I have re-joined

Hello everyone I was a member of the S.O.C in 1980-81 when I had a mk2 reg number DDM 36J
I then bought other kitcars and one sunny day hehe I bought a mk1 reg number JNA 683V
I have now bought a mk3 swb gt will I regret it YES I know I will.
but one thing that I have noticed on this forum the club members are still the same types
very helpful very knowledgable.

I will give you an update as I find my way around owning this mk3 it should humour the reader
of my updates if nothing else.m3prq

TO BE CONTINUED

Welcome back!

Don't know anything about DDM 36J (any information welcome) but your Mk1 is noted as being "previously yellow" - would that be while under your ownership? It is now purple, graced with the name "Florence", owned by Nettie and laid up at the moment pending restoration.

Hello Bob I have sent you two photos mk2 and mk1.while I had them.
the mk2 I painted all kinds of colours over the 2yrs I had it.Ian

Well spotted Bob..
My Florence poor dear who is as you rightly said in pieces at the moment .. needing major work on the box section we had to take her apart and Martin found a source for imperial box and cut out the old and put in the new.
The frame is primed in red oxide ready for the build and we have every part we need to complete the job.. but it is on hold.. with Martin being in Dubai..
I hope to have her on the road some time.. but don't have a definate date as yet..

Nettie

Couldn't find reg.no.DDM36J amongst my many photo's, but I did find an almost prestine looking Rum Tum Tugger amongst a line up of about 40 Scamps at an early picnic.

https://2img.net/h/i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu327/m3prq/myscampmk2.jpg

https://2img.net/h/i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu327/m3prq/myscampmk1.jpg

I decided to go out in my Scamp mk3 for the first time
since buying it.
I got about 2 miles away from my house and noticed the smoke
behind me was getting like fog.
and the temperture gauge was going up and up so I STOPPED,
to let the other cars pass me with their fog lights and headlights on.
They all seemed very friendly because they were waving at me,
it must be a local wave because they only used two fingers.
anyway after the engine had cooled down I tried to start it sadly it
would not start after me trying a few times and even talking to it
nice,I even tried the local wave but that did not help.
I phoned the AA ( now at this point you will have to picture TIME ticking away
1 hour standing at the edge of the bend in the rain waiting and waiting
I had to stand outside of the Scamp because the AA man would not have
seen it along the road he was coming from.)
he AA man gets out and tries to start it looks closer and shakes his head
your head gasket has gone ( I was going to say yes I know but what about the Scamp)
I said the bloke had just done the head gasket before I bought it,
he said well its gone...so first he has to tow me backwards by my tow bar
to get in front of my Scamp.then he says a few things he cant do because
of this and that etc etc. but he comes good in the end and gets a fixed tow
bar out of his van.so off we go at speeds up to 45 mph that seemed
a lot faster than 20yrs ago when I was last towed.
I now have to decide on the best form of action,because I can not do
the work myself.£254 to £350 for the garage to do a head gasket/skim/labour/
water pump/collect the Scamp or £454.75p for recon engine with 30 days warrantee.
TO BE CONTINUED

Ooops...double post.

m3prq wrote: .......,because I can not do
the work myself.£254 to £350 for the garage to do a head gasket/skim/labour/
water pump/collect the Scamp or £454.75p for recon engine with 30 days warrantee.
TO BE CONTINUED

Sounds like now would be a good time to learn..... It's not a hugely difficult job and you will learn a lot about your Scamp as you go. There's a wealth of knowledge on here if you get stuck....
....first question... what engine and is it already "lead free"...?

Hello Jono in my case its too late to learn..its a 998cc
the number is 99h 681p 167795
http://www3.tsl.uu.se/~micke/mini/tech/engnrtmp.html

Could 681 be B81 or G31?

I just went outside to check and I think its from a mini clubman so leaded.Ian

it sure could be B81

That makes good sense.. and it has to be the route I take.unless something else is just around the corner.
one never knows.Ian

Cylinder head.
After the stage one kit, this is the next easiest option as far as fitment goes. It's almost a 'bolt-on' part, but is a little more involved and a little more costly so is moved up a category.

The standard cylinder head is pretty restrictive where bigger power outputs are the main aim. To make appreciable gains it needs a fair amount of work done. Simply carrying out 'stage one' port, chamber and polish mods really don't do much at all for your money. The only sensible option is a standard head modified to 'stage three' spec, or a 12G295/12G206 Cooper head. Using a BBU 12G940 casting is an option - but not terribly practical (see 'Engine - 998 tuning, fitting a 1275 head').

The much coveted 12G295/12G206 heads are all-but non-existent realistically now. There are some about - most have been well used and abused, many cracked or modified into uselessness, with just a few, rare, un-molested examples of the species. But even a good example is likely to need complete refurbishment, particularly for the modern world where unleaded fuel is to be used. Suitable exhaust valve seat inserts will need fitting, new guides, seats re-cut, probably new valves, valve stem seals, and in all probability new valve springs. And then there's the machine-work needed to get it to work on your 998 - hefty re-facing to get CR to a sensible level since the standard head has a capacity of 24.2cc, the Cooper heads 28.4cc. That's a chunk to remove; charged by the cut it'll cost plenty. And having gone through all that - reliability is a problem - they're prone to cracking.

That leaves us with the 'stage three' spec modified standard head. MSC/MM sell heads modified by myself (Min Tec). The valve sizing is as that of the Cooper heads with all necessary port and chamber work carried out to give the best flow gains available within limiting criteria and inserted for unleaded fuel use. The main limitation is the combustion chamber - modifications are kept within sensible bounds so suitable chamber size is obtainable without excessive cost. To improve the chamber beyond that used would require large amounts of material to be removed off the head face. This generally breaks in to the rocker gear oil feed gallery necessitating this be brazed up, re-routed, and re-faced to true. The small improvement available simply doesn't warrant the extra costs incurred to do this. Even so, flow testing (results below) has shown that this style of stage three head all-but matches the inlet flow of the Cooper head, with better exhaust flow results so offers directly comparable performance, are available 'off the shelf', and are far, far more reliable. Particularly when comparing the figures below 0.350" lift as the cam/rocker combinations used only reach 0.340" lift.

tried looking it up on guessworks web page.... came up with this...

http://www.guess-works.com/Gearbox/Technical/engine.htm?P1=99H&P2P=&P2=681&P2S=P&EN_NO=167795

may point as to the general origin of the engine....

(or not)

Thank You thats exactly my numbers ,that link is fantastic.(not used that word for ages "fantastic")Ian

The gearbox is manual thou not auto

m3prq wrote:
The gearbox is manual thou not auto

Ian, in that case treat with a touch of caution. Not many people would go to the bother of converting an Auto to a Manual as it's not quite a straight forward swap from memory....the other point is..before you spend lots of money on shiny performance heads... consider the state of the rest of the engine first. Not trying to put a damper on things...but we can all get carried away with "shiny bits".. I know I can

Hi Jono I have decided to send the scamp to a garage 10 miles away from me.
He will remove the head and see how many £££££ he can charge me.

I did expect to spend money on paint and the likes on the Scamp but I did not
expect to pay out on the engine after 4 miles of use.

I have had alsorts of cars / kitcars/classic-cars/microcars/motorbikes/mopeds/autocycles
/combinations/scooters/motorhome/ since 1965 so I should know better.

I will let you know after the garageman that can has had a look.Ian

m3prq wrote:Hi Jono I have decided to send the scamp to a garage 10 miles away from me.
He will remove the head and see how many £££££ he can charge me.
I will let you know after the garageman that can has had a look.Ian

I have got my Scamp mk3 back today and I have driven 10 miles back from the garage,
everything seems fine with the engine after he did the work.

Replaced cylinder head gasket,plus all other gaskets
set and machine surface parts (skim)
new water pump
new temp sender
new by-pass hose
new radiator cap
oil & filter
antifreeze
Temperture gauge was wired up wrong
New choke /acc cables
and collection of Scamp from my house on his recovery truck.
guesses of how much he charged by email to m3prq@yahoo.co.uk

I am still in shock and can not type the fiqures hehehe

m3prq wrote:
I am still in shock and can not type the fiqures hehehe

I bet it's not as much as James has spent on his paint job!

£2.78p......?

Jono wrote:£2.78p......?

wrong!!! but the 8p was close at the end of the digits

Regsmonster wrote:

m3prq wrote:
I am still in shock and can not type the fiqures hehehe

I bet it's not as much as James has spent on his paint job!

Ah, the quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten. Or so they tell me!
I think K may be re-named the Orange folly.

I'd say never again but that's only till the next time.


Regarding your head gasket job. It reads like he's done the job properly. you'd be more upset if it was half the price but didn't work. wouldn't you?

Maybe it's an area I could more into, repairing Scamps for a living.

Oh, wait! I already do!