Milwaukee Midget

[Speed Limit 1000]

Jon;

I built my share of Heathkits, too-- a DX100, an SB10, AM & FM tuners, and a color TV. Too bad kids today don't have Heathkits to learn some electronics and get some practical hands-on experience. Computers are no substitute for actually building something.

Regards, Neil  Tucson, AZ

The space program got man to the moon and safely home with brains, guts, pencils, paper, math and slide rules.
With all the computers in the world 1/2 of all the Mars missions have failed

[salt27]

I think my biggest-ever Heathkit was a color TV that I built for a buddy of my dad.  He bought the kit and probably paid me some magnificent some, and I had a ball putting it together.  Let's see -- my first two meter rig, and a DX40, I think, and for sure the 40 watt 2M amplifier.  I think there was some hi-fi stuff in there, too.

For those of you that don't have any idea -- Heathkits were good for learning.  The instructions were well and clearly written and had boxes to check by each instruction line.  The parts were included and the assembler (me) was to lay out all of the parts to make sure they were all there and to know where they were.  How do you learn color codes for resistors?  Building Heathkits did it for me.  I remember that by the time I got into electronics class in my senior year that I was the only one that already knew color codes.  In fact - I had to learn the mnenomics about "raping our girls. . ." and Roy. G. Biv.

Back to your car's story, Chris.

I'm hoping you weren't going to spread rumors about Violet, Jon.   

[Speed Limit 1000]

Miss Willingly

[fordboy628]

Just a thought, but if the pin bores changed, might the pistons not be quite as round as they once were ?  I'd think it'd be worth checking, dunno what could be done, but seems like you'd want to know "inquiring minds want to know" and all that.

Roy

Yeah, that's a potential headache, too.

I dropped them off already for the honing - I'll have them back on Wednesday.  The pin issue was something that Baurle, the company who did the work, says sometimes rears its ugly head, but he made no mention of any circumferencial distortion.

Nevertheless, I do own a 2-3 micrometer, and I'll be checking them for roundness before I install them.

Hoping this doesn't turnout to be a ship-sinker.

midget, et all,

Just had Baurle Autosport Services coat the pistons for the new "high-tech" engine build-up for the Mini-Maven.     Same process used on your pistons, same problem of pins not fitting in afterward.    BUT, upon further inspection, I found that the piston had NOT been changed dimensionally.   The fitment problem was due to coating overspray in the pin bores combined with leftover media residue from the "blasting" process, also contaminating the pin bores.     A thorough solvent/brakleen cleanout solved the fitment issue.

BTW, the media blasting is used to "roughen" the surfaces, so the coating has some "grip" on the surface of the part.    Most coatings will not adhere well to smooth/polished surfaces.     Inquiring minds want to know . . . . . . .     

Assembly of the 1310cc (Ver. 002) to take place today/tomorrow at the Mini hacienda.     Dyno scheduled for Monday or Tuesday.     I'm keeping the specs on this one close to the vest, but I'll let everybody know the peak bhp/rpm & peak tq/rpm results from the dyno session.
 
Fordboy

P.S.   With a name like Roy G. Biv, wouldn't that be a tip-off to an alternative lifestyle?    Just wondering . . . . . . . .

[Milwaukee Midget]

Fordboy has a customer running in the Can-Am Mini Challenge at the end of the month -

http://www.canamminichallenge.com/

A lot of big names in little cars.

Mark, I wish my clean-out had solved the problem with mine that it did on Mini Maven's.

Either way, the pistons are back, and I've got to get to humping on it.  The engine is behind schedule.

Target for Dynothon II looms . . .

[SPARKY]

Some of those almost sound like 4 cy air craft engs. 

[Milwaukee Midget]

Some of those almost sound like 4 cy air craft engs. 

And when they enter a turn, the tire contact patch is about the same as a Spitfire before it takes off.   

Thrash management.   

I'm in a little better shape than some Mini racers in Illinois I know, but I've had so many distractions this year, it's been maddening.

Last week Tuesday, I couldn't sleep.  Turning over in my head were all the things I need to get done before August, and how I was going to balance them against my employment responsibilities, band schedule and my impending 16-days-without-a-day-off schedule.  I pared it down from what would have been 20 by forcing the issue at work and training up a really good kid out of the service department to help cover, but I stared at the ceiling for 3 hours before I finally dosed off.

So Wednesday, I took every scrap of paper, every note, every reference I had, and condensed it all down into an Excel spreadsheet, and forced myself to put deadlines on each task. 

It seems to be working - at least I can sleep at night.

Since Tuesday, the body is back together, the fenders, doors, hood and deck lid are aligned, the top has had the Lexan windows resecured and bonded, and it's been sanded and primed with the first top coat applied.  I rebuilt my remote ignition box for the dyno session to accommodate the ECU, filled holes in the floorboard, picked up a new electrical shut-off sticker, and got the pistons installed.

None of these tasks were overwhelming.  In fact, they were all fairly straight forward.

So now I'm looking at the list - there's still plenty to do - but I'm feeling a lot less rattled about the rest of June and July.

There's that satisfying feature of a lot of checkmarks.

The list continues to grow, but the checkmarks are now coming faster than the subprojects.

Sign me,

Rediscovereddiciplineboy

[Milwaukee Midget]

This is going to be a slog.

A while back, I received the crank scraper and windage tray for the Midget.  I opted for the Teflon insert, which lets you get closer to the crank and gives you a little wiggle room for crank movement, block distortion – everything an A series engine is likely to do when spooled past idle.

I received and returned the templates, and received everything I needed – and an EXTRA crank scraper for a 1275.  I won’t have any need for it, so if somebody is building a 1275 and wants to install a crank scraper, first $150 takes it, and I’ll donate $50.00 to the site.

But I would wait until I’m done with this – you can then determine if it’s worth the headache it’s turning out to be.
Right out of the box, with a bolt in place at the front of the block – this unit attaches to the flange - at the back of the block, 2 of the bolt holes didn’t line up . . .



Knowing that enlarging these holes would let the scraper move laterally, I determined I needed to pin the scraper in place before I started trimming it to fit.  A trip to Puhl’s True Value landed me 2 1/8” pins.  I clamped down the scraper with a couple of bolts that DID line up, and drilled into the flange, then used J.B. Weld to hold them securely in place, centering the scraper . . .





After cutting them down to be flush with the oil pan, I cleaned up the mess and removed the plastic bag, which I put into place to prevent shavings from getting into the crankcase . . .



After that, I needed to trim the scraper a bit more around the inside counterweights – they made a really sweet scrapey noise when you turned the crank, and I got to thinking that it might not be too good creating shavings – after all, that’s why I put the plastic bag over the open crankcase.

The Teflon insert sandwiches between the mounting frame bolted to the flange, and a mounting piece, held in place with 10 bolts . . .


I got to this point and realized I had about 3 hours of Teflon trimming in front of me.



So now I know what I’ll be doing Wednesday night.

[nickleone]

I built one Heath kit SW receiver and a MPG/speedometer.
A high school friend built the Color TV.  On day in November 1965 he came home from school and the TV was not working.  So he goes into diagnostic mode.  About 2 hours into the checking his father comes home
from work in NYC and says did you hear about the blackout, the whole east coast is out.  We lived on Staten Island NY and our power station was off the grid that night and we had power.
He went on to work for BELL LABS.

Nick

[Milwaukee Midget]

I built one Heath kit SW receiver and a MPG/speedometer.
A high school friend built the Color TV.  On day in November 1965 he came home from school and the TV was not working.  So he goes into diagnostic mode.  About 2 hours into the checking his father comes home
from work in NYC and says did you hear about the blackout, the whole east coast is out.  We lived on Staten Island NY and our power station was off the grid that night and we had power.
He went on to work for BELL LABS.

Nick

Nick, that is funny.

In 1965, there were a lot fewer 2 TV households - and I'd have assumed the same thing in his shoes.

And I'd be willing to bet that anything he diagnosed at Bell, he first confirmed a signal being present.

Actually, a great lesson to learn early on.

[Milwaukee Midget]

That’s about as good as it’s going to get.  Install, mark, remove, trim, install, mark, remove, trim, ad nauseam.

I think this side will work.





I do have a concern regarding the opposite side, though. 


In order to improve oiling to the bearings, we blocked off the oil holes in the camshaft, which is all fine and well when you’re turning in a shroud of oil mist.  But with the control we’re putting into place around the crank, I have concerns as to whether the lobes will see enough oil.  Here’s a pic . . .



The lobes see a lot of pressure from the valve train – I’d hate to grind one round.

Either way, one more task off the list.
 

[fordboy628]

midget,

Ah, yes, all the "trivial" fitment details . . . . . . .         Lesser mortals continue to wonder: "Why does everything take so long?"

When I queried the 'soothsayer' of the quote above, with regard to his checking (and recording) of important dimensions of his engine build up process, his reply was:  "I don't usually check that stuff."     

Ignorance is bliss . . . . . . . .

And now you know why there will be an oxygen shortage in the near future . . . . . .

Personally, I for one, am resentful that MY oxygen is being used up by such dolts . . . . . .
 
asphyxiatedboy

P.S.   Mini-Maven's dyno session is TODAY.    The preliminary report is that the cam break-in procedure went well.   And, a quick blast to 4000 rpm under load saw: ZERO blow-by . . . . . .    that would be great, BUT, I have to wonder if there is a leak somewhere.    Zero would be,  exceptional.   Will post the peak numbers when I know them for fans of full race BMC 1310s.   (1275 +.040 overbore)
 
F/B

[Graham in Aus]

Yes please to that F/B, who are 'Mini-Maven' anyway?

I searched, or is this your pseudonym for some other establishment?

Good luck on the Dyno! 

[Milwaukee Midget]

P.S.   Mini-Maven's dyno session is TODAY.    The preliminary report is that the cam break-in procedure went well.   And, a quick blast to 4000 rpm under load saw: ZERO blow-by . . . . . .    that would be great, BUT, I have to wonder if there is a leak somewhere.    Zero would be,  exceptional.   Will post the peak numbers when I know them for fans of full race BMC 1310s.   (1275 +.040 overbore)
 
F/B

The more I think about it, yes, zero would be exceptional, but with a .040 overbore on an A-series, I think I'd start questioning the test procedure.

[Milwaukee Midget]

Yes please to that F/B, who are 'Mini-Maven' anyway?

Graham - Rumors out of Illinois indicate that the Mini Maven has screwed together a carbureted .040 over 1275 putting out north of 140 hp.  Not too shabby for SUs and a Lucas distributor.