508 replies to this topic

[clu8 man]

really impressive interior dude liking the under-glow of green,a nice touch,how tricky/easy are those digital speedo's to wire up and where do you get them from,can you get different shapes etc?

[thelegg]

Loving this build and following it very closely as i plan on trying this myself one day. was just wondering when your next update will be ?

[Jamie_hail]

Right - little bit of an update tonight... Not much done - waiting to be able to afford this subframe - where the hell does all my money go? Damn motorbikes!



Stripped the whole front end, refurbed my steering rack... Painted my wiper motor and cleaned and undersealed everything...









Rubbed down, got all the rust off, primed and painted my hubs, suspension parts ect...

Debinned rear drivers side so I can play around with seat posistioning.
Was some rust lurking, so I took the wire brush in the drill to it, got rid of it all, left some kurust on the area over night - wiped off with wd40 and then the whole panel sanded and primed...




Comfiest posistion I've found so far - but will have a proper fiddle with posistioning once I get a drop bracket made up!

[Kam]

Jeeeeeesus how long are your arms and legs that you need to remove the rear bins to fit your seat!

The allspeed frame uses rose joints for the lower arms and tie bars, is that the original mini ones you got there?

[Jamie_hail]

Jeeeeeesus how long are your arms and legs that you need to remove the rear bins to fit your seat!

The allspeed frame uses rose joints for the lower arms and tie bars, is that the original mini ones you got there?

I'm 6.3', but it's all legs... Still have to have my knees bent in this posistion, even with the throttle pedal fully depressed!

They sure are the originals - they were all horrible and rusty before, so at least they are nice and tidy to sell to replace with the correct stuff, just cleaned everything I have up - so whatever I need to use is useable, and whatever is to be sold, is ready to be sold.

Going to go back out to the garage at 12, fiddle a bit more with the posistion of the seats, and strip my wiring loom out... Spending more time fixing breaks in the loom than anything else in the garage, so I'm going to try and rewire her - maybe get it a bit neater than rover, and have the fusebox over the passenger side, in the footwell, or under the dash, next to where the ecu will be mounted!

Just need money, my welders packed in, my metal supplier has gone bust meaning I'll need to get any stuff sent to me! I need a subframe, and I need paint. Done a little forecast, and by the time I'm done, I'll be under budget still!

Car - £800
Engine/box/loom/ecu ect - £600
Subframe - £650
Driveshafts - £350
Bottom arms ect - £200
Paint - £150
Front end - £200
Other bits and bobs (switches, buttons, bolts, tools, consumables) - £100

Selling old engine, subframe, driveshafts, honda driveshafts and other spares + £500

Christmas coming up too, so that will be my 13x7 superlites sorted.
Got a loan of a welder from a friend as of december the 1st... Woo!

[miniphil30]

Hello,
great project I'm just in the process of rebuilding my mini from its rusty shell. I'm planning on doing a Honda conversion too if funds allow! Are you or can you fit the honda engine in without extending the front? I was going to use a Watson sub-frame kit.

Cheers
Phil

[Jamie_hail]

Hello,
great project I'm just in the process of rebuilding my mini from its rusty shell. I'm planning on doing a Honda conversion too if funds allow! Are you or can you fit the honda engine in without extending the front? I was going to use a Watson sub-frame kit.

Cheers
Phil

Thanks mate, keeps me out of trouble!

You can do, but I'm thinking of going for the extended front for simplicity! Might come back to standard front eventually, but till I have time to take her off the road it'll be 90mm extended. Turn 17 in march and want her on the road by then! The watsons subframe is a nice simple kit, but I beleive it changes the track of the mini, so wont handle very much like a mini. The minitec/superfastminis and allspeed keep standard track!

[Kam]

All down to what look you want from the car

With the Watsons kit you will need either a clubman front or extended front of about 90mm, there kit does not fit in a standard length nose, as Jamie also mentions they change the track of a mini as they use a modified metro frame

With the Allspeed or Minitec ones you retain mini track, but the Minitec kit recommends 13's but can fit in a standard nose with alot of work, the Allspeed is not cheap or easy for a standard nose, it can be done but is eventful, but you can run on 10's if your bonkers enough even though its a B series frame you can put in a D series in with not too much work, meaning the power will be much more usable with smaller wheels

All down to what you want from your car and how you want it to look

[miniphil30]

Ah right thanks for the info, looks like an Allspeed frame then. I wanted to keep the car looking as original as possible. The practical side of me was thinking of putting a smaller D series in but then if your going to do it may as well get the best you can. I'm learning how to do it from scratch so posts like this are great. Will be cutting and sticking on the rear body for some time yet before I even think of engines. Just got a rear beam axle and looking at coilovers for next pay day then disks or drums? No time scale on when its going to be done just means I have something to do while Eastbenders and X-******* is on!

Can't believe your not even 17 and your doing this! Well done that man, keep up the posts... you must have real friendly insurance companies up north )

[Jamie_hail]

Allspeed would in that case probably be your best bet - each frame has it's advantages and disadvantages - Chris in america ('73 fast road project' in Honda chat) is using the Minitec frame, and has some brilliant ideas! The minitec frame is a lovely peice of kit, but after shipping costs, import duty ect it can become rather expensive!

A nice set of drums on the rear is perfect Phil, you don't need much braking force on the rear as it's so light, she'll just lock! A well maintained set of drums can in some situations be much better than disks anyway! When the time comes to upgrade, I will be using the 'superfin' style drums and standard rear subframe setup...

I was the same as you - bought the mini to keep me occupied in the evenings. Left school in March on my 16th birthday, started working the old 9-5, and decided it was time to get me another mini. Did a full resto with my Dad when I was 13, so it was my turn! Where I live, it's 18 miles to the nearest town, so going out in the evenings isn't much of an option, so needed to be kept busy by something! I prefer working on the mini to anything else though, not a fan of partying or anything, just not my thing!

All our vehicles are kept in a garage, in a locked garden, on a secure shooting/sporting estate, 18 miles away from anywhere - insurance is great! Mother has a 300bhp 3.2tt quattro, and only pays £112 a year. Got a quote for £1700 for the mini fully comp, everything declared as a new driver. My theory? I don't drink, I don't smoke, don't go out partying, don't do much else - so for a car I'm going to enjoy driving, I'd rather pay the extra, than be stuck in some ricebox that would only ever be used to get from A to B!

Will look forward to seeing some progress on your project!

[miniphil30]

Good god thats a good quote! Looked at the Minitec frame today £200 for the shipping to UK. Not too bad and looks really good. The guide they have makes it look like I could do it! Keep up the good work and pictures, I'll be using them. I'll post a project once I get past the rust stage.

[Jamie_hail]

Good god thats a good quote! Looked at the Minitec frame today £200 for the shipping to UK. Not too bad and looks really good. The guide they have makes it look like I could do it! Keep up the good work and pictures, I'll be using them. I'll post a project once I get past the rust stage.

Just remember, you'll have to pay VAT on the frame, on top of that! It is ment to be the simplest frame though, so should be no problem to fit!
The rust stage is worth documenting too, gives you more to look back on!

All the best!

[paul190181]

Your builds starting to look realy good i see u wer thinking of rewiring your mini and making the loom , you can buy a kit car loom for about 120 pounds and that has the feeds for anything wich you will need and it may make life easyer for you , thats what ive done with mine plus it means no wiring breaks problems .Keep up the good work tho .

[Jamie_hail]

Your builds starting to look realy good i see u wer thinking of rewiring your mini and making the loom , you can buy a kit car loom for about 120 pounds and that has the feeds for anything wich you will need and it may make life easyer for you , thats what ive done with mine plus it means no wiring breaks problems .Keep up the good work tho .

Yeah - I've just seen them! Perfect - got a catologue coming from painless wiring systems (expensive) And also keeping a look out on ebay! I've just stripped all the wires out tonight! The kit car/hot rod looms look the easiest option!

[IS300]

any news on this?