniently sized wooden box, which was exactly the right height to rest the arm on, I was able to attach the arm and associated bracket and tighten up the the nuts. I also chucked on one of the beautiful new rear shocks. However, I couldn't fit this properly, as when I jack the arm up, it'll only go so far before the rest of the car comes with it - this means that with the new bushes I can't get the top nut on it... Damn you new springs!!

More to follow as long as I don't go in there with hammers.

Fuel line now going exactly where it should be.

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Radius arm attached to car, complete with backplace and brake mechanism.

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Oh, and one of these beautiful bits of kit too.

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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby fozzza » Sun Oct 23, 2016 1:42 pm

Regarding the problem you have with you wrongly supplied brake pipe with both unions being metric, if it was me I would purchase a cheap M10 x 1mm pitch plug tap off ebay ( about £3 ) and re-tap the one outlet on your t-piece, but just make sure it is taped nice and square. 3/8-24unf and M10-1mm pitch are virtually the same tpi, the main difference is the M10 union being 0.018" thou bigger than the 3/8 one, so the brass t-piece should tap out ok. It saves the hassle of changing your brake pipe. :)
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Re: Mk 1 Project Zippy (Picture Heavy!)

Postby l_jonez » Sun Oct 23, 2016 2:35 pm

Can't you adjust the coilover? Set it in the lowest ride height and you should be able to get it to bolt up
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