Motoring in Wet Weather
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In response to 65AMCS 's question "do shields really work" - yes.
When you're tootling along in your Mini the engine bay is warm and dry... until it rains.
The shields deflect splash from dousing the distributor. A heavy splash of water will flood into the dizzy or at least all over it, cooling it down. The water stays put, shorting out your spark.
Road spray on the other hand, will pervade (fog) the engine bay in a fine mist, but if your engine, dizzy and high tension wires are warm, they don't suffer nearly so much. If they are in good condition, the mist doesn't affect them.
But if they are worn or tires, as yours are (you did say you could see the light show) even a cool damp day can give you grief.
So...... BEFORE spending any money or time on shields, ruber boots, gloves, zip-ties and WD40. Get a new cap and set of spark plug wires. You will be amazed at the difference. As has been said, the Mini originally came without all these.
.
"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."
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Big "never inhaled" Al, i'm referring to the fresh air vents either side of the dash... you've never had water spray in the cabin from those? must be a BC thing...
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Lurch, what are you smoking anyway ?? LOL
Big Al
Niagara Ontario Canada
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Hello and thanks again for all the info and suggestions. I will have to look again at the shield. Really? The shield does work? OK I will figure something out. BTW my distributor cap is the side entry type so there is no rubber boot to be had. I did in fact see the sparks when I tried to start it up. Arc trails were traveling from the cap to the stainless steel braided oil cooler hose, which ran close to the cap. I changed this of course.
Speaking with others; dielectric grease on any connection in the engine compartment was their first suggestion and I will do this over the weekend. I think dielectric grease with the shield should be the ticket. When I have it done, I will give her the water hose treatment.
Thanks again.
Tim
The shield works well i just install mine in the rainy season here in FL. You will need two brackets which are installed on the rocker cover studs, a third bracket is down next to the oil filter housing but to be honest i never use it as it is normally slightly messy down there and it stays in place fine for the small amount of time i use it.
If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.
Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.
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First reply (from Spitz) to your original post shows this:
//www.minimania.com/part/8G726/Waterproof-Cover-For-Side-Exit-Dist-Cap
I believe Miniestate also shows the same part. Although some would recommend against it or the rubber glove trick as both can retain moisture. I've never had the problem so have no first hand knowledge.
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Hello and thanks again for all the info and suggestions. I will have to look again at the shield. Really? The shield does work? OK I will figure something out. BTW my distributor cap is the side entry type so there is no rubber boot to be had. I did in fact see the sparks when I tried to start it up. Arc trails were traveling from the cap to the stainless steel braided oil cooler hose, which ran close to the cap. I changed this of course.
Speaking with others; dielectric grease on any connection in the engine compartment was their first suggestion and I will do this over the weekend. I think dielectric grease with the shield should be the ticket. When I have it done, I will give her the water hose treatment.
Thanks again.
Tim
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uh, what? not the stickiest tape in the drawer i s'pose. Had a dodge van once that was galvanized. not the fuel filler door though. Only rusty thing on that beast, but the paint came off in sheets... oh yeah.. done a lot of rainy driving in the Mini... would agree that the plastic shield is a big help, and clean working dizzy bits like the guys say. rotor, points, condensor are cheap and I like to keep em fresh, with a spare set on hand. have never had to put a rubber glove or anything on the dizzy, just kept it clean and out of direct spray. have had water get in the fuse box. but the shield and a well fit cap and leads has kept the water out of the distributor.
when the water is coming in the eyeball vents but you're still motoring, you know you have the distributor protected from the spray...
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Who, What...oh, paying attention.
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Really !!!!!
If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.
Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.
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sheet metal , some use galvanized(cheaper)
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A classic mini with OUT problems .. would be a SHOCK to us.. btw the shield will make the car over heat in the summer in the south.... not enough air flow
dealing with Minis require tremendous amount of time,know how and INTEREST, i emphasize on the word interest because that inner enthusiasm within you will give you the will and drive to fix your mini. everyone needs to MICRO MANAGE their minis, after installing a part,you need to check it at least once a week if the bolt is getting loose or something. Minis are not like cars nowadays that are pretty much indestructable. the more time you spend maintaining your mini the less problem it will give you., like me for example, as soon as i go home from work, i kiss my wife first then go straight to the garage, open the hood or bonnett(or whatever you call it) of my mini and start thinking of whatelse do i need to do, perhaps clean the battery terminals, clean negative wire connected to the body etc. the point is, you don't stop maintaining your mini, everyday is maintenance day for mini, that's where the fun is., buying a nice,well kept mini is stupeyd because if you bring it home you have nothing else to do with it(boring), the best would be, get a beat up mini, maintain it really good, get some used upgrade parts here and there, change oil(snake or traditional,don't forget to put zinc),grease the ball joints,take the brake apart,clean it and put it back(correctly), it's a learning process. nobody is too old to learn.(ooops),remember,owning a mini is supposed to be a leisure rather than obligation. that is why i really hate and i was in tears when i watch that video of US federal customs whatever crashing the minis because it didn't pass the whatever law thing., there are two things that can make the classic minis vanish on earth, rust & US federal law.
We really need to act now, we need to get the template machineries that Issigonis used to mold the classic mini's shell. where is it btw??,this time we need to used stainless metal sheet rather than galvanized sheet which is prone to killer rust.
so to conclude, having a trouble free classic mini is still possible... minis need TLCs more than $$$
copish?
Our cars are galvanised?
"Everybody should own a MINI at some point, or you are incomplete as a human being" - James May
"WET COOPER", Partsguy1 (Terry Snell of Penticton BC ) - Could you send the money for the unpaid parts and court fees.
Ordered so by a Judge
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A classic mini with OUT problems .. would be a SHOCK to us.. btw the shield will make the car over heat in the summer in the south.... not enough air flow
dealing with Minis require tremendous amount of time,know how and INTEREST, i emphasize on the word interest because that inner enthusiasm within you will give you the will and drive to fix your mini. everyone needs to MICRO MANAGE their minis, after installing a part,you need to check it at least once a week if the bolt is getting loose or something. Minis are not like cars nowadays that are pretty much indestructable. the more time you spend maintaining your mini the less problem it will give you., like me for example, as soon as i go home from work, i kiss my wife first then go straight to the garage, open the hood or bonnett(or whatever you call it) of my mini and start thinking of whatelse do i need to do, perhaps clean the battery terminals, clean negative wire connected to the body etc. the point is, you don't stop maintaining your mini, everyday is maintenance day for mini, that's where the fun is., buying a nice,well kept mini is stupeyd because if you bring it home you have nothing else to do with it(boring), the best would be, get a beat up mini, maintain it really good, get some used upgrade parts here and there, change oil(snake or traditional,don't forget to put zinc),grease the ball joints,take the brake apart,clean it and put it back(correctly), it's a learning process. nobody is too old to learn.(ooops),remember,owning a mini is supposed to be a leisure rather than obligation. that is why i really hate and i was in tears when i watch that video of US federal customs whatever crashing the minis because it didn't pass the whatever law thing., there are two things that can make the classic minis vanish on earth, rust & US federal law.
We really need to act now, we need to get the template machineries that Issigonis used to mold the classic mini's shell. where is it btw??,this time we need to used stainless metal sheet rather than galvanized sheet which is prone to killer rust.
so to conclude, having a trouble free classic mini is still possible... minis need TLCs more than $$$
copish?
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Spitz, I am in shock! I would not have thought there is a product designed specifically for this. Who would have thunk?? Apparently there is a water issue with Minis. The distributor cap looks to be the ticket. And just to be sure the coil cover is just awesome. They are on my wish list. Fathers day is coming up so i am sure there will be a sale, let's say 50% off for dad, sounds good to me; )
As for the shield; I don't think so. I can not imagine how effective that would be. At first look I would say not too effective. Maybe someone has a picture of one installed. Would not hurt to have a picture on the MM part page too. Just a thought.
Thanks again.
Tim
Actually the shield fitted to most of the late 70's and 80's is the best option and the most effective imo as you do not get any of the moisture problems you get from sealing everything up with tight rubber covers. I don't run mine all the time as it is hot here but when the rainy season is in full swing it pops on very easily.
If in doubt, flat out. Colin Mc Rae MBE 1968-2007.
Give a car more power and it goes faster on the straights,
make a car lighter and it's faster everywhere. Colin Chapman.
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A classic mini with OUT problems .. would be a SHOCK to us.. btw the shield will make the car over heat in the summer in the south.... not enough air flow
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Had a COMO member that had a problem in the rain on the way back from "56", turned out to be a worn rotor. Worked fine when dry, not so well in the wet.
All good ideas above, just don't forget the little things we take for granted every day.
I've always been one for over-kill. Parts are cheap and labor free, much cheaper than a tow.
I kept a boat a Lake Erie for a number of years, full tune every two years, plugs every spring. New fuel filter every year. Dock mate had a Sea Ray like mine and we talked repair and up keep from time to time. He felt a new fuel filter every year was over kill. One day , here he comes being towed in by a tow boat, I asked "what happened"?. Reply was "I don't want to talk about it".
He came by the next morning and told me his fuel filter had rusted through and was leaking gas. New fuel filter looks cheap compaired to the price of that tow.
I still have a number of NOS points and condensers, I've heard the new condensers aren't worth much and have a high fail rate.
But keeping your car in good spec is cheaper than a tow. If I were driving often in wet weather I might also water proof the engine bay.
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Half the problem is moisture collects on top of the coil in damp weather. Even with the rubber cover , moisture can sweat under there.
I spray and wipe with WD40 every 6 months. Ditto the dizzy cap, inside and out. No cover on the dizzy, just the lead caps.
I also have moved my coil to the inner wing, as far back as possible. No cover on. The H/T lead is 600mm, it works fine. With an electronic ignition module in the 43D dizzy and Bosch inductive core leads, I can hose the motor whilst it's running.
Kevin G
1360 power- Morris 1300 auto block, S crank & rods, Russell Engineering RE282 sprint cam, over 125HP at crank, 86.6HP at the wheels @7000+.
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I agree with the cleanliness approach...but if drowned out as we were in a violent down pour with vicious sidewinds on I-71, WD 40 is your friend in a time of need.
Have NEVER had water drown out the electrics piddling around town and on local club outings...it was the extreme rain/wind and voluminous wind blown spray kicked up by adjacent/passing vehicles that did us in. Note: the I-71 sign said 70 mph and even though visibility was near zero in violent rain/extreme side winds the buggers kept doing 70 or better. We barely got off the freeway because of construction pylons where the Mini died.
The extreme weather we saw in Regina, Winnipeg, Ohio and Illinois was NOT normal in terms of driving conditions...in fact as we sat under the overpass in Illinois as modern vehicles sped by (the sign said 70 mph), it was amusing to see modern vehicles slow only because the sidewinds were pushing them off the highway.
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I agree with the cleanliness brigade. Back when all the bits were quite new we didn't have a lot of problems (which is not to say that we didn't have any problems at all.. but I've driven Minis in some pretty torrid tropical rain storms..)
If you want the true 60s vibe then forget the fancy plastic bits - they didn't exist then. However, the side of a Fosters (I lived in the UK in those daze) beer carton fitted neatly behind the grill in front of the dizzie and, after a liitle use, gained a perfect water proof coating of oil fumes...
However, the piece-de-resistance (pardon my non French) was a rubber washing up glove. First you cut off the finger tips . Then the wrist was secured around the base of the dizzie with a suitable tie and each lead is lead out through a finger, the top of which is secured around the lead with a small rubber band... Pink or some other lurid colour seemed to work best...
Cheers, Ian
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#12 is the Mini water shield that comes to my mind. It seems like it screwed in behind the grill. Mini Estate
//www.minimania.com/catPage/10-5/10/5/0/Coil-Vacuum-Control-Pipes-Ignition-Cables--Shields
Agreed - #12 is the part to have. Although no longer available through our host or MSC, I'm sure you can find one if you look for one. It's big enough to protect the dizzy from the weather, but small enough not to impede air flow through the grill.
I've never needed to use any silicone grease or WD40 anywhere near my ignition system. Adding covers to the coil - especially those flashy slip-over covers - prevent heat from dissipating and can cause overheating. If you really want to go with a top-shelf solution, simply keep the stock igniton system in good order; don't wait until they need it to replace your cap/rotor or HT leads. These are common maintenance parts and should be replaced every couple of years.
The peasants are revolting...
"Gone with the Wind" - a brief yet moving vignette concerning lactose intolerance
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