Well, i am about 3/4 of the way done with my first clutch replacement on the mini. I have put the bell housing and subframe put back on the vehicle at this point. I am running into a few issues though. If anyone can offer any help so that i can get everything sorted out and FINALLY have my mini back on the road.
1. During removal of the intake hose connected to the supercharger, managed to break the red clip and brake booster hose at the connection. I purchased a replacement hose through detroit tuned and now can not figure out how to get the coupling apart in the middle of the brake booster hose. Here is a pic of the coupling.


2. I also hae a connection that i am not sure where it goes. I think that it may be for the reverse light indicator but can not figure out if it is or not? Can i reach the reverse light plug with the subframe attached? Here is a pic of the connection in question.





3. Is there a trick in getting the steering shaft back into the coupler? I have lifted the front and moved the wheels but still can not get the coupling to go over the shaft.

Also, if there is anyone in the Denver, CO are that might me able to offer any assistance, that would be amazing. I took this job on because i simply could not afford to take it to a mini mechanic. I believe that i almost have it buttoned up but it has taken the best of me. Thanks in advance for any help!!!

 

I don't know anything helpful, but check out the mini 5280 group on Facebook. It's a bunch of mini owners in Denver and there might be someone who knows something that can help.

 

I think that is your reverse light plug. You can see it on the back of the transmission thru the wheel well. Also double check your headlight leveling sensor if you have one. I always forget that.

 

Mini 5280, sounds like something i should know about..
I will pull the tire as soon as the rain clears up over here. Thanks for the help guys.
Anyone have a remedy for the steering shaft knuckle? Is it always a super tight fit or should it not be soo tough to put on? Ive messed with it for awhile. Had the vehicle jacked up and wiggled the tire back and forth while tryinng to get the shaft to line up. Still no luck at all. I was worried about moving the tires too much and having the steering wheel be awkward angle while driving after i get it connected.

 

It shouldn't be that hard to put the steering knuckle back on.

It just slides right on top of the shaft.

You want to grease the hell out of all of it. Where the shaft goes on and especially the u-joint. Maybe the u-joint is so frozen you can't move it making it very hard to line up.

 

Brake booster tube is removed by squeezing the square section of the connector with long-nose pliers and pulling the tube out.

Reverse switch connector... Fender well.

Steering is a sloppy fit with a pinch bolt... Should be easy, but I guess I'll find out this week.

Thanks for the pics... Figured out what my leftover bracket is for (oops). Finishing up my clutch, engine re-seal, cooling system and PS overhaul too.

 

Nice.. That brake booster hose is keeping me from reassembling the intake and could not figure the coupling out for the life of me. Thought that it had something to do with the grey clip.??

steering knuckle does have some movement at the joint but pinch point wont slip over the shaft at all. Started to get concerned that, if i turn the wheels too much and get it reattached, my steering wheel alignment will be way off. I just had an alignment before my TO bearing blew up and the mini was tracking straight as could be.

You say you are doing a PS overhaul? I was about to take the mini in for the PS pump recall when my TO bearing went out(actually, night before my appointment). Have you had the recall done before? Might be something to look into first?? Also, can you let me know if your steering coupling hoes over the shaft without any issues? I was thinking of prying it open a lil more but am afraid of any further damage.

So far, ive had numerous issues with this project. Heres a lil list of the issues during my clutch replacement and maybe offer a warning for someone doing this job in the future. I had an issue with one of the shift cables coming off the linkage and seperated the bushing from the cable, had a very difficult time removing the two hoses that feed into the supercharger inlet(thats where i broke the clip and brake booster hose). Still not sure what the trick is to get them out easily?? Also, be very careful with the slave cylinder. If you bend it at all, the plastic push rod will come unseated and when you reinstall it, it will get lodged and break once you put pressure on the clutch. Lastly, when mating the tranny to the engine, make sure not to bump the clutch lever. It only takes a lil movement and the throwout bearing may move off of theclutch fork. I had to take the tranny off twice cause of this. The clutch lever would mover freely when the tranny was mounted to the engine and i couldnt figure out why??

This has been my first clutch job and on the mini, it has been a very daunting task

 

Honestly I did almost everything in the engine bay that would be a hassle for me later on... Got the ECS Tuning kit for all of the hoses. Also I remember someone locally had trouble with the PS recall as it didn't cover Canada. Pump worked fine, so I won't touch it.

Weird, loosening the pinch bolt just freed everything up.

I guess I lucked out with some things... Checked the clutch the moment the engine/trans was back in the car. Feels good. Thus is my first time with a Mini but I've changed a few clutches... 3 on my own cars and a few more at the race shop I worked at for a summer. The first one always the most daunting.

 

Nothing you can really do about the shift cables. They're hard to take off, but you just have to be as careful as you can prying them off.

Not sure why you took off the sc vacuum lines. If you were checking the sc oil then that makes sense. Normally, for intake stuff, there is only one bracket that needs to come off. Nothing else is in the way to pull the tranny off. In fact the radiator doesn't even need to come off. Anyway, to get the lines out you just carefully pry up on the red clip and pull, pry up again and pull, until its free.

For the slave I've always just taped the rod so it doesn't extend all the way out. Maybe not necessary but I would rarher not have the seal break.

Another good idea is to tie the clutch fork back so it cant move while trying to get the tranny on.

 

I pulled the intake off since i was following a write up off of the pelican parts page. During the clutch swap write up, it refers you back to a water pump/intake removal write up, whch discusses removing the intake to free up space. Honestly, removing the intake helped me see which were the bell housing bolts and gave really good access. Although, breaking the brake booster hose in the process, haha.

The slave cylinder was my honest mistake. Im used to dealing with beefened up jeep parts and had no idea that the slave cylinder was so delicate. I basically pulled it firmly out of the clip and then from the position between the clutch fork. I guess i used a lil too much force and it put the plastic shaft out of alignment. I still need to bleed the new slave as well.

Well, i chose to try and take on the job after watching the famous MODMINI two part youtube video. So, I referred to that video as well as a couple of pelican parts write ups. They were all very very helpful but i found myself bouncing all over between the two. Honestly, i would probably have rather used the pelican write ups and just referred back to the modmini video if i got hung up.

 

If you're talking about the plastic hoses that go into the red clips in the intake duct, there is no prying necessary. Just push down on the clip (hold the red clip into the intake) and slide out the hose. I used my fingers to push down on the clip and needle nose pliers to slide out the hose.

 

Yeah got it backwards sorry, been almost a year now since I've had my Mini apart

Pull up on the line, push the clip down