105 replies to this topic

[onlymelloyd]

hi a friend made a garden seat out of the front of a mini, he built a frame under to hold it upright instead of the subframe ect being fitted and wheels, he then took a still saw to the wheel and started to cut the wheel in half, starting with the tyre, so if this symbol is the wheel and tyre () he cut the back face away leaving him with ). he did it to save the weight. then he had to weld in a simple little bracket to hold the thing inline, because of the frame holding the body up, there was no need to have an inflated tyre there. and it would all be easy to move around the garden to follow our 10 minutes of sun. you might be able to do the same.

I like this idea, however the only issue is that I only have two wheels, so none spare to cut up! Also it involves yet more welding..

What have you got in the bottom of the engine bay? Why not put some angle iron across and hitch some trailer hubs to it, then bolt on wheels. Having a four wheeled trailer with front and back would look highly cool.

Is the engine bay another storage locker space?

Dave

Theres nothing in the engine bay at all yet. Eventually it will have a bbq but that is un-likely to be put in before the mini fair.
I have seen these hubs around, but they seem expensive to me at £60 each, is there something else I can use that is cheaper, bearing in mind I have several mini front hubs and several radius arms lying around. I also have the major issue of only 2 wheels, finding another two could be tricky!
I like this option the best, it would look good, just got to find a way to get past the issues now! And only 4 days left for me to work on it including spraying!

[Phaeton]

You don't need trailer hubs if you have a pair of rear hubs spare. Cut a pair of radius arms up & weld to either angle iron or round pole whichever is laying around. But it is vital you get them in line or at speed the trailer will be all over the place. Once had a car trailer that you couldn't tow over 40 as it swayed about even being towed by a tranit.

Alan...

[ashton]

hi mate brilliant project..could you not use an 'L-shaped' type bracket bent from tubular steel, welded straight through the centre of the wheel, and weld the long edge of the L to the inner wing, bracing the bracket with a square bar between the inner and outer wings, gusseted for strength? for some reason i can't seem to upload the drawing i did to illustrate this, but ill try to do it with punctuation!

/ /
/ ] /outer wing
inner / ]
wing /-]------/Bracing bar (gusseted joints)
/ ] /
/ ]]]]]]0
L bracket

0=wheel
/=Wing
]=Tubular steel L bracket
--=Bracing bar between inner and outer wing, tubular steel goes through hole in bracing bar, welded once through the hole and in the right position.

I know it looks confusing, but its just an idea..should be strong enough to hold up a wheel..

ok..bloody formatting thing when you post has messed up my diagram.. but i think it could work..pm me if you want more detail as my immaculate punctuation drawing is now a mess!!

ok now i have uploaded a diagram onto my gallery in the garage... http://www.theminifo...x...tem&CID=209 hope its of some kind of help!

Edited by ashton, 13 January 2009 - 10:34 PM.

[onlymelloyd]

Thanks for the ideas, from looking at them they would both seem to work
however...
after my last post I went to my local trailer dealer/hire/parts centre and had a chat. I showed him some pictures and explained what I wanted to do. He said that it would be too dangerous to do such a thing with such a short wheel base, he explained that every time I wanted to turn I would be putting strain or friction on the front wheels, tow bar, and tow hitch. This could result in two things - 1) A wheel falls off the trailer 2) The tow bar/hitch snaps. Thus allowing the trailer to come free from the car and cause a nasty accident! If the trailer was longer it would not be a problem as the pivot point would be further away, such as on lorry trailers. His only suggested solution was a 'turning bar' (thats not what he called it, but its the only way I can describe it at the moment!) Basically the wheels would be attached to an axle which can turn with the car. The only problem with this is reversing, when reversing the turning bar would try to go 360 degrees, through the arches! so reversing would be out of the question. The price was also high at £170! (He said they don't sell many!)
So im back to square one. I had a quick play before going to work and riveted a sheet into the gap, could be the solution maybe? If theres no other ideas?



Im not sure I like it yet, from the front it looks ok, but not from the back. On the plus side I can paint a wheel on! I need to start painting tommorrow really so I have a bad feeling this is how its going to be. I can always change it at a later date, its only riveted on!

Edited by onlymelloyd, 16 November 2009 - 07:44 PM.

[CLASSIC-MINI-BITS]

HI I posted the towbar this morning, so it should be with your in the morning, thanks

[998dave]

How about making it follow the shape, take the arch and a-panel seams out, and shape a piece of metal to follow the curve of the body, essentially removing the arch completely, make sure the bottom of it aligns with the sill seam and then just curve it up at the front to meet the front valance?

[onlymelloyd]

How about making it follow the shape, take the arch and a-panel seams out, and shape a piece of metal to follow the curve of the body, essentially removing the arch completely, make sure the bottom of it aligns with the sill seam and then just curve it up at the front to meet the front valance?

I see what you mean, and that could look very smart. Its going to have to go one the back burner for now I will have to do it once its painted. I lose the garage space on sunday so its got to be finished!

[onlymelloyd]

Heres another quick update.

So this morning I finished blanking off the other wheel arch - still not happy with them but for now they will do.
I then cleared the garage of all the scrap metal, wood, dust etc etc, that took 2 hours! Then I rolled the trailer out before giving a final sweep and clean ready for painting.
Whilst I had it out i positioned it behind my mini so you can all see how it will look. You just have to imagine its red for now!



I also gave the boot some little feet so that it can be rested on the roof without scratching the paint. I did this with door stops and some wood. Looks quite smart and should save the paint as they are rubber.


Now im going to have lunch before putting dust sheets up, doing some masking, mixing some paint and getting the first coat on

Edited by onlymelloyd, 16 November 2009 - 07:44 PM.

[Tomf]

Love the project mate, one of the best trailers i have seen

The only thing im not sure about is what could be done with the front arches/wheels, maybe some small say 8" wheels of something else just to fill the gap if you get what i mean, or even some of the same sheels, but just mounted up a few inches higher so they dont run on the floor, but give the look...

[warhonowicz]

What have you got in the bottom of the engine bay? Why not put some angle iron across and hitch some trailer hubs to it, then bolt on wheels. Having a four wheeled trailer with front and back would look highly cool.
Dave

I like this option the best, it would look good, just got to find a way to get past the issues now! And only 4 days left for me to work on it including spraying!

you could keep the wheels off when driving but put them on when at shows or whatever to give the impression that there are four wheels

[adam_93rio]

great little project, its looking brilliant
youve really inspired me to buy a shell and make a trailer
i might have to at some point in the future
may borrow some of your ideas (vaigly)
if you didnt mind

keep us updated, i want to see pics from the mini fair aswell

No problem, go for it! Be nice to see more mini trailers about, especially ones that are a bit different. Just make sure you use a well past saving shell! Don't want to be ruining good minis!

i dont think ill be making one soon, my girlfriends family is on about going down to cornwall at the end of july so ill have to try n get a shell by then
( and a payrise lol)

i dont like camping tho so might just end up curled up on the back seat

[nathansminis]

lloyd, did you park next to me in halfords yesturday??

those wellers look good mate!!

[onlymelloyd]

i dont think ill be making one soon, my girlfriends family is on about going down to cornwall at the end of july so ill have to try n get a shell by then
( and a payrise lol)

i dont like camping tho so might just end up curled up on the back seat

You won't need that much of a pay rise, so far its cost me around £100, however I did have a few spares lying around, but in theory if you bought a shell with lots of bits on it you would be able to sell them off to re-coup the money and still have the bits that you need left over. Should be cheap (ish)!

lloyd, did you park next to me in halfords yesturday??

those wellers look good mate!!

Yea I did, I thought it was your car, didn't see you though! My car looked a little bit standard compared to yours. I'm jealous...

[nathansminis]

i dont think ill be making one soon, my girlfriends family is on about going down to cornwall at the end of july so ill have to try n get a shell by then
( and a payrise lol)

i dont like camping tho so might just end up curled up on the back seat

You won't need that much of a pay rise, so far its cost me around £100, however I did have a few spares lying around, but in theory if you bought a shell with lots of bits on it you would be able to sell them off to re-coup the money and still have the bits that you need left over. Should be cheap (ish)!

lloyd, did you park next to me in halfords yesturday??

those wellers look good mate!!

Yea I did, I thought it was your car, didn't see you though! My car looked a little bit standard compared to yours. I'm jealous...

hehe. i didnt realise it was yours till i came back and noticed it in your piccies. i think you could actually hear my brain clicking it all into place!!!

and ive always fancied a red mini with black wheels so to me yours is pretty sweet. lol. keep up the good work. want to see it finished.

Edited by nathansminis, 16 January 2009 - 08:39 PM.

[onlymelloyd]

A sneak preview: -




More or less finished, just got to let it dry properly and then flat it back and polish. Do that next weekend.

Also sprayed the bumpers


Just got to put it all back together now Mini Fair here I come!

Now, off to fit that towbar....

Edited by onlymelloyd, 16 November 2009 - 07:45 PM.