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Right - join Part A to Part B etc, etc, etc (currently 14,505 views) |
Graham Bichard |
Posted on: June 6th, 2013, 19:13:16 |
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Posts: 751
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Reply: 225 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: June 6th, 2013, 19:15:09 |
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Posts: 751
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 Four wheels and a steering wheel - does it count as a car yet? Or just a mobile home for one of the engines! Wheeling it out puts its size in context - barely above the waist line of our Honda. |
Last modified June 6th, 2013, 19:16:16 by Graham Bichard |
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Matthew Payne |
Posted on: June 6th, 2013, 19:48:18 |
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Medium Member

Location: Bawdeswell, Norfolk Posts: 105
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I made a centre for my MPI steering wheel with foam and fabric... Simple!
[img] [/img] |
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Reply: 227 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: June 30th, 2013, 10:51:11 |
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Matthew, it might have been your efforts I saw on another forum?
I've got this earth strap for the fuel tank:
 With trying to limit the number of holes I put in the shell I wondering if I could attach this underneath the screww head of one of the tank holding screws:
 If I ensure this screw/washer/nut doesn't get rusty would this be acceptable? |
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Brian |
Posted on: July 1st, 2013, 02:27:01 |
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Big Member

Location: San Mateo, CA, USA Posts: 330
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The other bolts should be fine, but what are you grounding the tank to? The rear subframe should be fine...
As for the bolts, don't depend on the bolts to conduct, just use them to force the brass lug to contact an unpainted spot on whatever you're trying to connect from/to... |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: July 17th, 2013, 19:46:21 |
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Right, I've got this week off work, have serviced the mini so had a chance to get in the garage this afternoon. The fuel tank earth:
 I've also fitted the connections to the main electrical cables (battery end) to match the Extreme 30 battery:
 I've gathered the earths together (this picture is of the LHR side, there's a similar bunch on the RHR). I'm still not clear in my mind how I get these to the battery negative neatly (and safely!):
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Last modified July 17th, 2013, 19:49:01 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 230 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: July 17th, 2013, 19:51:32 |
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Posts: 751
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Other things done: A lovely DSN MPi engine steady:
 The mounting holes required for this are slightly different to a 'normal' mini so I had to drill a copule of more holes for this:

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Reply: 231 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: July 17th, 2013, 19:53:50 |
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Also: Fuel pump and sender wired in:
 I still need to find somewhere to mount the engine relay:
 This mounts on the top of the servo bracket on the mini, obviously not an option with the lower bonnet line.
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Reply: 232 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: July 17th, 2013, 19:58:10 |
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This is the engine bay with the engine harness in place:
 And this is how I left it this evening (complete with rear Revolutions fitted this time):

 Hopefully we'll get a bit more done tomorrow. One question I do have, I've offered up the (front) subframe rear mounts and the gap is different to the gap with the original subframe (original as in fitted to the car when I bought it). Has anyone had to put spacers on these? Or modify (bend) the subframe ears to ensure a good fit? I'll try and get a picture tomorrow. ETA - Do I need to earth the rear subframe seperately? I think so but am not sure  |
Last modified July 17th, 2013, 20:01:25 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 233 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: July 18th, 2013, 12:56:31 |
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This is the drivers side rear subframe mount:
 And the passenger side:
 None of the holes line up. How do I rectify this? And do you think this would work for the main electric cables? The red (+ve) through the bulkhead to the starter motor, the black (-ve) attached to a bolt going through thte bulkhead attaching the dash side earths inside, the engine bay earth on the engine bay side? The cables would be under carpet of course (I can't (easily) run the cables under the car - the two channels are used by the fuel pipes and brake pipe):
 There's been a fair bit of this today:
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Last modified July 18th, 2013, 12:58:00 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 234 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: July 18th, 2013, 15:44:33 |
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Posts: 751
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A couple of other little jobs done. Door switches fitted:
 DSN engine block steady offered up:

 If I could get the subframe rear mounts fitted, I'd be tempted to get the engine ready to fire up. Any ideas how to solve that problem? And when I was looking down on the subframe I noticed it looks as if it isn't fitted squarely:
 How much play is there in the turret bolts normally? |
Last modified July 18th, 2013, 15:44:46 by Graham Bichard |
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Brian |
Posted on: July 18th, 2013, 20:20:07 |
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Big Member

Location: San Mateo, CA, USA Posts: 330
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While the battery cables are surely well shielded, in the off chance of a collision, I wouldn't want something cutting that insulation and causing a shower so close to me. If you won't have a passenger seat, maybe run them there, or possibly even better yet, run one up each side?
Also, I believe there's a channel under the car designed for those cables. I know there is in the mk6, and it looks like I can see the upper side of that channel on the floor pan of your car; is there a reason not to use that? |
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Reply: 236 - 599 |
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Brian |
Posted on: July 18th, 2013, 20:23:39 |
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Big Member

Location: San Mateo, CA, USA Posts: 330
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For your earlier question re: grounding circuits, I personally prefer to use a busbar for the grounds. It makes it far easier to add a device or two. In our (non mini) race car, we used to ground instruments via a screw through the car's body with a bunch of lugs on it. One time, we needed to add a device in a hurry, during a pit stop. We ended up with someone holding a wrench in the front bay, and another person turning a screw in the driver's compartment, to get that screw out, and add to the lug. A bus bar keeps all the individual wires separate and clean for maintenance and troubleshooting. I feel it's easier to get a solid ground, too. |
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admin |
Posted on: July 20th, 2013, 16:12:14 |
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Administrator


Location: Maidenhead, UK Posts: 2,380
Reputation: 1 (tot: 1) |
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The channels on the floor pan are for the brake line and fuel line. The usual path for the battery cables is through the sill on the left hand side for right hand drive, so the battery is at the left rear. I'd take the earth cable through the bulkhead to terminate on the engine e.g. using one of the thermostat cover studs. Then I connect earthing cables from the electrics at the front of the car to the engine block on each side. At the back the lights, fuel tank and pump (if fitted) can be earthed directly to the battery terminal.
That just leaves the stuff in the middle for which I run a wire from the engine end of the battery earth cable. In actual fact the Marcos is slightly different because I have a bolt through the crossmember with the battery cable terminating on the inside of the car, and then a strap from the engine side to the engine. The equipment can connect to the appropriate side of this bolt.
I have thought about using a bus bar because I happen to have one from a telephone exchange but I didn't see how it would be fitted. It's got short wires coming out at regular intervals on one side for connecting things to. |
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Reply: 238 - 599 |
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Graham Bichard |
Posted on: July 20th, 2013, 20:21:35 |
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Posts: 751
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Brian, my car is a Mk6 - chassis number 3. As Richard says there is a channel either side underneath and while the fuel (injection) lines don't follow the left hand side exactly, they do fill the channel fully in the area of the rear subframe heel board. The right hand channel has the rear brake line in it. I think I'll explore your suggestion of perhaps running a cable down each side. Richard - do you have any experience with the front subframe rear mounts?
While I've been looking at the wiring should I have a seperate switch for the front heated screen given the current it may draw? Or could I run them both throught he one switch (I currently have a four switch panel fitted)?
 Another little job done today is position the seats and drill the subframe holes (cue lots of Brmm Brmm noises and funny looks from my eldest):

 The good news is there's enough headroom with these seats and plenty of fore/aft adjustment even for the missus' stumpy legs . And they do look good. They're back out now, and I don't know when I'll get any more time in the garage for a while. I've enjoyed this week working on the car - if I can get these electrics sorted I get the feeling it could be the downhill stretch (only another three years to go then!). |
Last modified July 20th, 2013, 20:23:35 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 239 - 599 |
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