116 replies to this topic

[irishdude]

Hey guys so I just got off the phone with Chris there this morning and he had some great news for me. My kit has just come out of hte powder coaters, which means only one thing - Its time to start my Build log.

So here are my plans for now. Looking at building a nice Demo car, but it will be a daily driver and will be seen very often driving around the Track. There are just too many tracks around me not to take it out on them.

• US VTEC Street Kit - Chris has adapted his Street Kit for sale over here in the States with LHD and a few other goodies
• JDM K20A - Decided against the K20A2 RSX-s route. JDM all the way powertrain wise.
• K-Pro ECU
• Red Body with White Stipes - Thinking of the Lexus Pearl Red with Pearl White, not 100% sure yet..
• Race Steering Column and Bearing
• Wilwood brake Set-up - Rotors, Calipers, Pedal box and all that good stuff
• Sound proofing - Plan on driving this as much as possible so a little bit of extra sound proofing won't be bad..
• Minilite 13x7" - Rolling on 13's LOL, no Dubs for me
• Interior - haven't decided on Seats thinking Sparco Evo's but I really like the Mambo Seats Chris has in his Demo Car Decisions decisions
• Gauges - Will probably go the Digidash route or maybe the Stock JDM cluster.

Anyways thats the plan for now, but we all know what happens to plans...

Here is a pic of my 1962 Mini Cooper when I purchased it this christmas. It was in incredible shape. The previous owner had stripped it down to the Metal and no rust anywhere on the body. I tiny bit in the Trunk area around the battery box but really thats not staying..




Took me a while to find a mini in this good condition but not braking the bank. Took me about 2 Hours to strip the Subframs off the car and get it up on some rollers. Then really its just been body work. Not much really. No major dents just tidy ups,







Such a cute little engine, think my subie might pull it though its scoop



Most of the boring stuff is completed. I am looking at cutting up the trunk area maybe this weekend at least before I get it primed and more or less ready for the build up.

Anyways its only a start, will keep adding pictures as the project progresses. Planning on having it up and running in June/July timeframe.

[Rogue Se7ens]

Great to see another US build. I'm looking forward to seeing the progress and with an ETA of June July, I suspect we will be seeing things move along rather quickly.

[PhotoguyUSA]

In case you didnt know Brian, Jim is the man for carbon.

[irishdude]

In case you didnt know Brian, Jim is the man for carbon.

Thats good to know, need to start thinking what I need There has to be some Carbon Fiber on this car

[harbinger]

Will they be building kits stateside, or just a local dealer? Is there a US-based website?

[PushingTin]

Just out of interest 'who' is Jim ..... Not obvious to this stupid lad lol

[PhotoguyUSA]

Jim,
Is Rogue Se7ens carbon master stateside.

[irishdude]

Not much has happened this week, just been getting parts ready. Looking at starting all cutting tomorrow morning so hopefully have some pictures on that progress.

My Brake setup has arrived - I love new car parts all shiny and clean looking

[2lrminivan]

open the boxes then so we can see

[irishdude]

So had a busy weekend. Started cutting up the rear of the car.. Very apprehensive about it, the first cut is always the deepest

So marked out the Arches and rear parcel shelf prior to cutting:




So that was the easy part

Next step was to start cutting, worked on the parcel shelf first cause it was the easiest to get to, fairly straight forward, and once I got into it became fun.. Here's me with a big happy head on me,




My small grinder got knackered very quickly



Didn't get as much done as I thought on Saturday cause I had to head down to Hot Import Nights and see Lyle (Photoguy USA) and check out his incredible ZCars mini. Got down to San Mateo and met up with him and got the grand tour. All I can say is the car is absolutely amazing.. The pictures just don't do it justice at all.. Incredible car







Didn't take too many pictures cause I know Lyle will post them and they will be far better quality than mine. Really hope he did well for the Car of the Night competition. His car was definetly the most unique car there without doubt.. I had to fight my way through the crowds and all those lovely models to get in and have a look.

I got to sit in the Kirkey Seats he has inside and have realised this is the route I am going to take with my car. Again another picture of me and my happy head



So did a little more cutting today and got one of the wheel wells removed another hour or so of work left. Then just have to tidy up the cuts.



So still more to come..

Oh yeah here is a sneek preview of the shiney parts

Edited by irishdude, 06 April 2009 - 04:20 AM.

[PhotoguyUSA]

Thanks Brian it was great to meet you at the show.....

The results speak for themselves

Best Other
Best Engineered
Best Vintage

and the biggeeeeee BEST IN SHOW ULTIMATE OVERALL

[irishdude]

Thats amazing!!!!!!!!!!! Well done man, you definety deserve it with all the work that you have put into it .. You better clear some space on your shelves I am sure you are going to need it with all the trophy's you are going to win in the coming months

Edited by irishdude, 06 April 2009 - 04:21 AM.

[irishdude]

More shiney bits for my car!!

[irishdude]

Didn't get up to much today or yesterday, wasn't feeling great. But I got to cut most of the big parts out of hte rear. All the small tidying up of the cuts left to make it perfect:

Right Side

Left Side





All the bits I have removed - A nice little pile




Stay tuned want to have this all done and dusted by the end of the week. My seats arrive on Thursday and my engine comes on Friday hopefully. Planning on upgrading the clutch but that should be about it for the Engine. Not really looking for a crazy build just a solid engine that will go for awhile.. Maybe a supercharger in the future maybe

Edited by irishdude, 08 April 2009 - 03:28 AM.

[PushingTin]

Looking great there Brian, where'd you get the rubber from? Imported or local? What size?

Just had a new clutch put in mine, went for the Barnett coil spring upgrade and kevlar plates, it leaves 2 black stripes wherever it goes now and no hint of slip

Although I've still not driven it, have to wait another week grrrr lol

PT