Still a Winner

 Sunday July 30, 2017 the Four A's Car Club hosted a car show at the VFW In Three Oaks, Michigan. It was a beautiful day for a car show and many great cars came out to show off. This is a judged event and there were many different classes for the cars present.

The Mini Mark went thru judging and when the day was over, awarded second place in it's class. This was the biggest trophy it has taken, and that is in a literal sense. As you can see from the second picture here it is a large trophy. If you own or drive a MIni Mark, you very well know the restrictions for space. With a lawn chair, cooler, car display board, and other items, there wasn't much room left to drive the trophy home. 

Propped up in the front seat and with a hand on it most of the way home car and trophy finally pulled into the garage. Many many thanks to the Four A's for the show. They have a small group of eighteen members, but put on a first class show. 

The car shows I go to aren't about winning trophy's. I go to show off the car and educate people on it. I would say eight out of ten people who come up think it is a kit car. I have a large car display board which shows the plant and all the cars going thru, I have a sentence on the board, "not a kit car" but I keep getting that comment. A guess is you do as well? As I have said before, many many cars since the very first ones went off to coach shops for custom bodies. The Mini Mark in reality is not any different. Custom bodies were molded and installed on VW frames, frames which went thru a refurbish before being assembled. After explaining all the facts and talking with those who stop, they walk away a bit better informed. Most walk away with "I never knew that" and that it was a factory built car in Indiana. 

Enjoy your Mini Mark, take it out and show it off, take it out and explain what it is all about. Spread the word! Above all have fun with your car!

Fuel Problems!

The Mini Mark has been back together for around five years now and I have had a lot of fun driving the car around. Three years ago I learned of the Bremen Firemen's Car Show on the 4th of July Weekend. The first year I went I learned a lot about the car and talked to people who worked there as well as learning the name of one of the founders. After that great day driving home the coil went out and the Mini Mark had to be towed back home for replacement. The next year weather was not good and opted not to drive the hour to the show. This year the weather was great and started the drive to Bremen. About half way there I stopped for gas and a few miles later the car sputtered and died on the side of the road. I was able to find a driveway and after a few quick checks found out the car was not getting gas. I blew the fuel line back which started a fuel flow. Hooked everything back up and on the road again. Well, a bit too much optimism as between there, the car show and back home I had to blow the fuel line back six times. NOT a fun day driving. I actually began to think the car didn't want to drive back to where it was made and acted up as a child would!

The next day I drained the fuel tank and found the problem. There were four silicone slugs in the tank. It was clear silicone which I never use on the car. I only use black RTV and did not ever use any in the fuel tank area. The slugs were actually push out from a gasket sealing, where the screws go thru. Clear silicone expands when in gasoline which really made a bad situation. The tank has a dip where the outlet is, so these slugs rolled and were sucked into the outlet blocking the fuel.  I flushed the fuel tank numerous times and scoped it to see if I could find anything. Just the four slugs, the rest was clean. 


I did find out there is a baffle welded in the middle of the tank! which I did not know about. Good design since it keeps the fuel from sloshing back and forth in the tank and when taking corners. 

After finding no other "junk" in the tank I wanted a fail safe just in case anything ever got in the tank again. I was tired of blowing and sucking gas during what should be pleasant drives.

Just as a side note, during the winter months I had removed the brass fuel line elbow from the bottom of the tank and replaced it with a shut off. Didn't want to take any chances with the car parked of fuel leaking into the oil sump or flooding the garage.

After sorting thru my box of springs, I found one which I could force into the shut off valve. It is heavy gauge steel and I bent the tail to make an even tighter fit in the valve. Anything like these slugs gets close to the outlet again the spring should stop it from blocking the fuel flow completely. 

The inside of the fuel tank wasn't too rusty considering the age. I have been using fuel additive since the rebuild to keep rust to a minimum. Lastly before putting it back on the road I pulled out the original carburetor and put a rebuild kit in it. After a few frustrating days the car was ready to go again. Have put around seventy miles on it since than and it is running GREAT! Hopefully that problem is behind me. For any of the smaller particles which might get thru I have a GF61 in line fuel filter between the tank and the carburetor. 

I would suggest to owners out there, put a shut off, large steel can fuel filter and if you can a spring in the outlet. It may save the car from fire, and also avoid a fuel starve if something gets in the tank.

A Bit More Chrome

During spring 2016 while looking at some of the traditional sport roadsters I came across a few that had rock shields on the front of the rear fenders. I liked the look and started wondering how I could make a set for the Mini Mark. I contemplated finding someone with an English wheel and trying to roll them. The only problem was that it was really a compound form. The contour of the fender and then the roll over for the flair. Thinking about it most of the year I finally came up with the idea of finding something "close" and customizing it. 

I went web browsing and started looking at trailer fenders. Stamped 15" trailer fenders were close to what I wanted, and they had the compound roll. I was able to order just one at a reasonable cost, and started the customization process. I made a cardboard pattern of the design I wanted and started cutting metal. I then made a pattern of both contours and with body hammers, made the final adjustments to get a perfect fit to the fender. One side down, one to go! After all the hammering, I started sanding and metal finishing the shields. Finally I was able to get a mirror like finish and only then did they go to chrome plating. 

When they came back I put a thin sheet of rubber behind the shields and drilled a few holes mounting them to the fender. I think they look good, and keep the unexpected flying rock from chipping the paint there. As with most areas of working on the car I learned some new skills on this project.  

Mufflers- Exhaust

I have been able to research the exhaust trumpets used on the Mini Mark. EMPI has added the trumpets back in their product line. The EMPI product number is 10-1048. If you Google it you should come up with a few different sources. 

Retrospect

As we in 2017 appreciate the Mini Mark and the small family of cars from Bremen Sport have we ever thought of what it took to create them? 

A team of men starting a car company building dune buggies in a chicken coup. To have the vision of not only one, but a complete family of cars, Citation, Creighton, Mini Mark, Maxi Taxi, and Sebring. Each car having different styling and design. Each car requiring unique engineering, and mating each to a drive train, or in the case of the Creighton, a custom frame to an existing power plant. Fine tuning each design to make it look correct and flow. To then match interiors, lighting, hinges, tires, wheels, bumpers, all the trim.  Picking colors, and above all, just taking a chance they will sell after putting all that work in them. All of the pieces came together for the Bremen Sport team. 

It is just as much a tribute to them the number of cars still on the road as well as the global presence of those cars. So the next time you are out enjoying your car, take a moment to think of the history behind it.

Lights

The winter is around half over this year (or half started depending on your point of view), and 2017 is underway. 

You may recall last winter I improved rear lighting to the Mini Mark by adding a third brake light to the bar on the rear deck. I still wanted to improve rear lighting so this year I went about adding LED turn signals.  

Some of the benefits of LED's are the small size to give high output as well as length of life. I love the replacement stainless light housings and glass lenses, but they do have some drawbacks. Out of the box they only allow single filament bulbs the lenses don't allow bright light to pass thru. Especially on a bright summer day, the brake light may be hard to see.

I first went looking for the LED turn signals. Motorcycles now days seem to be more inventive that automobiles in lighting. I was able to find an ideal light, but how do I mount it to the existing lights. After a little engineering I fabricated an aluminum bracket to do the job. Some aluminum H stock, tubing cut in half, welding and machining I finally had what I wanted.

I polished the aluminum and assembled everything. I purchased some high output LED single element bulbs and found some glass "STOP" red/ amber lenses with blue dots on the running lights. The red/ amber allow more light to pass, and the obvious "STOP" show what is happening.

This should wrap up read light modifications, it finally gives me enough light that I  am comfortable with someone behind me seeing what I am doing. 

The design of the turn signals also gives a bit of a side light, not only rear, so it is a win win.

One other modification which I should have done during the rebuild was to add a fuel shut off valve to the bottom of the fuel tank. Especially with an older, not daily driver this is important. The fuel tank is above the engine and carburetor, so there is a chance of gravity feed of gas when the car is parked. It would eventually drain into the oil sump and could lead to serious problems if started, spinning out your bearings. Also if during that winter park your rubber fuel lines decided to crack or break it would drain your tank. It isn't an easy spot to get to, or turn off, but the effort is outweighed by the benefit. Once again, the shut off is a motorcycle application.