A widow maker no longer.

 NEW?  CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE!

---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---

Click here for a 3 minute video of the entire build.

After Jason (the alignment wizard) was done with the car at T&T Tire Factory, it drove 80% better.  It was the fourth trip to an alignment shop but it was worth it to have a car that won't burn up tires just driving down the road.
After doing some reading on the MiniVtec forum, I found out front wheel drive cars are to have 1/8 inch toe out, my car was set up with 1/8 inch toe in.  The reason for the toe out is due to the front wheels pulling themselves in under acceleration.
 Sunday my dad and I took a drive with some heavy right foot action and the car still wasn’t right, it was much better but still required lots of steering to keep it pointed in a straight line.
Also this week I cut off the old failing studs that were on the hood mounting brackets and welded on some slightly larger ones then slapped the hood on.

In this picture Jason is fitting the "thing" on the rims.

The pressed in studs on the hood "bonnet" mounting brackets had worn threads.

I cut them off.

Here you can see I welded on new bolts through the holes.  Jerry rig specialists may notice some fine handwork elsewhere in this picture.

Studs painted and ready for the hood, now I can keep the road grime off my firewall, air filter, etc. as seen here.

Hood is on and the car looks done from the outside.  Carpet, and minor tweaks are next.

Alignment Woes

 NEW?  CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE!

---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---

Click here for a 3 minute video of the entire build.

Finding an alignment shop to work on this car is difficult. The first place I stopped at took one look and said no way, car's too narrow for their rack. So armed with some measurements, I started making some calls.

Second shop, sure we can do those old minis... turns out only if they don't have the 10 inch rims.
Third place, yup we can go that narrow and 10's are OK... well they could get their device on the rims but then the thing was hitting the rack because the tire was too small and the rim was too close to the rack.  We ended up driving the car onto 1 inch blocks to solve that.  The next hurdle was removing the tracking bar that sets caster, couldn't do it on the rack.  I used a bolt that was too long to remove because the CV joints were in the way so off the rack it came.  I drove it home, modified the bolt on each side and threw everything back together.  I think the latest shop can do it now, almost there!

I also decided to take a cable containing 13 wires and re-route it so it can't be seen.  That was "fun".   Next I’ll mount the horn and hood.

First shop to try.

Second shop to try, getting closer.

Track rod removed (here I was adjusting the length).

Before wire tuck.

After tuck.  A fresh air duct will go in the big hole.

Wheel Spacers n Stuff

 NEW?  CLICK HERE FOR DAY ONE!

---UPDATES ARE ON MONDAYS---

Click here for a 3 minute video of the entire build.

The last few weeks have been crazy with the holidays and work, now that it’s the new year it’s time to get back on track with the car and blog.  So we last left our hero just getting the car down the road in a somewhat more quiet manor.

That’s right, an exhaust system is installed, complete with the electric dump valve “loudener”.  Wow, when you flip the switch and mash the skinny pedal things start to happen in a hurry!  Not to mention the glorious sound of 9,000 RPM uncorked.  I must say, I’m impressed how much quicker the car is with the dump valve open, or at least it seems that way.

I also messed around with the fan relay located in a big Honda box-o-relays.  I looked at all the other unused relays in that box and decided to pitch the box and just wire up the one relay I needed.  BAM!  Done, and things are a lot cleaner too.  The fan now turns on when the coolant temp needle goes just past the center point on the gauge.

Lastly, the stack up of components in the front hubs with the stronger Cooper S CV joints was thicker than the old small setup so the front wheels stuck out more than the rear.  I took the thick spacers to a friend who trimmed them down on his lathe, now the front wheels have the same track as the rear.  With that done, next I’ll head to the alignment shop and have the camber, caster, and toe adjusted.