Mk 1 Project Zippy. Looking Like a Car.

[MrBounce]

Ok, so it's a Bank Holiday. And once the usual family visiting was done with (Hi Mum & Dad by the way...), it was garage time once more. This meant removing the radius arms from the beam and having a closer look. It was of course, raining, but one benefit of an up-and-over garage door is that provided the wind is not blowing into the garage, it makes a really good umbrella!

First job was to remove the handbrake cables and their arms. The offside split pin offered no resistance at all, sliding neatly out and allowing me to disconnect everything really easily. The nearside of course was anything but straightforward. The split pin snapped, and everything was seized solid. A quick squirt of WD40, some judicious use of MC Hammer and everything was out. The cable appears to be in pretty good nick - I reckon previous owner Andy had already replaced it, and the nearside had been parked over or near grass as most things on that side are so corroded.

There are mounting brackets for the arms which bolt through the beam, but before I could get started on these, I needed to undo the brake hoses which bolted through some other brackets on the beam itself. Once again, offside was no problem. Nearside? Yup, seized solid. After a couple of attempts resulted in a rounded off nut, I saved time by cutting through it, despite it actually looking in fairly good condition. I have new ones anyway. I then removed the grease nipples from the radius arms, and made sure the end bolts undid. Amazingly, each and every one was a piece of cake. So, once these were finger-tight, I then undid the bolts holding the brackets to the beam, undid the inner nut on each arm and used gravity to slide them off.

I put the beam on the bench (taking timeout with a pair of Molegrips and a spanner to remove the remains of that poxy brake hose) and did a more detailed inspection. Out came the screwdriver for an MOT-tester-style prod and poke. Short of some surface rust and some remains of paint (Midas' example of rustproofing??), there was absolutley nothing wrong with it. Result! So it was out with the wire wheel to clean off most of the grime and rust, with the aim to use rust remover gel on the bits I can't get to (by the brackets) then give it a decent coat of Hammerite. I am loving this as things are starting to go well again

Disconnecting the handbrake cable



Cable off



1st brake hose easy...



...2nd one not. Cutters!



Nearside off...



...and Offside too.



Beam on bench...



...and the other side



During cleaning



And this is the worst bit. Screwdriver tapping test showed it to be solid.

[MrBounce]

As I had an hour or two to spare I thought I would strip and have a close look at the radius arms. How hard could it be??? I started with the nearside.

First up, I needed to get rid of the rubber bush and metal insert left behind on the stub axle when removing the coilover. A stanley knife dealt with the rubber part, and a soaking of WD40 followed by some swearing and severe use of a pair of molegrips eventually saw it removed and in the bin. It seemed that the rest would be plain sailing. Of course it wasn't.

Drum off? Check. Handbrake Arm removed? Check. Hub cover prised off? Check. Castellated nut removed? (which had no split pin!!) Check. Hub removed? Check. Bearing off with hub? Check...ish. Half of it was left behind on the stub. Did it want to come off? Nope. Seized solid. Due to the lack of a suitable puller, I had to think laterally or it was staying there and the backplate would not come off. Using a pair of side cutters, I snipped the cage surrounding the bearing and threw all the moving parts away. I then applied heat from a blowtorch, following this up with my trusty molegrips to try to get the thing to move. it did, just. A little more movement, then I released the molegrips and off it slid, leaving no damage to the stub axle. At least I have two new wheel bearings in the garage...

The rest of the arm was easily stripped; I am debating whether to just chop them in for a pair of exchange arms as although they seem ok and were well greased, I am unsure of their history. Plus they're a bit rusty. For the sake of £35-40 odd each, it seems a no brainer.

Arm on bench



Remains of the bush succumbing to the power of Molegrips!



Almost completely stripped after the nightmare of the stuck bearing (no photos as I was ANGRY! )



Bumpstop removed. Looks a bit dead. These are the hydrolastic bumpstops as denoted by their number 21A1520. Not sure what they're for as they're not in the build manual anywhere...



Knackered brake cylinder with pipe still attached. It would NOT undo. Time for the bin...

[Hans Efde]

Yep heat always works. I had a similar fight with the needle bearings in my front upper suspension arms last week. Sweat, cursing, heat and a lot of WD40 worked for me as well. Good to read your rear beam is okay. Another one saved!

[DavidL]

Sometimes the opposite can also help...
http://www.screwfix.com/p/crack-it-freeze-release-spray-400ml/98823

I've used this successfully to release a wheel which was stuck on my van - the wheel studs were all off but it was still stuck fast to the hub centre due to a build up of rust. A blast of freezer spray on the hub centre and a good whack with a fence post eventually released it. (The fence post on its own wasn't enough)

[MrBounce]

Having stripped the first radius arm, I gave the bits a quick wash in the Parts Washer. The hub will need a new bearing but everything else (including the backplate) just needs a quick wire brush and repaint. I do need a rubber gaitor for the handbrake mechanism but that aside, it's pretty straightforward. The drums though look a bit past their best, being pitted inside and rusty as hell outside. For the price they are, new ones are going to be added to the list.

I used some of the Deox-Gel I'd bought on the rear beam. It did a fantastic job, turning most of the rust into a deep brown mush when agitated with a wire brush. Once clean, I gave one side of it a coat of smooth Hammerite. I also cleaned up and painted the radius arm bracket. After leaving it overnight, I gave the other side a coat as well. Job done for now.

Time for the other radius arm. Would it be a nightmare just like the other one? Actually no. Everything came off as planned. The bolts holding the backplate on were a nightmare, needing the breaker bar to help shift them but once loose, it was all straightforward. The brake pipe was the only casualty, being so corroded it just snapped. No loss. It will be replaced anyway. The hub and bearing came off with no problem. It seems that the other bearing had "welded" itself to the shaft on the other arm, due to the small mark on it. Must go looking for new arms...

I also finally got round to removing the seatbelts. At the time when I first stripped out the interior I couldn't figure out how to get a spanner or socket on the bolts holding them in, hence why I had left them in situ. Then I had a "Eureka" moment, to combat my previous stupidity. I simply pulled the belts out as far as they would go and put a socket on. Can't believe I was so thick...

Cleaned bits from arm #1



Dodgy drum



Beam covered in Deox-Gel



Cleaned bracket



Get the paint out!



...and the other side!



Scrap brake pipe (not that it matters...)



Pipe and cylinder, which went straight into file #13



Hub off with no trouble



Stripped arm #2



Belt out at last! New ones on list. These are mouldy...

[Stuart]

I notice that your bracket has been modded from a hole to a slot, for some adjustment I imagine.

[MrBounce]

Bit of a frustrating day today. I took ages doing stuff, but it actually looks like I have achieved very little. If everything I have done today hadn't been rusted to the car, it probably would've taken 3 mins, not the 3 hours I spent. That said a lot of time was spent simply tidying up the garage and just looking over the car.

Most of the time was spent removing old bolts etc. I won't bore you with the ins and outs of this as I'm sure you've got better things to do than read about me struggling for ages with rusty stuff. I have finally managed to remove one of the seatbelt stalks though; I need to drill out a rivet to make the other side easier: it is rusted solid - it's going to take a fair bit of brute force and ignorance to actually shift it.

Once I had had enough of trying to remove old bolts etc, I had a long look under the bonnet; I am aiming to remove the subframe in due course and it appears that previous owner Andy has done a fair bit of work for me already. There are polybushes everywhere (including the bottom arm pins and subframe rear mounts), but there are a few bits missing. The brake pipes are one example; a lot of it doesn't make too much sense to me. There's a pipe which leaves the top of the master cylinder, goes all the way past the shock absorber mount then doubles back on itself to the splitter. Why not just go straight to it? Then there is also a small pipe from the top of the splitter which goes up and over and stops at a male connection end. I am assuming that this is supposed to somehow then connect to the pipe which clips in at the front of the subframe - however there are no unions where the brake pipes go to the calipers. I would appreciate some assistance here as every brake system I have looked at before has been complete!

There are also two weird "stubs" sticking out from the bulkhead (not quite central) and I have absolutely NO idea what these are for. Any suggestions because I am stumped.

I also removed the chassis plate and put it in a safe place. It seems it was once on the other side of the car. Curious.

Seat belt stalk finally out. Bolt will be binned!



Polybushes showing on lower arm pins. That gold paint is gonna have to go!



WHAT the hell are these???



Curious brake pipe goes nowhere then comes back on itself. Why?



Small pipe goes into thin air.



Chassis plate removed from the right...



...but obviously used to live on the left. Can anyone clarify why?

[DavidL]

This may be completely wrong, but a possible reason...

When I had my Mk2, when the original Reliant battery gave out, I replaced it with a standard Mini battery (cheaper and easier to source) sited at the very back of the car and ran a couple of heavy cables the length of the car, and because I just used what was lying around the farm, they weren't quite long enough to run the whole distance. Instead, they terminated just behind the bulkhead, and connected to the cables inside the engine compartment with a couple of M8 bolts (or maybe 5/16") going through the bulkhead. They were closer together than the two you have, though, but in the same general area.

Other than that, I haven't a clue.

[mikeeskriett]

The chassis plate was moved to stop the bonnet prop fouling on it I suspect.

The brake proportioning valve is missing from the bulkhead which is bolted where the end of your mystery pipe sits. I suspect the system was modded to enable the car to be moved. It would be lethal without the valve the back end of a Bronze has a tendancy to out brake the front under certain conditions anyway.

http://www.wannop.co.uk/Mini%20Mayfair/Restoration/part%2025/Mini%20Restoration%20part%2025-1.jpg

[MrBounce]

Whilst I was waiting for my new angle grinder-mounted wire brush to arrive (having killed the last one), I took the disgusting rear light lenses and the front sidelights/indicators and decided to give them a really good clean. Normally in this situation I would bung them in a dishwasher, but a) we don't have one and b) I am not 100% sure my colleagues at work would be happy with me if they found car parts in with their much-used coffee mugs. So I made myself very popular with Mrs Bounce and did the washing-up. With added bits. They have come up beautifully. Fairy Liquid: cleans your light clusters wonderfully and gives you baby soft hands...

I then turned my attention to the sunroof frame. This was covered in horrible mastic-type stuff and also the remains of whatever rubber-based seal & glue was used. Having scraped the mastic off, not much was shifting the sealant & rubber so I had to try many evil concoctions that I had in stock, eventually settling on a good soaking in WD40! It's now clear of all the gunk. I have given the lip underneath a good clean up using my old mate the Dremel with a sanding attachment. It can now wait until eveything gets refitted before I do anything else to it.

The wire brush arrived so I quickly gave the brake backplates a clean-up and also stripped the bad paint from the beam (I really wasn't happy with how I had painted it before). I then gave these a good wipe down with white spirit and sprayed them with Hammerite.

It was time for that final seatbelt stalk to come out. It was clear that no amount of trying to use spanners or sockets was going to work, so I reached into the Dremel toolbox and pulled out the "reinforced" cutting disc. I am going to have to get some more of these! They're amazing! Considering that the bolts used for seatbelts are generally high tensile, it went through without too much effort (although it still took me 5 minutes to grind the bolt head off!). With the stub of the bolt in the vice and a pair of Molegrips on the captive nut on the plate I was able to remove it. I gave both plates a good clean with the wire brush attachment and have hammerited them. They'll get a second coat soon, then I will give the threads a tap to make sure they're clean and paint-free.

I also did the same with the plates where the seatbelts themselves attached to. They were disgustingly filthy with a good deal of surface rust underneath. They are now black, courtesy of the spray can!

I also cleaned up the new suspension parts I have; a nice chap on the Mini Forum was giving away loads of stuff so I managed to blag a pair of 1.5 degree negative camber bottom arms, some adjustable tie-bars and lower arm pins. Cheers Kieran!

Dead wire brush attachment



"Just doing the washing-up sweetie!"



My kind of draining board



Clean again!



Removing sunroof gunk (see middle of workbench)



Now much better on the bottom...



...and on the top



Backplates cleaned up prior to paint



And now sprayed along with the beam



Dremel brutally cuts!



Seatbelt stalk spreader plates looking much healthier



Seatbelt spreader mounts. One before, one after. Amazing what a bit of elbow grease can do (especially with power tools!)



New suspension bits - free!