2 door VAE 306H

Let us all know what you are up to with your current restoration project. Get that Minor on the road!
Forum rules
By using this site, you agree to our rules. Please see: Terms of Use
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Fitted the front and back plates, water pump, the cam (held in with 3 washers til I get a new thrust plate) oil pump back plate flywheel and clutch, apart form the sump that is pretty much all I can do on the engine until some more parts turn up.

While I am waiting we can start on mounting and wiring the distributor less ignition and I also want to cut and weld the depression in the front crossmember to give more clearance around the pulley (I missed this when I made the crossmember), while the crossmember is open we also want to add some nuts for a towing eye as well.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Most of the Parts turned up yesterday which enabled me to fit the cam thrust plate and timing gears, with this done I could also look at the trigger wheel.

The kit is obviously designed for a A+ and goes across the two holes where I have put the spacer plate provided.

Picture won't upload !!


You could cut the plate or use a couple of washers to lift it above the timing cover flange but with it in this position the bracket will also be very close to the front crossmember. So I rotated it parallel to the horizontal centre line òf the crank checking the fan belt would clear it. It was then simlpy a matter of drilling a hole in the bracket to line up with an existing front plate bolt and a second one through the bracket and front plate for a nut and bolt.

Hopefully tomorrow i will be able to find time machine the crank bolt and a distributor blanking plug.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

rps20210731_192604.jpg
rps20210731_192604.jpg (131.64 KiB) Viewed 48424 times
rps20210731_192643.jpg
rps20210731_192643.jpg (161.01 KiB) Viewed 48424 times
Some more progress, on the cars today.

Cut a piece out of the front crossmember on the minor and welded a depression in as it would have had originally, I missed this when I made it in the first place but it will give a bit more clearance to the trigger wheel now.
rps20210801_203415.jpg
rps20210801_203415.jpg (101.34 KiB) Viewed 48424 times


Also welded 3 M12 nuts inside underneath so we can add a recovery eye.
rps20210801_204901.jpg
rps20210801_204901.jpg (103.15 KiB) Viewed 48424 times
More or less finished the engine now. Still a few odds and ends but I am waiting for a couple of parts (mainly front cover gasket) and need to sort out a crank bolt.
rps20210801_203347.jpg
rps20210801_203347.jpg (149.27 KiB) Viewed 48424 times

The original plan was to build up the front of the bolt head with weld then turn the original bolt head off to give a longer shank. Only problem is the hole for the starter dog is deeper than I thought so the original bolt head is hollow, if I turn it away I will have nothing left. Plan B is buy a longer bolt and weld the dog to it's head. The bolt though is a non standard thread (5/8 x16tpi whitworth form), a mini flywheel bolt seems to use the same thread and be longer, hopefully one of these will do the trick so I have ordered one.
Last edited by kevin s on Mon Aug 02, 2021 5:30 pm, edited 3 times in total.
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

May be worth a consideration:-
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... o%20search
I use the above to hold the crankshaft pulley in place on my 1380cc

kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Yes I did see those and if all else fails that is what I will use but at the moment I am trying to keep the starting handle (I know a fully mapped digital ignition and a starting handle are polar opposites but it does add another option if all else fails) The mapped ignition also gives you the option to set the optimum timing for cranking at very low speeds so I would like to experiment with that. (any one any idea on what that would be?)
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »

I was thinking that you could turn down the threaded part of the starter dog to fit inside of the 1/2" A/F hexagon and weld the two together so that you have the long thread and retain the starter dog.
The thread length of the starter dog is 3/4".
The thread length of the Allen bolt in the link above is 1 3/8".
The thickness of the washer used with the Allen bolt is 5.5mm.

Is this the classic mini flywheel bolt you have ordered?
http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... o%20search

kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Thats the one I was going to order but they only had the later one with an integral tab washer, I'm sure I can remove that somehow.
philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »


philthehill
Minor Maniac
Posts: 10767
Joined: Thu Jul 19, 2012 12:05 pm
Location: Hampshire
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by philthehill »


kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Yes that's the one scaling off the diameter the shank is around 1 1/2" long which should work fine.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Bolt arrived but still no front cover gasket (coming via royal mail) bolt is ideed 1.5" long and washer is held on by 3 small spot welds so will be easily knocked off.
rps20210803_102547.jpg
rps20210803_102547.jpg (130.88 KiB) Viewed 48402 times
Plan is to cut the already modified original bolt along the line line and weld it to the head of the new bolt.
rps20210803_102710.jpg
rps20210803_102710.jpg (153.55 KiB) Viewed 48402 times
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Cut old bolt in half on bandsaw.
rps20210803_153118.jpg
rps20210803_153118.jpg (159.06 KiB) Viewed 48390 times
2 parts ready to weld.
rps20210803_153144.jpg
rps20210803_153144.jpg (130.83 KiB) Viewed 48390 times
Clamped in vice and welded.
rps20210803_153220.jpg
rps20210803_153220.jpg (117.39 KiB) Viewed 48390 times
Trial fit.
rps20210803_153345.jpg
rps20210803_153345.jpg (140.93 KiB) Viewed 48390 times

I'll probably leave the welds as is, grinding them smooth will only weaken things.
Last edited by kevin s on Tue Aug 03, 2021 6:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Also started on the wiring, coil bracket as supplied in kit but painted black and a bolt plate made.
rps20210803_153238.jpg
rps20210803_153238.jpg (128.19 KiB) Viewed 48389 times
Used one if the original felt clip holes and drilled a second then passed the bolt plate up behind the felt with the bolts protruding, bolted the bracket on and temporarily fitted the coil with a tie strap until I can get some bolts.
rps20210803_153327.jpg
rps20210803_153327.jpg (144.62 KiB) Viewed 48389 times
Now starting to run the wiring in.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Made the megajolt wiring harness wrapped it in clith tape and installed it.
rps20210805_224801.jpg
rps20210805_224801.jpg (158.27 KiB) Viewed 48359 times
Wasn't happy with thf edis module, the wiring is messy and vulnerable.
rps20210805_224838.jpg
rps20210805_224838.jpg (180.31 KiB) Viewed 48359 times
So taking a chunk of old Landrovet I made a bracket to give it a flat surface to mount on and protect / hide the wiring.
rps20210805_224908.jpg
rps20210805_224908.jpg (175.14 KiB) Viewed 48359 times
rps20210805_224930.jpg
rps20210805_224930.jpg (141.77 KiB) Viewed 48359 times

The front cover finally arrived so I can finish the engine but there is still a slight problem, the shank of the new pulley bolt is not quite concentric with the thread so it throws the trigger wheel out by about 0.5mm, tomorrow I'll mount it in the lathe and clean it up. Also before the engine goes in I am wiring the cooling fan up.

Othet thing I have spent most of the evening doing is working out how to load usb serial drivers on my laptop so I can now program the megajolt, just finaly managed this.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

So saturday saw Andrew and myself spending a couple of hours on the minor.
End result was this.
rps20210808_180304.jpg
rps20210808_180304.jpg (190.51 KiB) Viewed 48338 times
It started straight away on the edis base tining of 10 degrees, then I fitted the megajolt and connected it to a spare tablet.
rps20210808_204723.jpg
rps20210808_204723.jpg (105.53 KiB) Viewed 48338 times

With 0 degrees cranking it starts easily even on the handle.

There was a problem though, little vacuum at idle, this is because of the position of the vacuum take off on the carb, so I made this to fit in the servo line.
rps20210809_205635.jpg
rps20210809_205635.jpg (150.75 KiB) Viewed 48338 times
With this we had a decent manifold pressure signal.
At 1000rpm it seems to have 20 degrees advance .

rps20210809_205705.jpg
rps20210809_205705.jpg (87.88 KiB) Viewed 48338 times
Blipping the throttle moves around the map nicely.
rps20210809_205723.jpg
rps20210809_205723.jpg (80.72 KiB) Viewed 48338 times
Last edited by kevin s on Mon Aug 09, 2021 9:17 pm, edited 2 times in total.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

This is the map I am using.
rps20210808_204709.jpg
rps20210808_204709.jpg (161.51 KiB) Viewed 48337 times
It's listed as a standard A series one, doesen't look far off the figures quoted for a distributor.


Basically the vertical axis is load with closed throttle at the top and wide open the bottom moving across the table is rpm so max power will be the bottom rh corner..

It's ready for a test drive now but we decided to wait for todays downpours to abate.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Took it for a test drive, this time it made it home under it's own power.

Drives well, pulls much better in the mid range, as it's still running the standard carb and exhaust it's never going make much more power though.

Idle is a nice stable 800rpm, so much so I kept thinking it had died at junctions!.

No apparent leaks yet either.

Issues. After idling for a long time clouds of what I thought was white smoke emerged as I drove away, couldn't make it do it again though, I wonder now if the exhaust was just full of water which boiled off.

Cooling fan - cuts in with temp gauge about 1/8 above normal, temperature doesn't rise any more but isn't pulled back down to normal either and that's in a low 20's ambient not sure what will happen on a 30 plus day it drops almost instantly when moving so it must be not enough air flow.


Otherwise that is pretty much it.

Idling after return
rps20210810_125823.jpg
rps20210810_125823.jpg (156.26 KiB) Viewed 48312 times
Data logged on first short trip.
rps20210810_125847.jpg
rps20210810_125847.jpg (90.64 KiB) Viewed 48312 times
Sleeper
Minor Legend
Posts: 1045
Joined: Tue Nov 08, 2016 3:18 pm
Location: Manchester ( Damp and Miserable ) and that's just the wife...
MMOC Member: Yes

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by Sleeper »

Megajolt ? , isn't that just for the ignition timing?

If so, why are you logging MAP ?

John ;-)
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

It uses the manifold pressure to determine the load on the engine and selects the timing based on this and rpm, you can also add a temperature modifier but we haven't used this.

I supose in some ways it's a programmeable version of the vacuum pod on the side of the distributor.
kevin s
Minor Legend
Posts: 1376
Joined: Tue Mar 26, 2013 8:20 pm
Location: Chelmsford, essex
MMOC Member: No

Re: 2 door VAE 306H

Post by kevin s »

Been out in it again today, drives really well and pulls like a trian, quiter smoother engine only emphasises the noisy gearbox though so I need to finish off the mx5 conversion (mainly drawing up and ordering a propshaft).

Still get a small puff of smoke after an extended idle which I guess can only be oil being drawn past the valves, it has new guides, new exhaust valves and the rubber seals on the inlets, perhaps I should have fitted them to the exhaust? Not the end of the world though, if it gets to bad I might try fitting some seals to the exhaust valves using the old rope trick.

It's also leaking a bit out of the rear of the crank but as I understand it that is pretty much normal. (it always has done this) I might make a drip tray or knock up a PCR system sometime.
Post Reply