Exciting!!

Since July, Heritage Garage has had my 1973 Mini ... rebuilding the engine and transmission and other misc bits. I got an email today with a look at the work done so far (see attached picture).

According to Graham, they're planning on starting the engine tonight to break in the cam and get the car mobile. A few misc things to finish, then it'll be ready for me to pick up. Too bad I won't be able to drive it to Barrett Jackson (we're going Saturday). I can't wait to get my Mini back!

Cheers,
Jeff

 

Looks awesome....!

I was just watching Barrett Jackson on Speed and they panned over the tent that holds all the cars waiting for auction. I am sure I saw a Mini in the left foreground at the end of the line of cars.

Website is totally hosed - so I can't do a search.

Congrats on getting the engine completed after a long wait! Enjoy the auction!

 

That engine bay looks stellar!

I know what you mean about the wait killing you. I've been without mine since last March.

 

Looks sweet! Can you give a quick run down on what's been done?

Oh, and have fun at Barrett Jackson. I'm watching it now! (Prototype '90 Corvette just sold for $137,000)

 

FYI, a mini jolly is on the docket for Friday.

 

The pre-rebuild equipment was 1275cc w/ lightweight flywheel, GT6 longman head, and remote shift transmission. Oh, and the horrible 32/36 downdraft carb. Crank was so worn that it was loose in the journal bearings.

Rebuild includes:
the 1275 (I haven't asked yet to what it was bored)
Nitride hardened crank
New cam (not sure yet which he chose)
Reusing the lightweight flywheel, head (rebuilt), and pertronix distributor.
Rod-change transmission w/ Quaife LSD and changed to 3.44:1 final drive
Updated to newer style pot-type prop shafts
Fully adjustable front suspension
New exhaust
New radiator w/ tropical fan
Electric fuel pump
New silicone rad hoses

Since I'm not needing a heater core in Arizona, Graham set up the plumbing to cycle water off of the head at the heater port back into the radiator. Pretty slick.

Looks good I think ... and it should be fun to drive

Jeff

 

8k?

 

Yeah, and then some. Due to some 'extra' mechanical work that I'm having Graham do, the bill is more. The engine/trans is somewhere around 8k. It should be a safe driveable car when I get it back.

Jeff

 

I have seen your Mini in person! I saw it with the engine out and with the engine in and Jason was installing it. Jason is very meticulas and pays attention to every detail. It looks good, my 71' is down there right now going through the same thing , almost.

 

I always though the Jolly was a neat car; somewhat strange; but neat. Seeing a classic Mini Jolly is pretty cool. I may get a chance to go to the auction on Friday (work is giving away tickets) and if so, I'll have to track down the Mini Jolly.

Thanks for posting the picture. Not sure I would have been able to picture it correctly otherwise.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

Cool that you saw it. I live in Phoenix, so getting out to see the rebuild progress is not a luxury I have. I hope your wallet is not aching as much as mine with the similar work on your '71. Hopefully it'll be worth it.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

Looking really great!

 

It'll be nice to have peace of mind when driving your car in terms of mechanicals......should anything go wrong....HG will stand behind their work.

 

Not only is my wallet about taped out but so is is marriage ! It's all good though and worth it! Graham and his crew are very top notch and go beyond the call of duty to make sure everything is done right and correct with out any quivications and to me that is priceless. Graham and his crew are a gift from God for any Mini owner and I swear my name by them.

 

You can always put it on two credit cards!




Glad to see you guys are helping the economy
My local BMW dealer advertises that we can fix the economy by spending more.

 

Update: Graham called me to let me know my Mini is done! I'm going on a road trip in just over a week to take delivery at his shop. I can't wait to get it back and drive it a little. At this point, he's driven my Mini more than I have .

Ugh, with delivery comes quite a bill. Oh well, as pointed out earlier, I'm doing my part to stimulate the economy

Cheers,

 

My Mini is done also. I am going to go pick it up on Monday. I will get to see your Mini before you !

 

Man! That stings. Seriously though, you'll have to let us know how the HG team did on your ride.

Jeff

 

Will do!

 

I just got my Mini back and WOW! Jeff your Mini looks good!

 

Yep, I'm taking a road trip on Saturday to pick it up. Graham said he would take special care to drive it a bit this week to ensure there are no problems, as it will be impractical for me to get it back to his shop once I get it home.

 

Well, what perfect irony. I wait seven months to get my Mini back, and I can't drive it because of the weather. I don't have the wiper motor wired up and it's been raining off and on every since I got back home with the car.

Ah well, at least I can enjoy it's presence in the garage

 

RAIN X

 

Yeah, I thought about that, and still might. I used RainX on my 1968 Jeep windshield after I disconnected the wipers. A friend of mine told me that Carnuba wax works just fine on windshields.

I think the better approach is to finish wiring up the wipers. Should be easy, I just need to find out the connection for each of the four motor wires. I have the FSM, which shows the wiring connections at the switch, but doesn't give specifics on the four wires at the (2 speed) wiper motor.

Cheers,
Jeff

 

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/wiper-problem.shtml

http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/electricstext2.htm#wipers