Week Two

Feb 8th
Snoopy stayed the night in the garage, and got used to the new surroundings. Today I started to remove the interior and got to see the floor damage. The front seats are easily removed by unbolting two bolts at the front, and then lifting out the chair. The back seat has two screws which are removed from the boot and are located at the back of the parcel shelf, the seat base cushion just pulls out. The floor needs some repairs, some have already been attempted, and will need to be corrected. The rear storage area in front of the wheel arches also need some work

      

      

 

Feb 9th
Today I received my HAYNES RESTORATION MANUAL from amazon. Its a really great book, and I seriously recommend you get a copy, amazon are the cheapest, and even offer a second hand copy for a really low price. Having read the manual, it suggests lifting out the engine as a first step for a major restoration. So today I tidied up from removing the interior, and started work on the engine. I also removed one head light and indicator to see the extent of some obvious rust.

        ISBN code : 1 85960 440 4   www.amazon.co.uk

1) First of all remove the battery, or at least safely disconnect it.

2) Bonnet removal, this is very straight forward, open the bonnet and undo 2 nuts on each side, then lift away the bonnet.

3) Disconnect the heater cable, this is the small unit just to the left of the rocker cover. Mark up the cable so you know where it cam from.

4) Remove the fresh air feed hose from the left hand side of the engine bay, in my car this was a solid plastic L-shaped tube at the front and twisted out, with a bit of persuation. there are other types, and each is just as easy to remove.

5) Mark the spark plug leads 1 to 4, and remove them along with the distributor cap.

6) Remove the starter solenoid from the left hand side inner wing, marking all cables as you go.

7) Remove the alternator and coil, again marking all the cables, especially mark the positive and negative on the coil !

8) Remove the front grille if you havent already, and this will allow you to undo the teo bolts holding on the starter motor, and remove it.

9) If fitted (Snoopy hasnt) remove the hydraulic servo pipework, and join the two ends together to stop spillage.

10) Remove the carb(s) by marking and releasing the choke and accelerator cables, then unbolting and removing the carb(s)

11) Unbolt and remove the manifolds (note that the exhaust and inlet may well be one casting, and not seperate) This is a bit tricky, but a good socket set always helps here.

12) Unbolt the clutch slave cylinder, and release it from the clutch arm by removing the split pin. DO NOT disconnect the hydraulics, just move the slave cylinder out of the way of the engine.

13) Remove the top engine steady from the engine side, and swing it out of the way.

This is as far as I got today, before packing up and having a coffee and going to bed. Snoopy now looks like this :

     

Feb 10th
Took some photos of Snoopy (the ones above) and have started looking into the most cost effective way of lifting the engine. I may be able to lift it from the beams in my garage, but they look a little thin. My dad is asking some friends who may be able to help. I have also found out that my cousin has a mini locked away in a garage which was for restoration, maybe this could be a source of parts ? Or a new project ? (I can hear my girlfriend Becky having a panic attack already !). No other work today, and Im pretty sure this will be the same for tomorrow, im going to Beckys parents to make some curtains for the lounge (well maybe we can get a picture of the curtains !).