1057 replies to this topic

[kmol468]

A big update people.... finally ive got the car back... whoop whoop (its a long story - but 54 weeks to complete a 6 week job! lol)

Time for some pictures




In places it has got abit of surface rust so firstly prime it all











The rear adjustable end







Intercooler:



Disc space without calipers





I swapped the wheels... what do people think?









Anyhow, next on the to do list - remove the rear end and send it away for powder coating...

[Alex_B]

Been reading this from the start, and spent a good while away from the mini forum but i must say i did pop on every couple of months just to see how this project was getting on, and its rather amazing what you are trying to achieve.

Very impressive and look forward to seeing the nice shiny end pictures!

[kmol468]

Well the pictures will keep coming. At the moment im just pleased I have the car back. Now its just down to me to finish it!
I will get there, its just the case of wanting lighter evenings and no rain!
Now hopefully all the parts i've been hording can slowly start going on the car.

[liamcrowley]

This is a really interesting project, its what made me go for what I'm doing!:)
Good luck with getting it done, should be a good looking thing when it's finished!

[R1mini]

The weller wheels give a more sensible track, the original wheels with the yokos on look good but they stick out far too much for me anyway.

You can get standard ford rear discs and calipers under 13's as I have a set on mine, but most 13 inch wheels you can't

Cheers
David

[kmol468]

I should have the rear end powder coated by the end of the week, so hopefully that will leave me to fiddle with things over the weekend. Oh I just remembered, I need a prop shaft! Doh!

David, I was looking for your build thread to see what brake setup you were running, but i couldn't find it. Are you able to shed any light on the topic? Failing that I think a trip to the local motor factors is required to see what standard ford discs i can use. Apparently you can fit the standard cosworth discs and calipers on the front if you grind abit off the caliper, but until I get round to doing the brakes, i dont think this will work!

[Spud_133]

You can grind a slight piece off the later calipers to fit on some wheels, but on there are some ford fitment wheels which fit over without modification to the caliper. I can't remember if you said you're using ford or mini fitment. ]

You could also fit earlier pinto'd sierra calipers which fit under the 13's which the above don't fit.

If you can follow that you're smarter than me! Lol

[R1mini]

David, I was looking for your build thread to see what brake setup you were running, but i couldn't find it. Are you able to shed any light on the topic? Failing that I think a trip to the local motor factors is required to see what standard ford discs i can use. Apparently you can fit the standard cosworth discs and calipers on the front if you grind abit off the caliper, but until I get round to doing the brakes, i dont think this will work!

I haven't bothered with a build diary for this car as I change my mind too much! Anyway here is a picture of a standard sierra rear solid 253mm disc brakes and calipers fitted to a 13" wheel which is a KN Minator. There are only a few 13" wheels with enough clearance to do this, the kit car boys use a smaller disc about 240mm from a fwd ford escort I believe and use a plate to mount the standard sierra caliper to, this allows a greater range of 13" wheels to be used.

As far as the front goes I didn't use standard sierra brakes as I went to a 300mm disc braked wilwoods under 15" wheels in the end, so I have the 13" Minators sitting here doing nothing

Cheers
David

Attached Files

•  Sierra Rear Brakes.jpg   98.89K   40 downloads
•  DSCF0075.JPG   122.69K   9 downloads

[kmol468]

I finally braved the cold and decided to attack the rear hubs. The bearings were completely shot, so they had to be removed.
A trip to CR Marks put me right and to my surprise a set of 'Timkin' bearings were now ready to be put in. But first of all the hubs and drive flanges needed cleaning.
A couple of hours later with 4 bearing journals pressed in and a lick of paint they are ready to be bolted back up to the rear cradle (which isnt finished!)
Why is it impossible for companies to actually stick to what they promise I mean if I didn't pay them how much I promised, i think they might object! - Rant over

[kmol468]

The adjustable rear cradle has been back for a while from the powder coaters, so in the absence of all the rear components I have been attacking all the rust that has been accumulating....... blimey it takes a while to get clean, anyway its done now and has a couple of coats or red oxide.















Now all to do is seam seal all the joints then hammerite it. Then take the engine and box out and do the same at the front.... then it can start going back together!

[Tupers]

Are you planning on using this car for any kind of speed event? I'm not sure how an MSA scrutineer would feel about the design of the rear legs on your cage.

[kmol468]

Well I hadn't planned any events, mainly it's going to be used as a road/track car.
As I'm not familiar with the msa regs, out of interest how would they object to the rear cage design? Is it because of the bend and that it's not straight?

[Tupers]

Yeah the bend was my main reason for concern. I don't know for sure that a scrutineer would turn you away but I've never seen rear legs done like that before. It seems like having a bend there instead of a straight tube is just giving it somewhere to buckle in the event of a heavy roll over.

[Artful Dodger]

please please please please please please do grasstrack or autocross, you will nott loose!!!

looks awsome!!

[kmol468]

Hopefully it will never be involved in a heavy roll over to "test" the cage, I would be gutted to say the least.
As to auto crossing I wouldn't rule it out but I need to gain my confidence in it first so will taking it easy until I feel comfortable.