Since day one, Haynes has been all about helping you, the home mechanic, to carry out your own repairs on your vehicles. Here, we celebrate those who use their spare time and Haynes Manuals to repair and improve their pride and joy.
DIY champion: Jamie Mooney
Vehicle: Mini Cooper
“I’m on Facebook Marketplace and I’ve seen a Mini that looks nice. You could fix it up.”
Would those words ring alarm bells if they were uttered by your other half? They should have done for Jamie Mooney. In fact his blood should have run cold. But he loves his wife, so didn’t think twice before saying: “Of course. Let’s get it.”
After a bit of bartering, a white Mini Cooper 1.6 petrol with what appeared to be a blown cylinder head gasket ended up in Jamie’s garage, and so the spanner-wielding began in earnest.
Engine trouble
But that was when Jamie noticed something might be amiss, because the rocker cover was melted. Indeed, so was the thermostat. This was starting to look serious. Nevertheless, onwards.
Jamie began to remove the cylinder head, at which point he noticed that one of the hydraulic tappets was loose. The valve seat had also dropped. Still, there was some good news, because the cylinder head itself hadn’t warped or cracked. With some relief, Jamie sent it off to be skimmed and have a new valve seat installed.
But then he noticed some scoring on one of the cylinders. Deep breath time. He’d always wanted to fully rebuild an engine, so this seemed like a fairly opportune moment since he wasn’t up against the clock to get the car back on the road.
First things first, he invested in the Haynes manual for the vehicle, then set about taking the front end of the car apart so he could get the engine out, then he took the whole thing to pieces before fitting new bottom-end bearings, new rod-end bearings, new piston rings, new timing chains and guides, and new oil pump chain and new gaskets everywhere.
He also changed things a bit by deleting the water pump tensioner, so the water pump runs all the time.
Mini timing chain kit
Then he put everything back together using the procedures and torque settings in his Haynes manual, and with feelings of satisfaction and pride, turned on the ignition and started it. It ran! All seemed well. Then life got in the way and Jamie didn’t return to his garage for a few weeks. He started the car again, to be greeted by a discouraging rattle.
The issue quickly became clear. He’d bought an aftermarket timing-chain kit, and the tensioner in the kit had failed. He then went to BMW and bought on OEM tensioner, and differences were immediately apparent – the BMW tensioner was taller and had a different size oil hole. Jamie fitted the new tensioner and immediately the rattle disappeared. Phew.
Thankfully, the rest of the reconstruction process passed without major incident.
Tell us your car and bike stories
Jamie’s tale is exactly why we want to hear your stories of the trepidation, hope, frustration, and bleeding knuckles and ultimately euphoria that comes with giving an old car (or motorcycle) a second chance at life. Okay, Jamie’s tale is quite full on, but we’re equally interested in people who simply spend time, servicing their vehicles, or carrying out minor tweaks to keep them in top fettle. We’d love you to let us see what you’re working on and how you’re using Haynes to help you out.
Just send us a few details about yourself and your vehicle to yourrepairs@haynes.co.uk. (our UK colleagues will be in touch).
Tell us about how you ended up with a problem vehicle, and how you fixed it. And if there were problems, we’d love to know about those too. Add in a few pictures, and we’ll feature you on our website and social channels.
After all, fixing your car or motorcycle often isn’t actually that difficult, and can make you feel great once the job is done. Better still, it’ll save you a whole load of money, so let’s tell everyone about it.
