Oil Filter Relocation Kit

Quick update.

The oil relocation kit was purchased at a bargain price for $85 a few months ago from someone in the eastern states. It was the only one left. The hose and AN-10 fittings i purchased were from Summit Racing in the US as i mentioned in the previous blog. The filter was suppose to be a starlet one but after trail fitting one at Supercheapauto it was clear that the adapter had a different thread. The starlet/glanza thread is 3/4" where my relocation kit had a M20 thread on the filter side. It was pretty easy finding a filter with a different thread which ended up being almost the exact same size.

You'll see from the photos that i had to cut a entrance hole for the fittings in the body of the mini. I originally planned to have the filter side of the relocation kit installed inside the engine bay near the master cylinders but routing the hoses up there wasnt going to be pretty. I ended up mounting it on the subframe inside the wheel well behind the right side indicator.

 

 

Dump pipe and the rest of the Exhaust System

While i was mounting up the radiator i was a little bit worried about the clearance between the dump pipe so it was imperative that i had to install the dump pipe to be sure. I had originally intended using one made by Speedvisions in the US but after receiving it and trying to fit it, it was obvious that it wasnt going to fit, fouling on the mini body and front spar. So it was my only option to make up the dump pipe. My mate Alan was having some flanges cut up so i quickly jumped on that train.

The next part was buying the steel pipe which i found was cheapest from Undacarparts in Welshpool. I ended up buying nine 45degree bends in 2.25" for roughly $16 each, that would do the whole exhaust the way i was planning to run it. My exhaust system was going to be 2.25" straight through. I dont really like loud exhausts, and from reading a few starlet forums, 2.25" was the happy medium.

The pipe mounting to the flange was cut up and tacked, while i played around with the angle of the pipe and the distance from the gearbox for a few hours. It was one of the jobs where you look at it for ages figuring out the best way it could be done. I opted for two 45degree bends over one 90degree bend as the elbow coming down the front to the bottom of the engine because it would give the full exhaust a much cleaner look - It was an idea my mate from work showed me one afternoon so i went with it. The dump underneath would then have to avoid the rear gearbox mount with which i used more of the 45degree bends and a 3 bolt flange welded on the end.

The dump was TIG welded by another mate at work. Cheers Karl.

Underneath.

Dump height with radiator mounted.

Here is the clearance i ended up with between the dump and the radiator.A lot closer than i wanted but I am planning to have the dump ceramic coated just in case. It may be a little overkill but theres no harm in doing so.

While making up the dump pipe i had ordered and waited for some exhaust parts from Summit Racing in the US. Reason being its a whole lot cheaper there for the same muffler or catalytic converter here. You compare $250 here vs $100ish over there. The shipping does bump it up a bit more but i ended up purchasing some AN-10 fittings and hose for my oil relocation kit as well. The exhaust was going to consist of a 6" stainless steel flexible bellow, to allow for movement of the engine, followed by a spun type catalytic converter, super clean looking, and finished off with a magnaflow muffler and stainless steel tip.

With the work hoist being unavailable to someone elses project car, my next option was raise the mini and slide under. Two metal horses, a fork light and an overhead crane later i had it almost floating.

Playing around holding the exhaust up and making tacks here and there, i had only finished half of it. Fitting the muffler and making up a bracket to hold the rubber exhaust mount was again even harder. Took all afternoon getting it right, but she ended up looking pretty nice and snug.

Ignore the tape on the muffler, it was to protect the stainless steel from being scratched up.

Radiator Mounting

With the engine now in and the installation of new engine mount bushings thanks to my mate Alan, it was time to move onto the ancillaries. But quickly to note, the engine mounts are polyurethane bushings made by Powerflex.

The radiator i opted for was the EK civic half size radiator which many other people doing the same build on Ausmini have used quite successfully. It was a rather tight fit. I had to cut little parts of the body here and there to make it nice and snug, but nothing very important. Lucky for me my front spar was just the right height to have the radiator sitting on top of it and still clear the bonnet.

The issues i found with fitment were basically the height of the radiator, the location of the bottom water outlet, the wrong size outlets and the dump pipe clearance which i would soon find out. I removed the bottom outlet as i am planning to TIG weld sum new outlets anyway. The starlet outlets are a weird 28mm and the civic radiator was 32mm, if i purchased 32mm radiator hose it would fit just fine but since i was relocating the bottom outlet i might as well change them to the correct size and purchase some 28mm hose later.

Moving on. I made a small tab at the bottom, off the front spar which bolts to one of the standard civic mounting points. The top was fixed by making up a little bracket that is bolted off the side of the engine bay body.

Indicator Binnacle Install

So its been a fair while since ive updated but i havent stopped working on the mini.
 

My next installment is incorporating the indicator binnacle and the ignition barrel from the starlet onto the mini steering column. The reason for using the these is for the simplicity of installing the wiring loom. Its much easier to plug in all the current connections straight into each other rather than having to cut and splice wires,although in saying that you still have to mount the indicator binnacle and ignition barrel somehow.

So before i could install the steering column i had to install the steering rack. This was going to be annoying having to remove the engine and subframe, but while i was at it i figured i might as well rebuild the steering rack with parts from the Mini King in NSW. The parts cost me around $90 including new bearings, gaiters and what not.

The first part of installing the binnacle was removing the bracket that holds it, but be sure to measure the distance between the ignition barrel and the bracket as the plastic shroud mounts over the top. What i ended up with was a pipe that was slightly larger than the steering column that would slide over the top. This would mount the ignition barrel as well as clamping the bracket to the column, and the indicator binnacle bracket would be welded to the top of the pipe. I'm not sure where i had read this but i think it was from another persons build on Ausmini, but it was said that the engineer told them that they werent allowed to weld anything to the steering column, hence the removable pipe bracket.

Here is the bracket alone.

There is a tab on the ignition barrel for the steering lock. This obviously doesnt fit on the mini so i took to a die grinder and got rid of it.

Mounted on steering column.

And this is the final result.