15 replies to this topic

[Mudhen]

Hi All,

 

I'm purchasing a classic Mini rally car, wondering what the most active forums are for racing/rallying them?  Not that I don't love you all here, of course...been awhile since I've been active on the classics, though...spending all my time on r53s it seems.

 

Goal for the car is gravel stage rally (very few asphalt events here, although there is an active hillclimb scene near me, so would probably do those as well) as soon as I can get the current cage replaced with an FIA cage and do the million other things to get it ready, but will be used for rallycross prior to that (I'm in the states, so our regular rallycross is more like your autotests? maybe?  Big gravel/grass areas with 1 car at a time against the clock).

 

All I know about the car is that it was imported around 2001, but was a fully built stage car at that time.  Fake reg of course since back then it would have been illegal here.  Bastards.

 

Other pics:  https://mudhen.smugm.../Cars/RallyMini

 

Thanks guys.

 

Pat

 

[bpirie1000]

Why a fake reg ? This should be a 1960s car but clearly is not...

How can they get away with that....

(So you could import it back to UK and claim it is a 1960s car... system is very flawed...)

Nice looking rally car sure it has seen one or two angry forrestmoments...what other mods do you intend to do? What is the engine spec?

10" wheels will make a huge difference on this car.. regardless of intended use....

[Avtovaz]

i havnt seen a set of magnum seats in a stage car for years! lol i have them in my road rally car, but they are like 10 years old! I liev right by magnum, they used to be in everything.

 

good luck with it, looks a solid car. 

[Mudhen]

Why a fake reg ? This should be a 1960s car but clearly is not...

How can they get away with that....

(So you could import it back to UK and claim it is a 1960s car... system is very flawed...)

Nice looking rally car sure it has seen one or two angry forrestmoments...what other mods do you intend to do? What is the engine spec?

10" wheels will make a huge difference on this car.. regardless of intended use....

 

Yes...by fake I just meant clearly not for this car originally.

 

Interesting you mention 10" wheels - wouldn't the 13s be better in almost every regard?  Greatest ground clearance, best tire selection, and biggest available brakes?

 

This is a screen shot from the ad with some of the 'goodies' supposedly on it:

 

[Avtovaz]

do you know where abouts the car came from or who owned it over here? it could be interesting to find out whos it was.

[Mudhen]

do you know where abouts the car came from or who owned it over here? it could be interesting to find out whos it was.

 

I don't have any info, although the seller claims he has some older paperwork he's sending with the car (having it shipped up from Florida this weekend).  Hopefully there's something in there with previous owners names.

[Cooperman]

13" wheels will not increase ground clearance or overall gearing compared to 10" or 12" wheels.

It is not the wheel diameter which determins this, it is the rolling radius and a 10" wheel with a 165/70 x 10 tyre is virtually the samr RR as a 13" with a 175/50 x 13 tyre. From memory, the difference is about 3%.

With the smaller tyre wall depth, the ride will be harsher and on gravel the handling will not be as good.

The general problem is finding gravel tyres for any rally Mini these days. 

[Mudhen]

13" wheels will not increase ground clearance or overall gearing compared to 10" or 12" wheels.

It is not the wheel diameter which determins this, it is the rolling radius and a 10" wheel with a 165/70 x 10 tyre is virtually the samr RR as a 13" with a 175/50 x 13 tyre. From memory, the difference is about 3%.

With the smaller tyre wall depth, the ride will be harsher and on gravel the handling will not be as good.

The general problem is finding gravel tyres for any rally Mini these days. 

 

Demon Tweeks lists all sorts of 13" gravel rally tires...guess I'll find out if they can actually get them or not.

 

I certainly wouldn't want a 50 sidewall for gravel rallying - or is that all that will fit?  Those cool looking 'Historic GM' Pirelli's in 165/80-13 give a little more height than the 10" Colways I have in the garage right now according to the tire size calculator - guessing those definitely won't fit!

 

If 10" wheels are the way to go, is that why the Group A cars in the late 90s ran them?  Hmm...I'll have to look that one up.

[bpirie1000]

With 13" rims you may feel you are fighting the wheel from pulling you arohnd the road or forrest.

10" give the best overall feel in my opinion but 12" maybe a good comprimise for you..

Also when running 10" tyres you get alittle flex in the tyres on the side walls.
With 13" you have very minimal and is sooper awesome to look at but it is, as per all mini related things a matter of self choice and what you are using the car for....

I would also say that a 1440cc is cutting it fine on the bores... make sure you do have ample cooling for it or she may give you some unwelcome bang noises....

Most of all enjoy all things mini and mini related..

[mini13]

In terms of the "Fake Reg"  as a rally car its entirly likly t was reshelled due to damage, in which case it could be  legit

[nicklouse]

In terms of the "Fake Reg"  as a rally car its entirly likly t was reshelled due to damage, in which case it could be  legit

Full body’s were always available from RoverSport at a very nice price. No vin on them. I should have stored a few away when I could.

[Mudhen]

Thanks everyone for your input!  Will immediately look at the cooling system before I thrash it too hard - thanks for that bpirie!

 

Am I wrong assuming the pinnacle of classic Mini rally car is the late 90s group A car?  Our rules are non-existent for historic cars - in rallycross I can literally do anything I want - Mod Front Wheel Drive allows anything at all, motor swaps (god forbid) or whatever.  Stage rally will be what we call Limited 2wd - a little more stringent but only regarding the engine - nobody in a modern Golf or Fiesta is going to be complaining that 'Pat in the 90hp Mini running last on the road is using Metro brakes' or whatever the case may be.  They might bring it up to the organizers if I'm running a Metro 6r4 engine in the back, though, I suppose...

 

My real fear is being asked to leave because I'm so slow I'm holding up the event!

Edited by Mudhen, 04 February 2022 - 01:08 PM.

[Cooperman]

You won't get a 165/80 X 13 to fit a Mini. The rolling radius is too great and you would restrict the lock on the front, the wheel arches would need extensive cutting, whilst on the rear the tyres would hit the radius arms.
13" wheels are not a good idea for rallying because of the low profile tyres further reducing the effective suspension travel.
I use 10" because they work the best, but of course the only 'knobbly' tyres available are the 145/80 X 10 Hakkas and the SP44 Weathermasters from Blockley, who also do the old SP3.

[Mudhen]

Now I have the car home I was able to snap a few more pics.  Bet a lot of time and love went into building it!  Hopefully I can find out who it was so I can buy them a nice label maker for Christmas!  

 

 

I've read about these pumps on here before...not a dual setup, though.  Question - do you hear them constantly running or are they more like a regular pump that ticks just while it's building pressure?

 

 

 

For pin stands?  They just look too small!

 

 

Can't imagine this was legal - where the doorbar meets the main hoop they don't even touch other than that tab?

 

 

I tried starting her buy the wiring on the top fuse box started smoking so I stopped.  They look a little melted, too.  Look forward to actually getting it running!

 

[Cooperman]

When rallying a classic Mini, it must be remembered that it costs as much to buy, prepare and compete as it does to do that in a modern car with some chance of doing very well. So you end up paying a lot to do not very well - although it is great fun!

For historic events, it is a different matter as there are age categories

Some old classics can be competitive against modern rally cars. A good example is the Mk.2 Ford Escort which can have over 230 bhp and the fantastic handling combined with suitable transmission gives overall performance equal or better than most modern 2 wd cars.