My '91 Mini
Moderators: JeffC, rdoherty, stieg, brentp
My '91 Mini
Thought I'd put up a brief history of my Mini that I've recently converted to MJ.
Bought it in 2001 as my first car when I was learning to drive, started out life as a standard 1991 Mayfair, over the years, I ploughed quite a bit of money into it, but kept it as a 998cc for insurance reasons.
Picture of it in early 2002 after I had passed my test.
Then later on about 2004 when I took it off the road for a couple of years, looking a little sorry for itself.
Fast forward to 2007 when I decided something should be done with it, so sent it away for a couple of panels to be replaced...
Car stripped and ready to be taken away, most of the car had been swept up as was mainly a rusty pile on the floor
Being taken away
Pretty much all of the metalwork was replaced, only original bits really is the roof pillars up, and the boot lid, almost everything else has been replaced.
Car back from the bodyshop, semi prepped for paint. At this stage, the main bulk of the wiring was tackled and most of the interior planned out ready to go for paint, that took a few months to get sorted.
Eventually, the car went for paint at a mates unit.
Back from paint, I was able to make really big leaps forward in terms of progress with the car
Decided that a 998cc engine wasn't really gonna give many thrills, so an impromptu trip to Birmingham to collect a low mileage, (and never once cleaned by the looks of it) 1275 with and HIF44 from a 1991 Metro.
After a very quick spruce up.
Car coming along nicely
Nice little audio upgrade
Cheeky set of refurbished Metro Turbo 4 pots
Car being taken away for a 2nd time to get the engine swapped, new brakes and suspension fitted, along with a few other little jobs
Interior half way to being sorted
First MOT since roughly 2004, passed without even so much as an advisory!
Ran the car for a bit last year, had a few things that I wanted to get sorted over the Winter, back out again this year, with a rebuild of the rear brakes, another MOT passed.
On it's way for it's MOT...
New interior
Used the car a few times, noticed the oil pressure light was taking longer than usual to go out when started, booked the car in to get the cam swapped to a 266, few engine tweaks, gearbox once over as 2nd gear was quite vague and sometimes jumped out of gear when slowing down and a slightly longer final drive to make the odd motorway runs a bit more bearable.
When Green & White Mini's (Highly recommend them to anyone in the North East of England) took the engine out to do the work, they noticed a couple of things with the engine
Oil pump was badly worn
Bottom end bearings were slightly scored, but the crank was still perfect
Selector fork in the gearbox was worn too.
So along with a long list of parts, had the whole bottom end of the engine and gearbox rebuilt along with a new clutch.
Back in the car and better than ever
The longer final drive was compensated for with the cam, and a few other carb tweaks, but I was dubious about the ignition system. I was running the original ballast resistor system with the electronic dizzy from the Metro engine, the rev counter was erratic and the car seemed to have a few flat spots, almost as if the spark wasn't strong enough. I found out that the electronic dizzy doesn't like the 6v or 9v that the ballast system runs out so wasn't working to it's best efficiency. I could have simple changed to a non ballast system, but thought, sod it, why not go the Megajolt route.
So, with all the parts sourced, started on the conversion.
Basically, bought the MJ unit with the hard rev limit and used the Specialist Components trigger wheel kit.
Rad out
Old crank pulley bolt off (34mm impact socket works a treat)
Dizzy blank in
Trigger wheel in place
CPS and bracket in
Coilpack brackets on
New HT leads on and engine back together
Neat little HT lead holder fixed to the rocker cover
Start of the wiring loom
Extra fusebox feeding the lighting and horn relays and now the EDIS and MJ units
Completed basic loom to get the car up and running
Megajolt in and working
Few videos.
Checking that the crank position sensor was working
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dszHtzPHwi0
First startup with the Megajolt setup, (No rev counter as of yet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpPJ5_Xk47w
First test drive, (apologies for the dodgey camera work, both windows were open too)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ0Zl1CkBTg
So there we go, I'l do another quick video when I can find the head off my tripod and update with any progress!
Bought it in 2001 as my first car when I was learning to drive, started out life as a standard 1991 Mayfair, over the years, I ploughed quite a bit of money into it, but kept it as a 998cc for insurance reasons.
Picture of it in early 2002 after I had passed my test.
Then later on about 2004 when I took it off the road for a couple of years, looking a little sorry for itself.
Fast forward to 2007 when I decided something should be done with it, so sent it away for a couple of panels to be replaced...
Car stripped and ready to be taken away, most of the car had been swept up as was mainly a rusty pile on the floor
Being taken away
Pretty much all of the metalwork was replaced, only original bits really is the roof pillars up, and the boot lid, almost everything else has been replaced.
Car back from the bodyshop, semi prepped for paint. At this stage, the main bulk of the wiring was tackled and most of the interior planned out ready to go for paint, that took a few months to get sorted.
Eventually, the car went for paint at a mates unit.
Back from paint, I was able to make really big leaps forward in terms of progress with the car
Decided that a 998cc engine wasn't really gonna give many thrills, so an impromptu trip to Birmingham to collect a low mileage, (and never once cleaned by the looks of it) 1275 with and HIF44 from a 1991 Metro.
After a very quick spruce up.
Car coming along nicely
Nice little audio upgrade
Cheeky set of refurbished Metro Turbo 4 pots
Car being taken away for a 2nd time to get the engine swapped, new brakes and suspension fitted, along with a few other little jobs
Interior half way to being sorted
First MOT since roughly 2004, passed without even so much as an advisory!
Ran the car for a bit last year, had a few things that I wanted to get sorted over the Winter, back out again this year, with a rebuild of the rear brakes, another MOT passed.
On it's way for it's MOT...
New interior
Used the car a few times, noticed the oil pressure light was taking longer than usual to go out when started, booked the car in to get the cam swapped to a 266, few engine tweaks, gearbox once over as 2nd gear was quite vague and sometimes jumped out of gear when slowing down and a slightly longer final drive to make the odd motorway runs a bit more bearable.
When Green & White Mini's (Highly recommend them to anyone in the North East of England) took the engine out to do the work, they noticed a couple of things with the engine
Oil pump was badly worn
Bottom end bearings were slightly scored, but the crank was still perfect
Selector fork in the gearbox was worn too.
So along with a long list of parts, had the whole bottom end of the engine and gearbox rebuilt along with a new clutch.
Back in the car and better than ever
The longer final drive was compensated for with the cam, and a few other carb tweaks, but I was dubious about the ignition system. I was running the original ballast resistor system with the electronic dizzy from the Metro engine, the rev counter was erratic and the car seemed to have a few flat spots, almost as if the spark wasn't strong enough. I found out that the electronic dizzy doesn't like the 6v or 9v that the ballast system runs out so wasn't working to it's best efficiency. I could have simple changed to a non ballast system, but thought, sod it, why not go the Megajolt route.
So, with all the parts sourced, started on the conversion.
Basically, bought the MJ unit with the hard rev limit and used the Specialist Components trigger wheel kit.
Rad out
Old crank pulley bolt off (34mm impact socket works a treat)
Dizzy blank in
Trigger wheel in place
CPS and bracket in
Coilpack brackets on
New HT leads on and engine back together
Neat little HT lead holder fixed to the rocker cover
Start of the wiring loom
Extra fusebox feeding the lighting and horn relays and now the EDIS and MJ units
Completed basic loom to get the car up and running
Megajolt in and working
Few videos.
Checking that the crank position sensor was working
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dszHtzPHwi0
First startup with the Megajolt setup, (No rev counter as of yet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpPJ5_Xk47w
First test drive, (apologies for the dodgey camera work, both windows were open too)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ0Zl1CkBTg
So there we go, I'l do another quick video when I can find the head off my tripod and update with any progress!
Forgot to mention, the full resto thread is here..
http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/in ... opic=46173
& all the pictures here...
http://public.fotki.com/marksheridan/ca ... ini-resto/
http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/in ... opic=46173
& all the pictures here...
http://public.fotki.com/marksheridan/ca ... ini-resto/
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- Posts: 133
- Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:06 pm
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- Posts: 133
- Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:06 pm
The finish on the whole is good, there's lots of depth to the paint, there is a few imperfections, but it wasn't painted in a booth, just in a small unit, he's since moved into a bigger and cleaner unit and the pain finish on a couple of the cars that I've seen painted is very good.
1991 1275 Megajolt powered Mini
Eventually got the Megajolt finished, secured the MJ unit behind the dash with the USB lead poking out round the centre console. With the dash out, I removed the rev counter to do the shift light. Inspired by a TVR shift light where the rev counter lights up red just before the rev limiter.
Rev counter out the dash
Cut a hole in the bottom at on the back, (kind of looks like a face?)
Rev counter insides out
Test fit of the shift light
Happy that it fits fine, time to break out the worlds most lethal glue, sets in half a second and if you stick your fingers together, it's bye bye skin getting them apart!
Glued in place
Quick test of the shift light off a battery
Plug in loom made up for it
Rev counter signal wired to the MJ unit, it's pretty much accurate, thought I'd have to adjust the pot on the rev counter to sync it up, but seems ok
Played about with the map a bit and configured it a little. Fixed the leaky vacuum hose so the MJ unit is getting the correct KPa readings, around 50KPa at idle instead of the 95KPa with the leaky tube
So, with the dash back in and everything wired up, time to test everything.
Shift light and rev limit...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vso7RDd3wTM
And the shift light when driving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmR8F04G70o
The camera makes it look like it's not that bright, but you can easily see in in person and is still discreet.
Took the car out after that for a good half hour drive to make sure everything was ok, dripping radiator was a combo of the thermostat housing and both top hose jubilee clips needed nipping up as they were weeping. All in all, very happy with how it runs, power delivery is a lot smoother, no more annoying flat spots, rock steady temp. gauge and no more leaks.
Rev counter out the dash
Cut a hole in the bottom at on the back, (kind of looks like a face?)
Rev counter insides out
Test fit of the shift light
Happy that it fits fine, time to break out the worlds most lethal glue, sets in half a second and if you stick your fingers together, it's bye bye skin getting them apart!
Glued in place
Quick test of the shift light off a battery
Plug in loom made up for it
Rev counter signal wired to the MJ unit, it's pretty much accurate, thought I'd have to adjust the pot on the rev counter to sync it up, but seems ok
Played about with the map a bit and configured it a little. Fixed the leaky vacuum hose so the MJ unit is getting the correct KPa readings, around 50KPa at idle instead of the 95KPa with the leaky tube
So, with the dash back in and everything wired up, time to test everything.
Shift light and rev limit...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vso7RDd3wTM
And the shift light when driving
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HmR8F04G70o
The camera makes it look like it's not that bright, but you can easily see in in person and is still discreet.
Took the car out after that for a good half hour drive to make sure everything was ok, dripping radiator was a combo of the thermostat housing and both top hose jubilee clips needed nipping up as they were weeping. All in all, very happy with how it runs, power delivery is a lot smoother, no more annoying flat spots, rock steady temp. gauge and no more leaks.
1991 1275 Megajolt powered Mini
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- Posts: 133
- Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2010 7:06 pm
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- Posts: 4
- Joined: Thu Nov 25, 2010 12:40 pm
Thanks, I think I have a touch of OCD at times!
As for the shift light being blinding at night, no, it's quite discreet to be honest. The face of the rev counter only lets a small amount of light through anyway due to it's design as there's only a small gap round the outer edge of the dial face, so it's only marginally brighter than the dash illumination. It gives it a sort of a soft low rather than being in your face.
As for the shift light being blinding at night, no, it's quite discreet to be honest. The face of the rev counter only lets a small amount of light through anyway due to it's design as there's only a small gap round the outer edge of the dial face, so it's only marginally brighter than the dash illumination. It gives it a sort of a soft low rather than being in your face.
1991 1275 Megajolt powered Mini
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- Posts: 704
- Joined: Sun Sep 07, 2008 1:54 pm
- Location: Fareham, GB
I like the use of the shift light also, well done. I have been trying to do something similar with some Mk1 Golf clocks, which involves 4 x bi colour LEDs. Formerly 2 x bulbs lit the clocks from the front so the change over isn't to difficult.
They do look good changing to red whilst driving though don't they
They do look good changing to red whilst driving though don't they
1310 A-series Mini, lightened and built myself. V4 board and loving it
Rasputin22 - The Mini Forum
Rasputin22 - MK1 Golf Forum
Megajolt repair for the UK available
Rasputin22 - The Mini Forum
Rasputin22 - MK1 Golf Forum
Megajolt repair for the UK available