315 replies to this topic

[Dick Dastardly]

Well, after weeks of hijacking other people's topics I figured I'd better bite the bullet and start my own thread. It's great to find a forum with so many like-minded nutters out there!

What I wanted was a track day, and weekend car that would be different to the usual 7-alikes and having seen a few articles about the Z-cars mini's I knew that it was perfect for my needs. So, I'm about 12 months into an R1 Z-cars mini build, after having started with a completely bare mk3 shell.

I installed MK1 rear lamp panels, and deleted the fuel filler hole, and in the interest of drawing cold air into the carbs I let a couple of naca ducts into the rear quarters. I made the front-end removable, and deleted the lip from the bonnet to help with the MK1 look. At the same time I hacked a huge hole in the back to accept the Z-cars spaceframe.

The engine is a 2000my (carb) R1 lump having done approx. 4.5k miles. I (or more likely someone who knows what the heck they're doing) will fit the stage 3 dynojet kit after a short period of getting aquainted with the standard setup.

I ordered the standard kit, but in blue, and opted for the LSD, and race-spec coilovers. I didn't order reverse, as it seemed very costly, both finacially and in terms of added weight. I'm not planning on going shopping in this car! The ability to reverse out of a tyre wall might be nice though :saywhat: :grin:

The car has been more-or-less fully built already ,prior to paint, in order to get all the holes drilled and bits of brackets welded etc.

Anyway, it's now painted (got it back Friday afternoon) , and it's going back together quite quickly, but realistically I reckon it won't be on the road (and track) until spring.

Here's a picture taken this morning.... If it's not chucking it down at the weekend I'll take some more- hopefully with the arches fitted.

Attached Files

•  min041005.JPG   302.42K   184 downloads

[CharlieBrown]

Looks good but definately more pics needed!

[Dick Dastardly]

Quick question to Ade (and anyone else who's fitted the Curley Carbon arches): Did you have to fettle the inner profile of the arches to get them to fit properly? It looks like I'm going to have to remove up to 20mm in some areas to achieve the look I'm after.

This isn't a problem to do, but it interests me to know whether anyone else had to do the same.

[Ade]

Hi DD

The basic principle to fitting the arches (I got the bodyshop to do it but I had lengthy chats about it) Line up the arches where you want them (hold them in place) draw a line around them (this was done before paint so you might have to try a line under them.....) take arch away, remove any excess up to about an inch away from the line. Make a number of small alloy right angles fit to bodywork below line, reposition arches make any bracket adjustment then mark where the brakets meet the arch drill holes and screw arches to bracket. On mine the bodyshop ran a thin layer of brack sealant around the inside of the arch just to stop any road poop coming through any small gaps...

Ade. Hope this makes sense :grin:

[Dick Dastardly]

Thanks Ade, but that's not what I meant. Arches are trimmed out already, and drilled etc to accept arches (all done before paint). Let me try to elaborate.

Looking at the pictures of your car, the front wheels appear to fill the arches nicely width-ways. When I offer the arches up to the front of my car it looks like I'm fitting GP5 arches to a standard 10" wheeled mini!! (well, ok, not quite but it illustrates the problem) i.e. the arches appear too wide. Therefore it looks like I'm going to need to trim them down prior to fitment to avoid an over-arched under-wheeled look.

Working with Carbon/GRP etc is no problem. Neither is the fabrication of brackets. I just wondered how come your car looks ace with those arches and mine looks, well, sheite. I'll try to illustrate with photo's before I get the sanding discs out!

Thanks again.

D.D.

[Ade]

I see what you mean now.... I can honestly say I got no idea :nugget: :fear:

I think I was just lucky then. The arches where just that fit from the start! When we first offered them up we weren't sure if they'd be wide enough!!!! So I think the phrase "luck more than judgement" might be applicable! Sorry :nugget:

However I'm fairly sure that Pete's where the same though...... What arches do you have and where'd you get them from?

[Dick Dastardly]

Curley Carbon extra wide miglia arches from Minisport I think. Thinking about it, the extra wide bit might be a clue! Having said that though, the rear arches look fine.

A bit of fettling here, grinding there, and general pokery should see them allright. I bloody hope so anyway, 'because it'll be an expensive experiment otherwise :nugget: :grin:

D.D.

[Ade]

Yeah mine were the miglia wides....... but like I said I couldn't be sure of any additional fettling done by the bodyshop. but I seem to remember him saying that they weren't to bad to fit so I don't know :nugget:

[Willie]

YYAAAHHOOOOO!!!!! She's looking Smashingly Fantastic!!! I don't think you realy know what a treat it's going to be to have a Screamingly fast little road Monster!!!

I am so pumped on my project...YUM YUM!!!! Can't wait to hear that Turbo kicking in on the Busa mill for about 300 to 310 hp....I think that should be enough for now untill I get her sorted out...Ahahahhahhah!!!!!

Keep up the Good Work!!!!!!!!!! Willie.....hic*

[Dick Dastardly]

Willie, it's gonna take off!

I had an Impreza with roughly 300bhp, and that was hauling 1275kg around, and it was extremely quick once the turbo spooled up.

You're gonna need to inform the local airport authorities everytime you plant your right foot!! :grin:

Aren't petrolheads great!

ATB
D.D.

[markrally]

Curley Carbon extra wide miglia arches from Minisport I think. Thinking about it, the extra wide bit might be a clue! Having said that though, the rear arches look fine.

A bit of fettling here, grinding there, and general pokery should see them allright. I bloody hope so anyway, 'because it'll be an expensive experiment otherwise :nugget: :grin:

D.D.

I was just about to order mine aswell, hope you manage to sort it? I hate the overarched look aswell, the twin engined red mini that is on the mini build video is the same, If you remove that much material, you will fettle the mounting holes out of the arch???

How much do the wheels stick out of the arch if you put a peice of wood vertical on the face of the wheel /tyre and measure across too the bodywork ? what measurement do you have front and rear??

Mark :wales:

[Dick Dastardly]

Mark,

there are no holes pre-drilled on the arches, so that's ok.

In terms of the measurements- I'll have a look when I get home and keep you posted.

Bye for now
D.D.

[Dick Dastardly]

Ok. After an exhaustive investigation (2 mins!) I came to the conclusion that I need to hack at least 20mm off the width of the front arches in order to avoid the same hideous aesthetic as the red twin engined mini on the build dvd- that's exactly the look I want to avoid!

I'll start with 20mm, but it may end up more than this.

The rear arches should be fine.

Mark- I didn't get round to measuring anything last night, but will defo check tonight. The measuring technique you mentioned will be subject to a certain amount of fluctuation due to differences in camber as I havn't set the geometry up yet. It should give an indication though..

D.D.

[Tarks]

carbon arches where from and price ! ur help in advance is gratefully recieved

[markrally]

carbon arches where from and price ! ur help in advance is gratefully recieved

Try Here .......Clicky

Cheers MArk :wales: