23 replies to this topic

[unburntfuelinthemorning]

KYB adjust a ride (silver body) fitted on the front only immediately made a huge improvement eliminating much of the uncomfortable bounce.

Worth putting on the back end too.

[ads7]

KYB adjust a ride (silver body) fitted on the front only immediately made a huge improvement eliminating much of the uncomfortable bounce.

Worth putting on the back end too.

Good to know. Even with ancient rear cones?

[unburntfuelinthemorning]

 

 

KYB adjust a ride (silver body) fitted on the front only immediately made a huge improvement eliminating much of the uncomfortable bounce.

Worth putting on the back end too.

Good to know. Even with ancient rear cones?

 

Should do but why not throw some new cones in there at the same time.  My van is better than a lot of modern cars over speed bumps with new cones front and rear.

[ads7]

KYB adjust a ride (silver body) fitted on the front only immediately made a huge improvement eliminating much of the uncomfortable bounce.

Worth putting on the back end too.

Good to know. Even with ancient rear cones?

Should do but why not throw some new cones in there at the same time. My van is better than a lot of modern cars over speed bumps with new cones front and rear.

True. Tempted to try the new Minispares EVO cones at some point although I'm running red dots up front

[MiniCarJack]

Thought I'd update this topic with a bit of feedback after putting some of the "refinement" ideas into practice!

 

First off I had to get a fair bit of work done for my Neon's last MOT, which included replacing the rear subframe and various worn suspension components. So while that was being done, I took the opportunity to upgrade to new genuine Hi-Los, Minispares Evo cones, and KYB gas shocks all round. Now that the suspension has settled it's made an incredible difference, especially to the front end. The Evo cones are probably a touch firmer than standard ones but they settle nice and evenly, and offer a great combination of ride comfort and cornering capability in my opinion. Perfect for a fun daily driver.

 

Since then I also fitted some comfortable leather seats from an Alfa Romeo GTV, which has done my back some favours! The rear bench basically fits straight in with no mods and looks great, and for the front seats I was able to modify some old aftermarket seat subframes to allow me to bolt up to the factory mini mountings, and avoid drilling holes in the floor or crossmember. This also retains the tipping mechanism with the anti-tip locking hook as required on later cars. Access to the rear is actually much easier because the seat backs will fold forward for plenty of clearance, but because they're chunkier seats compared to the factory Mini ones, there isn't a lot of legroom for rear passengers. Fortunately for me I don't tend to carry more than one passenger very often!

 

I do need to fine-tune the position of the seats as they currently sit a bit too high for me personally, they could do with being dropped about an inch or so to maximise comfort on longer drives. But this was definitely another worthwhile upgrade, and at circa 300 quid for the set of seats in genuine Italian leather, I'm glad I went down that route rather than buying brand new Cobras or similar. They weren't too tricky at all to mount in the end, which I was pleased with since that was my main concern.

 

Next I'll be looking to tackle the interior as a whole including some sound deadening, new trim and a subtle retro audio system to make it a nicer place to be. I do also need to diagnose and sort out an irritating knocking noise under acceleration/deceleration, it seems like an engine steady or mounting has failed or worn out so the engine is rocking back and forth, which is pretty annoying and doesn't help with driving comfort. Hopefully it's just the top steady bushes which will be a nice simple job, and might help to reduce cabin vibrations a bit more as well.

[ads7]

Timely post since I've literally just returned from a brief road test over varying road surfaces, wow what a difference new rear silver kybs has made, even with ancient standard cones fitted!

Apart from this my suspension is quite similar to your spec:

new genuine Hi-Los, front red spot cones, and now KYB gas shocks all round.

The car rides better than my MR2 MK2 around town and out on the open road the short wheelbase means the occasional bump catches the car out slighty but on the whole just lovely control and a touch firmer than standard, allowing me to really hustle the 850 along b roads.

I've already silentcoated the entire front bulkhead and have original carpet / carpet underlay left over from our house / new carpet sandwich which was definitely effective.

I recently replaced the engine mounts with new minispares ones (the better quality ones without the nuts welded on) and MPI one piece top steady bushes.

I'm going to add a long @ 90mm Flexi pipe to the standard airbox tomorrow to partially remove more induction roar. I do have six 1/2" holes drilled in the casing underside to match the k & n element.

All in all a huge improvement in refinement.

Your gtv seats sound great, only drawback for me would be the weight of the front seats. With my tiny engine I need to keep that down.

Edited by ads7, 01 July 2021 - 09:58 PM.

[MiniCarJack]

Timely post since I've literally just returned from a brief road test over varying road surfaces, wow what a difference new rear silver kybs has made, even with ancient standard cones fitted!

Apart from this my suspension is quite similar to your spec:

new genuine Hi-Los, front red spot cones, and now KYB gas shocks all round.

The car rides better than my MR2 MK2 around town and out on the open road the short wheelbase means the occasional bump catches the car out slighty but on the whole just lovely control and a touch firmer than standard, allowing me to really hustle the 850 along b roads.

I've already silentcoated the entire front bulkhead and have original carpet / carpet underlay left over from our house / new carpet sandwich which was definitely effective.

I recently replaced the engine mounts with new minispares ones (the better quality ones without the nuts welded on) and MPI one piece top steady bushes.

I'm going to add a long @ 90mm Flexi pipe to the standard airbox tomorrow to partially remove more induction roar. I do have six 1/2" holes drilled in the casing underside to match the k & n element.

All in all a huge improvement in refinement.

Your gtv seats sound great, only drawback for me would be the weight of the front seats. With my tiny engine I need to keep that down.

 

Sounds like you've got some great results and I bet it's one of the quietest minis around with the little 850 purring away under the bonnet! Definitely need to get onto the sound deadening & engine mount/steady bushes on mine, the MPI bushes sound like a great idea so I'll definitely be getting hold of some of them.

 

The GTV fronts have definitely got some weight to them - probably at least twice the weight of the standard early '90s mini seats they replaced, if not more. That said, as a result they seem mega durable and they feel really comfy like a new seat, despite being about 20 years old at this point. A lighter option would be something like an '80s or '90s pair of Recaros, which are still of excellent quality, lower profile and quite easy to fit to a mini. In fact I saw a pair of nice black Recaro seats for sale at Beaulieu for a very reasonable price, and had I not already fitted the GTV seats to my car, I probably would've bought them on the spot and somehow squeezed them into the back of the Mk1 (or maybe on the roof rack!!) to bring them home with me 

[Ethel]

Don't put off sorting the engine steady for too long. It's likely to turn in to a far worse job if it fatigues the bolt on the engine end or bracket on the bulkhead. I'd consider replacing the bolt anyway.

[ads7]

Definitely can't go wrong with recaros!

A few more jobs to do yet, namely remote gear change housing bushes and softer exhaust hangers. Beyond that I can't think of anything else..apart from swapping my tubular exhaust manifold for the original cast iron item which I doubt I'll get round to.

Edited by ads7, 04 July 2021 - 09:01 PM.