22 replies to this topic

[waddle]

1.5KG out of the shell

 

C-pillar seatbelt mounts are 400g ish each

and the bit of steel below each rear window,  

 

did the roof lining panel the other day wich was about 900g all in! 

 

Aiming for 550kg on the road so still a long way to go!

 

[Cooperman]

550 kg is a good target weight.

 

Do you have a carbon-fibre roof panel, aluminium door skins, plastic windows with the winding mechanism removed from the doors, carbon or GRP bonnet & boot lid and 'chicken wire' mesh grille with no grille surrounds?

[waddle]

Ive gone with: 

 

Migila cage,

F/G roof, doors, front end, bonnet, boot lid

Plastic windows,

Alloy brakes

mini fins

Cut down rear subby +coil overs

I havent decided on the grille yet,  

 

There is a lot of work just to offset the cage, but it does mean I can chop away happily inside without worrying about it going floppy,  I think i will have to remake a few parts in ally to get to my target weight

[sonikk4]

Bin all of the sound proofing.

[waddle]

already all gone!  then realised I will probably put a flat floor in and have the exhaust out the a panel,  so thats a day of my life im not getting back aha!

[sonikk4]

already all gone!  then realised I will probably put a flat floor in and have the exhaust out the a panel,  so thats a day of my life im not getting back aha!

 

What about behind the rear cards on the quarters and on the roof itself??

[nicklouse]

Stick with 10s and you will do it easily.

[1984mini25]

and the bit of steel below each rear window,  

 

 

You wouldn't happen to still have the sections you've chopped out?

[waddle]

All the rear seat and rear quarter sound deadening has gone too, must be a good 6-7kg all in,  roof is going FG so should be all good , 

 

Still got them,  you are welcome to come and get them if you are local to Lichfield

[tiger99]

Ground the rough skin off all castings, like the engine block (inside and out)? I am not kidding, must be a few pounds of worthless material there. Hard, messy work! Radius arms too. If done in the correct manner you will actually increase the fatigue strength.

 

Drilled the front subframe top mount bolts? That one is somewhat easier, a doddle in a lathe, as long as you don't go too deep. Those bolts are ridiculously massive because the diameter was needed to make the rubber bushes work properly. The original Minis just had a pair of 3/8" UNF bolts each side, and failure was unknown.

 

Rewire with modern thin insulation. I anticipate several pounds of useless PVC will be gone.

 

Just a few random ideas, I think there are more things that can be, but rarely are, done to lighten a Mini without impairing the structure at all.

 

Have fun!

[mab01uk]

Mo Mendham probably built the lightest non-spaceframe Mini......his ultra-lightweight aluminum paneled race Mini below was a regular sight in special saloon racing back in the 1970's
 

 

 

His very strange looking ultra-lightweight aluminium paneled Mini No.179 (at 1min 15sec) can be seen in this Special saloon race video from Crystal Palace Sep 9th 1972:-

Edited by mab01uk, 28 May 2017 - 07:10 PM.

[waddle]

cheers for the ideas,  I was looking at making up some turret bolts in ally, need to lern how to use a lathe first though, must be a good saving there! 

 

Im fully onboard with the hole drilling,  i've taken almost half the weight out of the remote gear housing by drilling lots of holes and was thinking of ally  tube instead of the steel bar. 

 

Im planning where to drill the subframe, as its on the car at the moment to line up the front of the cage, but once its out ill attack it !

[1984mini25]

A few other ideas. Replace the boot floor for a flat steel/alloy or fiberglass panel and ditch the rear valance and closing panels.
Drill the front box section of the rear subframe and replace the rear c section with a steel bar.

[waddle]

chees,  going with a rear beam,  and flat boot floor,  has anyone done one completely flat before?

 

i guess i need to make the arches wider to let the radius arm miss it ?

[nicklouse]

flat is not easy as the base of the arches is not flat,

 

and not really.