EngineOut

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May update from The Scriv...

It appears from the website that everything’s stopped on the Doris front, so I suppose it’s time for a general roundup of what’s actually been going on. Firstly, yes, everything did kind of stop on the Doris front - I blame this mostly on me wanting to hibernate during the cold winter months, but also on me running a Mini as daily transport which, of course, requires attention every other day it seems to keep it running. Anyway, enough of the excuses - here’s a summary:

December 2005: MOT. Here’s what was on the failure list:

Nearside Headlamp aim too high when centre of the headlamp is below 850mm from the ground (x2)
Nearside stop lamp not working
Offside stop lamp not working
Nearside front position lamps not in clean condition and function impaired
Offside front position lamps not in clean condition and function impaired
Rear registration plate lamp not illuminating the registration plate
Offside seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded
Offside rear sub frame mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded
Front sub-frame fractured
Front sub frame insecure
Nearside rear brake recording little or no effort

It’s also become impossible to start her on the starter because the flywheel ring gear is so badly chewed up. OK so that’s quite a long list but most of it’s pretty mundane. Mostly it’s just the split sub frame that’s a bit of a pain.

January 2006: Bought a new starter motor off Ebay - nice and shiney… that’ll help.

March 2006: In the quest to fix the flywheel ring gear - bought an Austin Princess engine & ‘box on ebay for 99p. Picked this up from Liverpool and split to keep the gearboxy type bits - all looks to be in ok condition! This is an O-series 2000cc unit, but at first glance at least, the box looks to be almost identical to the 1800 Spag used originally on Doris. I haven’t checked the gears themselves yet, so I suppose there’s potential for differences is ratios/final drive.

6th May 2006: Finally, some action! Took the engine out. Of course it rained. I think I’ve only once taken an engine out without getting rained on. Nothing much to report; engine removal seems pretty much the same as with any Mini. Except the exhaust is a pain. The front sub frame is a bit of a mess though, it looks like building a new one may be a better option than repairing the old one.

See Scriv's magical removal movie 356kavi Engine_Removal May06.avi

NOTE AVI files compressed with the DivX codec, free from www.divx.com

Diy fuel injection by MEGASQUIRT www.msefi.com

For General V8 info try http://www.v-8.org.uk/forum/

For sensible Spag stuff visit www.spagweb.com or for madtech mayhem try www.magicspanner.co.uk

Looking for more Mini info ? Then try the Internet Mini Encyclopaedia www.ime.org.uk

Norfolk n Goode Pies, Your Favourite Farmyard Faces In Tasty Pastry Cases. http://www.norfolk-n-goode.co.uk

This page last modified 29/01/2007.