Mini World – July 2019

[ Our Minis ]

50 July 2019 MiniWorld

MiniWorld sta and

writers reporting on

their month in, under

and around Minis...

Logbook

Heading down country

STElf had never been to the Rivera Run before. It was

time to let him experience the joys of the scenic Cornish

roads and coastal views. But there were a few issues to

sort out before I could even start to think about pasties...

H

aving taken Subby to quite

a few shows this year,

STElf hasn't had much of

an outing. Once I’d set my

heart on taking him to the Riviera Run

I decided a good check-over and home

MOT made sense. Oil and coolant levels

were tickety-boo and the air fi lters were

very clean, as they’d only done a few

hundred miles since the last wash. When

it came to checking the suspension, the

front nearside upright was very ‘playful’.

There was so much play, in fact, that I

thought the wheel bearing had failed. I

set about removing the upright, where I

found the top ball joint to be slack, to say

the least. Now that I actually measure

shims with a Vernier, instead of guessing

their size, this frustrating job didn’t

take too long to sort, even with both the

top and bottom getting re-shimmed.

Hoping this was the actual cause of the

play I was pleased to fi nd that it was.

Noise and fumes seem to be another

issue. I’d removed the remains of the

horse hair sound deadening under the

Mk3 Riley Elf (STElf)

Jim

Jupp

History: CSMA tarmac rally car

Spec: 1275cc twin 1¼-inch SU carbs

Cooper S running gear and twin tanks

Logbook

Floor pan was looking a bit

scabby and the gear stick

gaiter had split, again!

I cleaned back the floor

and temporarily painted

it with red oxide and

fitted the new gaiter

from Somerford.