Topic: Reggie - 1996 Cooper S - Toe out.

[mudferret]

Next time you're on the civilized side of the city, let me know.

Are you still in the N-something?

I'm slumming it down in the 'boro (Haysboro).

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Are you still in the N-something?

I'm slumming it down in the 'boro (Haysboro).

Yep, I'm in the NW near crowfoot.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

So the other day, after leaving the car on jack stands for weeks, I decided to finally try and chase down some issues. Mainly a "rattling" sound that happens when the car is under load, an oil leak that looks like the gearshift, and trying to pull out the lambda (read: oxygen) sensor for a cleaning. I managed to tear apart the gear shift, to find out it's not the cause of the leak, remove the brace for the header, to find out it's not the cause of the rattle, and then decided not to remove the intake manifold to get to the sensor, as I don't have any replacement gaskets, and I'm pretty sure I'll also have to remove the exhaust manifold, as it's not a cross-flow head.

Afterwards, I opted to go for a test drive. And then this happened:


Toe Out by Jory Irving, on Flickr

The wheel pulled hard right, and it sounded like at least one tire had locked up. That was an interesting experience.

The problem appears to be in this general area:


Something's missing by Jory Irving, on Flickr

So it looks like the 3/8" nut backed off, and the lower arm pin just... popped out.
For reference:


Cagare came to my rescue with a jack and some hand tools, and after a $4 trip to Lowes for a new nylon nut, and some lock washers, I completely rebuilt the front suspension on the side of the road, and limped it home. All the threads were solid, and everything looked good.

Before pulling away, I opted to check the other side, and the nut was still there, so I tried to tighten it... and it just wouldn't bottom out. This frightened me, so I decided to take another look at it when I got home.

This is what I found:

That's even worse by Jory Irving, on Flickr

So I swapped in a spare I had. Hilariously these genuine pins are <2yr old with <1000km on them. So the fact that one completely backed off with a lock washer, and the other completely stripped the threads, is mildly concerning.

[Asstuna]

[diamondedge]

HFS. I saw your IG post but didn't know the details. +1 for Cagare.

So the other side was already stripped?
If it ain't tight it ain't right I guess.

Do other Mini guys throw threadlocker on that?

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Yeah, the side that fell out wasn't stripped, but the side that didn't fall out, was stripped.

Both are now back on, with new nuts and lock washers.
I'm not sure what other mini guys do, It's not a part that's commonly replaced. I only did it when I had the entire front suspension torn apart. The spare I had was the old one I previously removed.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Been a while. Decided to not completely ignore the car for a bit. Last spring I tried to troubleshoot the cold start flooding issue. It boiled down to likely being an IAT sensor. Apparently they're notorious for going bad. So I ignored it, and barely drove the car.
Took it out on Wednesday, and decently enjoyed it, so I decided to give it some love. Ordered the replacement IAT sensor, gave it an oil change, checked that no front suspension bolts were loose, and adjusted the valves, using this video:



SMCO is awesome, local, based out of Vancouver. Fantastic dudes to talk to.

I didn't have a 0012" feeler, so I opted to use a 0015", which was the smallest I had. Since every singe valve was way looser than that, I figured it was an improvement. Since I removed the spark plugs anyways, I opted to do a quick compression test. I labelled the Cyl 1->4 from Left to Right.

Cyl 1: 175psi
Cyl 2: 175psi
Cyl 3: 180psi
Cyl 4: 170psi



And the spark plugs, 1-4 from left to right.



Seems to idle much better, which I'm stoked on. I'm sure it would be even nicer with the proper clearance. I also found it near impossible to turn the engine over, so I had to put the car in gear and shunt it back and forth.

[jellynuts]

I also found it near impossible to turn the engine over, so I had to put the car in gear and shunt it back and forth.

Wow, nice update! 

You live on a hill, but I guess you'd have to get the car onto the hill

[Cagare]

checked that no front suspension bolts were loose

Good call...oof

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Good call...oof

It's *much* easier when you're under the car on a 4 post hoist.

[tperkins]

Cute little nugget.

[darthekai]

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

After RTP and Canuckrz pointed out I was supposed to use 0.012, not 0.0012 feelers, I redid the valves. Car runs wonderfully. I get a solid clunk on 1-2 shifts, and going over some bumps, so engine mounts are likely shot, but it sounds like a huge PITA to replace, without pulling the motor.

Also, I still get that "coin" sound from the exhaust, that's been driving me nuts for years. I was hoping a valve adjustment would fix it, but nope.

[Canuckrz]

I get a solid clunk on 1-2 shifts, and going over some bumps, so engine mounts are likely shot, but it sounds like a huge PITA to replace, without pulling the motor.

Can you not just borrow/rent an engine support bar?

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Can you not just borrow/rent an engine support bar?

It's not that. You need to remove the rad for one support (which is a huge PITA cause it's sideways), or remove the clutch cover plate for the other one (which is a huge PITA, cause the engine bay is tiny)

[Canuckrz]

On the bright side when the engine is out you can take the opportunity to replace it with a B16b.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Turns out the clunks were the passenger side wheel bearing (left hand side). Grabbed a new lucas one from a local mini shop for ~$60, watched a vid, asked Asstuna if he was bored, and went to town.



Surprisingly only took 2.5 hours for the entire process. Did a short test drive, and it appears resolved. The cold start flooding is still present, but I have a new IAT sensor in a box, that took a month to get here from the UK. They're apparently notorious for going bad, and are ~$50 for a new one.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Got some new headlights for the mini. I've been on the fence about these for ages, but I finally saw them in person on another mini I saw on Crowchild, so I finally decided I liked them.

Originally, I wanted these:
https://stevestonmotorco.com/products/led-headlamps
But I'm cheap, and didn't want to pay that much for these, so at the recommendation from a friend, Don, I opted to go the "cheap" route. Wish. Turns out these are identical to the 7" Jeep wrangler headlights, so one $80 wish order later, and about a 45 day shipping time, they arrived.

I tried to take more pics for tperkins sake.

Unboxing. Cause I don't have a youtube channel to bother teasing these for a week straight.


They came with a funky H4 adapter that I didn't need, and H4 plug with DRL wiring.


Old lights had these weird round splice plugs. New lights had blade connectors. I figured I'd just make my own adapters using the old lights.


These were pretty easy to replace honestly, There's a single philips screw at the bottom of the chrome ring, then you pop the entire ring off by lifting from the bottom. The bulb is held in by another ring with adjusters underneath. 3 more philips screws, and it pops out. There were 2x H4 plugs, one had wires coming out for the DRL wiring, and the other plugged into the bulbs. I assume that this is the reason for the DIY/custom relays in the engine bay, so I opted to use that wiring as well.



I didn't take the wiring pictures until I installed the second one, but here's photos of just the left side installed, for comparison.
Off:


DRL - New headlights are just the ring, old ones are a very low beam.


Lights on. This is the two side, and top bulb on the new ones, and a normal low beam on the H4.


Highbeams. All the lights on the new one, and just brighter on the H4.


And both installed:


Hilariously, these are stamped with DOTSAE, but I doubt they're legit. Either way, they're brighter than the old ones, that are still covered in JDM stickers. H4 Haloden IPF 910h. Light output is much brighter in all aspects. SMCO teases that their v2 of these now integrates the turn signal into the LED (the ring turns orange), but I assume I'd need to run new wiring, and I'm happy with these. I would love to track down some amber signal lights for both the front and the side, one day.

[tperkins]

Hmm, I don't know how I feel about these. I like the extra light but maybe I like the period correctness of the OE lights?

you are supposed to have a picture of the light on your garage door though, but healthy amount of pictures <3

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Hmm, I don't know how I feel about these. I like the extra light but maybe I like the period correctness of the OE lights?

you are supposed to have a picture of the light on your garage door though, but healthy amount of pictures <3

The garage door was open, because that's where all the tools are.
If I wanted it to be period correct, it would still be in pieces, rusting out.

I also wouldn't have Evo 8 seats in it.

[Cagare]

I personally enjoy a classic car with the modern features as long as it maintains the original character of the car.

Speaking of which, start a k swap savings account yet?

[kijho]

Sweet!!

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

I personally enjoy a classic car with the modern features as long as it maintains the original character of the car.

Speaking of which, start a k swap savings account yet?

I don't want a K. I want a B. With a K you need to cut off the front end and extend the front clip. A B will fit inside the OEM shell. Trade offs are that a K swap is more expensive for the swap, but motors are cheap. B swap is cheaper on the swap, but the motors cost more (and are likely reducing in numbers).

But I would love to have a B18c1 in there one day.

[diamondedge]

Bring this lady to the meet tonight!

[seat safety switch]

Cool. I was really curious about those 7" LEDs ever since the Petersen(?) ones came out on RockAuto. $80 seems like a pretty good deal assuming they survive.