Not sure if it's really related but on the mini matic before I did anything to it since getting it it would sit at about 180-195f. Hottest 200. (Mainly when driving up a hill)

Anyway, went to a mate who had a hydro pump as my front bags were a bit too low. Pumped it up - that went well.

Had an electronic dizzy given by the person I bought my wheels from. Mate said we should be able to bung it on. Get it on but wouldn't start. Opened it up and found it had no rotor lol.

Put rotor from another older dizzy on got it running but ran so bad. As in coming up a hill it went from 4th all the way down to 1st with the pedal absolutely flat to the floor. It was guuuutleeeesss. Tried hand turning motor but couldn't find a tdc marker on the wheel??????? No paint or writing.

Open dizzy up and find that button is busted. Looked burnt out.

Put old dizzy back in and find out mate doesn't have his timing light so same with elec dizzy he takes rocker cover off to find tdc or near it. Start it up and off it goes. Go around the block. Runs better but slightly down on power. He adjusts timing and adjusts carbs as he reckons it runs lean.

Put everything back together and started to drive. Temp at about 180 when I left. After a while I could feel the mini still struggling. Temp was getting hotter too. Highest I've had it is about 200/210 at thievery most up a hill but it'll cool down on a straight. But this time around on a flat highway the temp was going up. As in sitting on 210. Had to drive up a hill and I could have sworn I saw it get up to 250. )might even be over as that's as high as it went) motor didn't seem to be slower than when I left. Wasn't spilling coolant or anything. Get to another friends place and he suggests I advance the timing when I get home. On the way home even in the rain going between 60/80lph temp was about 210. On,y went down if I poured water over the rad.


Get it home, advance timing a bit ( I don't have a timing light. Will buy one tomorrow. ) fiddle with carb a bit. Felt like it was drowning in fuel. Drove better after fiddling. Pickup was just about back to normal and temp stayed lower for a bit. About 180 then crept up to 205. Now it might be running a bit cooler as it's now nighttime so I can't really say till tomorrow but what else should I check? Should I be worried that the motor is cactus now? Lol. When temp is on higher side it'll blow white smoke when you rev it.


I'll drive it in the morning to see if it gets over 200 again.



What could be causing it though? It's not an original gauge or sender but it's never gone over 205 really. Was gonna put thermo fan but I want to sort out the standard cooling first. Thoughts please? I'll try and adjust timing tomorrow but with no mark to base off I don't know what it's at anyway. Just annoying it was fine prior lol. Now I try and fix it and it gets worse.

It retarded, it'll run hot.
If buying a timing light get an electronic dialback one. Convertible Mini on here sells them. or try eBay, mine is an Innova 3568.

Then you can put an accurate TDC mark on the flywheel, or the crank pulley (+ add a pointer to the timing cover).
This type timing light allows you to check the timing over the full advance range from idle to max advance (usually around 4000rpm), using only the TDC marks. Most Mini engines like about 30deg max advance (vac line disconnected for test) at 4000 rpm or a bit less.
This is better than setting it static to the book, and praying the dizzy advance is still working to spec after 40+ years.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

It's a Matic, the timing mark will be under a rubber plug on the converter cover, to turn the motor over to find the mark there is another rubber bung that you can poke a screwdriver into the ring gear.

Thank you. What's the best or easiest way to set the carb??

i cannot for the life of me decipher which is tdc??

on on bit its got a little extra lump of metal




and on the other a paint chip that looks like an arrow.



aside from that theres some machine markings around it. but not enough for it to be an indicator????


just looked in the rad - had lots of coolant the other day. Now its below the top. Probably part of the reason its running hot lol

Nope, it is normal for the top tank to lose nearly 1/2 the water from expansion, when checked cold. As it warms up again the water will expand, air will be pushed out and the level will rise to full again (but you won't see this).
Some Minis have a level marker inside, below the neck.

I would pull the radiator and wash it out with the garden hose. If you can see any blocked cores, get it stripped and recond by a rad shop. Around $100 or so.

[edit] Is the 'Matic heater still in there and connected? The handbook says it's an essential part of the cooling system on a `Matic.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I just read this and from what I understand, the car was fine till your mate 'fixed' it, yes?
My suggestion would be to get someone who knows what they're doing to look at it before spending anymore time/money.
I'm not trying to be pessimistic and I'm all for having a go but it sounds like it's spiraling out of control.
The timing and carb settings have to be right for it to run ok........not just 'near enough'.
The engine will run hot if either or both are not right.

BTW, the timing marks should be in there, you have to get mirror and look straight in, right up near ring gear. Bit hard to explain, it'll have a 1|0 |5 1|4 in there.

Yeah. We didn't have a timing light when we put the old one back in. So it was definitely out of tune.

And yes the heater is still in place.

This...

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Justin

So I got it running at a point where it stays cooler and runs well. Then the dodgy wiring on the radio decided to go up in smoke. Lol. Car is ok. Just need to see what other wire might have been collateral damage. Lol.

Ah, the joys of old cars. I suppose if it was a brand new car and the radio smoked out, not only would you need a genuine radio because nothing else would fit, you'd need to have it coded to the CAN system, it would probably have frizzed to body control module and taken two weeks to fix in the dealership.
What ended up being wrong with the car?

Dodgy radio Wiring. As in they had three hot wires going into one plug for the glass fuse. Lol. Classy.


Got it up and running. Luckily was only radio wiring. Removed the aftermarket temp gauges for now. Will get timing set tomorrow anyway. All lights work bar rear park lights and license plate lights. Will change bulbs and see how it goes. I need original gauges I reckon