9 replies to this topic

[Mick 64]

Mini Equinox 1996

Hi at the point that need to buy a rear sub frame for above vehicle.

What is the difference between the heritage part compared to pattern part?

Any advice would be helpful.

 

Thanks in advance.

Mike.

 

[sonikk4]

You will hear differing stories about the quality of fit between them.

 

Big difference in price between Magnum and Heritage. In the past i fitted a non gen subframe with no issues but this was the early 80's. Of late there has been issues with regards to fitment of non gen but that could have been down to other factors.

 

Personally i think i would rather spend the money on a Heritage one. Don't forget if you become a TMF+ member you can get 7.5% discount of everything through minispares. Does help reduce the sting in the wallet.

[Benoit_Dupont]

Hi,

 

I'm considering buying a second hand one and restore it (seamwelding, etc.) I have trust issues with "genuine parts" already so "non-genuine is just a no-no"

[sonscar]

In my experience with Minis when they were still quite new the quality was poor but no different to many other cars.New parts were almost always "fettled" to make them fit.I bought the cheapest subframes I could and fitted them to very rusty cars as 40 years ago welding was a Black Art mainly carried out by unsavoury looking characters(at least that is how I remembered it).These cars did not explode into pieces.Are we in danger of overthinking?.Personally I would buy the cheapest I could find and fit it solving any problems as they arose.I accept that this approach is not for everyone.Steve..

[Benoit_Dupont]

In my experience with Minis when they were still quite new the quality was poor but no different to many other cars.New parts were almost always "fettled" to make them fit.I bought the cheapest subframes I could and fitted them to very rusty cars as 40 years ago welding was a Black Art mainly carried out by unsavoury looking characters(at least that is how I remembered it).These cars did not explode into pieces.Are we in danger of overthinking?.Personally I would buy the cheapest I could find and fit it solving any problems as they arose.I accept that this approach is not for everyone.Steve..

Well, wise words indeed. However some problems can not be solved by welding. For instance I have seen skewed subframes where one wheel is ahead of the other one, leading to super weird handling. You can make this type of sub fit the body by fidling with it but you can't recover geometry and in some countries it will fail MOT.

[sonscar]

How many manufacturers ( not sellers) of subframes are there?A self made millionaire once said to me:once upon a time you paid more for quality,now you just pay more for anything as the poorer quality items match the price of the better items.Cynical?maybe but there is more truth in it than I like.Steve..
me

[Benoit_Dupont]

How many manufacturers ( not sellers) of subframes are there?A self made millionaire once said to me:once upon a time you paid more for quality,now you just pay more for anything as the poorer quality items match the price of the better items.Cynical?maybe but there is more truth in it than I like.Steve..
me

And that's why I'd rather refurb an old frame than buy a New one. My point exactly :)

[Tupers]

As far as I know only Magnum and Heritage make rear subframes now

I’ve fitted a lot of the Magnum rear subframes and never had any trouble with them. They always get a good few coats of 2K black paint and are bolted up bare and have the arms fitted once all 8 trunnions bolts are in.

[Mick 64]

Thanks for the input, I am going to clean mine up and poss get it shot blasted to see if it can be saved first, then go from there.

Mick.

[Cooperman]

I have used Magnum rear sub-frames.

The thing to do is first of all to do a 'trial fit' with a bare frame with only the trunnions attached, but with no suspension or brakes fitted. Once it all fits nicely, take it off of the car and prepare it by painting or otherwise treating it. If it is for arduous use you can do a bit of extra seam-welding before final painting.

Then assemble the suspension and braking system and fit it to the car.

Once it is all together, you need to be prepared to 'fettle' the radius arm outer brackets to get the correct toe-in (ideally 2 mm to 4 mm) and the camber (ideally zero to 0.5 degrees negative). Front-to-rear geometry also needs to be checked at this time, but that is a bit too much to consider in this post. Once these have been set, weld on a large 'penny washer' to hold the settings.