De-mount - Rich shouts "My thumb"

Well tonight I feel like I have worked hard and I hope it shows. Normally I like to have the correct tools for the job but feel that this time I was missing something, mostly a winch.

The day started well with the sun on us keeping an ok working temperature, the plan was and has been to get the engine out to fix the melted nylon bush on the clutch. While I didn't need to take the engine out I though it would be worth while. This would help to run the new loom and give better access to everything else.

First thing I did was to take a quick look on how to take the drive shafts off, the Haynes states break the security nut and undo with the wheels in the air. It quickly became apparent that the hubs where turning so this was a no go. I decided to do it my way. I had Rich with me the whole day "God bless" so most of the jobs are a we more than I this time.
We undid the lower ball joints, suspension strut, and stabiliser bar, this enabled us to take the whole assembly off in one go. Even with the two of us on the job it was time consuming, mostly because the car is 8 years old and also stood not moving for 4 months. The items came off though some needed the use of a club hammer.


We removed the right hand side which in the UK is the drivers side which is correct in terms of car line (The design and build direction of the car, it relates to a virtual axis used by all car designers to ensure robots and parts are relative to a point at the front of the car ~ Or when I used to be involved we used this method)

The passenger side was the same with the exception of a brake line I had forgot to remove so while I held the strut Rich removed the line.


At this point lunch arrived in the form of a cheese sandwich, it was nice but back to the car (Thanks Helen, we enjoyed lunch but hot dogs would have been good too...)

Having a think I decided that we should support the engine with a block of wood and trolley jacks, this was a good idea because we started to remove the engine mounts from the gearbox and the lower engine mount. While we removed the mounts I remembered Dave told me to make things easier remove the two bolts from the bottom of the gearbox. Basically when the engine is out and sitting on the floor you can't get to the bolts, also the clutch cylinder lugs can break off easily too so protect them "its a top tip!"

With the engine mounts off we foolishly held the engine and lifted it forward, I think we both realised how heavy it was. It was still supported so no real problems but now we had to remove wires from the back we had not been able to get too. since the loom was melted we where able to simply chop them away.

Knowing the engine and gearbox etc was heavy we voted to lower the engine on the trolley jacks, this seamed fine till the jack rolled down the hill. The worst part was I am holding the gear box as it rolled away and suddenly I had a huge weight. I can only hold about 40Kg with my smallish build so I got something soft under it and laid it down.


With the engine laying there we took a break as this sort of lifting takes it out of you quickly or me at least.

We discussed what we would do with the engine when out and I recalled a pallet I had seen laying about so Rich ran off and came back with it. With one / two lifts we got the engine on the pallet and stripped the gear box and starter motor off it, this was really simple and quite satisfying. (Rich in the photo, me on the camera)


With the gearbox off we could see the melted nylon bush and I will get on to ordering that part and the other bush. While its out I may also fit the Quaife LSD then again I may do it later. First thing is to sort the nylon bushes.

With the engine out the way we put the hub assembly back in place so we had a rolling car and put the wheels on. The car now really looks like it has progressed far. "TIP to stop the drive shafts dripping thick grease everywhere, if you have disposable gloves throw a pair over the bearings"

The pallet was moved to the garage and we then had the task of moving the engine again, Rich picked the engine up and placed it on the trolley, I did not realise but Rich had trapped his thumb between the engine and the angle iron frame of the trolley, this was not a problem till we tipped the trolley back and he had the majority load on his thumb. Rich quickly let me know this was hurting and we got the weight off his thumb, luck for Rich there was no broken bones but this could have ended badly if he did no have his protective 0.25mm thick disposable gloves on... No seriously we where lucky.


The final task for the day was to move blue to his new home, this was made a lot easier without the engine and that Rich was pushing while I was in the car.
I know when the engine goes back in there will be a hoist involved. Seriously do not try and lift an engine out, while the short block is not too bad the gearbox and clutch flywheel assembly soon add some serious weight.

Until the next post, I hope you enjoyed.

Clean & bleed

Over the past few weeks very little has been done to blue and I have had very little time to myself with all sorts of work coming my way. Last weekend I ended up installing a whole Harmon Kardon system which is a huge job, lots of soldering and installing to be done, not to mention that the whole interior needs stripping before you can start. That was last week hence no update on blue.

While I did not manage to do anything on blue I did however have chance to visit mini matt now known as MJR thanks to mini HQ. While there I delivered the shopping list for blue. For those who don't know Matt, he is a genuine good guy with a large set-up dedicated to BMW mini. He offers tuning, servicing and paint work. The paint work is priced well and is a top job. Besides his services he also has attached a breakers yard so perfect to help me source everything at a good price.

This week I had planned to remove the engine in order to replace a nylon bush in the gearbox which unfortunately had melted otherwise the engine would be staying put. While performing the engine out job I agreed to help a friend remove the newman cam and ported / polished inlet horns and plenum. Only issue there was he was unsure how to remove the parts. I offered assistance and helped Rich learn how to do the cam change.

I decided that to start the day I need to sort all my tools out. Basically because we pushed blue in and did not sort the garage prior. Most the tools I needed where at the back of the garage and scattered in a card box at the front. Feeling a little fed up of loosing tools I decided to put everything back in my red 15 draw cabinet.
Sorting the tools and the garage meant rolling blue forward, this was easy - it was down a small hill and nothing is stuck on. With blue out the way I set about sorting everything and ensuring there is a place for everything and everything in its place, this took about 1 hour and in the mean time I lent Rich the golf gti to go and fetch some new ring spanners. Rich came back with 2 sets of ring spanners and a box of o-rings... Spanners by the way, aldi £3 and they are not bad quality either, its always good to have some low cost tools as you can bend them and file them as and where required. Ratchet spanners are a god send and are at aldi for £12.99 from the 28/01/2010 so if you have not got a set get there!

Back to blue; with blue out I set about removing the wheels and jacking the car up, I forgot the undo the wheel bolts slightly before I put the car on stands, this would not normally be a problem and Rich jumped in the car, put his foot on the break, I told him to break harder this ended with the front partly melted break line failing and spraying fluid forward away from the car.


with the fluid dripping my attention moved to draining the break fluid at the front and removing the break line and calliper. The line was swiftly removed with the 10mm spanner. The two calliper bolts however needed use of my breaker bar (a 1m SS304 2" OD exhaust bar with a 2mm wall) ~ the bar works for every application and fits even the largest tools.


With the calliper off and the fluid no longer dripping I set about removing the sump plug, this has been on for a while and was stuck solid neither rich or myself could remove it till I broke out the breaker bar, it came off quickly and I drained the oil. This involved some swift drain pan changes and included me running around like a headless chicken trying to find where I had put the other tin. With the sump drained I spent an age trying to remove the spanner from the bolt as it had got stuck, I eventually removed it with the help of a friend "Chris".


With the oil out the next job was the gear box fluid, this was simple to do and while it drained I set about removing the exhaust manifold.
Manifolds are always hard to remove due to the constant expansion of the steel bolts and aluminium head. I could not believe my luck when the just came out with virtually no effort or stress.

Off to help Rich with the cam now, he had removed the rocker cover and followed my advice or making a template to ensure the bolts go back in the same place and the bearings etc all went back where they came from - if you do this job be careful as the wrong bolt or bearing in the wrong place could cause you trouble. I also have some tips here for changing the cam.
Firstly the Haynes states to use a home made tool for the job, I use an AF34 its simple and OK on a chain driven cam.
I would advise that you remove the spark plugs and all the rocker gear first. You should also back off the cam sensor though you can just get away with it in place, also you do not need to remove the engine mount as it states in the Haynes, a flexi head ratchet spanner will do.
With the rocker gear removed ensure that the arrow on the cam gear is pointing up in the direction of the engine, place your AF34 on the cam flats on the inner of the cam gear, hold tight and loosen the nut from the cam. Take a bright colour cable tie and put this round the chain and through a hole on the cam gear, this will help to keep the chain in place. lower the bonnet slightly about 2" and tie string or wire around the cam gear and the bonnet this must be tight and secure. Now using a 14mm ring spanner remove the tensioner bolt by the oil filter housing, this is hard to get too. once undone remove the tensioner you will be able to feel it in the hole where the bolt came from, as you are removing the tensioner push the bonnet up this will take the tension of the chain and lift the cam up. Now take the cam bolt out and cam out and replace it with your other cam, place the cam bolt back in and tight. squash the chain tensioner I find placing it on the floor on cardboard and use a ring spanner to compress it is fairly easy and safe. place the tensioner in and put the bolt back, make sure this is tight and you will notice that the bonnet is pulled back down. You may now remove the tie to the bonnet and you can remove the cable tie too use the AF34 spanner and torque the cam bolt to the required lever. Put the rockers back where they cam from and make sure that the rollers are in the correct place and the tappets are on the valves, follow the correct order and tighten the bolts to the correct torque level in the correct order. Once done put the rocker cover back on, you may wish to change the gasket if required.

With the cam back and several cuts later it came clear that the engine was not going to come out, I decided to get the wheels back on blue and push it back in to the garage, this took three people.

To sum up the day, yet again another person had their car done and blue didn't get much, I cleaned out the oils and fluids and got several cuts for the first time and not even on my car...

Next week I will not be helping anyone! the engine will be out next week and I may even strip the gearbox and replace the part.


FYI the rumours and emails I have been receiving about blue are not all true this car is not having a 1.8T 20V engine that's another project and not mine

Engine bay is clear

Its been a busy few hours today removing all of the remaining burnt and melted components from the engine bay and also managed to start cleaning.

The day started with a trip down to tool man in search for a set of pry bars and mole grips which as usual they supplied me at an excellent cost.

On returning back to the garage I had lunch and decided it would be worth removing the front wheels and using some spares provided by Dave at Think mini (thank you). The original tires we melted, cracked and flat which made moving the car very difficult indeed, as you may have read in the "to me to you" post.
On taking the 17mm socket I tried to undo any of the three normal bolts but found that the rust on the wheel bolts was not allowing the tool to fit. I used my trusty block of wood to tap the socket into place only to find that I could not turn it, not even with all my weight. I decided an extension bar was the solution, it was. The three bolts where removed quickly and relatively easily. Next the locking wheel nut, I luckily found the locking wheel nut in the glove box though I also found out that the rust on the wheel locking bolt would also stop the key fitting, my trusty block of wood came to my aid again.
With all the wheel bolts off I thought a simple smack on the back of the alloy wheel would see the wheel off. No chance the wheel had bonded itself on and no amount of levering or hitting would see the wheel budge. I then took the approach of soaking the hub in WD40 and left to another job.

While the wheel had time to soak the WD40 I decided that I had to remove the last of the melted plastic from the engine bay and that was the target for the day. With the rocker cover removed I had more room to access the rear plastic panel, water bottle, and power steering bottle. Firstly I removed the water bottle which as the system was dry was nice and easy. I am sure with a little bit of cleaning the bottle can be reused. The power steering bottle unbolted with no issues and the bracket has been put a side for powder coating as the shape and form are still perfect.
The next thing to remove was the engine stabiliser, this was difficult and the bolts required a 500mm breaker bar extension but the bolts did come out with too much hassle.


With the above items removed it was possible to the black plastic section which uses them silly plastic screw clips which as with the majority of plastic had melted so a quick pull saw them release.


Back to the wheels, my friend Richard Phillips turned up and I asked him to have a go with removing the a panel, this turned in to me having to drill out a bolt and he broke a T25 bit, no worries though that was sorted. Since we can't open the doors fully within the garage we decided that the a panel is a job best left for the time being and really I just wanted the wheels off.
I told Rich about the trouble I had been having with the wheel and it not coming off, so with the car back in the air Rich grabbed the wheel sternly and pulled, within a couple of minutes the wheel was off, typical... Feeling a little week I decide this is a time for Rich to try the other wheel and the bolts where tight but a breaker bar soon relieved them, next Rich tried to remove the wheel and it just would not budge so quickly out came the WD40 and it was left to soak. We tried again just a little later and nothing, the wheel was still fixed. To protect the wheel I had been using the block of wood between the hammer and the alloy, though at this point a little fed up of being beaten by a wheel I took the club hammer and single blow to the wheel I removed it. Rich then cleared up and fitted the next wheel.


While Rich sorted the wheel I set about removing and cutting back the last remaining wires and water pipes. I also put on the new rocker cover to stop contaminates falling into the cylinder head and lubrication system. I also had time to remove the engine fuse box, I think it would still work but since it had fire damage on I decided it best to remove it.


Together Rich and myself took a steel brush, brass brush, and a nylon brush and set about removing the smoke marks and melted plastic from the suspension towers, this was a satisfying job as you could start to see the filth and dirt being removed and it really felt like a step in the right direction was being made. With the bodywork cleaned I decided that until I had time to treat the metal I sprayed it with WD40 to help prevent corrosion.

My side of clean strut (Pictures taken at night when it was dark)


Rich's side of clean strut (Pictures taken at night when it was dark)


With the majority of the engine sorted I will now need to change the brake calipers, lines, CV boots, suspension struts and remove both the A-panels to remove the damage from there. Over the next few week I will be stripping back the interior to start making an attempt to remove all the old wires to the engine and replace the loom. While this work is being done the engine will be removed and the clutch needs a nylon bush replaced. Also I plan to rebuild the M45 blower to ensure there is no contaminates within.

Until next time, over and out, and here is a picture of how the car was left as we packed up