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Wheels, Arches And Traumas: A Short Story!


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#1 kyle_1275

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 02:44 PM

After grabbing a few shots from my little trip out to the Cow & Calf last weekend I decided it was time for a change-up! A fond farewell to the chromes and a welcome embrace to something a little more beefy (pun intended). So without further adieu here is the conclusion to my nightmare of a weekend!
Warning: contains imagery which some viewers may find distressing.

Here’s a picture from the aforementioned Cow & Calf trip and ultimately the deciding factor for wanting to replace the chromes. Just a little too bling-bling for my liking!
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Starting off on a high-note here’s where the journey begins, my favourite place to spend most of my time (and more often than not my money too!); Huddersfield Mini Spares.
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For the Vtec fans out there.
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And here’s a special little something. £3000 and would you believe there’s only 13,000 miles on the clock! An absolute gem, damn near fresh out the factory condition. Worth it for the engine alone!
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Now the fun begins. Here’s the wheels I decided on. 13x7 gloss black minilites with a polished dish!
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And here’s a little taste of what they would look like in comparison.
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Onto the fitting! Unfortunately I somehow managed to misplace my original locking wheel nut socket and rather than do the logical thing and purchase a universal one, stubborn me decided a tight fitting socket along with a hammer would do the job just fine. It’s safe to say “just fine” was an understatement; an hour or so later after a lot of swearing and frustrated sighs I did finally manage to get those bleeding nuts off and on went the new wheels!
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Already starting to look somewhat beefy huh?! It was at this point, after using up both of my 18mm sockets on the pesky nuts and basically melding them together, I decided for the sake of £15 (and my sanity) it was worth a trip to Halfords for a universal socket. So far there hasn’t been much fun at all huh? Before I go any further here’s a second picture to give you some context for the next part of the story. Can you see the issue here? Aside from the legality that is.
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You guessed it! The turning capabilities equal to that of The Flying Scotsman! No clearance what so ever. As you can imagine, attempting to reverse off my drive way without slicing the new wheels to shreds was also no fun. I was never a fan of the 3-point turn let alone a 12-point turn. And it’s at times like these when you fully come to appreciate the invention of power steering. Alas, I made it off the driveway and up to Halfords!

Now this is where the REAL fun begins! It was time to put the garage and the contents within to good use. After removing the skimpy little arches it was clear to see how much cutting had to be done. Time to bring out the big boy tools! Remember: always wear your safety specs!
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A shower of sparks later and a few “oohh ya f*cker” comments we are making progress!
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One side adequately chopped up its time to install the new arch! A little forceful squeezing and gentle persuasion coupled with a few fibreglass splinters and here we have it! 1 successfully installed group 6 arch! One down, three to go.
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A little blue peter magic later and... here’s one I made earlier.
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But wait a minute... in typical mini fashion; the front end is desperately digging the ground in search for its dismembered pieces of body work while the back end sits high and mighty sniggering away to itself as it needed no butchery at all!

Now, as a person who’s all for equality that just will not do. Try as you may little Mini you are no drag queen (woo another pun). Allow me to show you to your correct seating position, none of that Santa Pod shenanigans here! Time for some hi-lo adjustment! 6 turns on the left, 4 on the right. Ever a fan of symmetry.
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Looks about right to me!
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Back to the driveway!
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There we have it ladies and gents. A job well-done (in my personal opinion) and one weekend well spent!

Shameless cross-over plug. The Chromes are up for sale here: http://www.theminifo...egal/?p=3543473

Edited by kyle_1275, 10 June 2018 - 05:28 PM.


#2 Vinay-RS

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 04:06 PM

Well done. The wheels and arches look good. 



#3 lawrence

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 04:58 PM

Look decent, you should start a project thread! We all like the ongoing one and I love the mods. I spot tinted rears and angel eye fronts. Anything else?
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#4 kyle_1275

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 05:58 PM

Look decent, you should start a project thread! We all like the ongoing one and I love the mods. I spot tinted rears and angel eye fronts. Anything else?
Lawrence

Planning to make a project thread when I begin the full interior overhaul. As for the mods, aside from the 2 you spotted there isn’t really anything else exterior wise. I do plan on swapping out the front grill for a buttoned mk1 pick up grill in black, again, less chrome. As for the interior there’s a couple of changes; the original bank of switches will be coming out and exchanged to the LED tipped lever type similar to mr Wired by Wilson’s creations. Currently there’s a proper centre console along with cobra bucket seats and all round custom upholstery on the door cards. Just basic stuff for now.

Edited by kyle_1275, 10 June 2018 - 05:59 PM.


#5 Chris1992

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 10:32 PM

Looks good mate! Sits real nice. Might have to get myself some of those headlights in future, they look class!  ;D



#6 kyle_1275

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Posted 10 June 2018 - 10:40 PM

Looks good mate! Sits real nice. Might have to get myself some of those headlights in future, they look class! ;D



A compliment from the god of stance himself, there’s no higher praise! Cheers mate. The headlights aren’t too shabby! Although be prepared to drive around with just the angel eyes on as people have been flashing me non stop with the dipped lights on thinking they’re my high beam! Bloody bright they are and it’s not like there’s much headlight height adjustment on a mini!

Edited by kyle_1275, 10 June 2018 - 10:40 PM.


#7 lawrence

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Posted 11 June 2018 - 01:43 AM

How did you get on with the mot Kyle? I've got the same lights on mine too
41868504431_055ddb4d32_b.jpg20180503_171714 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Just a little worried about the indicators needing the Drls for the indicators to work. Going to try and address the issue tomorrow with some diodes to help me

#8 kyle_1275

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Posted 11 June 2018 - 11:25 AM

How did you get on with the mot Kyle? I've got the same lights on mine too
41868504431_055ddb4d32_b.jpg20180503_171714 by Lawrence Balls, on Flickr

Just a little worried about the indicators needing the Drls for the indicators to work. Going to try and address the issue tomorrow with some diodes to help me


Love the camo effect paintwork you have going on. It passed the MOT with not even a mention about the lights though I may have just gotten lucky as the dipped beam does seem to shine way too high. I had to buy a separate DRL conversion kit to get the ring to work with the indicators/hazards. Though having 2 pairs of indicators at the front is a little overkill. Had thoughts of removing the 2 sitting below the headlights completely.

#9 Chris1992

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Posted 11 June 2018 - 12:50 PM

 

Looks good mate! Sits real nice. Might have to get myself some of those headlights in future, they look class! ;D



A compliment from the god of stance himself, there’s no higher praise! Cheers mate. The headlights aren’t too shabby! Although be prepared to drive around with just the angel eyes on as people have been flashing me non stop with the dipped lights on thinking they’re my high beam! Bloody bright they are and it’s not like there’s much headlight height adjustment on a mini!

 

 

Awwww you're too kind!!  :lol: no worries dude. I'm still tempted to do a buy, but my p700s are brand new so I might wait a while lol



#10 kyle_1275

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Posted 11 June 2018 - 01:08 PM

Looks good mate! Sits real nice. Might have to get myself some of those headlights in future, they look class! ;D



A compliment from the god of stance himself, there’s no higher praise! Cheers mate. The headlights aren’t too shabby! Although be prepared to drive around with just the angel eyes on as people have been flashing me non stop with the dipped lights on thinking they’re my high beam! Bloody bright they are and it’s not like there’s much headlight height adjustment on a mini!
 
Awwww you're too kind!!  :lol: no worries dude. I'm still tempted to do a buy, but my p700s are brand new so I might wait a while lol

I try to imitate the look of your mini and you call me kind haha, I’ll take it! Have you seen Ollie’s whacky combination of these lights mixed with some from an mx5? Those things look killer, I think they’d suit your mean looking little beast! (b16boosted_mini on instagram)

#11 leecoopers

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Posted 30 October 2018 - 08:33 PM

:gimme:

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