Mini Project

I recently acquired a Mini in need of some tender loving care. It took a couple of weeks to arrange but by the time the car was towed to my garage I was itching to get started. 

Room to do the work was a slight issue. It's a tight space - even for a mini. 

It turned out the head gasket had failed..

The head gasket is a thin piece of material (not literally material - it's usually metal) that sits between the cylinder head and the engine block and forms a seal between the two. In the picture above the tops of the pistons can be seen along with the other passageways for oil and water. Oil and water have to be circulated throughout the engine and up into the cylinder head. When the head gasket fails the oil and water mix together resulting in watered down oil and not enough water in the system. It's bad news all round for the engine and the resulting heat can warp the cylinder head. Luckily on these Minis the cylinder heads are cast iron (as opposed to aluminium) which is much less likely to warp so the cylinder head usually doesn't need to be skimmed. 

Along the way sacrifices were made..

Usually the head gasket doesn't just fail on its own. It's more likely to be a symptom of something else. In this case the water pump was at fault. Inside the water pump (pictured below) is a bearing and a seal. The small hole that can be seen on the top/side of the pump is a vent hole for the bearing as it can get very hot. On the old water pump the seal had failed which allowed water to pass through it and out of the bearing vent hole. Less water  in the system - less efficient cooling leading to engine overheating and head gasket failure.

Nice new water pump arrived..

Then onto the rebuild.. 

Fingers were crossed as the car went for an MOT.. and it failed. One of the front brake calipers was seized. Back to the garage and the problem was worked through. 

And then began many months of trouble free motoring..

Or so I'd hoped.. On a blast around the other day the clutch started to slip badly. No rest for the wicked.. More to come..