For the last couple of days we’ve been adding fluids to the Mini. And then wiping those fluids off the floor, finding the leaks, and adding more fluid. The only thing that hasn’t leaked (so far) is the petrol.
And then this happened:
Yup, that’s a genuine first start. Some boring bits are edited out, but that’s pretty much it.
Of course, it’s now leaking more than ever: the combination of a Cooper S ball-bearing style oil pressure relief valve, an unmodified relief spring, and *very* tight bearing clearances has caused an oil pressure of more than 100psi (how much more we can’t say, as the gauge only goes that far), which has popped the head gasket up near #1 cylinder. No surprises there.
Still. While we wait for a new head gasket to arrive, we can fix the oil pressure and get the engine tuned a bit. And chase down some more of those leaks.
A small obsession 