"Mutant" project - 69 Mk3 Riley Elf

Looking snazzy!

Had a nice package from Fleabay today - fitted in seconds too - bonusl !!!

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I'd already (as usual) polished up the carb dashpot before refitting it then saw this Green HS4 Dashpot Cover on ebay and thought it would be very 'apt' for a Green car !

Very pleased with the look of it as well.

Green with envy Too soon?

Hahaha !

Very good !

Finally got the Carb connected up and the bonnet back on today and then took it for a short run around the local area ......... all was good !

Time will tell if I've weakened the mixture off enough - just weakened it by 2 flats on the mixture nut so far !

And how does she pull?

Still "pulls" quite well so not weakened it too much -yet !
Original 'spec' for the 998cc "A" Series engine in an Elf was a 1-1/4" HS2 SU Carb but mine has a later "A+" series 998cc engine and the carb has been changed to a 1-1/2" HS4 which could account for some of my increased fuel consumption

It was a pleasure to see the Elf yesturday, looked very nice and a good buy.
Cant wait to put the 2 side by side in the future.
Hope the rain held off ?

Good to chat with you as well.
Rain held off but it did get rather chilly towards the end.
Had wet feet all day though as the ground was soaking wet.

Let me know when you need the rear bumper !

Went to adjust the brakes recently as I'm still not happy with the 'front drum/shoes' setup having had a couple of "Brown trouser" moments already in the car and, being spoilt for far too long with front servo/discs !
Found that there was very little adjustment possible on the adjusters before the drums 'locked' - well that was on 3 of the front adjusters - the 4th one has been "mullered" at some point in the past which means its well and truly seized and rounded off by some random mole grips wielding previous owner or mechanic !!!  
Seriously considering a drum to 7.5" disc conversion sooner rather than later now.  Even without a servo it should make a vast improvement to what I've got (or NOT got!) now.
I'm gonna have to take the brake backplate off the car to unsieze and replace the 'mullered' adjuster anyway and I also need to replace the leaking Diff oil seals which means 'dropping' the oil and 'pulling' the drive shafts as well so to do all that and NOT upgrade to discs at the same time makes no sense to me.
Looks like the Chrissy present from "Me" to "Me" is sorted out for this year !!!

I've also got an eye on my mates very nice set of "rose petal" style 10" alloy wheels that hes thinking of upgrading.

Discs and Rosepetals on an Elf! Perfection

Santa must be early this year ......... from Mini Spares arrived ...........

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and inside is .......... a front drum brake to 7.5" Disc conversion kit !

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There was a SALE on so it was foolish not to !

Wont be fitting it till the spring-ish as its a bit pointless to leave it sit on the Elf now to rust in the rain and cold over the winter months.

......... but at least I will have some better brakes next year and maybe a few less "brown trouser" moments !

Great buy!

Built the new disc hubs up (off the car ) in the garage this weekend - with the help of a good mate.

Will strip the front drums off as soon as it stops being so Wet, Windy & Cold !!!

Hurry up then!

I am trying Jared but its still a bit too cold and wet here to get out there at the moment ........... and now theres 6 Nations Rugby to watch

Far too hot out here to do too much . . . Super Rugby has started on our end of the world as well.

Well that time of year has come again and I'm getting the Elf ready for its MOT next week. Went out to the car last week (in between the gales and the torential rain!!!) and lo & behold , IT WOULD'NT START ! Tried & tried & tried then the battery was getting flat so knocked it on the head for another day ....... which was today ! Having charged the battery up for a full day yesterday, I knew that wasnt going to be an issue so jumped in and again IT WOULD'NT START ! More time today and better weather meant I could look at more things so checked for sparks at the plugs - All OK. Took the fuel pipe off the carb and turned the engine over - NO FUEL coming out. Plenty of fuel in the tank so it had to be the Electrical SU Fuel Pump underneath the rear subframe. Gave it a few 'little' taps with my trusty 'plastic hammer' and ..... IT STARTED ! Good old Mini's ! Luckily I have a newer 'solid state' electrical pump sitting on the shelf in the garage ready for just this sort of ocassion so that's another job on the "To do" list. Pumped up the tyres to the correct pressures and pumped up the suspension to a reasonable height and that was it for today. Tomorrow I'm going to do a grease routine on the front and rear suspension and check that all the lights and other lectrickery work OK and it'll be well on its way for the MOT ! ....... fingers crossed !

Good luck

Jared Mk3 wrote:Good luck

Cheers Jared.

Elf PASSED its MOT yesterday ! So "On the road" for at least another year !!!  
Happy days !

Are those brakes on yet?

Jared Mk3 wrote:Are those brakes on yet?

No. Not yet, but the car passed its MOT with the existing front drum brakes so all is good.
I will get around to the discs at some point ......... just not yet !

FINALLY got around to cleaning up and repainting the 1275 engine Block and Gearbox

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The existing block was a very dirty and tatty Red colour and the box was a very dirty and tatty Silver so both definately were in need of a Re-paint !

I like your Sat nav shelf idea. I use the drivers Glove box shelf for mine as the steering wheel hides a good part of the speedo from the eye and I,m likely to exceed the speed limit!

It was a nice warm & sunny day here yesterday (rare!) so I decided to "take the plunge" and change the windscreen .

My existing screen had a rub mark on the drivers side from a faulty/perished wiper blade sometime in the past so needed changing.

After my trip to Castle Combe Mini Show last weekend I'd bought a new green top tinted windscreen, new seal and new filler strip.

and while the screen was 'out it was the ideal time to fit a chrome roof aerial.

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Thats 2 jobs off the long "To Do" list !!!