Operation Queso

Art car!

Now I'm hungry, dangit. 

Are you going to keep the menu on it?

In reply to EvanB (Forum Supporter) :

He better

I approve of this build. 

Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to EvanB (Forum Supporter) :

He better

I may keep it for the laugh factor when I present it to my wife but there's almost no chance it'll stay long term.

A meeting was had. A squash (and some cash) was exchanged. The operation is underway. 

The chip is in the dip.

This will be a fun thread. 

I am happy to be a part of it from the beginning.  

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

Yes, in on the ground floor!

I've really got to thank the GRM community for this one. Wait, are thanks in order or... 

Seriously, this never could have happened without GRM. Namely, John, Patrick, all those who offered to help and very most importantly Chandler. You all are the best. 

Peekaboo... Come on in, the Queso (and PB&J) is tasty.

My initial thoughts after seeing it for the first time, in the pitch black.

Unreasonably clean body seams and rain gutters. Like, doesn't even make sense.

There is a clutch, there are brakes. 

Nasty floor pans where they meet the firewall. Rust hole in the trunk. Rocker rust in one spot. Could be original metal though... That is still to be determined.

One disgusting door covered in Bondo. Doesn't seem to be much filler elsewhere. Again, still to be determined.

Massive oil (felt and tasted like oil in the dark) leak. I'm thinking maybe from the right-side axle seal.

I know there's also a big fuel leak by the tank but haven't been able to determine exactly what's causing it although the fuel line coming from the tank is wrapped in purple duct tape...

Loose distributor. Couldn't tell exactly but there may not have even been a clamp on it(?).

Much potential for vacuum leaks.

Questionable repairs, attempts to make it run well.

Sounds like good compression, wants to run even with the spinny dizzy.

Only water in the cooling system at the moment. 

First step. Get the water out of there, temps are dropping into the low 40s overnight these days. Second step, give it a thorough review in the daylight to start a parts list. Third step, finalize where it will live indoors this winter.

I am PUMPED and I really think my wife will E36 M3 herself when she gets it in the spring. 

Chandler is THE BEST!  

In reply to AxeHealey :

I think you should craft this thread, or another thread, into something that your wife could read after getting the car.  Provide her with some insight, written in nearly "real-time", of what this present required to "make it happen."   As the thread progresses, she will see the car go from "rough" to "finished".

In reply to AxeHealey :

You might want to refer back to the thread that got things rolling.

Happy to assist, looking forward to progress!

John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) said:

In reply to AxeHealey :

I think you should craft this thread, or another thread, into something that your wife could read after getting the car.  Provide her with some insight, written in nearly "real-time", of what this present required to "make it happen."   As the tread progresses, she will see the car go from "rough" to "finished".

You're on to something. Maybe I compile the story and pictures into a book and have that be what I wrap up and give her on the day. It will add even more confusion because a book is a gift she would never, ever (and I mean never) expect from me. 

Ok this is awesome. 

Building a car for your wife in secret? You must have a shop away from home somewhere that she won't see it? 

I'm so bad at secrets I could never do this, but it seems like it will be way worth it. I'm excited to see this progress. 

In reply to Gunchsta :

Pretty sure that equals my shop.  We're making plans for spring already 

In reply to Gunchsta :

This time last year my answer would have been, yes, I've got a shop away from home that she'll never see it.

We since moved, I have more space at home and didn't need the extra shop. So... It's currently sitting in a friend's driveway, hopefully will be in a friend's building over the winter and then hopefully will be at Patrick's for a brief period for a thrash to get it up to snuff in the spring!

Patrick and Chandler can attest that I've struggled coming up with excuses to just disappear for a few hours recently to meet up with them and make this happen. 

The menu needs to stay

Professor_Brap (Forum Supporter) said:

The menu needs to stay

I'm trying to decide whether or not my wife would be interested in helping to remove the menu and wrap it (good paint job down the line) or if she would be happier with it already done. She likes to help me with car stuff and my intent would to be to have us redo the interior together, just not sure about her reaction to the menu even though it's completely hilarious. I'm about 99% certain that she would not choose to keep the menu long term. 

It's all of a sudden supposed to be mid-30's overnight on Friday and I had an opening last night when my wife took my daughter to dinner with her grandmother. I blasted out to Queso with a basic tool kit and a drip pan and drained the water out. I ended up pulling the hose from the heater core and blowing as much coolant out of the block that I could after draining the radiator. I should have brought some antifreeze with me but I rushed out of the house and forgot.

The mental parts list has started, it's growing long enough that I'll need to write it down soon. I'm also really eager to get it inside somewhere.

Very little to report other than Queso has found a home for the winter about 10 minutes from where it's currently sitting. It'll probably see the back of a tow truck this weekend to get from it's current spot to the warm-ish garage it is headed to.

At some point between now and say, late April / early May, I'll need to find a chunk of time to really get familiar with the car and what parts it actually has on it so I can order once and have things ready to go when the wrenchfest comes along. 

This Sunday was my third visit ever with Queso and I did some research to start building a parts list. COVID restrictions are starting to lift some, which is amazing, but our family as a whole is still being quite cautious so disappearing with little explanation is still difficult. I'm hoping to get parts ordered and find a few chunks of time where I can escape and get this thing running in pretty short order. The menu will be there at least for the presentation but it's GOT to be running and driving. 

For any Mini people, I pulled the number of the block and it would appear that it's got an 845cc engine in it. Right?

It would seem to have a rather significant leak at the axle seal on the right-side. Moss part numbers seem to indicate the inner seal is the same throughout Mini production but the tight working time is going to mean I can't really afford to have an incorrect part show up. 

There is apparently a huge fuel leak in the back by the tank. PO said it dumps all the fuel out after sitting overnight. I'm assuming the duct tape used as a make-shift grommet going through the trunk floor or just a failed rubber line has something to do with it. I'm running with the assumption that the tank itself is not damaged as I couldn't feel anything strange running my hand along the bottom. 

I discovered that it's got a drop-in electronic ignition (like Pertronix) which is great but I think the reason that it won't fire off and run, like Chandler discovered, is the fact that the distributor spins freely. Is there some sort of clamp that is missing down where it goes into the block?

In reply to AxeHealey :

I forgot about this car. Sort of overshadowed by the Miata project too.  

Pretty sure there is supposed to be a little Y shaped piece that bolts to a boss in the block bellow and to the right of the distributor.  This clamps if down to the block. At least that's what I remember from the 1275 Midget A-series.