38 replies to this topic

[cheekynige]

After more than 6 months since conception and buying parts I've finally fitted it all into the car and got it working beautifully!

It's taken an awful lot of time, mostly because of bad weather over the winter months and also because fitting out the mini has involved nearly a complete overhaul:

Interior
- renovation of the walnut dash
- fabrication of walnut switch panel to replace stock switch panel
- fabrication of a walnut bezel for the touchscreen
- fabrication of a boot kit
- fabrication of a center console (made so foot room isn't compromised!)
- replaced rocker switch panel with custom illuminated savage switches (lots of wiring!)
- lots of rewiring behind the dash because of lots of crap jobs done in the past!!
- hole cut in dash for touchscreen bezel
- radio relocated (from dash) lower down to center console.
- reupholstered seats in full leather (cream with racing green piping)
- new matching door cards
- new door locks (old ones were well worn)
- new carpets
- new heated front windscreen (de-ices in 30-40 secs!)

Exterior:
- new brightwork, ss grille and window trim
- new mini sport front vented/grooved disc brakes and alloy calipers
- new superfin rear drums
- full respray 1-2 years ago

To Do:
- finish off wiring new switches (hazards, 2 accessory switches)
- finish off LED strip footwell lighting
- fit HID xenon light kit
- new 12x6" deep dish wheels with stage 4 (?) arches
- fit walnut door cappings

None of this could have been completed without the knowledge and expertise of my old man - he's the guy who's done all the wood fabrication and switch wiring. It's one thing making these things, but it's an entirely different problem retro fitting them to such an awkward car - fitting the dash required custom made brackets, it all has to be installed in a specific order otherwise you physically can't get to the screws to tighten them all up! Another example, the centre console needs the front seats removed and the handbrake taken off, just to get the thing in and and out!!!

However, the upshot of all this custom fabrication means eveything is solid as a rock, doesn't creak - quite a feat in a car that's a bone shaker!

Without further ado, here's the install pictures. Sorry I didn't take pictures of the mini before I started (got a bit too excited) Will find some stock mini pictures off the web.

My pride and joy......

Edited by cheekynige, 02 July 2010 - 09:24 PM.

[cheekynige]

The Car PC:

Based on a Zotac IONITX Atom dual core, with 128gb ssd, 4gb ram, Windows 7

with a mini-box m350 case.






The Car before the mods... (not this exact car, but very similar):

Mini Cooper 1.3i SPi (1993), racing green.





The new fabricated walnut bezel and dash:

Original dash was stripped of laqcuer back down to the veneers, holes cut

for new speakers and touchscreen bezel. Coloured, Re-laquered and built up

again. Ebay sourced an old walnut dashboard and used the dials bezel as a

donor for the touchscreen bezel. Cut it up, routed it, stuck it back

together and used computer aided router to cut the hole for the bezel and

make the acrylic black frame.





The custom made center console with 4 usb ports:

New center console made to own spec. The console is made of walnut-veneered

plywood with solid walnut finishing trim. Leather sides were made by Newton

Commercial who did the seat re-upholstering. The Usb hub is a D-Link 4 port

powered hub which I took apart and then made a walnut fascia to match.





The walnut switch panel with savage switches:

Solid walnut switch panel to replace the non-illuminated rocker switches and

heater cable. Custom fixings to keep it in the lower dash rail.





The boot kit with carnetix P1900:

New boot kit, all the wiring hidden behind the board.

[cheekynige]

The Mini with it all in!!!:

Here she is with everything in!!

[Ipod]

Wow....that looks great

Whens the planned trip to mars ready for launch 3 2 1 ...

[minilester]

huh!!... i was gonna do this.... trust someone to beat me too it...

how do you hide the screen from wood-be thieves?<<<< (i made a funny)

[cheekynige]

huh!!... i was gonna do this.... trust someone to beat me too it...

how do you hide the screen from wood-be thieves?<<<< (i made a funny)

It's currently on show, but kept locked up, garaged, double alarmed etc. I've plans to make a walnut cover with a fake clock dial on the front to put off would be thieves....

But I'm hoping they wouldn't even attempt to nick it as it's hardly worth it - it's all fabbed in and nothing is left of the original screen surrounds - they'd more than likely break it removing it.

[Ipod]

can you re-burr my binicle onmy mpi...paleeease lol

[danwell2]

I wanted to do something like this with mine... how much did it cost for the seat reupholstering? my mini is very similar and since i bought it i have wanted a cream interior

[cheekynige]

I wanted to do something like this with mine... how much did it cost for the seat reupholstering? my mini is very similar and since i bought it i have wanted a cream interior

The seats were re-upholstered by newton commercial (www.newtoncomm.co.uk)- original seats were sent off to them. All the other stuff, doors cards, carpets were purchased from them too. Total cost was ~ £1500

[RobFox]

Wow thats lovely.

If you dont mind me asking, what speakers are those mounted in the dashboard and is the sound quality much better? Im considering doing the same thing.

[the_r_sole]

looks like a good install, can i just be nosey for a min, are you using a chopped down version on windows7? and what's the boot time like?
also is the software pictured a paid for one or one of the freebies? and have you got it to shut down/hibernate on ignition, what's the battery drain like?!

apologies, you can probably tell i've thought about building one of these myself!

[MateyTheMini]

WOW! thats an awsome install that, how much did it cost for all that?

[cheekynige]

Wow thats lovely.

If you dont mind me asking, what speakers are those mounted in the dashboard and is the sound quality much better? Im considering doing the same thing.

The speakers are 'in phase' front and rear. The sound quality is good, but I think I need to get an amp hooked up to get the most out of them as the clarion is at least 10years old. Don't get me wrong, it sounds great and much better than stock, but the mini is noisy too so audiophile quality wasn't a priority. Focus speakers are definitely recommended if you're looking for some of the best. The ones in the rear are 6x9 and do a good job with adding depth.

[cheekynige]

looks like a good install, can i just be nosey for a min, are you using a chopped down version on windows7? and what's the boot time like?
also is the software pictured a paid for one or one of the freebies? and have you got it to shut down/hibernate on ignition, what's the battery drain like?!

apologies, you can probably tell i've thought about building one of these myself!

Of course ask away! I'm using full version windows 7 ultimate. 32bit. There's a stripped version called tiny7 I think but not tried this.

I've set the pc to hibernate on ingition off so boot time is ~ 30secs to music playing, everything starts where it left off so it's straight into the frontend - never see the desktop. The software is paid for called Centrafuse v3.1. I've got Internet tethered via wifi hotspot on my jailbroken iPhone, and phone integrated via Bluetooth.

The battery drain doesn't appear to be much. If the car sits in the garage for weeks doing nothing you might expect some appreciable drain but use it a few times a week and it's fine! Currently the power is fed from the battery, but going to add another power lead directly from the alternator to the battery as I've been told it's much more efficient than charging it through the main loom circuits. In short though it works v well, even with heated front and rear screens, heater, wipers and lights all on!!

[cheekynige]

WOW! thats an awsome install that, how much did it cost for all that?

Thanks! Approx £1500 for the reupholstering/carpets/seat covers/door cards. I think about £1200 for the PC but note I bought a v expensive ssd and the screen was expensive. At least half that was spent on the screen and ssd. The console, dashmods and boot kit were all handmade.