Great job. The timing cover on a A Series engine is known to leak from the pully seal. Best slip the pully on before doing up all the cover bolts so the cover is centred.
I am 71 years old and I HOPE to learn something every day!!! I started this car thing when I was 12 years old. Have done just about everything mechanical and fabrication wise. Built drag cars from the ground up, ran an A/Fuel dragster, 98% Nitro, STILL LEARNING!!!
A trick and old motorcycle racer taught me. Liberally coat both sides of a paper or cork gasket with white lithium grease. The grease swells the gasket and it is removable reusable infinitely with not gasket scraping. I have done it for over 50 years with never a weep or leak.
I sure am enjoying this rebuild! I've never seen the guts of those Mini engines, and I am fascinated to see the differences between it and similarly sized bike engines that I've worked on. Thanks for bringing us along with you for the rebuild!
Great to watch this build. A 1275cc Mini engine was hot stuff in the UK when I was young. Don't forget to put the put a solid rubber (rather than compressible) bypass hose onto the water pump (with hose clips) before mounting the head. I took my first head off an A-series when I was 10 years old.
I was happy to see you install at least one piston with the handle of all hammer, like us ordinary people 😉. Enjoying them build, thanks for the videos. 👍
The Morris Austin engines having the distributor positioned at the front were renowned for stalling when driving in heavy rain. A cheap but useful trick was to install a bread plastic bag over the distributor, pop all the leads through the bag to keep it dry.
It's fun to see the 1275 rebuild - back in the 1970's I had the entertainment of overhauling a couple of 1098's - narrower bore - thus the rods were skew cut, and because the bores were offset from the center - rather than evenly spaced - there were 2 different types of connecting rods - to account for the fact that the bores were not centered over the crank throws - add to that a 5 ring piston (3 compression rings, 1 standard oil ring, and a non-rotating oil ring in the skirt) with fully floating piston pins on an engine with a roughly 2.5 inch bore. I didn't see another piston like that until I worked on marine diesel engines - but they were much, much larger.
Interesting on the water pump locator holes. I used to work at an aluminum diecast plant (9.5 years) and those cores inside the die that leave cast holes were always a flat end with no radius. To me it seems that the core for that hole was worn and they continued to use it. We rotated dies in machines though and always had them inspected and replaced. Since the smallest die was 8 tons and takes about 8 hours to remove it, replace cores or injector pins, re install it, heat the die and get it running castings again.
This has been a fun series to watch mostly because it's not focused on building up some giant, hillbilly 700 cubic inch V8 or whatever that's been done to death. Amazingly, there are different engine types out there that aren't 1000HP monsters!
Never put sealant on both sides of a gasket. Gasket material is made to be resistant to the fluid it is sealing, so all that is accomplished by sealing both sides of a gasket is to make it harder for the next guy to disassemble. With that being said, from a procedural standpoint, this show is spot on. This from 50 years mechanical experience, from small engines to a Cat dealership mechanic's position.
Loving this series. Watching an American working on a mini engine is like watching a Brit working on a flathead V8. Two different cultures colliding. It's all about the love of the engine, respect.
I was raised with Plastigage, never had a problem. It will reveal taper in the journals, too. Using ID mikes and snap gages is an art and takes a fair amount of experience to get the feel right.
00:04 "there was no internet in 1995". Although not what you would recognize today as the internet, there certainly was an internet and email that used it. Lots of my work was done through a dial up connection. Just think if we had all invested in popular internet businesses back then?
One tip about the water pump. Put the bypass hose on before or as you're putting on the head. It's a pain in the butt if you wait till after the head is on.
Well here is my RockAuto tip of the day for you Davin. In a pinch, when you do not have any acceptable gasket material Cork or Paper from your local auto parts store, a shoe box can be used as an acceptable sub-statue for things like Thermostat housings and water pumps. Does not seam like it will work, but it does due to being compressed thus making it harder for water to soak through, as long as you add a sealant of some kind.
Back in the early 80s I had to go back to work in the Rockies from the coast. Didn't have any wheels but, there was an old Renault 10 in the driveway that needed some 'reassembly'. It is a wet sleeve block but, there were no gaskets available. Good thing the old man still smoked because that's what we used. Cut out gaskets from his smoke packs. Put the engine together and drove it back and forth to the Rockies a few times... I like the shoe box though, great idea 👍
Telescoping gages, measured over the tips with mikes, are very accurate if used correctly. Place the lightly tensioned gage in the bore at a slight angle so it’s set a little larger than the bore you’re measuring and push through. It will “find” the largest diameter and hold it, (they’re clever little devils), then carefully mike over the tips for a reading. Repeat three times for an average and you’re there. Takes a machinist “feel” but that’s the way it’s done.
just a tip on the distributor drive shaft installation,screw a longbolt into the centre to lower it into the engine to time it to the camshaft,dont ask me why lol.
It's funny seeing this - back when I was about 17 I was rebuilding a 1275 Cooper S that had rotted out subframes and a blown engine - I got it because it seemed cool and given the state it was in was very cheap. Never thought I would read someone describing it as a "classic" about 40 years later - although it was definitely a fun car to drive.
Hi Dave enjoy the video,you can time the distributor quite easily.The drive shaft has an offset slot on the top, if you put the shaft in with larger side of drive towards the bottom and the slot approximately at 45 deg it should be spot on.If you need to go a tooth either way this is easily done by screwing threaded bar into hole in drive slot,lifting and turning either way Hope this is some help.Cheers Mike.
We use the Right Stuff that comes in caulking tubes. They make a 6 inch and a 12 inch tube. Another thing is that Perfect Circle and Speed-Pro both recommend using WD-40 on rings when installing. They say the thinner lubricant helps to seat the rings. Check into it!
Great detail and preparation in your work, as a British guy I had countless minis back in the 1990’s. With various engines, 1275cc 1293cc and 1380cc capacities. I’m going to agree with some of the other comments, your Crank tolerances are awfully tight, these engines usually have closer to 00.25 - small amount of crank lash is expected and they do like to run hard when built properly. I wouldn’t use any gasket sealant on the Oil side - addition of an Oil Cooler is worthwhile and I always used a break in oil for the first few hundred miles, then regular changes - good quality Oil is a must to keep the gearbox happy. Good luck with the rest of the build 👍🏻
So much care and thought is put into these builds, anyone that would give you grief about which gage to use is just splittin hairs. If you're assembling something to within 0.0016" tolerance, there is bound to be slop in ALL measurement methods. What it all boils down to is experience with each tool. The perfect tool in the hand of an amateur is useless. Any of the three gages mentioned here in the hands of a professional, like Hagerty, will do just fine. Great content as usual! Love these builds. Thanks!
After more than a handful of decades on the good side of dirt, it occurs to me that the old car hobby may very well be the best one to partake in, for a number of reasons - but the most important reason may be because "they're never *really* done", are they? Even if we've just completed part or whole of a project, we're still *thinking* of what else we could try or do to it - or what else we could have done better or differently or whatever, all in an effort to better the car (even if it winds up sometimes that we didn't eventually). It's a positive, constructive passion, it really is. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone! -Ed on the Ridge
I am an amatuer mechanic and can figure out a lot of things to repair on vehicle. Rebuilding a motor like Davin is doing is something I would love to learn. My father taught me most of things I know on cars.
Great project, I have owned 7 Minis over the years but have never rebuilt one of their engines. Your videos are always a joy to watch. Keep up the good work!
I rebuilt my first engine a few months back with the help of this channel and some others as well and I cannot thank enough. My biggest fear was leaks - well, good thing important seals like on the crankshaft are spot on. I just saw the other day that the crankcase cork or paper has been seeping a minimal amount and I was wondering how the heck. I was about to replace it with another one and probably watch it seep again. On this video I learned that paper/cork gaskets don't replace fully the manually applied silicone but work together instead, great 🙏
One thing you can do is become fastidious on checking for level surfaces. Every component of an engine starts to distort under the constant heating/cooling cycle it goes through daily. Get a quality straight edge, a few of differing lengths, and start check for flat surfaces, remove the high spots gently then assemble to proper torques.
I love these videos. And I also love how you consistently tell us all to get into the shop. More often than not, you're the inspiration I need to get out there and do SOMETHING, even if it's just cleaning a bit. So, thank you.
I was always taught to put sealer on one side and grease on the other side of a gasket. Makes getting it apart, in case you need to in a way that will not destroy the gasket. I have never had an issue with any leaks doing it this way. I also target the side that would be harder to scrape to put the grease on.
Tip on your Silicon RTV. My dad use to work for Dow Chemical in the corporate headquarters in Midland, Michigan and he told me that the RTV that smells slightly like vinegar should be stored in a freezer for the longest shelf life. It works quite well, I have Caulking Gun Tubes that have been in my freezer for over ten plus years and other than the tip hardening up, is still usable. This works best on the tubes that have an actual cap you can seal the end up on, but I have also used it on the large tubes and just used a Saran Wrap type of plastic to seal the ends. By the way, I love the color Green, but the English chose one of the ugliest greens i have ever seen for that poor engine block.
This has been a great project to watch. Thank you for discussing Plastigage. I never planned to work on any cars again, but had catastrophic failures in two cars at the moment even used cars got very hard to find, so I'm re-learning stuff I thought I knew, and learning a bunch of new stuff. This channel is one that keeps me motivated to finish the second vehicle and get it on the road (the first one is going again and is somehow much more satisfying to drive).
When you put the head on just remember to put the little hose between the water-pump & head. They are a #%%%$#% to put on later. Billy J... Queensland, Australia.
Pleases me no end seeing a 1275 MOWOG (made out of wild otter guts) Austin Healey motor being built. My first car was an Austin Heaely Sprite Mk 4, it had the same motor which I rebuilt 2 times over the years I owned it.
Really enjoying this video series. I have gotten snap gauges to agree with the bore gauge. No doubt they are slower and require more care, but they can be made to work. Agree that plastigage is the last resort.
Hey Davin! Great to see the mini engine going together so well. That was a well-spotted misfit on the water pump, could have cost a cracked body otherwise (I did an almost identical build for a customer back in 1975, and I think we managed 95 bhp at the flywheel using a 40 DCOE side draught Weber carb back then….) Have a great 2022 buddy! 🙏😊🇬🇧
Really been enjoying these episodes and I love seeing more mini video content. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this. I noticed, the spray shield/washer on the timing cover side crank pulley was put on backwards. You may end up with some oil leaks out that timing cover in the future. The washer that lives under the pulley should be facing the other direction.
I have built thousands of engines (probably half of them minis) and I check every single bearing with plasitgauge. It is not absolute, but it is the last sanity check to make sure nothing has gone cattywompus. However, I will mention that telescoping gauges can be very accurate if they are used correctly instead of the way most people use them.
Have fun with that 12g333 gearbox. You’ll need to grow an extra set of hands with the gear retainers or custom made tools using tig wire and, vacuum hose and tweezers. And for those needle bearings do it dry and use a rubber band to hold them in place using dental picks and don’t use grease in fact do the hole thing dry because it will be swimming in oil once you put the thing together Also minis don’t go well with RTV silicone. What happens is the gears mash it up So fine it get sucked up by the oil pick up and can get to places you don’t want it to go. Use the permatex aviation for-a gasket never dry stuff that’s
Agree. The only place RTV should be used on the mini is on the rubber half moon seal between the crank and gearbox front main bearing. Everything else should be Permatex #3.
My project car is sitting covered in snow right now because it lost oil pressure. I guess the engine will come apart next. And I will probably use plastigauge as I was taught in the 70's and have used on hundreds of engines since. Dad didn't have "fancy" gauges like that when he taught me to use it. We have since gained them though.
I read somewhere that the Brits didn't do much planning when designing a new car. When it came to building the prototype, they ran into snags and worked around it, not always in a good way. For instance, in one British car, I can't remember the make, the front engine mounts had to be loosened and the engine jacked up a bit to replace the fanbelt. So, if you run into some weird stuff on this car, you know the reason!
@@grievuspwn4g3 Please keep in mind that the original mini was a disruptive technology for its time. I am pretty sure this was the birth of mounting engines transversely. And positioning the complete drive train as a small package in front came to dominate (and continues to dominate) the packaging of ICE cars today. Yes, there were many shortcomings of the original design, but it resulted in a paradigm shift in powerplant/driveline packaging.
I’m sure someone’s said this (but I can’t search the comments), but Austin and British Leyland weren’t famous for checking tolerances (or anything really). What they were famous for were Friday Cars, famously light-weight, low equipment, and lethal!
Plasti-Gauge in my experience works really well and that’s with tight tolerance motorcycle engines. One thing is critical though and that is the Plasti-Gauge must be fresh and pliable. Old or long open packages of it will dry out, shrink and give you a false tight reading.
You were talking about how small the Cooper engine is. I commonly rebuild some little 3 cylinder Kubota Diesel engines that are .662 liters. They also make 2 cylinder version of this engine.
As for buying a project and getting to work on it, it's currently -10F (-25c) here with a non-heated garage. Projects are on hold until spring. Fact of life living on the Canadian Prairie. ☹️
Couldn’t agree more. Buy somthing, it doesn’t have to be big, and stop criticizing someone who is doing something. Yes they’ll do it wrong but that’s how you learn and I’ve learnt a lot! 🙄
Really enjoying the depth and detail you are covering in the is rebuild. It'll be a work of art when finished. When disassembling the engine you were concerned about the crank end float, but when re-assembling didn't mention replacing the crank thrust bearings and checking again, I presume you did this and wonder what the end float difference was after the new bearings?
As you have a new camshaft, you should really get a timing disc and verify correct open/close of cylinder 1 inlet valve. Dot to dot is not very reliable on modern cams, it could easily be 5 or more degrees out. Use an offset woodruff key or an adjustable cam sprocket to set it exactly per the cam manufacturer spec, minus 1 degree to allow for chain stretch during bedding in.
Quick question: How do you align the seal which is pressed into the timing cover properly with the crankshaft pulley? Do you losen off the bolts after the pulley is in place to "self-align"? I'd like to know, thank Davin!
@@johnscott2849 Correct, when there are downl pins alignment is easy. Usually this will be found on cast parts (not necessarily on stamped metal). I didn't see pins here, that's why I asked. Thank you for your advice, greatly appreciated! :D
I could just see my 430 powered Electra looking at the Mini's engine and trying not to giggle. This is cool, though - an engine that you could possibly rebuild in your kitchen 🙂
That's a cute engine. Can't wait to hear how it sounds. Also the casting on the water pump is really horrible. You did it but didn't showed it : there was horrible parting lines on the hose nipples (7:34) that requires to be filled (done at 12:10). This kind of defect is a leak waiting to happen.
Thats it, they work well when used right. I put a Ford 250ci crossflow straight-six together using almost nothing but one of those gauges, feelers and vernier calipers. Damn thing went like the clappers and lives on to this day in a speedboat in South Australia - the new owner was very pleased with it!
I have at least 6 projects but it's in a unheated garage and I'm old. I know , lame. But I'm trying to get out there. Great video Gentleman. Have a happy New Year.
Been watching your channel for some time now but haven't beenf a commenter,however, I disagree with your assessment of what you call "snap gauges" and I call telescope gauges. I've been a machinist for over 40 years and used them for accuracy to the tenth and 99% of the time you can measure the telescope with outside mics and be spot on. Also the correct method of using them is to let the spring out and have it tipped at approxametley 10 deg then lock and tip perpendicular "once" and remove to measure. I will never second guess your mechanical knowledge or experiences however you just neeeded a little coaching on that one. Keep on smiling.
On my Austin Mk2 Cooper S, I replaced the oil pressure relief valve (initially a bit like a piston with a rounded end), which screws into the block just to the left of the distributer, with and appropriately gauged ball bearing using the same spring. The original piston type had a tendency to stick in the bore. Just a thought...
The cooper S engines always came with a ball bearing. It was the non cooper S cars that came with the plunger instead. It's common to upgrade non cooper S engines to have the ball bearing.
@@roshane.nanayakkara This was an all original Cooper S with matching engine and chassis numbers and a heritage certificate and it was not my experience - perhaps confirm where you got this information?
Brilliant! The engine work will be easier than getting the bodywork ready for the POWER! Mind you, California car should be clean or only a little bit rusty? Patiently waiting for completion. Brum brum!
ROFLOL about plastigage . used for over 40years , and STILL agree with your "opinion" on it ; a good indicator , not a measurement . rods turn when torked , any oil , down pressure .... too many variables , BUT if shows "OK" anyway .... a good thing .
I wish you gys would show piston ring setting etc.. So many folks/companies say to set 1 ring at 1 position and the 2nd ring at another and so on and so forth! Please cover that I have always wondered!! TY and Happy New Years!
![BOWKYLION - วิงวอน (ex-change) [Official MV]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cLdnZWDaO-w/mqdefault.jpg)
Great job.
The timing cover on a A Series engine is known to leak from the pully seal. Best slip the pully on before doing up all the cover bolts so the cover is centred.
I am 71 years old and I HOPE to learn something every day!!!
I started this car thing when I was 12 years old.
Have done just about everything mechanical and fabrication wise.
Built drag cars from the ground up, ran an A/Fuel dragster, 98% Nitro,
STILL LEARNING!!!
A trick and old motorcycle racer taught me. Liberally coat both sides of a paper or cork gasket with white lithium grease. The grease swells the gasket and it is removable reusable infinitely with not gasket scraping. I have done it for over 50 years with never a weep or leak.
I sure am enjoying this rebuild! I've never seen the guts of those Mini engines, and I am fascinated to see the differences between it and similarly sized bike engines that I've worked on. Thanks for bringing us along with you for the rebuild!
Great to watch this build. A 1275cc Mini engine was hot stuff in the UK when I was young.
Don't forget to put the put a solid rubber (rather than compressible) bypass hose onto the water pump (with hose clips) before mounting the head. I took my first head off an A-series when I was 10 years old.
I was happy to see you install at least one piston with the handle of all hammer, like us ordinary people 😉. Enjoying them build, thanks for the videos. 👍
The Morris Austin engines having the distributor positioned at the front were renowned for stalling when driving in heavy rain. A cheap but useful trick was to install a bread plastic bag over the distributor, pop all the leads through the bag to keep it dry.
That is so true, exactly what we did on my wife's first car. Engine kept going after that but the mini bodywork just rusted away.
Or a Marigold Yellow washing up glove. It had four fingers for the HT leads and a thumb for the coil!
It's fun to see the 1275 rebuild - back in the 1970's I had the entertainment of overhauling a couple of 1098's - narrower bore - thus the rods were skew cut, and because the bores were offset
from the center - rather than evenly spaced - there were 2 different types of connecting rods - to account for the fact that the bores were not centered over the crank throws -
add to that a 5 ring piston (3 compression rings, 1 standard oil ring, and a non-rotating oil ring in the skirt) with fully floating piston pins on an engine with a roughly 2.5 inch bore.
I didn't see another piston like that until I worked on marine diesel engines - but they were much, much larger.
I was more concerned about all of that lint flying around when he snatched off the cover than the coffee cup that was knocked over!
clearly you have your priorities wrong :)
Interesting on the water pump locator holes. I used to work at an aluminum diecast plant (9.5 years) and those cores inside the die that leave cast holes were always a flat end with no radius. To me it seems that the core for that hole was worn and they continued to use it. We rotated dies in machines though and always had them inspected and replaced. Since the smallest die was 8 tons and takes about 8 hours to remove it, replace cores or injector pins, re install it, heat the die and get it running castings again.
Incredible! Thank you for sharing!
I had same problem with aftermarket w.p. had to do the same
Love watching your rebuilds, please get back on the 37 Ford race car and the 440 I'm dying to see that car finished
This has been a fun series to watch mostly because it's not focused on building up some giant, hillbilly 700 cubic inch V8 or whatever that's been done to death. Amazingly, there are different engine types out there that aren't 1000HP monsters!
of course we learn when we are in front of a professional , thank you for bringing this amazing project
Never put sealant on both sides of a gasket. Gasket material is made to be resistant to the fluid it is sealing, so all that is accomplished by sealing both sides of a gasket is to make it harder for the next guy to disassemble. With that being said, from a procedural standpoint, this show is spot on. This from 50 years mechanical experience, from small engines to a Cat dealership mechanic's position.
Loving this series. Watching an American working on a mini engine is like watching a Brit working on a flathead V8. Two different cultures colliding. It's all about the love of the engine, respect.
The tip on reboring out the holes for water pump was worth watching the video.
I was raised with Plastigage, never had a problem. It will reveal taper in the journals, too. Using ID mikes and snap gages is an art and takes a fair amount of experience to get the feel right.
00:04 "there was no internet in 1995". Although not what you would recognize today as the internet, there certainly was an internet and email that used it. Lots of my work was done through a dial up connection. Just think if we had all invested in popular internet businesses back then?
One tip about the water pump. Put the bypass hose on before or as you're putting on the head. It's a pain in the butt if you wait till after the head is on.
Well here is my RockAuto tip of the day for you Davin. In a pinch, when you do not have any acceptable gasket material Cork or Paper from your local auto parts store, a shoe box can be used as an acceptable sub-statue for things like Thermostat housings and water pumps. Does not seam like it will work, but it does due to being compressed thus making it harder for water to soak through, as long as you add a sealant of some kind.
Back in the early 80s I had to go back to work in the Rockies from the coast. Didn't have any wheels but, there was an old Renault 10 in the driveway that needed some 'reassembly'. It is a wet sleeve block but, there were no gaskets available. Good thing the old man still smoked because that's what we used. Cut out gaskets from his smoke packs. Put the engine together and drove it back and forth to the Rockies a few times...
I like the shoe box though, great idea 👍
Telescoping gages, measured over the tips with mikes, are very accurate if used correctly. Place the lightly tensioned gage in the bore at a slight angle so it’s set a little larger than the bore you’re measuring and push through. It will “find” the largest diameter and hold it, (they’re clever little devils), then carefully mike over the tips for a reading. Repeat three times for an average and you’re there. Takes a machinist “feel” but that’s the way it’s done.
just a tip on the distributor drive shaft installation,screw a longbolt into the centre to lower it into the engine to time it to the camshaft,dont ask me why lol.
I'm a retired motorcycle mechanic and sure love to watch you work. I still learn from your videos.
It's funny seeing this - back when I was about 17 I was rebuilding a 1275 Cooper S that had rotted out subframes and a blown engine - I got it because it seemed cool and given the state it was in was very cheap. Never thought I would read someone describing it as a "classic" about 40 years later - although it was definitely a fun car to drive.
Hi Dave enjoy the video,you can time the distributor quite easily.The drive shaft has an offset slot on the top, if you put the shaft in with larger side of drive towards the bottom and the slot approximately at 45 deg it should be spot on.If you need to go a tooth either way this is easily done by screwing threaded bar into hole in drive slot,lifting and turning either way Hope this is some help.Cheers Mike.
The oil clearance, gasket selend and lubrications tips are great thanks.
We use the Right Stuff that comes in caulking tubes. They make a 6 inch and a 12 inch tube. Another thing is that Perfect Circle and Speed-Pro both recommend using WD-40 on rings when installing. They say the thinner lubricant helps to seat the rings. Check into it!
Great detail and preparation in your work, as a British guy I had countless minis back in the 1990’s. With various engines, 1275cc 1293cc and 1380cc capacities. I’m going to agree with some of the other comments, your Crank tolerances are awfully tight, these engines usually have closer to 00.25 - small amount of crank lash is expected and they do like to run hard when built properly. I wouldn’t use any gasket sealant on the Oil side - addition of an Oil Cooler is worthwhile and I always used a break in oil for the first few hundred miles, then regular changes - good quality Oil is a must to keep the gearbox happy. Good luck with the rest of the build 👍🏻
So much care and thought is put into these builds, anyone that would give you grief about which gage to use is just splittin hairs. If you're assembling something to within 0.0016" tolerance, there is bound to be slop in ALL measurement methods. What it all boils down to is experience with each tool. The perfect tool in the hand of an amateur is useless. Any of the three gages mentioned here in the hands of a professional, like Hagerty, will do just fine.
Great content as usual! Love these builds. Thanks!
I agree - I've seen professional machinists use telescoping gauges to a tolerance of .0001" with excellent results. The technique matters!
Thanks for being a normal person and not a personailty. Great build, big engine work is hard to come by ;)!
After more than a handful of decades on the good side of dirt, it occurs to me that the old car
hobby may very well be the best one to partake in, for a number of reasons - but the most
important reason may be because "they're never *really* done", are they?
Even if we've just completed part or whole of a project, we're still *thinking* of what else we
could try or do to it - or what else we could have done better or differently or whatever,
all in an effort to better the car (even if it winds up sometimes that we didn't eventually).
It's a positive, constructive passion, it really is.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!
-Ed on the Ridge
I am an amatuer mechanic and can figure out a lot of things to repair on vehicle. Rebuilding a motor like Davin is doing is something I would love to learn. My father taught me most of things I know on cars.
I agree, a snap gage is not as good as a dial bore gage.
16 tenths is the term you're looking for....LOL
Great project, I have owned 7 Minis over the years but have never rebuilt one of their engines. Your videos are always a joy to watch. Keep up the good work!
My first car..mini cooper 1.3 ..I will have another again some day.. unbelievable fun
I rebuilt my first engine a few months back with the help of this channel and some others as well and I cannot thank enough. My biggest fear was leaks - well, good thing important seals like on the crankshaft are spot on. I just saw the other day that the crankcase cork or paper has been seeping a minimal amount and I was wondering how the heck. I was about to replace it with another one and probably watch it seep again. On this video I learned that paper/cork gaskets don't replace fully the manually applied silicone but work together instead, great 🙏
One thing you can do is become fastidious on checking for level surfaces. Every component of an engine starts to distort under the constant heating/cooling cycle it goes through daily. Get a quality straight edge, a few of differing lengths, and start check for flat surfaces, remove the high spots gently then assemble to proper torques.
I love these videos. And I also love how you consistently tell us all to get into the shop. More often than not, you're the inspiration I need to get out there and do SOMETHING, even if it's just cleaning a bit. So, thank you.
I was always taught to put sealer on one side and grease on the other side of a gasket. Makes getting it apart, in case you need to in a way that will not destroy the gasket. I have never had an issue with any leaks doing it this way. I also target the side that would be harder to scrape to put the grease on.
Tip on your Silicon RTV. My dad use to work for Dow Chemical in the corporate headquarters in Midland, Michigan and he told me that the RTV that smells slightly like vinegar should be stored in a freezer for the longest shelf life. It works quite well, I have Caulking Gun Tubes that have been in my freezer for over ten plus years and other than the tip hardening up, is still usable. This works best on the tubes that have an actual cap you can seal the end up on, but I have also used it on the large tubes and just used a Saran Wrap type of plastic to seal the ends. By the way, I love the color Green, but the English chose one of the ugliest greens i have ever seen for that poor engine block.
I first got on the internet in 1995.... Certainly wasn't the content on there like today!
This has been a great project to watch. Thank you for discussing Plastigage. I never planned to work on any cars again, but had catastrophic failures in two cars at the moment even used cars got very hard to find, so I'm re-learning stuff I thought I knew, and learning a bunch of new stuff. This channel is one that keeps me motivated to finish the second vehicle and get it on the road (the first one is going again and is somehow much more satisfying to drive).
When you put the head on just remember to put the little hose between the water-pump & head. They are a #%%%$#% to put on later. Billy J... Queensland, Australia.
Pleases me no end seeing a 1275 MOWOG (made out of wild otter guts) Austin Healey motor being built. My first car was an Austin Heaely Sprite Mk 4, it had the same motor which I rebuilt 2 times over the years I owned it.
Your videos are right to the point. Can watch yours all day.
Always so clean and fastidious. Great job.
Really enjoying this video series. I have gotten snap gauges to agree with the bore gauge. No doubt they are slower and require more care, but they can be made to work. Agree that plastigage is the last resort.
Nice job Davin and crew. Coming along nicely.
Best lesson learned in weeks; modified drill bit. Like a gun tap or an end mill. Awesome 👍😎!
This video ended right after changing pillow position 😎👌🏁 .... am too addicted to redline.
Hey Davin! Great to see the mini engine going together so well. That was a well-spotted misfit on the water pump, could have cost a cracked body otherwise (I did an almost identical build for a customer back in 1975, and I think we managed 95 bhp at the flywheel using a 40 DCOE side draught Weber carb back then….) Have a great 2022 buddy! 🙏😊🇬🇧
did he have the gasket in situ when he found the pump sat high?
Always enjoy watching your Rebuilds, the attention to Detail is phenomenal!! Engines look like pieces of Jewelry..
Really been enjoying these episodes and I love seeing more mini video content. Thank you for the time and effort you put into this. I noticed, the spray shield/washer on the timing cover side crank pulley was put on backwards. You may end up with some oil leaks out that timing cover in the future. The washer that lives under the pulley should be facing the other direction.
Plus he tightened the timing cover before putting pulley on. I watch all your videos as well keep up the great work!
There is a lot of stuff he didn't do, just on the timing gear and cover end 😳👌
Put together with far more care than it would have been originally.
happy new year for all. tank you for the classes ....
I have built thousands of engines (probably half of them minis) and I check every single bearing with plasitgauge. It is not absolute, but it is the last sanity check to make sure nothing has gone cattywompus. However, I will mention that telescoping gauges can be very accurate if they are used correctly instead of the way most people use them.
Happy New Year!
You’re doing great as usual. This is better then watching cable news.
Have fun with that 12g333 gearbox. You’ll need to grow an extra set of hands with the gear retainers or custom made tools using tig wire and, vacuum hose and tweezers. And for those needle bearings do it dry and use a rubber band to hold them in place using dental picks and don’t use grease in fact do the hole thing dry because it will be swimming in oil once you put the thing together
Also minis don’t go well with RTV silicone. What happens is the gears mash it up So fine it get sucked up by the oil pick up and can get to places you don’t want it to go. Use the permatex aviation for-a gasket never dry stuff that’s
Agree. The only place RTV should be used on the mini is on the rubber half moon seal between the crank and gearbox front main bearing. Everything else should be Permatex #3.
My project car is sitting covered in snow right now because it lost oil pressure. I guess the engine will come apart next. And I will probably use plastigauge as I was taught in the 70's and have used on hundreds of engines since. Dad didn't have "fancy" gauges like that when he taught me to use it. We have since gained them though.
I read somewhere that the Brits didn't do much planning when designing a new car. When it came to building the prototype, they ran into snags and worked around it, not always in a good way. For instance, in one British car, I can't remember the make, the front engine mounts had to be loosened and the engine jacked up a bit to replace the fanbelt. So, if you run into some weird stuff on this car, you know the reason!
@@grievuspwn4g3 Please keep in mind that the original mini was a disruptive technology for its time. I am pretty sure this was the birth of mounting engines transversely. And positioning the complete drive train as a small package in front came to dominate (and continues to dominate) the packaging of ICE cars today. Yes, there were many shortcomings of the original design, but it resulted in a paradigm shift in powerplant/driveline packaging.
The green block is looking cool. 😎👍🇨🇦
I’m sure someone’s said this (but I can’t search the comments), but Austin and British Leyland weren’t famous for checking tolerances (or anything really). What they were famous for were Friday Cars, famously light-weight, low equipment, and lethal!
Cool little motor! Hope everything goes well with the rest of the build. I can’t believe it has a double row timing chain, for a whole 75hp 🤣🤣🤣
Plasti-Gauge in my experience works really well and that’s with tight tolerance motorcycle engines. One thing is critical though and that is the Plasti-Gauge must be fresh and pliable. Old or long open packages of it will dry out, shrink and give you a false tight reading.
Yes that’s a very good point Guy, best regards for a happy healthy 2022 🙏😊🇬🇧
I’ve had very good luck keeping ultra black silicone gasket sealer fresh by storing the tubes in zip lock plastic bags.
Definitely lovin this series. I'm about get out in the shop aka the driveway and finish putting this lift kit on my truck.
You were talking about how small the Cooper engine is. I commonly rebuild some little 3 cylinder Kubota Diesel engines that are .662 liters. They also make 2 cylinder version of this engine.
8:15 visible confusion... :D I know, I should get out to the shop and do my stuff... :D Nice tips, keep it up!
As for buying a project and getting to work on it, it's currently -10F (-25c) here with a non-heated garage. Projects are on hold until spring. Fact of life living on the Canadian Prairie. ☹️
Couldn’t agree more. Buy somthing, it doesn’t have to be big, and stop criticizing someone who is doing something. Yes they’ll do it wrong but that’s how you learn and I’ve learnt a lot! 🙄
Really enjoying the depth and detail you are covering in the is rebuild. It'll be a work of art when finished.
When disassembling the engine you were concerned about the crank end float, but when re-assembling didn't mention replacing the crank thrust bearings and checking again, I presume you did this and wonder what the end float difference was after the new bearings?
As you have a new camshaft, you should really get a timing disc and verify correct open/close of cylinder 1 inlet valve. Dot to dot is not very reliable on modern cams, it could easily be 5 or more degrees out. Use an offset woodruff key or an adjustable cam sprocket to set it exactly per the cam manufacturer spec, minus 1 degree to allow for chain stretch during bedding in.
I prefer red high tack on gaskets......works great for me
I love your hard working and this type of videos thanks to you and to the camera man …….. best wishes…..
Quick question: How do you align the seal which is pressed into the timing cover properly with the crankshaft pulley? Do you losen off the bolts after the pulley is in place to "self-align"? I'd like to know, thank Davin!
If the cover has alignment pins Doesn't matter if not put the seal in first then tighten.
Exactly that, align with the pulley then tighten the bolts.
@@closeenoughmicron Awesome, thanks for your reply! I thought so, but didn't see him do it.
@@johnscott2849 Correct, when there are downl pins alignment is easy. Usually this will be found on cast parts (not necessarily on stamped metal). I didn't see pins here, that's why I asked. Thank you for your advice, greatly appreciated! :D
@@WorkshopRebuild he didn't but you should otherwise it will leak oil there. I was told this by my local classic mini mechanic/parts dealer.
I could just see my 430 powered Electra looking at the Mini's engine and trying not to giggle. This is cool, though - an engine that you could possibly rebuild in your kitchen 🙂
Really enjoyed the series and I also enjoy the way you present things. Thanks great series so far! Happy New Year
It's amazing how the name of "The Right Stuff" is so apropos. :o)
That's a cute engine. Can't wait to hear how it sounds.
Also the casting on the water pump is really horrible. You did it but didn't showed it : there was horrible parting lines on the hose nipples (7:34) that requires to be filled (done at 12:10). This kind of defect is a leak waiting to happen.
Just finishing up a rebuild on a 1275 out of a bugeye
It’s a telescoping gage and they are deadly if used right. 42 year T&D maker.
Thats it, they work well when used right. I put a Ford 250ci crossflow straight-six together using almost nothing but one of those gauges, feelers and vernier calipers. Damn thing went like the clappers and lives on to this day in a speedboat in South Australia - the new owner was very pleased with it!
Amazing video. But we need a video about timing the mini engine
Best regards Albert
Great video, cheers Davin
I have at least 6 projects but it's in a unheated garage and I'm old. I know , lame. But I'm trying to get out there. Great video Gentleman. Have a happy New Year.
Should be a fun car for you to drive like driving a oversized gokart with a roof.
Been watching your channel for some time now but haven't beenf a commenter,however, I disagree with your assessment of what you call "snap gauges" and I call telescope gauges. I've been a machinist for over 40 years and used them for accuracy to the tenth and 99% of the time you can measure the telescope with outside mics and be spot on. Also the correct method of using them is to let the spring out and have it tipped at approxametley 10 deg then lock and tip perpendicular "once" and remove to measure. I will never second guess your mechanical knowledge or experiences however you just neeeded a little coaching on that one. Keep on smiling.
On my Austin Mk2 Cooper S, I replaced the oil pressure relief valve (initially a bit like a piston with a rounded end), which screws into the block just to the left of the distributer, with and appropriately gauged ball bearing using the same spring. The original piston type had a tendency to stick in the bore. Just a thought...
The cooper S engines always came with a ball bearing. It was the non cooper S cars that came with the plunger instead. It's common to upgrade non cooper S engines to have the ball bearing.
@@roshane.nanayakkara This was an all original Cooper S with matching engine and chassis numbers and a heritage certificate and it was not my experience - perhaps confirm where you got this information?
It would be awesome to see you do a racing ford 2.3 motor. The good ol ohc 4 cylinder! We run them in our ministock on asphalt here in eastern NC
Really loving this rebuild!
The best engine restoring channel in this world.
Brilliant! The engine work will be easier than getting the bodywork ready for the POWER!
Mind you, California car should be clean or only a little bit rusty?
Patiently waiting for completion. Brum brum!
I had a cooper s 1275 engine, rebuilt it too and I wouldn't choose to putone back in a mini!
No sé inglés pero me encantan sus videos maestro. Saludos y que Dios le bendiga.
A Renolds chain drives the Transmission. Hot dang .
No, just the cam. Or are you joshin'?😄
ROFLOL about plastigage . used for over 40years , and STILL agree with your "opinion" on it ; a good indicator , not a measurement . rods turn when torked , any oil , down pressure .... too many variables , BUT if shows "OK" anyway .... a good thing .
Love it mate! G’day from Australia 🇦🇺!!! Uppa!!!!
Old man tip of the day: Paint is a good sealant...paint some more after assembled...
I wish you gys would show piston ring setting etc.. So many folks/companies say to set 1 ring at 1 position and the 2nd ring at another and so on and so forth! Please cover that I have always wondered!!
TY and Happy New Years!
Nice build series, I didn't see any cam timing happening though, even though your using an aftermarket camshaft.
Loving this build
Nice work.