75 replies to this topic

[joss]

I had been looking for a part finished Minibusa and found this one for sale in Stockport it was purchased by an enthusiast via auction but he did not no what he was getting into and sold it on, it was built by Ed who resides in Scotland. It had extensive fire damage to the engine bay but did not encroach into the driving area it was sold in an auction and was listed as cat c.
The source of the fire may have been electrical as most of the loom up to the dash needed attention but who knows. photo shows when I picked it up from Stockport through to today  IMG_0197.jpg   57.55K   42 downloads
 IMG_0244.jpg   59.22K   60 downloads as you can see not much to salvage
 DSCN0194.jpg   75.39K   24 downloadsTook it to a show and a lot of people took interest
 DSCN0185.jpg   59.39K   36 downloadsTidy interior untouched by fire damage  DSCN0189.jpg   66.26K   21 downloads

Got it home to find the full extent of the damage the only thing to survive the ravage of the fire was the rear space frame, suspension and breaks:
 IMG_0245.jpg   55.69K   55 downloadsWhat lies under this bodywork
 IMG_0256.jpg   46.17K   53 downloadsWhat throttle body
 IMG_0278.jpg   63.83K   69 downloadsRemoved damaged paint, window, bulkhead and interior
 IMG_0247.jpg   56.44K   44 downloadsPulled out the engine and frame what a dirty job and a puzzle
 IMG_0282.jpg   70.8K   55 downloadsAnd here we have all the severed arteries
 IMG_0279.jpg   43.5K   29 downloadsThe floor pan look rough but it survived the ravages
 IMG_0276.jpg   44.38K   21 downloads The donor arrives 2002 Busa 13k on the clock in good nick rides well shame but I have to have to do the heart transplant

Got the space frame back from the blast shop and had it re painted now its time to shoe horn the motor and frame back in I used my forklift to do this.  IMG_0309.jpg   38.19K   42 downloads

Thanks to my acquaintances and Stuart also known as (bolt of lightning) who is dealing with the power I have managed to do this in 2 months. The engine is running well just having the normal teething problems but now its on its way to the paint shop and 4 wheel alignment:
 IMG_0336.jpg   60.4K   49 downloads
 IMG_0338.jpg   61.34K   39 downloads
 IMG_0341.jpg   46.85K   47 downloads

I will post more photos after the paintwork has been completed.

[Birdman]

Wow!, what a mess. Nice to see someone reviving it.

[cptkirk]

Good effort.........look forward to seeing it back on the road again.

As in the other thread if you want to get shot of the fire damaged motor, I'll take it off your hands.

[joss]

Chappies from Z took the motor off my hands. Can you give me some additional advice on keeping the engine bay cool.

[minidave1991-89]

Chappies from Z took the motor off my hands. Can you give me some additional advice on keeping the engine bay cool.

Seen a few with vents coming into the rear windows and one even with scoops on the quarter panels. Are you going to install a fire extinguisher system by any chance?

[joss]

Yes I have plumbed in an electrically activated extinguisher shown in the picture attached to the front bulkhead. Its plumbed in via the exhaust tunnel to the engine

[cptkirk]

Hey Joss

No worries on the motor, I am sure they will use it for something, they'll probably use it for jigging or it'll get built back up and flogged on to an unsuspecting.......

Re the heat in the engine bay its a battle for sure. The two scoops I have on mine are more functional for other thing rather than purely for letting in cool air into the rear (one feeds air filter, the other the fuel cooler). I did have a thought some time ago about getting hold of a grp boot and making holes in the top edge, that will let a lot of the heat out, alternatively yo could always arrange the boot lid so its slightly open, its not going to affect the aero of the car. As an all out assault you could always get a full mesh bootlid made, I dont think you'd have any problems.

Best of luck with the rest of getting it back together, I am sure you'll have a blast once its done......

[Mini 360]

Having seen the car in its glory days when Ed still owned it, its such a shame seeing it like that. Good luck rebuilding it!

[edsmini]

The car was minted when i sold it to a guy in fife i was gutted selling it my daughter was a little upset with me!!. He only had it a matter of months when this happened. sounds like he had done quite a bit of pissing around with things that never needed touched :-( joss was saying the guy had fitted some kind of aftermarket brake pedal? i dont understand why he had done this as the brakes would stop you on a 50p piece. he had also done a bit of bodging to the wiring when he was fitting his new digi dash set up. thankfully joss is on the job of keeping my old mini on the road. tThe wee car went like a moggy with mustard on its ar$e
i was sick to the core when i heard it had went on fire, im just glad it was nothing i had done to cause the fire. but each to their own, he bought the car and wanted to put is mark on the car. he sure did that anyway. anyway joss hurry up and get it finished.

Ed

Ed

[joss]

I got a lot of local support from local enthusiast and how Mrs D has put up with me the last few months bewilders me, thats why I have got so much done in a short period of time. It has been quite a challenge having to be inspector Morse working out what goes where (I have also got to say fire damage restores are not nice project to take on). I have a great love for the car and a wanting to complete it hopefully Ed it will be completed by Xmas and by the way with what was left of the Mini you done a great job and good luck with you next ride.

[edsmini]

Joss,

this is my latest project, hayabusa once again, full space-frame built by myself. engine in the front this time something different.










Ed

[KieranB]

Ed, that is one of the coolest things ive ever seen. Best of luck with the build

Joss, loving the build, never let a healthy mini down

Good luck getting it finished


Kieran

[sonikk4]

That Anglia looks the dogs danglies. Very cool. Old skool rules.

[joss]

Ed now that is a piece of engineering art you have managed to make a slow looking car look fast. Have you got any ideas of how this machine will handle. I look forward to hearing more about the progress of the build.

Joss

[edsmini]

Joss, im hoping it will handle well, alot of the suspension is copied from the stock car scene although i have fabricated all the components from scratch, i will have the car corner weighed and camber castor and toe setup by one of my mates who is $hit hot at doing it. im sure it will handle well and should be able to get it sideways without too much trouble. lol





i will be glad when its finished

Ed