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Monday, November 26, 2012

Ready to run (in theory).



I just torqued the last bolt as the sun went down and dinner was ready.   Test drive will need to hold off a few hours more.

Sitting on all 4 wheels after a year on jack stands.
Minis are low!  The car is sitting a little lower than normal though, I need to pump up the suspension a bit more.  I haven't decided if I'll put the front valance back on or not, You pretty much need to be on your knees to see it's missing.
Picture of the car with camera at head height.  Yes it really is that small.

Friday, November 16, 2012

It's ALIVE!



After hooking up the last wire there wasn't much to do other than gas it up and hit the starter to see what happens. The engine started right up instantly! I'm so happy about that, and I love the light weight flywheel.

Next, all that is needed it to stuff all the wires behind the dash, assemble the driver's hub, build some radiator hoses and it's off to the races.  More likely to have exhaust made, get an alignment, then to the dyno.

 
It started up instantly and settled into a smooth idle. 

Wiring has been put away behind the dash, the OBD1 ECU and fuse box are hanging under and will be mounted soon.
Here is some stainless tubing and clamps from my dad's little project.  Thanks!

Lower radiator hose installed.
Another shot.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Electrons, they are a flowing!




Over the weekend I have achieved "power on" so now you can turn the key and hear relays turn on, and the engine cranks over.  What I did was I supplied the power using a battery charger not a battery.  I watched the gauge on the charger then plugged in one fuse at a time and made sure there wasn’t any spikes in power usage.  
The mini side of things are mostly untouched so lights and dash systems still function as they once did.
One problem I have is the fuel pump relay isn't getting a signal from the computer to turn on, I can jump the main relay and the pump turns on but for some reason the computer isn't doing it.  There are several factors the computer uses to control the pump so for now I'll need to do more reading.  The Honda forums have been very helpful.
Next I can fuel up, flush the fuel lines, then put oil in the engine and tranny.  After that I hope the garage gets noisy!  No exhaust system in place yet..
Other things needed are radiator hoses, some assembly of the driver’s side wheel/brake/bearing set up and some odds and ends.  One thing I keep forgetting to do is to plumb up my classic mechanical oil pressure gauge.  This is a must before engine start up, if I forget to do that I’ll have a big mess in the car with the tube pumping engine oil all over.
  .
The rat nest is getting closer to being tucked under and in the dash.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Electrons



All this week I only worked on electrical.  I boiled the Honda wires down to about 5 wires that need to interface with the Mini harness, and spent lots of time online as well as testing several circuits to verify what wires need to be connected together.  One problem I had was the diagram I was using had a few relays that don't exist on my harness and that was throwing me off!
Anyway as you can see below, things look the same but progress has been made.  The fuel system is wired up, as well as the starter, and the VTEC solenoid.  What's left to figure out is the "on" circuit to get power to the main Honda fuse panel.  There are some fat wires on the Honda side which make me nervous when the Mini main wire is so small.  BUT, I think the fat Honda wire needs to be big due to things like headlights, defogger, power seats, and a bunch of other items this fuse panel won't power on this car.  I'm adding up the values of the fuses that will be used to figure out what wire gauge is needed.  If a larger wire is needed on the Mini side, then I'll run a relay to deal with the larger power draw.  There is always a way!

I used same picture as before because things look the same!