487 replies to this topic

[Matt1293]

Great build mate, I'm really keen to give one of these conversions a go. What is the performance like? I didn't realise that these conversions suffer from over heating issues.

Edited by Matt1293, 30 January 2015 - 09:34 PM.

[racerlike]

Performance is pretty frantic when you give it some.
The mini engine bay with side mount rad was never the best for cooling and as its been said above the engine is under more stress and generates more heat. Ive not done enough mileage to know if its a major issue yet but theres plenty of ways to help reduce temps.

[racerlike]

Finally the mini has an MoT after 7 years!

The guy at AM Autotech in Durrington was spot on. took a real interest in the car and spent time checking it over and sorting out some frankly embarrassing oversights on my part (an alarming array of loose nuts!)

Couple of bits still to sort such as the leaking diff - where its missing sealant and driveshaft boot which came off covering everything in grease.

But the main thing is its safe and road legal again and will finally make an appearance at some shows this year - not before ive bought some ear defenders as its unbelievably deafening above 50mph.

[racerlike]

Spent the afternoon then with Neil at Slark Race Engineering getting the suspension and geometry setup correctly.
Had a few issues getting it right due to less than perfect parts and some assembly errors from me, but he was really patient and persevered with getting it sorted and the car once again feels like a mini should.

[racerlike]

Not so clean now :-(

[racerlike]

Having geometry sorted

[Alan Carruthers]

Fantastic news, long road, can only imagine how good it feels, top work.

Al

[jonny f]

Good work!

[racerlike]

Few bits sorted today. Mainly checking nuts and bolts and I'm surprised by how much has worked loose. So I've been fitting serrated washers and locknuts where possible.
Only problem is the leaking diff. It's annoying as I can now see it's not been sealed properly. Im hoping a smothering of sealant around the outside will work as a temporary solution but i will need to remove it - good excuse for an lsd, new driveshafts, lightweight front hubs etc!

[racerlike]

Easter will see the diff being removed. It appears to be leaking from at least 3 places which is not good.
However, I did manage to get out and about for a couple of runs close to home.
The sequential shift is awesome, change up and the power is right there. Pulls really hard too and with the suspension sorted it corners flat and precise.
The torque steer is interesting - two hands on the wheel to keep it in the correct lane albeit still snaking down the road.

Coil overs seem to work well, firm but not overly harsh and good round corners. Little bouncy on poor road surfaces but I think that can be damped out.

[roadhouse]

Easter will see the diff being removed. It appears to be leaking from at least 3 places which is not good.
However, I did manage to get out and about for a couple of runs close to home.
The sequential shift is awesome, change up and the power is right there. Pulls really hard too and with the suspension sorted it corners flat and precise.
The torque steer is interesting - two hands on the wheel to keep it in the correct lane albeit still snaking down the road.

Coil overs seem to work well, firm but not overly harsh and good round corners. Little bouncy on poor road surfaces but I think that can be damped out.

 

Glad to hear you sorted a few things out! I figured these cars would torque steer pretty good with the extra power...  

[racerlike]

Yeh it caught me off guard a bit.
The throttle pedal is a bit of a switch, you have to push on it at the right angle as at first I was wondering wheres the power, then I moved my foot position and whooooaa I'm on the other side of the road

[racerlike]

[racerlike]

[duds100]

Car is looking great, congratulations on getting on the road! I had a leaky diff and torque steer issues early on too.

I solved the torque steer by changing from pot joints to the hardy spicer output type as there was lots of tension on my O/S driveshaft with the pot joints installed. It seemed almost like the diff was too far away from the CV joint on the O/S. The hardy spicer outputs are a male splined shaft sleeved into a female coupling which allow horizontal movement or 'float' (from hub to diff) of the driveshaft. The difference was night and day with them fitted. To note the male sleeved shaft fits in the the female coupling about 15mm less than with an A-Series installed but it still has a good amount of spline length mated.

The leaky diff I cured by re-machining the 2 mating faces of the diff casings and having a steel gasket laster cut to mate between the 2. Seems to be holding so far.

Hope this helps & good luck with overcoming the minor issues.

Edited by duds100, 08 March 2015 - 11:30 AM.