764 replies to this topic

[benpopham]

Love this

Thanks Ben, can't wait to get your car down here for some sweet mods.

Me too! Very exciting!

[matthew_leech]

the stance on FOM is looking pretty sweet. Mine isnt anything like that low and, well, you have to be careful of the sump and the exhaust!

[Tupers]

Yeah I'm going to have fun avoiding the sleeping policemen in town once it's finished.

Fortunately the exhaust will be made to measure and I have plans to raise the engine a bit.

[Tupers]

After a fair bit of stress and worry the AVO Mini Se7en damper that I bought on eBay a few weeks ago finally got dropped off this morning. They all seem to cycle pretty much perfectly but I'm going to send them off to AVO to get them rebuilt after Christmas.

[Tupers]

Just realised I haven't posted in this thread yet this year. Not much to show unfortunately as I've been busy with other commitments but here's something.

I sold my old frame as it didn't really fit the style of the car and got a new one that I set about filling holes on and adding a few more welds to.




I've also acquired some lower balljoint pacers and a pair of tower bolt spacers to move the front frame up and lower the cars rollcentre.


Got some more shinny bolts from Smiffys.


This afternoon I set about fitting the rear frame but ran into an issues with one of the captive plates inside the rear X member so had to some surgery to get at it.

[kcchan]

Ohhhh nice. Where are the ball joint spacers from if you don't mind me asking?

[mini danny]

very nice just out of interest how do those ball joint things work

danny

[Tupers]

I got the spacers off my brother who bought then at the IMM last year but you can also get them from Mondo Sport/Gerald Dale Engineering.


I found this about them on the 16v Mini Forum.

From my very basic knowledge the balljoint spacer increases the overal height of the hub which will in-turn alter the angle of the bottom suspension arm relative to the top one which will alter the position of the rollcentre of the car, hopefully closer to the ground thus improving the handling. The new steering arm and drop spacer will be a way of reducing bump steer. However I could be completely wrong

And this about them on the Monod Sport site.

A pair of Mini 1 1/4-inch balljoint spacers in EN24 steel. These are intended to fit between the lower balljoint and the hub to alter the angle of the bottom arm.
Changing the angle of the bottom arm is especially important on lowered cars, as it effectively changes the rollcentre of the front suspension, improving turn-in. A touring car-inspired product tested on our own race cars to great effect.

[kcchan]

Thought they might have been from them. Does he remember the price? Their site doesn't seem to say. I'll be looking into buy a set eventually.

[george91]

Nice work, i like how you tubbed the arches, and i like the dampers too.

[craig 1010cc]

Cracking project mate. Would love to learn how use/ have access to some of the kit you've got there :)

[Tupers]

Nice work, i like how you tubbed the arches, and i like the dampers too.

Thanks George, I've seen it done a few other ways but so far this is the best way I could think of doing it. When I get the shell rolling and the ride height set I'm going to make smaller version of our coilover turrets to house the dampers.

Cracking project mate. Would love to learn how use/ have access to some of the kit you've got there :)

Having the right tools for the job certainly helps. As well as saving for my engine build I'm saving to buy an English Wheel for my birthday in September. I also do an awful lot of reading on different forums about metal shaping and fabrication that's really helped improve the way I plan out how to make things work for this.

[Tupers]

Today I made these little plates that will be welded into the front frame mounting buttresses. They will move the bottom hole up by the same amount as the tower spacers and allow me to solidly mount the front of the frame.


I will cut the centre section out leaving a 10MM lip on either side.


And then plug and seam weld them in with the joggled lip behind the original lip.



I couldn't resist tacking it off the the pallets and setting it down at ride height. As it sits the sill seam is 7" off the ground and the roof gutter at the front it 45" off the ground. No pot holes or speed bump for me.

[Tupers]

Not a real update as I've been working full time at my other job recently and didn't fancy going to work on the estate at 7pm to work in the freezing cold. I have managed to et my hands on a M45 though and wondered down this morning to get an idea of how I'm going to fit it.

The plan is to go with Specialist Components Typhoon injection system and run blow through with an intercooler in the front panel. I'll be using an MPI head and using that to mount one end of the SC and the alternator mounting lugs on the block to hold the other end. The alternator will either sit bellow the SC or be driven off the water pump drive on the back of the SC.

[HollyBaby]

Giving me so much hope for Stitch! Can't wait to see more updates on this project