177 replies to this topic

[digler]

hello all, my name is Dirk, 34 from Harrogate. i'm a fence erector.

this is my 1998 mini cooper, got it at the end of 2007 after selling my mk2 escort mexico. just before it was on the cover of a ford mag

when i bought the car i bought the wheels, coilovers, exhaust and miglia arches before i had picked it up, so when i got it home i started modding it straight away.

this is what happened...........

[digler]

i made the miglia arches longer, and made some new coilover mounts for the front, so i could have it lower.







here is my new bracket next to the old one.

[digler]

i painted the arches and fitted the coilovers, but the back end needed to go lower!!!

[digler]

then i had a look at my exhaust

ive been wanting to have a play around with my exhaust for a bit, so i have done i wanted to make my exhaust a centre exit, so i cut the back box and try'd it.





i didnt think it looked to bad, but not how i wanted it to look. so ive made it so the back box fits on just behind the cat, and the pipe do's an s bend and comes out of the side.











i did like how it looked then

[digler]

then it was off the road for alot of welding, and some more mods




nd

well i've sorted the gear linkage out, all works fine, can get all the gears, not like alot a read about!
i changed the steering column, but the shafts are longer on the older type so i had to weld all the brackets onto the new column, witch was a pain
also ive had a play with the paddles, i've cut and welded the clutch and brakes paddles so they are 2" further away from me, giving me more leg room.

[digler]

a new exhaust, its going to come out both sides. now that my gearlinkage is inside the car i can lift the system up into tbeen doing some more chop chop in me garage!!!
i'm making he tunnel. at the moment it sets quite low, but i want to lower the car at the back.
so what i'm doing is having the exhaust pipes run inside the car, behind the front seats, then their going to come out of the sills.










also i cleaned up the gearlinkage, cut off the bits not needed and painted it silver.







nearly there with the exhaust, ive cut the silencer down by 5", so it now fits were the gear linkage us to be. i'm not having the cat on, it use to have a de-cat pipe on, but i'll just put the standard exhaust on for the mot.

before i could weld the pipes onto the car i made the holes for the exhaust mount. i'm having them so they sit inside the rear pocket.







i welded them in then started on the system, i took 6" out of the down pipe then 5" out of the back box. i then made a Y piece.

[digler]

well the exhaust is pretty much done, i think its turned out well, quite pleased with

[digler]

my brother got him self some new wheels and arches from the himley hall show , but before he fits all the arches i've pinched two!!
i wanted to see what they would look like on my car, only thing is there not wide enuff

to fit them i will need to make them wider by 75mm!

[digler]

after a bit of thought i've cut out my rear pockets and seat base, and started on my sills.

but first...........................................................................
...







now to get cutting















theres some rust on the heal board where the sub frame bolts on, think i'm gonna have to drop the sub frame out and sort it

i'm going to put some gussets on the seat belt mount so i can still use the one on the rear pocket.

oh dear!.................................... its turned into a full on restoration :evil: :evil: :evil:
there's more rust than i thought ( how many times you heard that!!) :oops: so alot of welding to get done.
already i've put sills on the n/s and repaired the front floor and tubbed that side
the drivers side was no better............. by a long shot!!!!!
inner and outter sills, front floor, inner wheel arch, door step rear subframe mounts.........................................................

i found a tin worm, spent ages looking for all his mates!!!!!!!!!!!!! :evil:
the floors look ok, but you can see little bits starting to come through, so ive done them before they get too bad. ive done the inner and outer sills, patched the floor, and tubbed the n/s
turned it around and started the o/s, ive done the inner and outer sills, put a new door step on and i'm on with the floor now.
im going to move the fuse box under the dash so i can put some speaker pods under the dash too, also im making the rear shocker mounts wider and a little taller. my new spring rub on my wheels and i want to mount the coilovers higher so there not near the bump stops when its lowered.

[digler]

Edited by digler, 09 August 2010 - 06:59 PM.

[digler]

the door hinge panal was a bit shot, and so are the A panels, but i dont want to put A panels on just yet, because i want to make the front end a flip front, so i will be put new A panels, scuttle, dash top and closing panels on then, but theres so rot behind the A panel, so ive cut the bottom of the A panel off so i can get the the rust, then i will just patch the A panel up after.








also ive got some tube to make my rear turrets out of, i want them bigger and taller but i want it to look factory if i can :wink:



got my arches tubbed and turreted. got some bits finished off. then got side tracked.

[digler]

a growing pile of rusty mini metal!!!



washer bottle moved inside the car.




had a go at making a dash board, the board i used is from my wood floor, i would make it darker, i want to make it more retro inside.





ive taken the top and bottom covers off the dash rails, i will put the stereo under the dash, next to the bonnet pull.
got the subframe off, the mounts are not that bad, but i still need to cut alot out to get to the rust.
also the subframes not bad, but i think i will change it, for a rear beam. so i made one.

[digler]

washer bottle moved inside the car.




had a go at making a dash board, the board i used is from my wood floor, i would make it darker, i want to make it more retro inside.





ive taken the top and bottom covers off the dash rails, i will put the stereo under the dash, next to the bonnet pull.
got the subframe off, the mounts are not that bad, but i still need to cut alot out to get to the rust.
also the subframes not bad, but i think i will change it, for a rear beam. so i made one.

[digler]

some work on my dashboard, ive rerouted the wires behind it, and moved the speedo cable too. i put my analogue clock in, and i've put an other one on the other side, to make it symetrical, but its a boost gadge, bit of wishful thinking :wink: ive made the switch panel screw on by welding some tabs on to the back. ive made a cover to go at the back of the heater control panel, to hide the bolts and wires, i put the alarm LED onto it too.
i think i'm going to mount the stereo behind the dash, i'll make a lid so i can get to it, i dont want to be able to see a stereo or speakers







after i had made my subframe i was thinking about making it differently, but i didnt want `to change it.but when it came to fitting it there wrer a few clearance issues, so ive made another one! what i have done is widen the track by an inch each side, ive done this to make the back wheels stick out of the arch the same as the fronts, 5 inches.

[digler]

i've cut the lugs off of the rear arms and taken all the marking off, look loads cleaner
you can see the subframe finished, looks good dont cha think :mrgreen:
got alot of little jobs done today, getting there now.
ive started making my new rear arches, the old one wont go on without a little work, so i'm making my new ones
i'm using some grp 6 arches, but i needed to make them wider by 60mm.
they dont look as good in the pictures as they are but they'll look better when they're painted, you'll be able to see the courves better.