With the engine removed again, it was time to start on a long list of rework and fixes ...

I wanted to avoid having a long rubber coolant hose behind the engine (that connects the cabin heater core outlet and water pump suction pipe) to mitigate rubber hoses rubbing on things. I made a short hard line with a rubber adapter on either end with the bracket bolting under the intake manifold.


I also formed a bead on both ends and welded on a tab on either end so I know that I've pushed enough hose onto the tube when fitting the hoses.


While I was heat cycle testing the engine in the Mini, I had the radiator cap off and forgot to pressure test the system. To simulate this I blocked off all coolant ports and made a plastic plug for one of the radiator hoses, with an air line fitting screwed into the plug.


With the workshop air system set to 20psi, I sprayed soap/water mixture around all the coolant fittings to look for any bubbles and found one leak around the turbo coolant lines, which I then replaced.


The clutch line was interfering with the radiator bottom outlet when removing the radiator so I remade the clutch line to tuck in much tighter against the gearbox
Old line


New line


The HKS adjustable wastegate actuator length was preloaded to start opening at 9psi. This will likely need adjusting once the Mini is on the road


The hole for the accelerator cable that I made in the bulkhead a long time ago was a hack just to get the cable route correct, but now wanted to make a better seal over the steel lip in that part of the bulkhead


New mount

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-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

Great stuff Alan, keep it up!

I wanted to remake the layshaft bracket as the old one had a few bolt fitment issues and was badly warped from when I first made it. I used my 3D printer to print a series of prototypes to make sure the hole spacings were dead on


The final layshaft design in plastic


..and in 8mm steel (laser cut)


The alternator bracket I made a long time ago didn't have the alternator properly aligned which ended up causing the belt to move side to side slightly while the engine was running. I wanted a much more accurate way to align both crankshaft and alternator pulleys and I ended up making multiple one-off tools for this task. The first tool was a length of steel rod that I machined to fit some standard 608 bearings.


which when pressed against the crank pulley, indicated the centreline and was accurate enough to indicate a ~1.5mm misalignment over approx 330mm (less than 0.5 degrees)




With some 3D printed spacers between the camgear and alternator and a one-off between the crank pulley and alternator pulley, I made a new alternator bracket




New bracket


This may seem overkill for a single alternator bracket but it was worth it to get the alignment spot on, especially with the engine running to just over 7000rpm. The alignment was checked and the engine run to ~3500pm with no visible movement on the belt.

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

very snazzy!! this is one of the few threads I'm subscribed to.. always impressive

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

In regards to the bracket, I also realised that one bolt boss on the engine block is actually 1mm lower than the others, as indicated by this piece of 1mm steel sheet and a ruler edge. I made the original bracket years ago and never picked up on this before and until now could never figure out why it didn't fit perfectly


Once the bracket was remade, I also welded on a 1mm washer on the back of the bracket to allow for the difference in that third bolt boss height on the block.

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

Nice work Mearcat,

Yeah those bolts on the back are super annoying. Why are they all different heights/depths/sizes!!

Looks like you are nearing the end too so well done.

Cheers
Madmorrie

I originally machined a plastic Tee piece and a 90deg elbow to join the two ports in the cam cover to the Provent oil separator but when I had the engine running, I realised that they were not sealing properly so a redesign was in order. Old design :


I started with welding an elbow - lightly press fitted into the breather port between cylinder 1 & 2.


I used my 3D printer to prototype and make a single piece connector instead. I may remake this in steel later or just keep it as PETG.


The oil drain hose from the Provent oil separator was also fouling on the engine mount bracket. I bent some 25mm tube and welded a section of it to the engine mount bracket to stop any rubbing.


Significant sections of the inner guards were cut away to fit the custom subframe and I wanted to make some inner guard liners to prevent potential debris from entering the engine bay from the wheel wells. I mocked up a design in cardboard, then replicated it in fibreglass.
Drivers side :


Passengers side (weird shape cutout of for the gearbox snout)


A few tabs tapped with a M5 thread were then welded on the subframe to mount the fibreglass liners. These liners are not designed to be a super tight fit - there is minor gap between the pieces and subframe. This photo was taken of the drivers side from inside the engine bay

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.

Great work!

_________________

I've lost count the number of times I've had to remake brake lines after designs have changed, and here we go again...
I firstly 3D printed and assembled a plastic version of the commerically available hand-held straightener and it works surprisingly well especially compared to the DIY version I made years ago





The passenger side brake caliper line mount under the engine is far lower than ideal and exposes it to getting damaged from underneath.


I mocked up the brake line route with some wire and made a guard / skid plate that bolts to the tie-rod bracket, to mitigate any debris strike. The route does ensure clearance for the tie rod to fit and move up/down.


An intermediate line from underneath the gearbox to a joiner in the engine bay, with a mount against the subframe to hold the brake line joiner.


At the end of this intermediate line, I used a standard joiner however I machined a small section in the centre of it and 3D printed a saddle clamp for it, where the clamp has semi-circle underneath. This acts as a retainer and keeps the joiner from moving laterally, although thinking about it later this is probably overkill. Ah well


Now that I'm no longer using a brake booster, the brake line from the master cylinder to the front 3-way splitter Tee was remade (and Tee relocated from the previous location) and then the two lines from the splitter tee to the brake hose mounts made - a short line on the drivers side and longer one on the passenger side.


I also decided to remake the rear brake line (lower on on master cylinder) - so the bend radiuses matched

_________________
-Alan
I blame my dad for my love of minis. I think I was conceived in the back seat of one
I also blame my Dad for me being 6' 1" - not really the optimum height for driving a Mini.