251 replies to this topic

[matty...]

I think you need to get the engine in before planning how to turbo or go EFI!

You could of chopped the whole front end off and fabrcated a new subby in the last year you've been talking about it?!

[chairchild]

hehe, to remove the front end of the mini, would possibly require just touching it - it's rotten as buggery! It needs a LOT of bodywork to get it close to usable. But I know what you mean - you also have no idea how much I want to get back in it, and drive him again - I have to walk past him EVERY time I leave the house

But, mods + repairs that are needed to the shell include:

front end chopped off (obviously!)
scuttle replaced
both flitch panels repaired
front+ rear floorpans repaired (or just a new floor panel!)
boot floor + rear arches removed
doors reskinned + bases repaired
sills removed, inner sills repaired, new sill shapes made

Then after that, the front needs to be enclosed, and the bonnet + grille made

The shell is, to be honest, one of the LAST things that needs to be done., as it's mainly a cosmetic part.
The chassis needs to be made,
the rear suspension fitted
front suspension built, aligned, then somehow fitted
steering mechanism needs to be arranged
the engine + gearbox lined-up and fitted


hehe, THEN all the funky bits can be added





But for now, until I get about £100 spare to buy the two lengths of box section, and get them delivered (only bloody supplied in 7.5m lengths!) All I can do really, is just think about the other parts that are needed. I only really have around £30/month spare atm, so really REALLY hoping to get this new job - then I'll be able to get shedloads done in a relatively short amount of time!

Buy box section - get it cut to lengths
Buy ARC welder, to fit it all together!
Buy parts needed to make power supply for my own ARC/TIG/Plasma cutter (yes..no joke. My homemade spotwelder is going to be for the bodywork too)
fit rear diff + suspension
fit front suspension + steering rack (possibly mini)
make engine mounts
fit engine + 'box, take measurements for custom propshaft


Then... after all those have been done, I need to start on the shell! hehe





But, Guru gave me a link to something on fleabay which just made me go "yaaaaaaayyy!"

http://cgi.ebay.co.u...emZ130260294094

extend it by around 2-3 foot, and give the bonnet more of an angle where it meets the body (so you dont have that weird flat bit) and a fair bit of jigger-pokery to the backend, and that is pretty much how I want mine to look!

[chairchild]

rear window more like this kinda size (easy enough to do to be honest)

[alexcrosse]

prove it

[chairchild]

angle-grinder with cutting disc, remove the lower half of the window, tack it into place, then using sheet metal, fill the gap


and to be honest, just to prove it, I'll make a point of doing that first, when I get my MIG welder working again (rebuild the handle, buy some 0.6mm wire, and rework the gas feed), and I've got some metal to fill the gap

hehe, happy?

[alexcrosse]

nah, still waiting, pics... and not on paint

[Steve W]

nah, still waiting, pics... and not on paint

come on alex give him a chance. . . .

. . . . anyway i'm off to start a new thread "my bugatti veyron engined mini"

[alexcrosse]

didnt you see the merlin engined mini me and wolfy are planning?

[wolfys_mini]

its gonna be *dons gangsta attire* bangin' isn't it!

[chairchild]

[chairchild]

FINALLY getting shot of the jag this saturday! Major PITA is, the value of scrap's fallen through the floor!

When I bought the jag, scrap was at around £240/ton....... it's now at £25/ton at my local So I'm simply handing the damned thing over, before I get CHARGED to take it away!




Bonnet's now gonna find a new home.... on the mini




Saves me the trouble of trying to reshape a new piece of steel, or a bonnet from another car to fit, as this is as damned close as I'm going to get! Going to thin it down so it's not as wide, but going to keep the raised centre

One final look at the standard intake manifold (promise!) before you see it chopped in half, then the mould set up around it




And no, I haven't gone caving - this is a pic of the inside of one of the manifolds, you can really see WHY I want to re-cast it - the porting and smoothness of the inside is horrendous! It looks like the manifolds were made to look nice on the outside, NOT perform well!



The first cast I'm going to try, will be a MUCH smaller effort than just going full-pelt into it with a manifold. Going to make a small bonnet-ornament for the pug out of extruted aluminium - which will be more shiny than cast alloy. I know it won't be anywhere near as strong as using cast stuff (extruded is purer aluminium, so less to give it strength) but it DOES come out far-far shinier!

[v8mini]

I know it won't be anywhere near as strong as using cast stuff (extruded is purer aluminium, so less to give it strength) but it DOES come out far-far shinier!

not necessarily true, depends on the alloy being used, extruded 6082 or 6005a alloys will be a lot stronger than 6060, 6063 ect but you will loose the surface quality.
not too sure about casting, but no dout simular properties apply, harder alloys will have worse surface quality than alloys with more aluminium content.

nice to see the project is still progressing, need to get mine going again not been touched for almost a year now

Edited by v8mini, 30 October 2008 - 12:11 PM.

[mini93]

your going to run forced induction on a cast material you made yourself not knowing how strong it is? dont snap the throttle too quick otherwise you might blow the plenum up

[alexcrosse]

smoother isnt ALWAYS better

[chairchild]

for a bonnet badge - I'm not really gonna give a toss about strength, which is why I'm just going to melt down the shiniest thing I can find!

And for a good strong alloy, I'm going to use melted down gearbox's. The casting will be quite thick, and will have external ribs, just to make sure! And when I say "smooth", I don't mean as in polished smooth, I just mean without random casting voids and ridges everywhere!