Latest Addition

The Blue Mini - aka Bloomin'

This is the latest arrival on the drive.
It's a W-reg 998cc saloon.

Here is a quick look inside the engine compartment:

Engine Compartment

I have now checked the bores down the plug holes and decided to pull the head.
As you can see there was quite a lot of muck and some rust down the bores.

Cylinders #2-#4

In particular, no. 4 cylinder had an incredible amount of mess sitting on the piston.

Cylinder #4

The cylinder head (12A1456) is also badly coked up.

Cylinder Head

I have now cleaned the visible part of the bores, removing all the coke off the pistons and the rust off the bores.
I decided to turn over the engine with the head off to see if there was any life in the old dog, but although the starter solenoid clicked, nothing else happened. I removed the starter motor, and checked that it was working.

With some further perseverance, rocking the car while in 4th gear, the engine finally turned over, revealing no further decay down the bores. Good news!
Soon the head will be decoked and then I'll fire it up & see where we stand.

The latest news is that the engine has been fired up & is running nicely. All of the engine compartment will now be reassembled to allow a road-test!

Next Problem...

On closer examination, I found a number of rust holes (surprise - NOT) in the sills of which this one is an example.
After spending several hours finding out that MIG welding under the car or upside down is not so easy, nor does it produce very pretty results.
I just hope Mr MOT Man likes the work...

� 1999 [email protected]


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