I think I have an idea why lucky things happen with Ivan. Genuine enthusiasm without false attitude. Makes these folks very likable. Same reason I love watching these videos.
Brake cleaner story- When we raced Legends cars 20 years ago, they used to break cams- We were at the track one night and cracked a cam- it was still together and working, so I thought I would just weld it in place and hope it held up. I used a whole can of brake cleaner to clean all around the crack. The instant I struck and arc, all that brake cleaner stuff that had accumulated down in the crankcase exploded. Blew me on my rear and blew the clutch cover across the pits. Took me a few minutes to gather up my senses and finished welding the cam while the guys rounded up a new cover. Ran the race with no failure. Later on we used to pin our own cams- we drilled and reamed the cam and used a long acme threaded rod to pull a 1/2" piece of DOM tubing into the cam. Then drilled through the oil holes and ran a 3/8 reamer through the DOM tubing to get a nice clean surface and used 1/2" freeze plugs welded on each end of the cam to seal it all up. Never had one of them break.
Something about brake cleaner vs carb cleaner and one has chlorine? Anyhoo, an Internet friend knocked himself out with the fumes. Another had been grinding old ally and then old steel and the disk exploded because it created solid booster rocket fuel :o) never a dull day with car messing :D
As apprentices we used to make 'bombs' out of brake cleaner and shredded paper from the secretary's waste paper basket. Until we were caught of course!
Great to see a proper mans shed with an authentic Crawfords Rover Biscuit Tin full of important 'keep that it might come in' spare parts...great work gentlemen! a true pleasure to watch.
Ivan, the guy that thought the fan should "blow"instead of "suck" was probably thinking of an original Mini fan, air in the front grille air out into the LH wheel well. All great stuff and a great achievement, thank you, for the inspiring entertainment.
Absolutely right! Ram air pressure in the engine bay, low pressure in the left hand wheel well, so fan assists by pulling air through rad. Great to hear an old school mechanic talking and he's such a character...
@@geoffbuck6865 you are right, Ivan seems like a great old chap, knows his stuff, not full of himself like a lot of "yt" presenters, he's had some great experiences no doubt throughout a long and productive lifetime of motor engineering...
And absolutely loved his walk-through of his '59 Mini as my first car as a teenager was a '61 model and brought back so many memories - happy simple days...
You can't fight physics. The only way you can get a fan to change the direction of air flow is to run the engine backwards. Yes, there is a right way and wrong way round, but the only difference is the pitch of the blades. One way will push more air than the other, but it's still going the same direction.
The content of this channel just gets better and better with every video. Ivan, it’s we who are lucky to have the opportunity to share your experiences. You’re a National Treasure. Thanks for sharing from a lifelong Mini enthusiast. 👏👏👏
I am just amazed at the amount of work that have done here. Nothing like just cutting the crank and making one work. I would volunteer to sweep the shop just to watch you guys work.
So nice to see an old car being used and enjoyed instead the of the usual over-restored trailer queens. Cheers to Ivan, John and Rabid Racoon! Looking forward to a virtual ride in the Mini.
What a fab little channel. I wish I had that amount of space but you make the best of what you've got. I'm sitting her on a Sunday afternoon enjoying the guilty pleasure of watching other people work 🤭
When you thought 'this is really interesting' then Ivan ups the game and finds a two-stroke engine that could have been in the Mini! So glad to have found this channel with some blokes 'messing about' in a shed, and it gets shown to us all via a 'racoon' 😉
A real treat watching all of this come together . Beautiful little engine, has a great sound. Please do a video on the 59 Mini , I would like to see it out on the road.
I could watch these guys all day, proper engineering, like it used to be done, takes me right back. It was men in sheds that invented most of the things we take for granted these days, then, accountants and managers ruined it all by building everything to its lowest possible cost, just had to last until the warranty was up.
These get more and more fascinating. The interaction between the generations just adds to it. Now for a ride in the Salmson which seems to be progressing well.
Ivan you are some guy, can't wait for the two stroke engine build , And not a computer in site, this is the way the old guys do it, trial and error 👴🏻👍
Brilliant to hear that 2 cylinder engine run so sweet. Lovely 1959 Mini, Crazy!!! the cost of the washer bottle, it cost more that the original Mini. The cost of a Mini in 1959 was between £497 and £537!!! How things have changed.
You, Ivan, seem like a grateful and humble person. At least, that is the way you come across in these videos. And I must say, it truly adds something to these videos. Thank you for sharing your time with us.
Ivan, John and Christian, you are absolute legends, so glad I found your channel, absolutely loving the videos. I really love vintage cars and racing, but am a die-hard Porsche man myself, keep up the fantastic work.
Like most Wizads, Ivan has forgotten more than most of us will ever know..!! It's amazing it's running, let alone 'Oh it's Running a little Rich..!' Wizardry at its finest..! From an Ex Multiple Mini owner in Oz. Cheers kim 😎
This has been a very interesting series of videos to watch, thanks for making them. I hope you do the same for the two-stroke engine, that should be another fascinating project.
Somewhere in the vaults of Mini Germany they have all the answers that these two fine gentleman just guessed. I would of loved to see the engine in a frame, though.
Ivan, I think that you are a Fantastic person and a Great engineer. Well done. I wish you good health and many more hours of tinkering in your shed. From Alaister Rae. Kingston Jamaica. Classic Mini Lover. Looking forward to more videos from you and the Racoon !
That was fun. I actually had a '59 "Austin Seven" nearly 50 years ago but it was somewhat rusted thanks to Toronto winters. I really wanted to preserve and restore it but just didn't have the means so I ended up selling it to someone for use as the basis of a racing car, for which purpose they were highly sought after. I think the shell was lighter or some such. I remember all the different details but the glass washer bottle I didn't know about before today.
I was an apprentice at a British Leyland Garage in 1974. In the workshop we had a battery bay where we charged batteries and stored stuff.. Beside the charger were six glass jars which had been sitting there for years, all covered in dust and forgotten about. Apparently they had been used as vases previously. During a clean up they were thrown out. I now know what they were, they were early mini washer bottles. Oh the things we threw out which were deemed to have no value.
Definitely take the 59 Mini for a spin. I had a 64 850cc for a while, the head died and needed a quick fix, so asked an older chap who was a Morris, Austin guru what to do. He said put a 1100 head on. Man did it go after that... she breathed well after that.... keep up the great work Team Ivan..👍🏼👍🏼
I discovered this channel at the start of the two cylinder mini story, and I have to say that this is my absolute fave channel. I could sit here all day and just watch! Thankyou for sharing.
I only recently discovered you great people hear , and have followed the two cylinder engine from crank manufacture on and every time Ivan gives it a good rev up I cringe waiting for that crank to come apart but it truth there is probably very little stress on it , well done to all keep up the amazing videos, and look forward to a good blast up the road on the 59 mini ( my old mum had a 59 when I was little )
This channel is very enjoyable.very talented old school mechanic . Can't wait to see what Ivan does to the two stroke engine. Please, please keep making these fantastic videos.you are a true character Ivan.
Earlier Lucas distributors like DKY4A eg. as fitted to Riley 12/4 rotate the opposite way to the mini distributor and have about the right advance. Wonderful job Ivan, excellent piece of development engineering and great fun. You are teaching me quite a lot of stuff. Thanks, martin
Fantastic content and love Ivan's enthusiasm !.The Mini is a gem and possibly must be one of the really few ' 59 examples that remains largely untouched.An aunt had a September ' 59 Morris Mini-Minor in cherry red with all those early features from new.I recall as a child being taken out in this futuristic so small car and astonished how she through it into bends and how lively it was , making me a life-long Mini enthusiast !.I'm convinced the forthcoming video of Ivan's car will show just what a relevation the early 848cc cars were that was lost somewhat in later better equipped but heavier models .
This just gets better and better. Now the original experimental prototype Mini 2 stroke air cooled engine has got in to your hands. It is going to be fascinating to see that pulled apart see just what is in there see what the thinking is and a rebuild and see and hear it run in another similar mobile cradle as the 2 cyl A. Just bought an original Mini myself 50 years after my first one . Put s silencer on the 2 cyl A series it will sound so much sweeter.
Having been involved with Mini's all of my life, including competition car building on a semi professional basis, this series has been a great thing to see. I'm looking forward to seeing the two stroke as I used to race motorcycles and know the heartbreak they can bring.
Great video, can't wait to see the new engine run. You'll definitely have to get an A30 now and try both engines in it, you could be like the development team at Longbridge, only 60 or 70 years on!
I really enjoy these down to earth videos. I owned a 1959 Mini back in1972. The previous owner had cut the front off and fitted a one piece fibre glass replacement. Still was a pleasure to drive. Looking forward to seeing Ivan take his Mini out for a thrash.
As I recall back in the early nineteen sixties the story was the early prototype Minis with the 4 cylinder A series engine (the same engine they used in production Minis) would overheat. The reason was found to be the wheel arch (where the hot post radiator air was exhausted to) was a region of relevantly low pressure which meant the air needed to be blown from the engine side of the radiator to the wheel arch, not sucked as a longitudinally mounted engine (like the A30) would do. For the Mini that was achieved by reversing the blade angle. Since this 2 cylinder engine is to be mounted longitudinally in an A30 use an A30 fan (or a Morris Minor fan etc), for the transversely mounted case i.e. the Mini use a fan from a Mini (or an Austin 1100 etc). Ivan is even older than me with much more experience so I'm betting he knows this already.
Thanks for all the videos. A little glimpse of my past. In m youth mum and I drove from Cornwall to Scotland in an A30 and all the way we only had a problem with the fuel pump. At 10 years old I stripped it down and got it running. A comment from a policeman who stopped to see if we needed help commented. "Faith can move mountains." At 10 years old I thought 'What Cheek.
oh wow, both 2 cylinder prototypes? maybe one day you can fit them to minis and see how they perform. especially compared to the big 4 cylinder production car
Love the natural real life approach; Ivan even loses things like we all do amongst the treasure trove of bits that 'might come in handy some day'. Can't wait to see the 2 stroke mini engine come back to life. Well done, keep 'em coming.
As regards the air cooled engine, the Austin A30/A35 club used to have a similar Ehrlich two-stroke engine which was regrettably lost. Details in the Spring 1991 edition of Spotlight the club's magazine. The club is contacting Ivan direct about this.
See my comment below The Ehrlich engine was featured in the Post War Baby Austins Book by Barney Sharrat I remember the engine being " lost" by the club
Fantastic. I'd love to see a video of the 59 - I've driven a friend's 1960 Mini which was a fantastically different experience than my 1984 and previous 1994 cars. Really a special experience.
I took a ‘59 on the second Monte Carlo Classic, the snowy one, and it was amazing in the mountains, weaving through the healeys on the snow with 848cc!
Binge watched the series last night, excellent, really enjoyed it The fins on the stroker look.like a giant Villiers Starmaker, looking fwd to that series (soon 😂😂😂).
Hi all, great late night viewing, sitting here all cosy and warm with you all and a mug of hot Ovaltine.. Keep up the great work.. PS Ivan for prime minister with the rest of the crew as cabinet , as they can bring this old engine back from the dead, I think they could put this country back on it feet.
on a mini, the fan would be the wrong way round...but not on a RWD setup like this one. it is correct. BTW, brilliant stuff and great that you now have the 2 stroke.
Great work gents. It is great to see the 2 cylinder A series come back to life. And now you have the 2 stroke as well! Really looking forward to seeing that too. Cheers from Australia. 🇦🇺
hi Ivan...love all this stuff you do...maybe i will see you down at Goodwood sometime. ..by the way you mentioned about the fan..i think the old mini's used to blow air through the rad and out the wheel arch..maybe that is what the guy was on about...
Brilliant work and to think there was parts missing and no plans to work from. I only found a small bit of history on why BMC went down this route into a twin cylinder engine. In the early days of the Mini design, BMC wanted to take on the rising popularity of 'bubble cars'. So a mini with a twin cylinder engine was looked into. A first test was performed using the A Series engine with 2 of the 4 cylinders removed. This provided enough insight to design a twin cylinder engine. However BMC engineers soon found that the car with a 475cc engine was underpowered and wasn't much more economical than the 999cc four cylinder engine. BMC also test designed a two stroke engine as well but there is even less history on this. Would be great if someone who knows someone who used to work for BMC design team could provide more light on this.
Check out the Lucas Distributors database. Plenty of Distributors listed on there that have the opposite rotation to your one. Would allow you to have some advance on the ignition, when you rev it up, as it does sound slightly hesitant on pick up? Possibly also swap the centrifugal weights about & file the nose of the stop, to tailor whatever maximum advance you require? Vacuum advance capsule is usually fitted for part throttle/economy reasons, but does also help smooth out the idle. First class videos Ivan & John, absolutely essential viewing for me, well done, keep up the good work. Leonard Lord planned to drive those "bloody Bubble Cars" off of the road using one of your two engines! He ultimately succeeded, but had to use the good old 'A' Series lump to do it!!
Really looking forward to that Mini ride video. Absolutely love Minis. My Dad and I restored one here in Melbourne Australia Back in the mid 90s. Sadly my Dad past away, but let me tell you, Ivan you remind me of him. Your knowledge and the way you explain everything. Its very comforting for me watching your videos. Keep up the wonderful work that you all do.
