I went ahead and ordered a new front main seal. I am just trying to be proactive since I am waiting on parts anyway. My luck is that it is that seal and then I would have to wait some more time. Cheap enough to order and have on hand if I need it.

 

I have not worked on the car the past 2 days. I had to recharge the AC in mama hens H2 Hummer and clean the pool after the remnants of the Hurricane came over. A steady stream of repair parts for the mini are arriving at the house finally. The new condenser and oil pan gasket arrived yesterday along with a new front amber light/ reflector for the drivers side. New expansion valve is slated for a Tuesday arrival. I plan on starting to drop the AC compressor and the oil pan tonight after work. If it turns out to be the crank seal I still have a week and a half till the puller arrives.

dmath is putting his together and I am pulling mine back apart, I need to get my butt in gear.

 

You got this

 

You got that right!
I’m ready to drive it again.

 

I performed that task myself not too long ago. I solved about 95% of the oil leaks I had. I have 1 left, the seal behind the clutch...But as long as the clutch is working fine, I accept that leak haha

I used this vid for preparation

 

Wow, you're doing a full resto here! The progress is really looking great. I sure hope you got a good price on the car as it sure needed a lot of love.

 

I picked it up for $800 dollars. I'm going to be close to that on repair parts, my labor is free. I will still a lot less into it than the going rate of a used one.
My original thinking is just to get it safe and functional, I always end up fixing or replacing a lot more trying to make it pristine. I just did the same thing to my 07 Escalade ESV.

 

I watched thee same video the other day, Great minds think a like!

 

You spoke too soon, ChiefM. I had to tear it apart again today in search of the coolant leak (details in my thread). This is the first car I've wrenched that wasn't one of our daily drivers. It's very relaxing not having to worry about how someone is going to get to work or school. Makes the work much more enjoyable.

Anyway, you've accomplished a lot more than I have. I chalk that up to you know what you're doing and I don't.

 

I have never worked on a Mini till 3 weeks ago when I bought this one. But I have been a mechanic all my life.
I tried to get the serpentine belt off without the tool, it was a no go. The tool will be in tomorrow but not till the afternoon. I did manage to replace all the interior bulbs with LED’s. I also replaced all the red and yellow side marker bulbs with LED’s and the daytime lights too. I will pull the nose and crash bar off in the morning. The son and I are getting haircuts and father son time so probably not much work till Sunday.

 

Just shave it all off to save time :P

J/k, father son time is way more important than a machine. Have a good weekend!

 

I got the car in front end service mode this morning before the wife and son woke up. Did a little work this afternoon after my son and I got done today. We both got hair cut and I bought him some Halloween inflatables. I also picked up oil for the mini since I was dropping the oil pan.


Special tool for the serpentine belt didn't arrive today so I made my own. Used my floor jack to raise and pin the tensioner pulley.



AC system vacuumed down and ready for new parts. I am AC certified.


Cleaned and ready to be installed. Does it pass inspection dmath?

I managed to drop the oil pan today and clean it up and get it reinstalled this afternoon. Tomorrow is new AC pump, condenser and expansion valve. Also new crank sensor O-ring and oil filter seal. The front main seal arrived today but the crank puller won't arrive till Friday. I think I will put it all back together tomorrow and see if everything I replaced has stopped the leaks. Won't have to put it in service mode to do the crank seal if that is what it needs.

This car is really not that bad to work on.

 

Interested in hearing / seeing how the expansion valve goes

 

The oil pan absolutely passes inspection. It will be a shame to drive the car and get it dirty again. How was the inside? Any unpleasant surprises?

I may have to pick your brain when it's time to tackle the AC on my car. I have a manifold gauge set and can recharge a system but beyond that it's something of a mystery to me. The seller advertised that the AC doesn't blow cold so the system needs attention.

Nice improvisation on the belt tool.

 

No surprises inside the pan. It sprayed it with purple power on the inside and outside and hit it with the pressure washer. The belt tool was delivered this afternoon, a little late.
I got the new compressor installed and the condenser, waiting on the expansion valve, it's 86 outside and I was working in the sun, too hot to keep messing with it right now.

There is good news and bad news. It still leaks oil but only from the crank seal now. So I'll take as a win.
I have a new seal already but the harmonic balancer tool won't arrive till Friday, gives me time to get a new serpentine belt. I went ahead and put it on jack stands and pulled the tire and fender liner back. Now I play the waiting game.

 

Ordered a new belt today. My resupply of AC O-rings arrived and a can of paint.

Before




I had to sand the passenger side one down pretty good, it had a lot of deep scratches into the plastic. I need to pick up a can of clear on the way home tomorrow. I tried wrapping them in carbon fiber wrap first but it looked really bad. That is an art I have not mastered. I was worried about not using an adhesion spray at first. Didn't like the way the passenger one turn out so I waited for it to dry and sanded it down. This paint sticks really good so no worries there.


Oh yea, Now I need to do the bottom part.

 

Painting the down tubes was an utter failure, drivers side turned out OK, passenger side looks like butt. I am not a painter.
Harmonic balancer puller came in today, does not work on an SFI balancer. I have the correct puller but I need my impact gun to get the center bolt out and it's at work.
Maybe tomorrow will have a better outcome.

 

Ordered a new upper heat shied for the Mini. It was missing when I bought the car and I don’t like all the heat from the exhaust rolling into the engine compartment. I am picking up odds and ends here and there to make it right. I think I have all the tools gathered up that I might need to install the front seal this afternoon. Fingers crossed.

 

I got all my tools together and started on pulling the balancer. I got everything lined up, bolt removed and special tool inserted in crank. Hit it with the impact and nothing. It is on there solid. Got some tension on there and tapped it with a hammer, still nothing. Hit it with the impact again and bang!



Ripped the freaking bolt out of the balancer. Of course there is some bolt stuck in the balancer.

I am so freaking mad right now, Nothing has gone right this week working on this car.
So if I can't easy out the broken bolt and install another one for the puller, Can I heat the balancer with a torch and not damage the crank?

 

Sorry to see that. Frustrating for sure. I've seen references in the forum to using heat on the old pulley but I have no idea how safe it is.

 

Ugh that’s frustrating. I started to replace my crank pulley the other day, but I was actually worried about the bolts pulling out of he rusty oem pulley and decided to pay a pro to do it.

 

I will try and get the broken bolt out of it this afternoon. I am trying to get a shop down the street from where I work to fix it. I don’t have a torch to heat it up and it’s really stuck on there. The guy that would do it is off today and I can’t get an answer till at least Monday. I am pretty sure it will need a new balancer if they have to heat it up to get it off.

The daily driver slipped a belt in a rear tire on Tuesday, was afraid I wasn’t going to make it home. A new tire is arriving today. Also coming in is a new serpentine belt for the mini and the oil filter socket.

 

I called the local German car place. Told the owner what was going on and the broken bolt in the balancer. He said he has seen this before and is pretty sure he can get it off without messing up the balancer. He said he can do it for 250 bucks! What a deal!!

 

I got the Mini back together enough to take it to the repair shop tomorrow. The socket for the oil filter came in today along with a new belt.
Got the new rear tire changed on the daily, it was pretty bad. I just looked at them a few months ago. It now has fairly new tires all the way round now.

 

Drove the old girl to work this morning and a check engine light comes on. Pull the codes and it says coolant below temp. It was 57 this morning and it is usually in the middle 70,s in the morning. So either I have a bad thermostat stuck open or someone has totally removed it in the past. So will probably just replace the thermostat and housing as one piece. Dropping her off to get the crank seal replaced after work. Hopefully it will be fixed tomorrow and I won’t have to buy a new harmonic balancer. Fingers crossed.