1980 Mini from Chile

IM sent to Dr Boost! Thanks for any help!

just got back from a weekend camping with the Wanderlodge. Everything went pretty good except the electrical hookup, of course. I have 2 Victron Multiplus 12/3000/120 inverters, 1 for each leg of AC power. This works just fine when hooked up to the generator. However, when hooked up 30 amp shore power via a 50amp -> 30amp adapter, I can only use 15amps max per leg.
 

I assumed I could use any combination of power as long as both legs added together were less than 30amp. But no, the Victrons are like strict parents dolling out an equal amounts of power to their unequally needy children.  But Mom, I need 20 amps to run my air conditioner!!

Maybe the Victron isn't to blame? Could it be the 50->30 amp cord adapter? The power selector switch? A ghost in the machine? I have no idea.

confused? Me too. I should probably finish my electrical system saga and cut and paste here, but it's an all enveloping and never ending learning experience. I don't even know how to start .

stuffed into an undersized spot with inches to spare on either side:

It's been a busy summer working on the wanderlodge and ignoring the mini. We're all still alive though,and to celebrate I'll include some long promised pics of the interior:

famous Wanderlodge instrument panel. Most of it works! Super cool 80's  luminescent panel does not :(

front compartment. Passenger side table folds up and reveals a liquor cabinet (not used for alcohol, seems like a bad idea). Drivers side couch slides out into a queen size bed. The white chairs are not bolted down at all, I would like to replace them with some sort of bolted down van seat that can rotate and has seat belts.

view from further back in the bus. Kitchen on the right, house refrigerator (120v only) and dinette to the left. Dinette folds Dow to a single bed. The dinette used to be this weird credenza thing with more storage, but thankfully this was switched to something more usable.

view looking the other way. Stool is so I can connect a borrowed laptop up to the Victron Energy system and wrestle with the inverters. Fun times! Bathroom is behind the fridge in this pic. Standard 80s wanderlodge bathroom, I feel weird posting pics of it online so I didn't. 

Bedroom:

I keep accidentally deleting my awesomely witty posts, so I will just leave this for now. Maybe the internet is just trying to save me from embarrassment? I'll come back later. Maybe.

The beast:

Detroit Diesel 6V-92T. Radiator and hydraulic reservoir to the left, house and starter batteries to the right. White filters are for the fuel system, there is a Racor 900 fuel filter to the right (under the gauge). Top 2 gauges are mechanical oil pressure and water temp, bottom gauge is for air pressure and off off that is an air hose hookup. New muffler is glorious. Upper right is key to starting from the back.

Orange-ish block is a waterproof container for the block heater plug. now if the house electrical system fails I can at least plug in the block heater for an hour, start the engine and go home. It starts without the heater, but smokes like crazy if it's cold. Fellow campers do not like!

And back to our regularly scheduled program, the Mini:

Since it's a busy time of year for the kids and we aren't utilizing the Wanderlodge, I decided it was a perfect time to work on the Mini again. First thing was to get the rebuilt HIF 44 tuned up and running. I got it started, threw the kids in the back for a quick test drive, and the brake pedal immediately went to the floor. And then the Mini drove like hot garbage.

I got the mini up on jackstands and found the right ear wheel cylinder leaking like a sieve. Some quick research online revealed that there are at least 3 different wheel cylinder sizes in the rear and the right size depends on a myriad of factors; front disk or drums, power assist or no, rear proportioning valve, master cylinder type, personal preference, current moon cycle, etc. Another option is to remove the brake cylinder, tear it apart and measure the bore. I hit the easy button and called 7 enterprises who let me know that the vast majority of cars use .750 bore rear brake cylinders.

it's too bad that can't put easily identifiable marks on these so you know what size you have. What does that symbol even mean? CJ? No. I feel like a need a Rosetta Stone to unlock the mysteries of ancient British automotive engineering.

Parts were ordered and on their way. Moving back to the carburetor boondoggle. I bought this HIF44 off eBay and rebuilt it with a geniune SU kit.  It has never run any good. No matter how many times I take it off, find some issue, fix and reinstall it refuses to run nicely. Problems include stuck jet, float stuck open, dashpot oil leaked out, dashpot to carb surface nicked up...I lost count.

area 1 has lots of divots in the surface. No gaskets allowed here but I'm told it's not a concern. Area 3 is the dashpot screw hole...which leads directly into carburetor throat. This is what every SU carb has apparently but how it doesn't leak air like crazy is beyond me. Maybe I will put a plug in here or maybe I won't tempt fate. I don't know.

Finally I ran the car with full enrichment (not a "choke") and preceded to douse the whole wretched contraption with carb cleaner. The right side throttle spindle seal responded very well to this (rpms went up)...so I guess it's time for another tear down.

I thought I had the throttle shaft seals backwards since they are mounted one way for turbo cars and 180 degrees (!!!) for non turbo cars. But it turns out I got that right. However, the throttle shaft bushings are wore out and scratched up. Additionally  the Teflon coating on the bushing tore off and inserted itself between the throttle shaft and seal providing a wondrous route for all sorts of fresh air to fill the engine. Fun.

Bushing kits are available and don't look to difficult to install, but at this point I'd rather have a pro look it over and do the job. Joe Curto of British superior was highly recommended, and he was very helpful over the phone. Hopefully new bushings and a throttle shaft are all that's needed, but at this point I just want him to work his magic so I can drive this thing again. I have hope that in 2 -3 weeks the mini will be driving better than ever!

If the carb comes back from Joe and the car still misbehaves the problem is not the carburettor.

In reply to TurnerX19 :

Good to hear, sounds like it's going to the right place. 

im fairly confident the carb is the issue. The car ran ok on the original HS4(?)carb, valve clearance is ok, compression ok, and ignition timing checked out ok. Not sure what else to check if this doesn't work.

also of note, half of my rear brake shoes were mounted wrong. That will be fixed when the new cylinders get here.

Got bored and curious, so I took my wore out old HS4 carb off the storage shelf. Took it apart, sprayed it with carb cleaner, reassembled with ancient gaskets and wrestled it on the mini. Filled the float bowel with fuel and it started right up. Ran worlds better than it has since I installed the eBay special HiF44.

either I messed up rebuilding this carb or something is fundamentally wrong with the carb. Either way I'm sure I will find out soon from Joe!

Very cool stuff, thanks for sharing!

I'm having a heck of a time trying to attach the front subframe front mounts. They are tear dropped shaped and look like this:

does anyone have a picture or diagram of what these look like mounted in the car? I've looked around online but no luck.

does the smaller end mount to the top / body and the lower end mount to the subframe? I can't get it to line up. Also, the way I have it there is no hole for the pin to go into.

this is what it looks like installed on my subframe:

did I do it wrong? Am I missing a spacer or something? Thanks!

Called up 7enterprise, talked to Jack. They have an excellent catalog online with lots of diagrams.

I'm pretty sure I have a Mk 4 mini / front subframe and a mk3 front panel..because of course. They use different subframe mounts that don't line up in the slightest. I don't know know how these where attached when I did my engine swap, but I'll guess "not very well".

I don't think any of this matters, but it does shed some light on why I was so confused. I'll just put a bolt through  it and call it a day. I think this is how the Mk 3 minis were out together anyways.