yea, what kev said. How much movement are we talking about??

Bugger Steve what a pita.
Get the end float checked if it's too much bring it home i have a tow car.
Organise a/some Brisbane based Ausmini member/s to come and assist, Hire an engine crane from kennards/wherever
I have pulled out and re-installed NAV's engine solo using an engine crane (from kennards) a shifter and some metric tools. I now have imperial tools.

Well............. a lot more than 0.003" thats for sure...... it's very noticeable and visible when moving it to and for....

Matt, got a call late last night.......... she's out i'm afraid....... not turning back now

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I got nuthin......................

Hopefully it's only the thrust washers that are buggered.
On the up side if it is buggered you get a whole new set of options on what you can do to slidey
It's always sad when you go to the garage and there isn't a mini in there waiting for you to take it for a drive.

geeez Steve, I feel for ya mate......

Slidey will survive....that's for sure.

Gosh Steve, I'm hurting with you mate Chin up, she'll be right. It'll only be the the washer that's wrong and you'll be running in no time

I would do it myself if I were you. Spend the money on tools that you need rather than mechanical labour. The next time something goes wrong, you can fix it yourself for nix! Go on! give it a go! I would!

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Hmmmm guys am giving the do it myself bit a go......... if it turns out that it is only the thrust washers...... if it is more complicated, well then i'll leave it to the pro's i think......

They havn't actually pulled the motor yet, just replaced the arm, pins and thrust bearing... so i got a few days to think

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I got nuthin......................

i'd be happy to help you out over the w-end if you like. my main area of expertise is walking to the fridge, getting a beer out, and returning with the beer in my hand to give to you.

Cheers for the offer Darren, my main issue is at the moment time .... will be working 60-70hrs weeks for the new few months 6-7 days a week so time will be at a massive shortage, so that is another reason for getting paid help to do it, even though it will cost a few pennies........

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I got nuthin......................

you sound so disheartened. i feel bad for you mate. its all part of the
mini cycle. (i explained it to JAM once, and by golly it came true).

in summary. you are experiencing such a bad time with slidey atm, that
sooner rather than later it will turn around and you will have a great
bit of time with your mini. then it will slowly slip into crap again, then slowly
into greatness. its just something that you cant excape.

Good luck. im sad for you

Yeah Chris it's all good.... these times are nothing compared to other significant low's in life............

Just like real estate ...... for every boom there is a bust....right?

I'm just telling myself to look forward to when i get him back, no issues nice smooth gear changing.... no clipping of gears.....

And then i will finally realise my dream of taking him up Mt Glorious/Mt Nebo and chase my best mate in his Mx5 that is very well setup (Adjustable Koni's, remap of ecu etc) and just have the Weber sucking o2, the rev's up high, the RC40 growling, the Webasto Peeled back and just......... YEAH


Ahhhhhh i can see and hear it now...............

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I got nuthin......................

sg - keep us posted on when you're gonna give it a shot. even if it's a while. i'll come along for some much needed comic relief, and i may even learn a thing or two.

if all else fails, we can play a game of "spot the new rust" on my car.

Steve just give us a shout and i'll see if i can come round and help.

That's the spirit!

Though you might need to go take a cold shower now

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Metal to burn, sparks to fly...

I'm just gonna tell you one thing and one thing only: TAKE HER TO A MINI MECHANIC TAKE HER TO A MINI MECHANIC TAKE HER TO A MINI MECHANIC TAKE HER TO A MINI MECHANIC TAKE HER TO A MINI MECHANIC.
Apart from displaying my copy and paste skills this is to advise you to TAKE HER TO A MINI MECHANIC. The longer I own a mini and the more I struggle the clearer the message grows. A) With tradesmen if you have even the slightest whif of doubt or suspicion that they are incompetent, or dishonest or dont understand you or might be the slightest pain in the arse --- Run and run straight away, bad first impressions are usualy correct, its not worth it.

B) If you think they dont know about minis, or dont deal with minis on a regular basis - RUN. Yea a good mechanic can do anything but he'll be slower at stuff that he doesnt do every day and will have to figure some stuff out, and all the while youre paying. You dont want the mechanics to learn and explore the best ways to work on a mini while they get $70 \ hour of your money for the experience.

Deal with mini proffesionals, those people deal with your type of car every day, they have the systems worked out and set up to do all the tasks the fastest and easiest way plus they try to establish some reputaton amongst mini owners. (you dont see many 99 corolas being fixed at any mini mechanic, nor do you see many classic cars at non specialising mechanics).
The $100 a tow truck to a different mechanic would cost you is 1.3 hours of their work and is well worth it. You just have to be persistent in expressing your urgency and predicament to the mini mechanics (as persistent as those guys who get their cars fixed after work). Its your car, demand the best for it and make sure you've got the best people doing the job (especialy as you might be facing some very major work).

Oh and BTW can anyone explain to me why we are talking about the crank endfloat, when from what he's saying they still havent even taken the flywheel cover off - could it be the release bearing that is moving (coz he's describing some visible movement here)?