Mechanical Adventures

continued

Leftover Parts (luckily, no spare nuts, bolts, or washers)

Putting the Mini back together was rather uneventful, especially with proper tools like a torque wrench and various shop manuals. (I have both the British Leyland shop manual and Haynes. Haynes is easy to read, as it's well-organized and has lots of photos.) There were only minor adjustments to the exhaust pipe mounts and the valve cover gasket. I also made adjustments to the rocker-to-valve clearances, as it seemed convenient to do so. The above photo shows the old head gasket, valve cover gasket, exhaust/intake gasket, water pump (old but functional), water pump pulley (I bent the old one when I used the crowbar on the head), the center stud, water pump bypass hose, thermostat & water pump gaskets, and the old header collector with some "peeled-off" sections next to the pulley.
The Mini-SS Has Easy Access

Photo taken moments before the Test Drive

After I got the Mini back together, I couldn't resist taking it out for a test drive. Fortunately, I exercised caution and ran the engine in the garage for a while, and noticed that the temperature was still going higher than 190�F. Oh, yeah, I forgot to fill both the radiator & block with coolant! I also re-adjusted the exhaust pipe as it was touching the rear body panel and made noise. I washed the car (a mistake), and off to the streets I went. There was a moment of despair as the ignition shut off while I was on the freeway, forcing me to pull over to the shoulder. A motorcycle CHP officer stopped by to check as I was drying off water (from washing the car) from the coil-to-distributor connection which fixed the problem (this had happened while I drove in the rain before, so I knew where to look). Other than that, the Mini-SS ran just fine.

Note: I've fixed the water-into-the-coil problem by buying a rubber coil cover from Mini Mania and using dielectric grease (available at most auto parts stores) on the coil's electrical connections.

This has been a very rewarding experience for me. Working on my Mini was relatively easy, as the fiberglass front end just lifts away for an easy access to the engine bay. It's been made easier, thanks to help from Don Racine and others at Mini Mania for their valuable advice and encouragement, and Scott Hung for dropping by to help.

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