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 Posted: Jul 20, 2023 02:28AM
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CA
Good to know you've worked out some bugs and your Mini is ALIVE! Well Done!

.

"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."

 Posted: Jul 19, 2023 05:35PM
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Hi all. I want to sent a late but genuine thank you to all the advice given. I'm not a great online poster of news as you can see. Sorry for that. We're in Montreal, QC.

since my question I guess its fair to say my son and I took a long mechanical break and moved on to interior upholstery. (yes i'm doing that bit too.). Got the rear seat done and the door cards all in. Going to use the front seats as is until i'm all licenced and on the road. Will send pics of those details sometime.

So back to the no-start issue. I think all the advice was relevant but as often is the case, we must have had several issues going on at the same time. Just this summer I took the carbs and manifolds off as one of you said and replaced the intake gaskets. I took the twin carbs that i had previously removed to a local shop (Britanicar) and got the fuel bowl leak addressed, needles and jets replaced and set up to specs. We installed a new, Mini-correct, ground cable, I also played around with all my wiring and found some spade connectors on my fuse block that were a tad loose. And by golly, she fired up! And runs like a dream.

So now we are test driving with a temporary road permit and trouble shooting a few more issues. Speedo used to work, but isn't now. We narrowed that down to the speedo pinon gear that isn't turning..... Doesn't look like a quick-easy..... Hmmm.

More on it later once we get it fully figured out.

Thanks again

TJ

 Posted: Oct 30, 2022 01:13PM
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Im guessing he lives in Quebec

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Simple recipe for Excitement:  Take 1 Classic Mini. Throw in 1590cc's of engine. Add 5 gears. A dash of 94 octane. A sprinkle of style inside and out. Toss in 1 MadMan and finally heat tires and pavement to taste. Recipe produces 1 Mini VTEC conversion and full satisfaction. Motor on!
 Posted: Oct 30, 2022 07:10AM
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Also, you said you changed from a single carb to twins then back to the single. Maybe you damaged the manifold gasket or the carb gaskets in the process and now there is an air leak. To check this, while you are trying to start it spray some WD40 on the gasket areas. If there's leak the motor should try to start.

 Posted: Oct 30, 2022 05:13AM
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CA
Tucker78. Welcome back!

Where in Canada are you? It is a big place! There might be someone nearby who could help. (I'm in Ottawa.) Fill in your profile a little more.

 You said you "put a ground wire from the block to the wiring harness". There should be a large cable running from the back end of the block near or on the clutch housing to the body of the car - such as a bolt on the firewall - the plate around your heater hoses will do. The engine ground wire has to take the current running through the starter motor back, not just the spark. It should not be anywhere near the wiring harness. Without a proper ground, the electricity finds its own way such as through the throttle, choke, heater or speedo cables. None of theses are good!

Judging by your comment that you turned the carb mixture a number of flats, you have a HS type carb. The newer style has a spring-loaded needle which self-centres in the main jet, The older ones (possibly yours) need to be manually centred or the dashpot won't rise and fall smoothly, resulting in poor mixture. 

Make sure the fuel bowl is absolutely clean including the small tube to the bottom of the main jet. Make sure the seal between the bowl and the tube is leak-proof. Check the float level. This is critical because it sets the fuel level inside the main jet - too low in the bowl and the fuel level in the jet will be too far down to be effective.

.

"Hang on a minute lads....I've got a great idea."

 Posted: Oct 29, 2022 03:57PM
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Nice looking Mini. You and your son deserve kudos for the work you have done.

Do you see any dampness on the carb due to weaping fuel? If yes, you need to rebuild the carb with a rebuild kit. I say this because of my experience with my 61 Traveller with a 1275 engine fueled by an HIF44 carb. It became to run poorly and eventually wouldn't started at all. The only problem I saw was said fuel leaking from the carb. 

 Posted: Oct 29, 2022 01:15PM
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Hello Mini Mania 

Sorry its actually been so long since I posted I had to create a new account. I guess it's been years. My son and I originally posted under the name of 'Newkid' but now I can't even find those old threads.

With no experience whatsoever we bought a 78 classic that needed a complete restoration. My son was 13 at the time and now he is 20 and I try not to think about how many hours we have into this. I guess I can say that after sandblasting body, patching, painting, rebuilding motor, completely rewiring, and having every nut and bolt out of the car we got it running & driving to the point that we figure it's mostly just upholstery left and almost ready for the road. Just in time for winter in Canada, so I guess the fun will have to wait till next year. I took a few shots in the garage today to prove that I'm for real.

So not being a regular contributor I guess posting questions gives away the fact that I'm really stuck...!

I had bought my son a set of used twin carbs for one of his birthdays (can't remember what year) and found myself struggling to get the car to run consistently with them. Finally after one of the fuel bowls started leaking I decided to scrap that plan and go back to the single setup that the car came with. I just wanted to be able to turn the key and have it go with out adjusting every time.

That came with another learning curve. After doing the carb swap and finding it wouldn't start I checked everything I could think of. I think I had multiple issues going on at the same time. I even found that simultanously I had lost spark. After swapping distributors, and trying everything a friend helpfully suggested that I make sure the engine itself was grounded. I put a ground wire from the block to the wiring harness and Bingo! we had spark again! So I guess the twin carb setup maybe had more springs connecting it to the sheet metal that swapping carbs affected spark? Bizare, but interesting. So that fixed I figured I was good, but no.

It seems like there's not enough fuel going to the carb. So changed the fuel pump which was one of the few items that hasn't been replaced yet, added a fuel filter which the car never had before, pulled the carb apart, cleaned the fuel bowl, jet, fuel supply hose, put everything back together and found the same thing persists.

It coughs and splutters when I crank it with the choke on, and almost starts, but not quite. I set the carb jet at 2 full turns from closed (12 flats), and played with it up and down, and when I open it up more it coughs and splutters more than when i close it down, but still acts like it is not getting enough fuel. 

Although it makes plenty of grey/black smoke when cranking depending on how much I open up the fuel jet, and puffs spectactular smoke rings which are very entertaining, but I'm pretty near beat on this one. 

So I would be very grateful to hear all your advice. Every time I get frustrated with it I leave for a while and hope that I get some spark of inspiration but this issue has persisted for several months now without a breakthrough.

Thanks in advance.

TJ