1881 replies to this topic

[The Matt]

woohoo, got the video to play at work.
I showed it to one of the guys in the office, he said:
'that thing sounds like a bloody motorbike'

I said

'it has an R1 engine in it and it is a GRP shell'

He said

'F@@k*n H*ll'

[Ade]

Lol That does tend to be the reaction from the majority of people :nugget: :grin:

[markrally]

Pardon me for being thick but what is a MINI MINUS???

Mark :wales:

[Bungle]

a mini for fat people :tongue:

[Pooky]

lol!

did you not fancy putting an aftermarket bike exhaust on as well ade?

give it some more roar!

[The Matt]

Pardon me for being thick but what is a MINI MINUS???

Mark :wales:

Minus = GRP mini based shell with approx 3" removed from the waist to make it shorter and more fun! They are also 'deseamed' stylee therefore and more aerodynamic.

Rare as rocking horse poo, hard to find, but seem like a very good alternative to a rusting mini shell. There are a few modern variants too. There was the Domino HT (hardtop version of their convertible thing) and there are some shells made by FRA Engineering and also Rallysport replicas.

:grin:

[The Matt]

Oh, and you weren't being thick, they are pretty rare and not everybody has heard of em! :wink:

IMHO the best way to build a high spec mini is to go Plastic Pig stylee (Sorry Ade)

[Jammy]

I thought it was 6" taken from the bottom section, to allow you to use standard doors and windows?

[The Matt]

oooh, I dunno now, maybe I'm wrong????
6 inches seems like an awful lot though!!!!! :wink:

ADE? Clarify please? I is confuzzled now!

[Ade]

According to a kit car guide book i have from the seventies (my mate's dad was well into his kit cars) the bodyshell stands 6" lower than a normal mini shell.

Doors are deffo not standard!! But all the glass is

I did consider a modded bike can...... but when Dale told me that his with a race can on was sitting at 100dBs at idle!!!!! I thought I might not ever be allowed near a track let alone doing any sort of track days!! :nugget: :grin:

[The Matt]

Crikey, 6 inches is ALOT Ade, must be a no go for me then, I struggle to fit into a normal Mini at 6'6" (not that I can afford a Minus or similar). :sad:

[F1 Mini]

I think it was 4" less less than standard...... The same overall hieght as the Mini Sprints, but with all removed from the metal work were as the Mini Sprints have 2" out of the body and 2" out of the glass...

Where's the video clip of the R1 Mini Minus ???

[Ade]

Frontpage! Where it says "See and hear the mini here. (This file is 37mb)"

The word "here" is a link to the vid! :cheese: :tongue:

It be here :tongue: :grin:

[Ade]

OK taken from "Which Kit?" winter 1987/88 edition, which I assume will be accurate as this was when Minus' were still being made and they will of no doubtedly contacted Minus themselves for the information.

COMPANY PROFILE: Minus Cars Ltd., is a small, friendly operation run in two converted farm workshops by Keith Lain, a man who has loads of specialist car experience working for Team Lotus, Lotus Cars (on the Esprit amongst others) and various Status component car projects. Together with wife Jill, who handles the administration, Keith runs Minus in an efficient, unpretentious way and has given the company real stability with the range of industrial mouldings it makes in addition to the cars. If you travel to Norfolk and visit Minus, you'll be pleasantly surprised by its rural craftmanship atmosphere and impressed by the very attractive showroom and assembly premises.

MODEL PROFILE: The Minus is basically a replacement body/chassis unit for any ageing and invariably rusting, BL mini. Performance and economy are said to be greatly improved due to the fact the car sits 6 inches lower on the ground, which also benefits the overall performance. Totally practical, all the traditional Mini virtues remain in a package that will last considerably longer and never rust.

DONOR VEHICLE: Any Mini will fit the bill provided it is the non-hydrolastic type and has internally hinged doors. Components it provides are the full front subframe complete with engine, gearbox, radiator, suspension and steering, the rear subframe, the doors, the windscreen and all other glass, headlights rear lights,seats, exhaust system, wiring loom, wheels etc. The only changes required during construction are the lowering of the radiator and the addition of several earth returns to the wiring loom.

COMPONENT PACK: A mere £850 plus VAT will see your project started with a well finished and very strong all glassfibre monocoque body/chassis unit. Safety has obviously been a prime consideration with the GRP as thick as a 9oz lay-up in some places of extreme stress, and steel frames fitted around the door apetures to provide pillar strength and seatbelt mountings. These frames are then joined across the car by a steel roll over bar to give a totally solid basic framework. The body assembly is supplied in an unpainted form and comes complete with a bonnet lid and all the major mounting holes pre-drilled. All you need is the donor mini, plus ideallt one or two of the factory options....

OPTIONS AND EXTRAS: One very useful option is the primer body finish (at £160) that will save a lot of unnecessary effort on the builder's part. Also rather nessecary are the modified doors available on an exchange basis at £65 per pair. Other extras are the special seats, modified suspension rubbers, headlining and carpet sets and special wheels. Major option, though, is the Minus Maxi body/chassis unit at £995 plus vat. This is a mini Clubman stle estate vehicle with off-road styling influences, four full seats, a hatchback and a total versitility of function.

Ok so thats the most concrete source of info I've found! :tongue:

[gadgets23]

wow .. not read that before ... goood info that
and bike sounding real sweet... real quick respone to ya throttle it sounds !!
the acceloration is gonna be unbeliveable !

anyhows i will have to get the tape mesure out .. that will be the defo way to get the figure..
i was under the impression that it was only 3" from the body section ... that has been shortened, of course .. with its styling u can have the body lower anyhows.. so thus will be overall shorter ...

i will have to get it side by side with my real mini to get a comparison picture .. but belive me it aint 6" !! ... it is a MARKED dif thou
one way u can instantly see is were the fuel filer neck is .. which is ABOVE the normal line around the car .. were its normally below it ..

i gonna set up some kinda Minus info site 'soon' !
with all the 'kown' minus's that are known of ..
we are at about 14 unique minus's so far .. wich aint alot
look back about 5 pages u can see the thread that was started to track um down ... there were 250 to 500 made, but no real figure to be sure of...

Mick ...