Post by Rachel on Oct 4, 2007 18:39:41 GMT
As many of you already know, I have been trying to learn a bit more about minis and how they work, by actually sorting out the problems I encounter myself (with a bit of help). ;D I have hinted in the past about some of the mistakes I have made along the way, and thought that now I am almost over the embarrassment, I would share them with you. 
This diary will give those of you who are more mechanically minded and more experienced a laugh, but hopefully show those, like me, that know little or nothing, that it can be fun getting dirty and sorting out your problems yourself, and there is nothing like making mistakes to help you learn more.
My first, and probably biggest, mistake came when removing Mankys engine. I thought that I had removed or disconnected all the cables, pipes, nuts, bolts etc.... only to find I had forgotten the gear selector cable They break quite easily when taking the full weight of the engine. I didn't actually realise I had damaged it until it came to putting it back on and it wouldn't change gear. 
I was lucky enough to obtain another cable and spent an afternoon taking both to bits and making one good one. ;D
My next mistake involved the plastic dipstick The engine was suspended on the hoist while I tried to manoever it back into the engine bay. I don't know how it happened, but one minute the dipstick was fine, the next it had snapped in two. I spent a few minutes pondering the situation, before finding a long thin screw and screwing it into the end that was still inside the engine block then tugging on the screw with a pair of pliers. After several attempts it came out ;D I then replaced it with a metal one ;D
In a similar vein to the dipstick I also managed to damage the oil pressure switch, again replaced by a spare ;D
Once the engine was back where it belonged, I set about putting the engine hoist away. I had raised and secured one of the legs and was just lifting the second one, when the whole thing lost balance and fell on Manky breaking one spotlight and creating a large dent in the crossmember Luckily I wasn't in the way as it would have hurt lots 
;D Don't panic Jim 
, your hoist came away unscathed ;D ;D
My final mistake with Manky actually began right at the beginning 
Once everything was back together Manky wouldn't always start and when he did, the lights wouldn't work After more head scratching, Tony asked if I had secured the positive cable to the battery properly Oops!
I am sure that more mistakes I have made with Manky will come to light over the next few weeks
Finally, I had a bit of a confusing time this afternoon while trying to remove the fly wheel housing on Jakes mini. In my trusty Haynes manual it says to remove the nine bolts that hold the housing in place. Patiently I removed the two nasty bolts at the bottom of the housing and then removed the other easier ones ;D Unfortunately I could only count eight bolts I reconsulted my Haynes manual and then checked my other one too, both said nine bolts but over the page where there is a picture of the housing it clearly shows only eight Can anyone tell me if this is my mistake or Haynes?
The biggest thing I have learned is that it doesn't matter if you do break something on your mini, it can always be fixed or replaced ;D and once dismantled it isn't quite as scary as you first thought ;D
I am really looking forward to taking part in the training sessions that Josie is arranging and hope to learn not to make mistakes in the first place ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
This diary will give those of you who are more mechanically minded and more experienced a laugh, but hopefully show those, like me, that know little or nothing, that it can be fun getting dirty and sorting out your problems yourself, and there is nothing like making mistakes to help you learn more.
My first, and probably biggest, mistake came when removing Mankys engine. I thought that I had removed or disconnected all the cables, pipes, nuts, bolts etc.... only to find I had forgotten the gear selector cable
They break quite easily when taking the full weight of the engine. I didn't actually realise I had damaged it until it came to putting it back on and it wouldn't change gear. 
I was lucky enough to obtain another cable and spent an afternoon taking both to bits and making one good one. ;DMy next mistake involved the plastic dipstick
The engine was suspended on the hoist while I tried to manoever it back into the engine bay. I don't know how it happened, but one minute the dipstick was fine, the next it had snapped in two. I spent a few minutes pondering the situation, before finding a long thin screw and screwing it into the end that was still inside the engine block then tugging on the screw with a pair of pliers. After several attempts it came out ;D I then replaced it with a metal one ;DIn a similar vein to the dipstick I also managed to damage the oil pressure switch,
again replaced by a spare ;DOnce the engine was back where it belonged, I set about putting the engine hoist away. I had raised and secured one of the legs and was just lifting the second one, when the whole thing lost balance and fell on Manky breaking one spotlight and creating a large dent in the crossmember
Luckily I wasn't in the way as it would have hurt lots 
;D Don't panic Jim 
, your hoist came away unscathed ;D ;DMy final mistake with Manky actually began right at the beginning
Once everything was back together Manky wouldn't always start and when he did, the lights wouldn't work After more head scratching, Tony asked if I had secured the positive cable to the battery properly Oops!I am sure that more mistakes I have made with Manky will come to light over the next few weeks
Finally, I had a bit of a confusing time this afternoon while trying to remove the fly wheel housing on Jakes mini. In my trusty Haynes manual it says to remove the nine bolts that hold the housing in place. Patiently I removed the two nasty bolts at the bottom of the housing and then removed the other easier ones ;D Unfortunately I could only count eight bolts
I reconsulted my Haynes manual and then checked my other one too, both said nine bolts but over the page where there is a picture of the housing it clearly shows only eight Can anyone tell me if this is my mistake or Haynes? The biggest thing I have learned is that it doesn't matter if you do break something on your mini, it can always be fixed or replaced ;D and once dismantled it isn't quite as scary as you first thought ;D
I am really looking forward to taking part in the training sessions that Josie is arranging and hope to learn not to make mistakes in the first place ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
and get the body work done (professionally, not by me) ready for show season next year - but time & money is not on my side, 
so will have to see how things pan out over the winter. 
You are welcome to come round and give my flywheel a whack ;D
