Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

[MrBounce]

David - in answer to your questions...

Yes.
Hell No.
Absolutely, categorically 100% nope.

Replacement brake valve on way & I am looking into a different Clutch MC.

[Geoff Butcher]

Is this any good? I bought it a while ago for my Mk2 but sold the car before I got round to fitting it

[MrBounce]

Well, it seems that things are looking up again. Thanks everyone for your suggestions and offers of help. It seems that the original "tin can" clutch MCs are the ones to go for, so have a s/hand one coming which will be reconditioned before fitting (trial fitted first of course!).

In the meantime, the brake valve Ian had in his shed (cheers matey!) has been received, and tried out. No issues with the thread on this bad boy - it tightened up a like a dream. However, it did look a bit... how do I best put this... used. So out came my favourite tool - the angle grinder with the wire brush attachment. It made short work of the minor surface rust and odd paint, and I wiped it down before plugging up the holes. I've given it a coat or two of primer before it'll get the satin black tomorrow.

I also finished tidying up the "T-bar" I made to hold in the spare wheel and gave that a coat of primer too. More to follow.

Brake valve looking pretty again.



T-bar primed.

[MrBounce]

Forums. There's only one thing that I can say about them - they're brilliant places. Not only did I get myself a brake valve from Ian, but a "tin can" clutch master cylinder turned up for sale at a very reasonable price as well. So after a short email conversation involving the wonders of Paypal, I had myself the part that I needed - well, mostly. I knew it would be a used item, so the best thing to do would be a recondition, despite it working well before removal. So I picked up a seal kit (not expensive - about £7) and when the MC arrived, I started on making it more presentable.

It had been on a fuel-injected Mini all its life (one of the later ones) but it was still 17 years old. It was also a little bit in need of a clean. So I removed the circlip, and took all the inner gubbins out before giving it a good dunk in the parts washer, followed by a proper clean up with various brushes and the Dremel. Once properly dry, I gave it a couple of coats of primer, followed by some satin black. I've replaced all the seals - now all that remains is for it to go back together.

Oh, and yes, it fits perfectly!!

As received. 17 years of grime yet to be removed...



Much cleaner after a dunk and a brush.



All the inner workings ready to be replaced

[MrBounce]

Primed...



...and painted.

[MrBounce]

This car is fighting me. A lot. It's almost like it wants to frustrate me at every given point just to irritate me a little more than before. Allow me to write the latest tale of woe.

I finished off the clutch master cylinder by popping in the spring and piston with its new seals and washer and sorted the circlip with a flourish. Everything seemed to be going according to plan. I popped the master cylinder into place and proceeded to connect up the brake master cylinder's pipes to the bulkhead valve. All looked great. "Excellent" I thought. "Time for the slave cylinder pipe and to connect the new pipe to the master cylinder". Except when I offered everything up, the new slave cylinder pipe was too large for the hole in the bulkhead bracket. I REALLY don't want to remove this bracket again as it'll mean taking out the pedalbox as well as I can barely see the bolts with it on. And I don't have a 5/8" drill bit. Arse. I shut the garage door and walked away for a bit. Again.

To cheer myself up I decided to do some Midas paperwork. It's not much, but picture below.

New MCs fit well together. ("Old" new MC has been sold already)



Hole needs to be this big.



However, it is this big. Guess what won't fit...

[MrBounce]

So I sent this off. Just because.

[goldeneye]

orange it is!

[MrBounce]

Orange it most certainly is!

I have a new toy. It's such a simple idea, which is probably why I didn't think of it in the first place as I always seem to find a more complicated way of doing things. I was browsing the Machine Mart catalogue (always a bad idea as I tend to spend money - and it's on the way home from work if I make a minor detour...) and came across a stepped cone cutter. So, one purchase later and I have easily cut a bigger hole in the aforementioned bracket. It took about 8 seconds to do... As a result I popped on the clutch flexi-pipe and bent the kunifer pipe to shape. It's not perfect, but neither is my paint! As long as it doesn't leak it'll do for me!

New toy. Vicious little nibbly thing too.



I was able to do this. Me likey.

[MrBounce]

So I am back from holiday after spending a lot of time in a car the other end of the size scale:


Glad I don't have to park that in England - it's a monster! Anyway, back to the smaller things in life. Today was a bit of a "tidying" kind of day in that I spent quite a lot of time underneath the shell with a paintbrush filling orange into all the little bits that the spray gun missed. I didn't bother taking any photos of this as a) it's brush-painted underside of bodywork and b) it's brush-painted so it isn't pretty. Most of it will be hidden anyway... Once I'd finished that I did a few other little bits, the first of which was making sure that the subframe could be bolted in nicely. Firstly I dug out the front mount brackets and spreader plates from the spares box. This was a simple "two bolts and nyloc nuts" job each side, complicated by the fact that the plates and brackets had so much paint on them that the bolts wouldn't push through. I sorted it with a old bolt and a hammer. At least I know they're not going to rust anytime soon...

I followed this up with a trial fit of the tower bolt mounts. I am using solid mounts as I like the idea of a) the better steering feedback and "point-and-squirtability" and b) never having to replace them again. As per usual on this bleeping car, there was a problem. When it was originally built, this Midas had a twin-bolt front subframe from a 60s Cooper S. It was converted to single bolt later, and when the holes were cut for the tower bolts, they presumably only had access to standard rubber mounts. These of course are flexible whereas the solid mounts are not, and the raised section on the mounts sat on top of the edge of the hole. There was just under 1/4" difference. My funky new cone cutters were not big enough, but because it's fibreglass, it's easy to re-shape. Out came my old friend the Dremel with a sanding band on it, and five minutes each side top and bottom saw the mounts fit snugly in place. Perfect. I also took the time to clean up and paint the large washers on the tower bolts as they looked a bit rusty and rubbish. I am unsure about painting the solid mounts as I don't know if the anodised finish is any good or not. Think I will leave them out for a few weeks and make a decision from there.

I have also made a captive nut plate for the wiper motor. I hated the way that mine was previously held on with big self-tapping screws - so I decided to do a bit better. Once the paint's dry I will drill the holes and fibreglass it into place.

Front mount plates in place.



Tower bolt hole midway through enlargement.