1065 replies to this topic

[Jamie_hail]

Well done mate, finally got it all to fit! Bet thats a releif!

[The Matt]

When do I get to see this buddy?

[Kam]

Nothing to see here, move along people, move along

[Kam]

Picked up my second radiator earlier, ok its not a actual radiator.......



its a heater matrix off a mk4 transit, which will fit in fine in the space I got



The pipes are standard heater ones, so not too sure about running a 32mm to 19mm back to 32mm hoses, if I can get the pipes made bigger on the matrix I will but not sure if getting big pipes on something that small would be a good idea or even if you can weld on it, the tanks looks pretty fragile

yes Mr B I know its on the wrong way round I just grabbed any wheel I know the suspension isn't compressed, but the matrix is sitting on top of the gaz shock so theres plenty of room before the tyre decides to rub up against it and get jiggy with it

I need to space it from the wing about 30mm so I can slide my front end on comfortably as thats where the hidden fixings slide against the inner wing

Not sure how I'm gonna mount it yet, theres no fixings around it, its just tanks and fins, I'll find a way, also I'll use something stronger than masking tape to secure it next time

I wanted to test out the gear linkage and exhaust clearance next, I was paranoid about this bit as I made the linkage without having the 2.5" exhaust here and used my old 2" pipe for mock up just pushed up a bit to gauge a 2.5" pipe, bit silly I know but usually theres always a method to my madness........

Bolted the gear linkage in. Its a single kink skunk2 short shifter but the back (rubber mount) section is inside, so now it points straight up so it won't clip the passenger seat when going into second (no more rubbing passengers legs - dam!)



Slung the exhaust together



And in



At the closet points I got an inch clearance between the steady bar and selector bar, and an inch and half between the steady bar and exhaust - get freeekin in there I was well chuffed with that as that mock up could've been a f*** up

Only issue I had was trying to mount my rear exhaust hanger.........



.......to the frame, KAD anti roll bar is in the way



The roll bar sits exactly where it needs to be (directly between the battery box and rear crossmember) so gonna get another bracket made up or get this one extended by about 25mm



I might make one up myself? I've got some 1.5mm steel sheet here, the mount is 2mm but don't think that will matter, I reckon if I can make four bends in that sheet then I should be ok, otherwise I'll cut and weld a bit, I might give it a try, might be fun?

Worse case scenario I'll take it somewhere for them to make me one

[Shifty]

Don't forget my offer stands to make you one up!!!

[Kam]

No worries mate, if I need that exhaust bracket or anything made up I'll let you know

[Jamie_hail]

Could you not just use some washers to space it out? Get a stack of washers, stick them over a bolt, smaller than the washers - so say if the original thread is 8mm, use a 6mm bolt. Stack up 25mm of washers, and run a bead of weld down the side? Or put them on a bolt, and dip them in loctite so they remain as a pack of washers, to basically form a spacer... That way you can adjust by adding or removing washers, to get it to sit as close as possible to the arb!

[Kam]

Good thinking jamie, I had a few ideas but decided to try something different, one problem I had was just spacing it out meant it would catch on the roll bar mount as that is placed near the top section of the subframe so not only did I need to space it I had to lower it slightly, so.........

.....I grabbed my bar section that I cut off my frame ages ago



Chopped it down and drilled a couple of holes and had to drill another new lower hole in the subframe, which aint easy atall with the subframe in and the back of the cup for the donut getting in the way but somehow got there in the end



If I kept the original upper hole when spaced out the hook would be hitting the subframe, thats why I made the lower hole, you can see the original upper hole

Got about an inch clearance between the silencer and subframe



And about an inch and half between silencer and roll bar



I could if I really wanted to shave a small section away from the subframe for some more clearance as exhausts move more side to side than up and down but I don't think its needed, I did the obigularty wobble test!



Thats pure science right there

Either way, the exhaust fits and holds up and clears where needed, look mummy no hands!



Tomorrow I'll take it back out and get the gear linkage off and then find a place near here who can weld on the end of my mini gearstick to my skunk2 shifter - gotta have that factory 4 speed gear knob baby!

I'm also gonna take my radiator to get the top hose relocated to the other side so its at an opposite side to the bottom one so the whole tank fills up as having them both on one side aint gonna help much as that side will be hidden behind the headlight which means - no ram air on that side whatsoever

I will also get them to weld up some bigger ports than the 16mm transit heater matrix ones (second radiator) so its matches the 32mm hoses for honda, gotta keep that flow errrrm flowing. And while they are there they can weld some brackets or something as I need something to work off to mount it

Also, I'm not drilling into my rocker cover to vent into a catch can, its been powdercoated so I don't want it ruined, so will order a plug to come off the back of the block and vent that alongwith the original vent from the rocker cover both into a catch can then that will be vented to air

I've had a few days off work so got done what I could but I'm back in tomorrow which means its also back to checking and ordering stuff what I now need, I prefer the days off myself.....

[paul190181]

Loving this kam its looking realy good now . hoping to get my ass in gear over christmas and do some more .

[Kam]

Cheers Paul

I've handed both the rads to the welders now so they will sort them out with relocating the top hose (on the main custom rad) to the other end, and hopefully welding some bigger ports on the transit heater matrix to 32mm so they match the honda rad pipes

He's also gonna weld on the tip of the mini gearstick to the honda one so I can use my 4spd mini gearknob, he was a bit confused with that as to why I'd want to do it? I said, look you do work I pay you, its a simple concept!

Good ol Watsons came through aswell, as usual, Geoff sent some upper cam belt cover bolts that I had lost somewhere, and a b18 crank pulley with 3 ribbed pulleys thats been cut for the teeth for the pick up



You can see my old b16 one there, its only got 2 ribbed pulleys and a grooved third - no good to me as my new belt will use that third pulley so I'm sending this back to him in exchange

I can measure up for an alternator belt now and go hunting for one, also I can weld in the alternator bracket as its in two bits and fasten all that side up

Welding shop says rad stuff will be done in the new year now so I can't do much in the bay now, but I don't want to be at a standstill over xmas so I'm gonna tackle the wiring next as I got everything here also the sensors, cabin, dash, lock stock the effin' lot! I've been putting it off so what better time to do it whilst most places are shut eh?

[yeti21586]

keep going kam!!!!!! dont let the wires defeat you"!!!!

[Kam]

Cheers mate, I'm in a zone at the moment (long story.....) so I'm on it

[Nick Warwick]

Tempted to copy you with the blue rocker cover for my civic coupe
Looks awesome though mate!

[johny:)]

Hi kam was looking through your build it looks realy intresting just wondering wen you had it on the road and it was about 160bhp what was is like to drive like the grip could you put the power down easily or did you have to ease it on im just so looking forword to doing mine i cant wate was thinking as well of doing a removable steel front like you did as it looks so hard to get at any thing in the bay aferlooking at that one with the mini tec subframe it dont evan look like you can remove the radiator so that looks like a good idea to look into

like i said tho realy like your build mabie i will see your car at a show one day

[Kam]

just wondering wen you had it on the road and it was about 160bhp what was is like to drive like the grip could you put the power down easily or did you have to ease it on

I had no spin in all gears whenever I nailed it, you could provoke a spin if needed but generally I could stamp my foot down and just go, theres a few people from here that had been in mine so they can vouch for that

This is because I was using the b16a2 with 165hp and 116ft torque along with a lightweight flywheel and watsons 3.4 final drive and factory steel wheels, the lesser torque of the b16 was the main thing here though, a b16 with standard power WILL NOT torque steer whatsoever no matter what frame you are using even with the original honda 4.2 - 4.4 final drive, its just poor wheel/suspension setup that gives you a placebo effect its torque steering but its not, sort out the suspension then you sort out the wander, you've also got equal length driveshafts on the hondas so theres no excuse with a b16.......

The b18 (non type-r) is a different kettle of fish though, that extra 16 odd foot pounds of torque on your b18c4 over a standard b16 makes a massive difference, so you will get torque steer and wandering a bit when pushed even if your wheel/suspension setup is tip top, whether the watsons 3.4/3.7 final drive helps alot here I couldn't say, the main problem with any hybrid swap is finding anyone thats sorted the gearing and wheels, get that right for your application and your laughing, I'm still gonna be using my old setup that I had on the b16 with the b20 so 3.4 final drive, lightweight flywheel and steel wheels, I know its not gonna run like it did before so I'm in no mans land at the moment but it'll be a laugh with the cars looks which is the kinda like the whole point with me

As for your front end I'm not gonna tell you to cut it up and have it removable nor am I gonna say keep it all hooked up , all I will say is you need to weigh up all the odds between having something thats got ease of access whenever you need it without having to lift the whole body up in the air to get to something relativity simple or having it all hooked up as it left the factory which is obviously alot safer in a bump and will look much smarter than any front end thats removable and will earn you extra kudos points at a mini show as people in the know will know and people not in the know will be left scratching there heads all day trying to work out "how the hell?"