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UPDATED: Lillee is back on the road + Crabbing
https://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15917		 Page 1 of 2
Author:  Lillee [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:35 am ]
Post subject:  UPDATED: Lillee is back on the road + Crabbing
I am so happy I have to share!

After 2 weeks on jack stands, Lillee is back and running! YAY! Both diff side cover oil seals were *draining* out oil at the rate of approximately 20cm pool of oil every 12 hours :? . It was so bad that i had to top up oil every day.

Anyway it's now fixed, while I was under there I made some fixes, mainly a new rod change bush which makes the gear changes so much less sloppier. I also patched up the exhaust which was a huge improvement to cabin fumes :oops: and the best part, I spend saturday pulling my whole dash apart and fixed the blasted odometer!!! :D

2 years I've never had a working Odometer, how frustrating! it was just a simple flat spring that wore and fell off. It's all good now, i can see my miles tick over!! woohoo!

Best thing of all was i filled up with Castrol Formula R 25/50 "race proven formula". It smells so good and it also works really well! It's the best stuff I've ever used. Oil pressure when hot is fantastic! Highly recommended. It has come to my attention that Catrol have renamed this oil to Castrol Edge 25/50W.

Anyway I am on a high! My baby is running! Yay! 8) :oops: :P
Author:  Lillee [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:46 am ]
Post subject: 
Oops forgot to mention one thing: I noticed this has been talked about before but Lillee *noticeably* crabs.

Is this an easy fix? what can I do about it??
Author:  fuzzy-hair-man [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 10:58 am ]
Post subject: 
There are shims where the rear swing arms mount on to the rear subframe by adding or removing these you can adjust where the rear wheels point (to some degree) :wink:

Not too hard I guess provided the bolts aren't rusted up :roll: there is a pocket behind the subframe just perfect for trapping gravel and letting these the bolts rust in there :x

Hardest bit will be finding out which wheel(s) are causing the crabbing and how much they need to change :?
Author:  czerial [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:30 am ]
Post subject: 
good work mate. always nice to fix an oil leak!

And i am using castrol in Elmo at the moment. Could not tell the difference
between that and the K-mart brand oil that is cheaper and comes highly
recomended from GR....but in saying that. I will prob keep using the castrol as
i like having a name brand oil... just a bit of peace of mind...
Author:  speedy [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 11:38 am ]
Post subject: 
Congrats on getting him back up and running. I used Castrol Formula R non synthetic at the last oil change, and find that whilst cold the gear changes are difficult, and the take off in first can cause it to "hop". Once hot its great, but I wonder whether its too thick whilst cold even in summer. :?

As for the smell of it, I haven't tried it as an after shave. :wink: :D
Author:  udomatic [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 12:58 pm ]
Post subject: 
Sounds like Lillee needs her trailing arms rebuilt...

Kits are cheap in UK (minispares) but more $$ over here.
You'll need some reaming done by a mini specialist/machine shop to fit the bushes/bearings.
Not sure how easy it is to remove the arms while the subby is in situ but you'll need to let down the hydro, disconnect brake lines & handrake etc to get them out.
I had to literally dig mine out as they were buried in a pile of dirt & grease :(
Author:  fuzzy-hair-man [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:09 pm ]
Post subject: 
If it is crabbing and there is no movement or wear in the trailing arm's shaft, bearings or bushes I can't see why rebuilding the trailing arms would help :?
To test this jack the wheel up and grab the wheel and try twisting it vertically and horizontally if there is any movement then you probably need to rebuild your trailing arms like udomatic said.

The subframe can be out of square (marginly) so rebuilding won't help, that's what the shims are for :wink: If it's further than that out of square then perhaps some more major surgery or find a straight subframe. :cry:
Author:  drmini in aust [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 1:49 pm ]
Post subject: 
Minis to the uninitiated look like they are crabbing, because rear is narrower than the front and sides of car are not parallel.
Last time I followed Chong, it looked OK.
A quick check- sight along both sides of car from the rear, align the outer edges of rear tyre- see where it intersects with front part of sill or body. If both sides look the same, no sir, she ain't crabbing. :wink:

Ha-Ha was crabby when bought, heaps of toe-out on left rear (no shims). I fixed it by relocating the hole in trailing arm bracket forward 3mm, so I could shim behind the bracket.
Author:  Monster Mini [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 3:51 pm ]
Post subject: 
Great to have you back on the road ........take care of lillie.....
:D :) :D

Cheers Monster Mini
Author:  Lillee [ Mon Feb 06, 2006 7:38 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hey yeah I am pretty happy to have her running too...

Yes will have to ask the good doc to check the rear alignment. I have a sneaky feeling the doc is right and it isn't crabbing at all as I can visually see that the wheels look pretty dead on straight. Maybe St George Steering can tell me hmm...

Regarding Castrol 25/50. I have tried 25/60 and it's good but way too thick even for Lillee's tired 1100. I tried Valvoline XLD 20/50 cheapie stuff but it's way too thin! I think the leak mainly was exagerated by the thin oil? Anyway valvoline gave me really low oil pressure when hot, like 25! Now with castrol i get just below 50 hot at idle and 75 hot running. Gives me great pickup IMO...
Author:  Lillee [ Mon May 29, 2006 12:29 pm ]
Post subject: 
Quick Update: The saga is still not finished with the crabbing.

Apparently my rear right is toed in somewhat and the rear left is straight. This has been brought up in a topic earlier on Ausmini (Search for "Crabbing" :wink: ) and it seems like a factory condition :lol:

This is exactly the current geometry for Lillee: (sorry for stealing the pi skssgn :P )

Image

Not that it is noticeable on Lillee or anything, no noticeable tyre wear or anything, I just thought it would be good to have her running straight :lol:

Anyhow, I have new Yoko A008's on the old girl now so we'll see what St George Steering say about her rear toe in when i take her in tomorrow. To be continued... :wink:
Author:  Mike_Byron [ Mon May 29, 2006 2:30 pm ]
Post subject: 
Leffo will be good value as there is not too many who know more about minis than he.

He jst has to know that there is a problem there to suggest a fix, so make sure its mentioned.

.
Author:  clubmn [ Mon May 29, 2006 3:07 pm ]
Post subject:  mm1275
For the short term u could put a set of adjustable rear end with toe in adjustment, this would fix the problem However the RH wheel would sit out further than the LH....
It is either the Trailing arm or the subframe, which is the problem... I would fit the adjustable rear end on it for the short term....
Author:  NurseMini [ Mon May 29, 2006 5:09 pm ]
Post subject: 
Hi

Great to see Lillee is back, now she needs a friend, I have a clubby for sale. You can be like doc and have one of each

haha


nursemini
Author:  Lillee [ Mon May 29, 2006 11:25 pm ]
Post subject: 
No Room Wendy! :cry:

Will be reporting back Tomorrow :wink:
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