Project Trig - After 18 Months Away, Is Back In Town! by Mini 360

18 minute(s) of a 461 minute read

Another weekend and another show.  Not too far this time, Cleanfest at Fife Airport.  Good show, just a shame it was a total washout.  Good turnout of decent cars though.  Dry in the hangers so most folk stayed inside.  Which was handy as thats where the Mini was tucked away Didnt take many pics as it was so wet.  Couple of other folk did though, gradually finding more as time goes on too which is nice :) One found on Instagram 

 Got tagged in these earlier today too. Not too shabby.   

   ...and that marks the end of my show season.  There are a few local shows (Crathes Castle this weekend and Grantown at the end of the month) but I think I've had enough of shows for this year.   Fed up of being presented with oil leaks and the stress that causes, so its getting laid up until (at least) next year. The engine needs to come out to address said oil leak issues, so whilst it's out, the gearbox will benefit from a rebuild and then the engine will get looked at too.  Turbo, supercharger or N/A....who knows at this stage?   Its been a great year, of great shows, but I don't think my back can cope with driving it another mile, so maybe have a look at different suspension options whilst I'm at it.  GAZ shocks are ridiculously harsh even at full soft setting!  This is all if I want to spend money on it, which at the moment, I really don't

1-18-2015

Possibly an update, possibly not.  All depends on if this makes it onto the car or ends up in the bin

 Always wanted a carbon fibre steering column cowl to match my dashboard but unless you have a MK1, it isn't catered for and costs £300-350! So I thought I would give carbon skinning a bash!  For those not in the know, its applying a layer of REAL carbon fibre onto the part, bonded and cover in layers of clear resin to replicate a full carbon part.  Many many many times nicer and classier than the carbon vinyl/carbon dipping available (both look absolutely hideous and nothing like the real deal).  Still not cheap but results are worth it. Heres the cowl....(painted it cranberry red and quicksilver years back but it never made it to the car as I changed my mind on it) Two pieces, pretty smooth curves thankfully   but the key recess scares me a bit!  Lots of contours to battle. Heres the carbon.  Don't get much in the starter kit but not too pricey to buy separately.  

Will keep this up to date as I go :)   And no, I won't be using the car this year as previously stated.  House deposit is more important these days :)

1-22-2015

Bit of progress.  The fabric I had before wasnt up to much and seperated the fibres if you looked anywhere near it.  Sadly this happened as I applied it to the cowl.  So it got chucked and I will come back to doing the cowl another day In the meantime, I grabbed a few things I had laying around in the garage to hone my skills. Carburettor style air filter housing, switch panel and a Metro oil cap :) These pics are after two layers of epoxy. This needs flatted back and a further 4 or 5 layers added on top which will see it totally flat and shiny. Its looking good though despite still showing the weaves bumpy surface. This looks like it is really lumpy on the top right but trust me, its just a reflection :) More to follow over the weekend :)

6-24-2015

Well yesterday marked a good day in the future of Trig.  I bought a house! Bridge of Don here we come! (subject to mortgage final approval yada yada...)

2 bed semi with small front/fairly large rear garden.  Of course the single garage (my only demand when we were looking) will no doubt come in useful too...   Makes all the hard work saving for a deposit worth it.

(Please excuse the ******* ASPC photo resolution)

Means I no longer have to save for a deposit and can tinker away in an evening with what little I will have left money wise at the end of the month

7-2-2015

Well having just bought a house which we will hopefully be in by mid August, I can turn my efforts to getting this old thing back on the road for next years show season.  

Needs a few bits and pieces doing to get it to a standard I would like..... so commence my inner thoughts and dreams! Obviously not all of this will be done by next year buuuut its a plan of everything I wanted to do to it but couldn't during the rebuild. I just need to get it roadworthy again to be happy for next year.


Engine/engine bay - Its a mess. Wires all over, various little leaks have stained parts and peeled paint. I want to strip everything out again and powder coat all ancillaries and update a few bits things with DSN Retrospect billet alloy parts. Wanting Minivation hinges too for a vertical lift bonnet for easy access. Exhaust is leaking slightly between manifold and link pipe so that needs sorted too. Superchargers are also highly interesting things.....

Suspension - Its harsh as hell and twitchy. Thinking of saving for Protech dual-adjust coilovers having read incredible things about them (plus they look epic and are designed and built in the UK). Until I can afford them though, I think an update with fresh cones will suffice. The GAZ shocks are designed for the lowered height but they are harsh even at 3 clicks from full soft which is a tried and tested setup. Also needs a new rear radius arm and wheel bearings on the back too. Crap wheel alignment (won't name and shame...) meant they got destroyed on the IMM trip last year.

Gearbox - Struggles to stay in 4th gear and crunches into 2nd both up and down. So a rebuild of that will be required. Not going to go straight cut as Im not a fan of bleeding ears and they don't offer any benefit on a road car in my opinion.

Interior - Get nicer harnesses (thinking schroth or the likes) than the cheap crap Sabelt ones I fitted. Seats are nice but I really want a set of recaro Speeds. Had them in my old DC2 Integra and they were incredibly comfy but still enough of a bucket style to keep your arse in the right place. Get them retrimmed in diamond stitched alcantara to match the rest of the interior.

Carbon Fibre - Plan to get some bits and pieces carbon skinned too (no, not crap 'carbon' vinyl or just as crap 'carbon' hydrodipping) Looking at the column cowl, switch plinth in the dash, door caps, mirror plinths, rear view mirror, harness bar, air intake in the bay, carbon rocker cover and I'm sure a few other bits and pieces too!

Wheels - Been offered money for my current ones more than once and all offers have been above their original purchase price so I think they will get the heave ho for a set of Force Racing splits as I've lusted after a set for years but could never justify them.


All that in an even smaller single garage will be tricky but I'm up to the challenge as it can't be as tough as the rebuild was. Can't wait to get tinkering with cars again over winter again!

8-25-2015

Little clue as to my new daily....

10-12-2015

Well Trig is coming on home in mid November!   We moved into the house just before the end of July and are now settled in and have decorated what we need to. So now, its garage time!  It needs some racking and cupboards/workbenches installed but all in good time!

I am away to be buying a compressor, blast cabinet and powder coating equipment so I can do almost everything 'in house' saving lots of time and long term, money too.

So a wee updated list of the plans to get it back on the road.  Not my ideal spec but that will come with time....

Engine/engine bay - Its a mess. Wires all over, various little leaks have stained parts and peeled paint. I want to strip everything out again and powder coat all ancillaries and update a few bits things with DSN Retrospect billet alloy parts. Wanting Minivation hinges for a vertical lift bonnet for easy access. Exhaust is leaking slightly between manifold and link pipe so that needs sorted too. Repaint the block and head since they will be out anyway with god knows what as no matter what I use it always goes satin and never stays gloss!  

Suspension - Its harsh as hell and twitchy but I think an update with fresh cones will suffice. The GAZ shocks are designed for the lowered height but they are harsh even at 3 clicks from full soft which is a tried and tested setup. Also needs a new rear radius arm and wheel bearings on the back too. Crap wheel alignment (won't name and shame...) meant they got destroyed on the IMM trip last year.  

Gearbox - Struggles to stay in 4th gear and crunches into 2nd both up and down. So a rebuild of that will be required.  I will blast and coat the gearbox housing/drop gear housing/wok whilst I am at it as the paint on these have gone dull.

 
Interior - Going to refit standard belts for days you don't want to take ages throwing on harnesses.  Cup holders required too for long journeys!  Glovebox currently is jut an open void with no floor so I will install the box I bought at IMM finally.

Boot - Need to work out a better system to open the bootlid.  The cable routing I have is insanely tight and its a real struggle to open it.  Might need to get a solenoid and button installed somewhere but that needs further planning.  Also need to work out how Im going to line it as currently its just painted metal.  Might sound deaden it and install a custom liner (the ones you can buy look cheap and nasty to my eye) but leave enough room for a couple of overnight bags/tents.

Carbon Fibre - Maybe one or two bits but they can always be added anytime after its on the road again.

Wheels - If I can save enough (doubt it!), Force racing splits will be on the cards.  If not, the existing ones shall stay.  Tyres are oooold (fitted 2009) so could be doing with a change.  They are still legal but old tyres aren't a good idea.  Yokohama semi-slicks preferable (like what is on the MINI daily) but who knows at this stage.

Powdercoating - Anything that is metal that comes off can and will be powdercoated.  The hammerite I lathered on during rebuild is crap and has flaked, peeled and rusted already.  Useless!
 

So plenty to be getting on with over winter when I'm not doing college work/at work  

11-27-2015

Well during my lunchtimes at work I’ve been taking advantage of having Solidworks on my computer and modelled up the garage with all big equipment/shelving.  It means I can assemble it all and know where it will fit and not waste precious annual leave time doing it!  The shelving nearest the small door will be wood topped to act as a workbench as well which will come in handy for the gearbox rebuild I am planning.  Ideally plan to replace this with a proper bench to mount a vice etc off of but I have loads of dexion shelving to hand so it would be silly not to use it! Lots of storage, toolbox space, blast cabinet for refurbing, compressor for lovely air tool use and still space to work on the car (just…it is a single garage afterall!) 

Hopefully this time next week the car will be in place ready to commence work.  Well...when I'm not at work/doing engineering night classes/doing coursework that is

1-11-2016

So looks like Trig is coming home within the week if all goes to plan (could be next week though).  So here's a few things I've done to the garage to help me out whilst working on him :)

As it was just a bare garage, I needed to make up some work benches.  Found some dexion shelving locally for free so I've popped that up by the door so I get some natural light/fresh air during the summer months.  Had random pieces of wood that I found in the rafters so these were trimmed to fit into the top of the shelves, so the surface wont scratch any parts I'm working on.  Good luck to anyone but me working on them as I've set them high up to make my 6'7" life a bit easier!  Whiteboard now put above this too for rough ideas, lists etc.  

Bolted to this is my new bench grinder which my girlfriend bought me for christmas. Parents garage had one of these and it was worth its weight in gold!  Taken the stones off and added a couple of polishing heads as that's far more useful to me.

One large bit of equipment I've always wanted (and wish i had when doing the major rebuild a couple years ago...) is a media blast cabinet.  So I bought one  Its reasonably large but is super handy and makes part preparation a breeze.  Got my toolbox dropped off as well but I'm in two minds to keep this or sell it and mount all the tools on the wall above the workbench for ease of access and space saving.  We shall see what happens though.

But as blast cabinets need compressed air to run, I got this bargain (aka ex display) compressor to run it.  It will come in handy for working on the car too which is a bonus!  Bit noisy but walls are thick so neighbours can't hear it that much.

Painted a bar bit of wall missed by the previous owners and put up more shelving for part storage mainly.  This ma not be required to be honest and gets in the way a bit so may come down once the car is here.

It is handy for storing this load of parts though.  Thought I had more than this after many years of Mini ownership but I guess not!  Most of it will end up for sale after a refurb so keep your eyes peeled for classified ads going up :)

Theres kinda a little shelf above the up and over door so its become the Trig wall, with trophies, rosettes etc on display.  Dont worry, those speakers will be properly mounted somewhere soon

and then i bought the first parts for him.  A total impulse buy but it will be fun

Can't wait to get stuck in once the car gets here :)