380 replies to this topic

[minivanman]

monte, i work with insulation, and to prevent the exhaust burning your ass, try to get hold of some kaowool to insulate the back of the bulkhead.not sure if you can get it in america but I would imagine you can. its expensive, but its good. its a ceramic fibre mat, like fibreglass insulation, but better. find an insulation supplier and ask about it - they could chop a metre or two of the roll for a few bucks!

[markrally]

monte, i work with insulation, and to prevent the exhaust burning your ass, try to get hold of some kaowool to insulate the back of the bulkhead.not sure if you can get it in america but I would imagine you can. its expensive, but its good. its a ceramic fibre mat, like fibreglass insulation, but better. find an insulation supplier and ask about it - they could chop a metre or two of the roll for a few bucks!

I got some of that stuff rom work as we use it on the doors of our heating boilers.
I have used it on my old rally car to protect the clutch cable from melting againts the manifold, i could touch the insulated side of the shield with my hand and not feel any heat from the manifold. Great stuff!!!
I am planning on using it on the bulkhead of my mini.

Cheers

[Monte Busa]

Good tip and thanks for sharing...will see what I can find here. I was looking at this:

http://www.pegasusau...sp?Product=1832

or this:

http://www.pegasusau...sp?Product=1838

or this:

http://www.pegasusau...sp?Product=1828

What do you think?

...try to get hold of some kaowool to insulate the back of the bulkhead....

[gizmo]

Hi monte, check out kaowool on ebay..24"x25' buy it now is 32.00$$$. seems cheep enough ....RichMk1

[Monte Busa]

Thanks Rich

Cheers,

Monte

Hi monte, check out kaowool on ebay..24"x25' buy it now is 32.00$$$. seems cheep enough ....RichMk1

[USA-Fin]

Nice build. Any updates? Will the Z spaceframe fit a stock steel Mini shell?

Jim

[Monte Busa]

This particular spaceframe will not, no - as the GRP body has had appx 2 inches chopped off the bottom to fit, and the body reformed. The body also turns out to be alomost 1 inch narrower than a std Mini shell...the body with bonnet only weighs 60bs too....can lug it off and on the car by myself!

Cheers,

Monte

Nice build. Any updates? Will the Z spaceframe fit a stock steel Mini shell?

Jim

Edited by Monte Busa, 14 October 2006 - 07:49 PM.

[Monte Busa]

First real visible progress in months! I have been getting the frame ready for poswder by mocking up and welding various brackets for oil cooler, windscreen wiper motor, dahs support (see below), etc, but nothing really substantial to show until now...

After a few beers this past Sunday, I finally started chopping up my Curley Carbon Dash to fit the Monte Carlo. I have to say, Dremel 545 diamond cut off wheels are a godsend - the one I bought to start got me completely through the job and cut like a hot knife through butter.

Some pictures below, starting with a view of some brackets I welded up to carrier the front of th body so the nose can be removed separately

 DSC02070.JPG   62.35K   154 downloads

The second showing the dash mocked in place - squint hard and you can just see the Digidash that I'm fitting next.

 DSC02066.JPG   76.2K   137 downloads

If anyone is wondering why I chopped the dash just to the left of the center binnacle, the Monte turns out to be a good 1" narrower than a std. mini at the door openings, which was unexpected, so the full width dash would not fit. I decided to use that seeming setback as an opportunity and will be building in a flip-down fuse box and electrical panel cover with a piano hinge at the bottom and Dzus fasteners to secure it at the top. Will also allow acces to the other bits and bobs that will be going behind the carbon dash, like ECU, and the microcontroller and cut boxes for the autoshifter which is controlled by the paddles on the wheel.

Cheers,

Aric

Edited by Monte Busa, 15 October 2006 - 01:24 AM.

[Jammy]

Just re-read this whole project and I'll add my voice to all those saying its going to be fapping awesome!!

Which seats are those? They look like Tilletts (which would be the lightest composite seats I've ever found at about 2.5kg each (with a price tag to match!).

If I got a loan to get a plane ticket to America, will you take me out in it?

[Monte Busa]

The seats are from Chris, but they sure look like Tilletts, don't they....I love 'em and so does my wallet as compared to teh Tilletts at least

Give me a bit to get it done before you come visit, unless you just want to sit in the garage and make vroom vroom noises like I do a few times a day

Might get cracking this afternoon and weld up the bracketry for the electronic autoshift I'm fitting now http://www.pingelonl...eo_hayabusa.htm instead of the Translogic unit (anyone want it, I'll make you a good deal, PM with Qs)...this one clutchless shifts in both up and down...cha cha cha!

Cheers,

Aric

Just re-read this whole project and I'll add my voice to all those saying its going to be fapping awesome!!

Which seats are those? They look like Tilletts (which would be the lightest composite seats I've ever found at about 2.5kg each (with a price tag to match!).

If I got a loan to get a plane ticket to America, will you take me out in it?

Edited by Monte Busa, 15 October 2006 - 03:57 PM.

[gizmo]

Hi Aric, what did you decide for heatshield material? can you provide pics of frame? just now getting metal for my frame. still need to decide on final drive system tho. I will use a hayabusa gauge cluster in mine. RichMk1

[koss]

Hi Aric i have been looking at flat shifters for mine, my mate had the clicktronic on his trike gsxr 1000 it was very unreliable some times missing gears. is yours an air shifter or electro ?
DO you know of any one that has tried a cush drive on the diff(rubber damper) as i think this would make a vast difference.

[Monte Busa]

Mine is all electric (see link in above post) - word of mouth says it works great, but don't have it installed yet. Watch teh video in the link and it looks pretty wicked. Haven't heard of anyone using a rubber drive on the diff.

Cheers,

Monte

Hi Aric i have been looking at flat shifters for mine, my mate had the clicktronic on his trike gsxr 1000 it was very unreliable some times missing gears. is yours an air shifter or electro ?
DO you know of any one that has tried a cush drive on the diff(rubber damper) as i think this would make a vast difference.

On heat shield material, I think I am going to go with this, as a buddy has had good luck on a turbo engined race car and it's very light weight and doesn't take up much room like Kaowool.:

http://www.pegasusau...sp?Product=1838

...as I ceramic coated my exhaust system and I should be losing 50% header temps and 35% on underhood, so don't (I hope) need drastic measures.

You can look back on the earlier posts for some piccies of the frame - let me know if you need anything specific, as I probably have it on file if it's not posted, but the frame is 95% apart right now as it's getting ready for powder.

Cheers,

Monte

Hi Aric, what did you decide for heatshield material? can you provide pics of frame? just now getting metal for my frame. still need to decide on final drive system tho. I will use a hayabusa gauge cluster in mine. RichMk1

Edited by Monte Busa, 16 October 2006 - 09:54 PM.

[F1 Mini]

monte, i work with insulation, and to prevent the exhaust burning your ass, try to get hold of some kaowool to insulate the back of the bulkhead.not sure if you can get it in america but I would imagine you can. its expensive, but its good. its a ceramic fibre mat, like fibreglass insulation, but better. find an insulation supplier and ask about it - they could chop a metre or two of the roll for a few bucks!

http://www.anvilfire...les/k_index.htm

Found this Supplier in the US........
Sounds like good stuff..

[Monte Busa]

Been making some good progress on my all-electric Pingel autoshift that will be married to the steering wheel mounted paddle shifters. The first picture shows how the system is assembled.

 shifter1.jpg   258.47K   166 downloads


I had to move the lever assembly back farther than as received by Chris to suit my driving position, so while it was out, welded in the piece of tubing where the shifter actuating rod passes through to the front of the car.

The second picture is a detail view of the uneven ratio bellcrank I fabricated from 6061-T6 1/4" stock to change the direction of motion as well as accomodate the needed 1" travel (in each direction) of the Pingel shift cylinder.

 shifter2.jpg   183.68K   123 downloads

...and finally, a video of it in action - took some fettling, but works better than I could have imagined. That said, does anyone want to buy the Translogic Powershift system I had as a backup to this system if it didn't work out?

 Pingel_Shifter_Video.WMV   358.11K   506 downloads

The cool thing about this system is that it allows clutchless up and down shifting, is designed for drag racing, so is very stout in construction, and allows use of the std shift lever as a back-up or for neutral selection...fun stuff!!

...oh, and look for my new Trigger park brake lever in the vid. Actually havehad it for a while, but this is the first time it's made it into a picture I think...

Cheers,

Monte

Edited by Monte Busa, 24 December 2006 - 05:47 AM.