14 Sep 2024

 14 Sep 2024

Well, not a lot has been happening with the car and it hasn't been anywhere either. I have a 3d printer so I designed and printed some parts for the car that have been fitted, who knows how well they will last given the summer temperatures here and especially inside the car, but we will see how it all goes I guess.

So The Count has a heater unit out of a classic Mini Clubman and it seemed strange that the only vent hole in the car heater points directly at the floor (or of course at the windscreen), so quite some time back I designed a vent cover that would direct the airflow from the vent into the centre of the car rather than just down. I had the vent 3d printed professionally before getting a printer of my own, but I found it needed some modification, so I have now printed it again with better vent fins in the model. It sits flush over the hole in the heater unit and directs the air forward with the vent fins directing the flow centrally and to either side. Amazing how quickly the car warms up inside now.

New directional vent 

 Additionally, it has always seemed weird to me that the heater controls and fan switch sit so far out front of the unit and not in some kind of housing, it has never seemed finished. Further, I wanted to install hazard lights on the car and have somewhere for a switch or two, so I designed a facia for the heater that incorporates a tray on top for pens or change (or whatever really) and places for the switches. It makes the front look finished and not some finishing trim had been forgotten. It isn't the greatest, but it does the job, and the heater vent sits nicely underneath it.

The 1st design of the vent under the heater with "floating" control panel

The new facia panel with hazard and switch, vent just underneath

Another item that needed attention was an unusual metallic rubbing/knocking sound that had developed which was unusual. Inspection under the bonnet highlighted that the engine steady brace had snapped the actual mounting plate, the stabiliser bar itself was fine. Very strange that the mounting bracket fatigued, though it snapped clean through the centre of the plate. The original, way back before I ever owned the car (and I feel that I can say way back as I have owned the car for 35 years now), had done the common Minor trick of tearing the battery support box, where the stabiliser is bracketed through and had been welded back together. The difficulty was that the remaining half of the stabiliser mount had also been welded under the battery box and wouldn't come out.

A new Mr Grumpy stabiliser kit was ordered from ESM in the UK, this kit mounts a plate into the two spare bolt holes next to the driver-side shock absorber mount and a new longer connection bar stabilises the engine. This is supposed to be a twenty-minute job and to be fair probably would have been, except that my coil has always been mounted on the firewall and could not remain there if the new stabiliser was to fit. So a day and a half later, coil relocated to the inner guard (have an alternator, so can't mount piggy backed like in a generator car), modified wiring, found a longer HT lead to reach and all is now good.