The guide of the old mini cars

This blog, in addition to the usual maintenance details for classic mini cars, an attempt is made to explain the "whys" and "wherefores" of the various jobs.

Saturday 21 June 2014

Motor Vehicle Community

Motor Vehicle Community Forums:
http://www.chemicalsubjects.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=220

Saturday 17 April 2010

The symptoms or: Trouble Shooting

The controller starts by the lack of suitable data "to behave funny. (Humor who can laugh at such jokes about) most often jokes comment on this non-circular, or to a high idle, spontaneous death of the motor, buck, stuttering, misfiring, popping in the air filter housing, poor throttle response in low etc. pp. He also flooded usually hopelessly in which soot cloud from the exhaust and high fuel consumption while poorer performance leads to.

If you now conduct your minis in the list find again that would be the vacuum hoses a very hot tip.

What breaks?

It is mostly tips, the hoses and tear or by the ever-hot environment caused by old age begin to crumble. The hoses themselves are too brittle to get holes / cracks or already rendered unusable by kinks. If no external damages are, there remains the possibility that they are blocked simply expand (if working with compressed air will blow out completely before the tubes!). The hoses are flexible, although limited, but not rubber - that is to carefully work around unfortunately. In rare cases, the case of petrol leaking or overflowing offender, except to say, eight have not. If it is filled with gasoline, it can be expanded and freigeschüttelt. This requires quite a bit of patience.

The "hierarchy"

Let's get the yellow hose to the snorkel. It connects the valve with the ThermAC ThermAC switch. The valve is used during a cold start to the fact that as soon as possible to the engine block pre-heated by air drawn in is to rapidly provide proper exhaust emissions. How the switch works exactly, I do not know, but I think it can, depending on the temperature (should be a bi-metal switch) be something of the pressure valve in the snorkel through to fill this order - if necessary. The switch should operate in both directions, Wierum the hoses are connected not have to worry. (If not please contradict! Bin as well versed soo not.)

ThermAC switch from the red hose goes to the intake manifold. (Photos from the engine coming soon. As long as simply hope that the old bottles are still there to hinzuhangeln around.)

From there is the short hose (in black / white) for connection to the gas trap. The petrol is the case, held by a bracket on the fire wall (separation between the engine and passenger compartment) to the left / behind the air box. Remove the Lufi best, makes it easier to work a lot easier.

The connections are designed so that a "reversed polarity" is almost impossible (but "is not" is not, therefore, to note that the management ECU ran to the green connector to be! ). The long, green-coded cable leads for connection to the underside of the ECU next to the connector of the engine wiring harness. 

Wednesday 14 April 2010

Vacuum system : The Basics

First of all, we want function of the hoses in connection with the gasoline case to clarify the answer to, to what the junk ever need.
The SPI (Single Point Injection) has, like all current electronic fuel injection systems a MAP sensor. MAP stands for Manifold Absolute Pressure, ie, here is the pressure measured in the intake manifold. Why? This sensor gives the controller information about the current load of the engine, thus allowing among other things, the correct calculation of the appropriate ignition timing, the different load ranges vary lie down in need.

Since this is an Alpha-N system is at (racing friends will now sensitive) , is calculated as the injection quantity and injection from the position of the throttle, the engine speed and intake air temperature.

The MAP sensor is located in SPI-Minis directly in the ECU, because the very nature of the fuel injection (TBI: Throttle Body Injection = port fuel injection) is not possible to accommodate him directly in the intake manifold. when the throttle valve fuel injected centrally SPI is as before, petrol would come in contact with the sensor (petrol vapor, condensed fuel) and are destroyed, etc.. For this reason, he sits outside and is a vacuum tube system with measurable power from. But because the hoses still drops way in sensor could go towards gas, gasoline case, the interposed. it collects in the gas, the short vacuum hose from the intake manifold can get her through the.

I sometimes got NEN experimental setup done on the desktop, just as conveniently all hoses including case there are new. We therefore assume that control of the experimental Minis PalmPowered is that a radiator intake manifold and the air intake tube has a infrared remote control is one of mime. 

Sunday 18 October 2009

Car Care and Service Manual

Do-it-yourself servicing and maintenance for practical owners


The object of this website is not just to record what must be done and when to do it;a manufacturer's handsite does that quite adequately.

Here, in addition to the usual maintenance details, an attempt is made to explain the "whys" and "wherefores" of the various jobs not only for the benefit of the comparative novice but also for the fairly experienced owner who is likely to tackle such work as decarbonizing and valve-grinding, brake-relining or attentions to the carburettor and ignition system, which do not call for the use of expensive service tools or equipment.

The average handbook either ignores these jobs or dismisses them some­what arbitrarily as the province of the local dealer which can be infuriating to a practical owner who possesses a reasonable range of hand tools and the ability to follow straightforward instructions!

A chapter has been added which deals, in addition to strictly practical matters, with engine tuning kits and some worthwhile accessories subjects which are likely, sooner or later, to engage the attention of any enthusiast.

Thanks are due to B.L.M.C. and to a number of other firms that have supplied information and illustrations, and in particular to Mr. David Lambert, of Lambert's Garage, St. Osyth, for providing facilities for taking the majority of the photographs actually "on the job."

Getting to know your car

When the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor were introduced in 1959, after eight years of design and development, they caused a sensation in the motoring world for the new B.M.C. Minis bristled with unconventional ideas, but were nevertheless essentially practical in conception. Soon the original Austin and Morris Minis were joined by the Wolseley Hornet and the Riley Elf, together with the redoubtable Cooper and Cooper "S" versions which immediately established themselves as giant-killers in the racing and competition worlds.


In October 1967 came the Mini "1000" Mark II models, with 998 c.c. engines, and in October 1969, ten years and two million Minis after the introduction of the original cars, the more refined and comfortable Club­man and 1275 GT models. These were followed, in November 1969, by two new "basic" Minis—the 850 and the 1000—which retained the old bodyshell but incorporated the wind-up windows, concealed hinges and the negative-earth electric system of the Clubman.

The Mini 850, 1000, Clubman, Clubman Estate, 1275 GT and the Cooper "S" therefore comprised the complete Mini range, the Austin, Morris, Wolseley and Riley variants being discontinued and the cars being known simply as Minis in their own right.

To what do the Minis owe their astonishing success? It was their designer, Alec Issigonis, who best summed it up when he remarked, in effect, "We have deliberately made the cars very small outside, because we have found new ways of making them very large inside."

How was this done, and how does it affect the owner who proposes to carry out as much maintenance as possible in the home garage? First, there is the arrangement of the combined engine and transmission unit transversely across the front of the car. Besides saving a great deal of space, this has rendered all the usual items that require attention (except possibly the ignition distributor) unusually accessible; the owner should have no difficulty in carrying out normal adjustments and all work short of a major overhaul (which calls for removal of the engine).

Admittedly the ignition equipment, being mounted at the front of the engine without protection from a radiator, is liable, on earlier models, to be swamped by a bow wave if a water-splash is negotiated too enthusi­astically, and cutting-out of the ignition can also occur when driving in heavy rain. Simple methods of waterproofing the ignition system are, however, discussed in Chapter 7. The engine and transmission assembly share a common supply of oil. Instead of having to check and top-up three oil levels, the work is confined to checking the level on the usual engine dipstick and adding fresh oil through the filler on the valve cover. A similar saving in time and trouble applies, of course, when it is necessary to drain the oil.

Notice, also, that air is forced through the side-mounted radiator from the engine side, emerging by way of the nearside wheel arch, which means that the engine is not surrounded by preheated air .The technically-minded reader will appreciate that this might lead to carburettor icing in cold weather but will note that this can be taken care of, on most models, by positioning the inlet to the air cleaner close to the exhaust manifold. A pre-heated air intake does, of course, result in the loss of a small amount of power under full-throttle conditions, but this is more than compensated for by improved flexibility and better fuel consumption over a wide range of running conditions and in hot weather the intake can be swung away from the manifold.

Again there is evidence of the combination of technical and practical considerations in the use of hollow rubber cones as suspension units instead of steel coil or leaf springs. Rubber springs not only have excellent self-damping properties, giving a particularly good "ride," but require no lubrication and cannot develop squeaks or broken leaves! The Hydro-lastic suspension fitted to later cars, which is described in Chapter 9, takes the principle a stage further by interconnecting the front and rear suspension units, giving a level, pitch-free ride that is outstanding for such a small vehicle.

One could continue to point out examples of the way in which technical advantages have been combined with practical features throughout the car. It is necessary, however, to turn now to a brief description of the functioning of the various instruments and controls, followed by notes on the handling characteristics of the various models. The information is intended mainly for the benefit of an owner who is anxious to get the best from his car; it does not come into the category of elementary driving instruction, as this is a subject which is obviously the province of a fully-qualified instructor.

Towing the Car

The car should never be towed with the front wheels on the ground if a transmission fault is suspected. Garage assistance should be obtained as it is necessary to lift the front end of the vehicle on a suitable towing rig. In other cases the car can be towed normally but the selector must be at N and the ignition should, of course, be switched off.