76 replies to this topic

[01smartc]

Hi all, you may have read my previous topic about this car, however i have had a massive change of plan!

Its now going to be a Hillclimb racer competing in the Midland Speed Championship next year! So i thought i'd start a new project to track my progress during the build.

I will quickly bring you up to speed on where ive got to!

Heres how the car started, plain and simple 1275 Black Mini Cooper!



Firstly i took the engine out







Next the front subframe got a refurb



The shell was going off to be sand blasted so i had the strip it out! Also cut the front off for the flippy, bad move in the end as now its going to be a race car the regulations dont allow a full flip front! Whoops, oh well i didnt know i was going to race it then!



All that sound deadening had to go! ... Now that was boring!



Sent the shell to be blasted, this is how it came back, in red oxide primer!





At this point it was still going to be a road car... then i went to a hillclimb at loton park and changed my mind! So from here on im building it to be a racer!

I sent a few emails out asking if anyone would like to sponsor me and to my suprise i got quite a few back. I have secured sponsorship from the following companies

ABS Motorsport
Custom Minis
OBP Race pedals
Powerflex Bushes
AVO Dampers
Racing Greens Graphics!

They are all great guys and i thank them very much!

Heres a few pics on how far ive got making this into a race car!

Front and rear coilovers from AVO.. they look amazing and i hope they work well too!





I then got a rear beam from Minispares



Got that on



With the radius arms a coilovers!



I then smoothed out the rear lights and made a boot repair







Quick pic of the rear valence removed along with the boot floor ready to put in the flat alloy boot floor for the tank, also shows the silencers im going to use!



Finished rear end smoothed, primed and boot lid suplied by ABS Motorsport in place! Looks great and fits well! Note no rear valence to improve airflow underneath and just looks great!



And the final bit ive got to is doing the boot area to clear for the Coilovers and flatten the boot for the tank (Which is custom and should arrive today!) and fiiting a crossmember to stiffen it all up!

I havnt got the pics of this yet but will get them tonight and post them up!

Loads of writing all in one go i know but let me know what you think!

Smartie

[Guess-Works.com]

ooh... very pretty....

Don't forget to strengthen the rear shock mounts....

[01smartc]

Yer thats where im up too now... how would you srengthen them? Ive got to cut them out slightly too fit the coilover in aswell!

[alexcrosse]

you keeping the boot floor? Would have thought if you have gone to the length of the beam you would put a cf floor in a get rid of the rear valance.

looks good though mate. How come your going for 1380? you will be more competitive with a 1399 engine as the class for hillclimb cars is up to 1400. And you will find there are usually 2 guys running extremally powerful mini's at alot of the events, one being a KAD 16v 1380, and the other an Arden 8 port. What head you deciding to go for? Id go 1399 cc wise, 74mm pistons with standard stroke. MED do a special engine to compete in that class.

[01smartc]

Erm yer the boot floor has been removed and replaced with alloy and the rear valence is gone, as you can see in the picture.

Just fancied a 1380 rather than a 1399, bit more reliable i hope. Im only going to enter the Midland Hillclimb next year and in that there are 3 other minis all running 1380's with 5 port heads.

The engine is more or less done already, was going to wait untill its fully finished to post up the spec and pics etc

Cheers for the suggestion though.. might give it some thought!

[alexcrosse]

anything to get the edge mate lol

[01smartc]

Yer i know what you mean... to be honest i think in the first season the biggest downfall wil be the driving not the car lol.

However i still want the edge when i get better! Im running megajolt, which the other competitors had never heard of and hopefully im going to have an amazing gearbox from guessworks when i can afford it!

Chris

[01smartc]

Been out tonight and opened up the rear arches to fit the coilovers... they fit like a glove now! Also strengthened inside and added a brace bar between the two inner arches to stiffen it all up!

Tank didnt come so it will be here tommorow, just got to get that in a tub the rear arches and the backs done.

Will take some pics tomoz and post them up!

[01smartc]

Hi all got the photos today, and my tank came!

Heres the tank... i sent him this pic i did in pro desktop



and 1 week later....





He did a really good job, will deffo use him agian, the tank was made to my exact spec and foam filled for a great price i think.

On to the boot, heres the boot floor pics from top and bottom as promiced




And the inner wheel arch widened and strengthened, the cross member hasnt been put on yet as i ran out of welding wire, will do that later and post up a pic!



Finally the tank resting in the boot!




Perfect... let me know if you like it or if ive done something really bad!

[wwinstanley]

awesome, cant wait to see it finished

[01smartc]

Nor me, i gta get it done by next april, the start of the season, or im going to get sponsors wanting thier money back! lol

[Rosslin Racing]

I will do you some photos of my boot area tomorrow. I have coil overs all round, have you worked out the ride height.
its looking good what your doing.
the Ali tank is that allowed for racing?

[01smartc]

Ye would like to see some other pics of the boot!

Erm yer the alloy tank is allowed as ling as it has a drip tray round the filler, as you can see, a non return valve in the breather and its foam filled, which it is!

[Rosslin Racing]

As you can see I do not have a subframe, the rear arms are fitted directly on to the body. this part of the body has been modified to take the loads, do not do this at home with out those mods!
the towers were made becouse when I fitted my avo shocks the whole car was sitting very high and you could not adjust the ride height on the spring.
I can adjust it now, also its all hanging on the cage.
the boot is made fron 1mm and 0.5mm alloy glue and rivets.
the rules say that you can use a original tank or a safety tank but the good old alloy is not allowed, thats what I was told here at the last race meeting I went to. the rules are from spank my bottom with a limp cucumber Mosley.


hope you can use the pictures

Edited by Rosslin Racing, 19 May 2008 - 05:58 PM.

[01smartc]

Hi all, ive been busy recently so thought id update you all.

Ive finished the rear, both sides have been extended for the coilovers and a brace bar has been fitted!




Then moved on and replaced the parcel shelf with an alloy one!



Next bit was to tub the rear arches, which took a while but its done




Then went about cutting the rear seat and bins out to save weight and allow for the roll cage fitment



Just going to attempt to fit the rear arches today and i'll post some pics up later!