Hi guys and gals,

Currently in the process of removing the front subframe and engine and have all disconnected bar what the manual describes as 4 bolts with locking tabs that need to be knocked back to undo. Can't seem to spot these buggers and any hints would be terrific. It's a 71 moke.

Thanks,

Nick.

What bolts have you removed so far Nick , there are two at the front of the subframe , four at the top of the subframe towers (in the engine bay on the crossmember that has the master cylinders on it) and four or so in the drivers and passengers footwells .

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hey there. I've removed the two at the very front, that bolt through next to the grill and the four that secure the rear of the subframe to the driver and passenger footwells. I had to actually grind these off because when trying to undo the nuts, the studs were just spinning with them and the head of the stud seems to be inside the body of the car, with no access from above or anywhere else.

The manual quotes these as being "set screws" so maybe they have been replaced with the wrong thing and the captured nut or whatever is inside there has let go.

The last four I cant find are the ones that are meant to be on the subframe towers as you say. All I can see there is four nuts that hold a metal access plate on the top of the suspension cone housings on each side.

Just here and here

On most dry subframes there are 4 tower studs and nuts. Hydro cars had 4 bolts.
Take those nuts off, it's them.

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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.

Thank's Simon ,I was searching for an engine bay shot that showed the bolts clearly but couldn't find one .

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Yep, just got up to the garage in time. It's absolutely bucketing down now.

Yep, that's them. I couldn't see they served any purpose when I removed one. Probably just tired from the days work on it. I'll remove them first thing tomorrow and let you know how I go.
Thanks again for your help guys, much appreciated.

Nick.

seems like someone has had some rust repairs done on your floors & covered the holes where the subframe bolts go--->, the ones you had to grind off

the tower bolts are the ones you described as little plate bolts,,,yeah those are the ones, same as in the pic above

It will pay you to drill through (from under the car) the floor bolt holes,,, then get a larger drill (or hole saw) & cut bigger holes into the "rust repair plates" to gain access to the subframe mounting holes in the floor,,, you may even be able to dig out the old heads of the bolts that you cut off otherwise they will rattle around in there for ever

sorry if you don`t understand that bit,,, but if you can picture the original foor to be 2 levels where the bolts go through, then you may get the idea,,, i`m hopeless at drawing on a computer (i`m actually quite good at normal drawing tho) But if someone could draw a picture that section for him/her then it may make more sense than me dribbling on about it yeah?>??

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

dont forget to undo the shockers

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120bhp with 450kg just fun waiting to happen

We were prob. drunk when we set it up last and thought this will be a good idea

Ah, so are you saying I should be able to access the top of the subframe to floor bolts from inside the car, it's just that they have been covered over?

Removed those four subframe tower nuts this morning, obvious now how they work . But the subframe is being a little bugger and wont budge, I'm guessing from many years of being where it is, she's fairly original.

I'll wait till my father gets home and then hopefully we'll be able to muscle the body off.

Yeah, thats it. My mini had been done like that, with plates over the mounting holes.

Have you disconnected all of the gearchange stuff? And the earth strap from the clutch end of the engine bay? And the speedo cable?
There the things ive heard of that people forget to undo when removing an engine.

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Simplify and add lightness

Ok. Looks like I will drill the holes out then, so that the bolt heads can be accessed through the inside. With a bit of bouncing and shaking and jacking the body up off the ground, the subframe has dropped a considerbale amount. Just that last little bit to go.

Yep, all of those are disconnected, just a little more persistance required .