New Job, New Location, New Project
 

Ugly Betty ('86 Corolla GT-S conversion) is dead.
the Road*Stah (90 Miata) is in deep hibernation.
Li'l Goose (91 Sentra SE-R) is sadly being neglected by my sister.
...and it left me sad because I had nothing to spin a wrench on.

And then this followed me home:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0011.jpg

This is S.A.M., my 1979 Leyland mini 1100. S.A.M. was originally the restoration project of a man whose daughter developed a fancy for classic minis, so he decided to rebuild one for her. She then moved to London, had a helluva time there, and soon dropped her irrational exuberance of unibodied go-karts. An unfinished S.A.M. soon found iteself covered up in a barn next to the tractors and other industrial equipment until he eventually put it up for sale.

So now that you know the history, here's a rundown on the condition:

The body's completely rust free, minus the battery box in the trunk. The beauty of Pretoria and it's high elevation is that weatherwise it's just like Southern California (on a side note, I'm always amused by South Africans telling me how miserably cold they are in the mornings---when it's only 10*C)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0013.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0012.jpg

The interior's semi-passable, but it definitely needs an overhaul:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0003.jpg
The original gauge cluster's gone and previous owner tried using an aftermarket cluster, which really wasn't aftermarket, and didn't work too good.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0005.jpg
Actually, it didn't work at all, so I tossed it.

The seats are in good shape, but the lack of a headrest means they'll go for something much safer (and period correct as well).
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0004.jpg

And it has a vinyl sunroof. It will see lots of use once it hits the road.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0004.jpg

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...IMG_0001-1.jpg
The engine, on the other hand, appears to be freshly rebuilt. It's too clean, the block and head is repainted and when i pulled the filter, it had fresh oil. It'll do until I get my hands on a 1275 engine to build up.

So there it is. My goal: To have something to beat the snot out of on weekends and eventually bring it back to the US.

Looks promising.

Part 1: Electrical

The day I picked up S.A.M., I was told by the previous owner that that the electrical system would need to be addressed because it was old and mice may have chewed up some of the wires. With his recommendation duly noted, it became the first thing to take care of.

The first thing to do was find out what worked and what didn't.
Headlights: Not working
Tail-lights: Not working
Turn signals: Not working
Brake lights: Not working
4-way flashers: Not working
Horn: Not working
HVAC blower: Working
Windshield wiper: Not working
Fuel pump: Working
Starter: Working (but not running for other electrical reasons)

There was also a lot of loose wires all over inside the engine bay which made for a very untidy appearance:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0018.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0019.jpg

And I found it absurd that only four fuses are what's protecting the entire electrical system:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0018.jpg

After some poking and prodding around the wiring, I eventually decided against trying to rehab the existing harness and decided to replace the whole thing.

The main harness as I started to remove it (and the hideous carpeting covering up the dash) :
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0026.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0038.jpg

A piece of the dash wiring used to wire in the old gauges:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0025.jpg
My dual turn signals (one is actually supposed to be the wipers, the stick broke, and sometimes you repair a car with the parts you have, not the parts you want) :
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0031.jpg
The original vinyl underneath the carpeted dash:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/IMG_0022.jpg

Eventually, what emerged was The Flying Spaghetti Monster
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/GEDC0167.jpg

The new harness arrived and armed with my trusty Haynes' manual, I began to install the wiring. And that's how I came understand why everybody hates Lucas electrical systems:
1. They use absolutely no relays, so everything in the car depends on the quality of your switches.
2. They used absolutely low quality switches, which cost me a day trying to troubleshoot the headlights, and another day on the turn signals.
3. The schematics are crap. They don't use international electrical symbols. Components like the combination turn signal/horn switch are just a box or a circle with no indication of where any particular wire plugs into it, and trying to find any component is like playing a game of Where's Waldo. Needless to say, I hated this part.

Eventually, I got everything in and now it looks a bit neater:
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/GEDC0168.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...GEDC0164-1.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...GEDC0165-1.jpg
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b3...i/GEDC0166.jpg

Final assessment of the electrical system after all the work was done:
Headlights: working
Tail-lights: working
Turn signals: working
Brake lights: working
4-way flashers: working
Horn: working
HVAC blower: Working
Windshield wiper: Working
Fuel pump: Working
Starter: Working

With the electrical system completed, now it's time to move on to the rest of the interior. Watch this space for updates.

What a beautiful hunk of junk. I bet it will be spectacular by the time you're done.

When you get it up and running you can pull up next to new Mini owners and look at them scornfully.

I love those old Minis. Good luck with it. You'll need some, but it seems you're well on the way to defeating the Prince of Darkness so after that it should be a breeze.

I recently went to a new Mini dealer event where they had a nice little autocross setup with 10 different new Minis in various states of tune and mods, and allowed the participants to drive them around the course. It was fun, but the two cars that got most of the attention at the meet were two cool old school Mini Coopers.

This is amazing! I love it! Keep up the good work. This is going to be fabulous once it's done.

Get the SE-R back from your sister while you work on this !...Bought my 91 new and drove the hell out of it...gave it to my youngest daughter to go to college in San Diego and after 5 years she gave it back to me ...now has 193.000 miles and is still a blast to drive .. love the mini but have some fun while you work on it !!

xoxoxoo

Well, I can't really do that since she's in Brooklyn, and I'm in South Africa. I do miss my Sentra, though.

when did you move to SA?

'bout three months ago. I finally got in with the State Dept last year so now I'm on my first overseas assignment.

Thanks for sharing all this. I can't wait to see your progress.

Good luck with the project Quasi.

Say - you ever see a mini cooper de-seamed, all smooth round the edges? Man that's a great look.

Or you could go all Italian Job - Red, White or Blue?

Can't wait for the next update :thumbsup: