103 replies to this topic

[miniallsort]

wow thats looking great good luck dude!!

[v8mini]

just a quick update,
have got 3 coilovers fitted, hope to get the 4th one on this weeked, the rear take a bit longer as the brackets need welding to the frame in the rear.
Also as the engine/gearbox was out, i tried out the new final drive gears and the fitted spot on, and i have just got them back from heat treatment, so now i'm ready to get every thing back together AGAIN.
still need to sort out the firewall before i atempt to get a MOT, plus a new n/s sill needs fitting.

pic of old 3.72:1 final drive on left and the new 2.7:1 on the right, should give a better MPH/REV's
 PHTO0081.JPG   121.86K   30 downloads

princess diff compared to mini diff
 PHTO0079.JPG   125.94K   29 downloads

adaptor plates for gearbox to engine, long flat plates bolt onto the engine block first, plus shows plate on flywheel housing to engine block
 PHTO0124.JPG   123.39K   36 downloads

flywheel adaptor shown bolted onto crank with cap head bolts, fly wheel then bolts onto this after housing is fitted
 PHTO0104.JPG   134.28K   27 downloads

flywheel adaptor with housing fitted before flywheel & clutch is fitted
 PHTO0106.JPG   348K   42 downloads

with the new final drive gearing should be as follows giving 70MPH just over 3000rpm
 fd_ratio.gif   21.79K   106 downloads

i will try and get more pics as the rest comes together (if the wife does'nt moan about her camera getting oily

if its back on four wheels and running i might drag it up to Gaydon for wizardy on wheels 4th june

[Alburglar]

also as on the freestyle, im using front drums modified with rear back plates for hand brake. i have been thinking of looking into the MGF rear subframe, allegedly a reversed metro subfame, but would benefit rear disks and probably stronger hubs/cv joints

the MGF rear subframe is actually just a modified metro subframe. The pcd and offset of these hubs is wierd tho, so finding wheels would be limited to the k-series metro and MGF range or team dynamics qualifiers or KN also make an alloy to suit i think.

you could use Ford granada scorpio rear callipers on mini solid disks

[ed4ran]

Oow,
If you dont mind me asking, Was the new final drive expensive?
as i think ill need a much smaller one!!!
and did you ever think of getting one straight cut?

With the gearbox standard ill be doing 70mph at over 4000rpm!!
Id have to get a 3.2 FD to get 70mph at just over 3000rpm (5th)

[v8mini]

you could use Ford granada scorpio rear callipers on mini solid disks

thanks for that
sounds intresting, do these bolt straight on the mini hubs without too much modification?
anyone done this?
any pics?

[v8mini]

the new final drive set was made up over the last year, i cant remember the exact prices but here goes

i have had two sets made up as..
A. i might of had a chance to sell a set
B. just in case first set went wrong

steel was £80 or £120 for two sets in EN36

i turned and drilled up the blanks myself at my brother in laws workshop

calculations for the gear cutting was £80

gear cutting was £200

wire cutting the center splines of the smaller gear was done as a favor, but would of cost about £80 each

after making sure they fitted ok, heat treatment was again done as a favor by one of the die makers we use at work, not sure of cost.

so for me the cost was £400 for two sets,

for one set it would of been about £280 as cutting of a single set was £140 (second set was £60) design/calculation would still of been £80 and steel £60.
plus the extra of my time machining the blanks and getting splines cut and heat treatment.

realy depends on who you know and what favors you can pull in. wouldnt like to guess how much it would cost to get a company to do the lot for you.

[v8mini]

not realy done anything too major to do an update, just keep tinkering here and there, and dont realy think to take any pics. have fitted new gears, and coilovers all round to try and make it handle, all back in and should be running tomorrow, hope to get MOT soon and should be driving to MITP.
i dont think it will make Avon, but i will probably go as a mate is planning on taking his 2.0L Vauxhall Mini pickup

[ed4ran]

At least it sounds like your making some progress!!
Have you made a bulkhead yet? or is the engine still inside the car?
and are you using front coilovers on the rear frame?

[v8mini]

not done the bulkhead yet, but my misses was talking to a freind who is a MOT tester, and he said it shoulnt be required for a MOT, so long as the car is road worthy. I will do one but might try for an MOT before its completed.

and yes i have used two sets of front coilovers, the ones on the rear have a harder spring rate, like wise the fronts are soft. i cant think of rates off the top of my head, i will find out.

[Dick Dastardly]

V8mini- on the subject of rear wheel toe angle I've copied this extract from my thread:

"After forcing myself to watch the build DVD again, it would appear the correct rear toe-in is roughly equal to a shed load! i.e 5mm over the distance of the wheel rim! I remebered the figure of 5mm, but wrongly associated this figure as being 5mm over the length of the sill. 2 vastly different angles!

What 5mm over 325mm equates to is a toe-in angle of 0.88 degrees! This equates to 24.37mm of slip for every revolution of the wheel! Or to put it another way 24 metres of sideways slip for every mile travelled!!! Or, to put it another way- completely shagged rear tyres very very quickly

As a result, and also as a result of striving for ages to get 5mm of toe-in over the length of the sill, I'm leaving mine as it is for now. If it handles like a supermarket trolley, I may re-assess the issue at a later date...

My head hurts again.
D.D. "

Hope this helps. I've not had chance to really assess the handling yet, but will keep you posted as to my findings.....

[v8mini]

Progress has been slow and steady,
found that the rear coilovers were virtually fully wound up by just taking up the preload, let alone the weight of the car, so for now I have made some 30mm spacers to jack it up a bit and give some room for adjustment. Will probably get some longer springs later.

Sort a few other bits, like finishing dash wiring (still only temp dash) hand brake brackets, battery mount up front.

Towed car to MITP, a few more people seem to notice the car, even before it’s started.
Also found it’s quite quieter than a friends Vauxhall pickup it was parked next too. Might have to get a DB check done at castle coombe later in the month to see if it’s too sensible or not

Also fitted adjustable bottom arms and tie rods at the rear, brought at MITP.

Finally took it for a MOT today, and although it failed, it did much better than I thought it would.

Main points were...
Hand brake not effective (typical mini)
N/S front ball joint excessive play
Rear tie rods insecure (locking arms for rear hubs, I think brackets need strengthening)
Front and rear suspension locking device missing (bolts supplied with coilovers are too short to go through nylock nuts)
O/S front subframe mount deteriorated
Brake pedal anti-slip provision missing (no rubber pad on pedal )

so nothing too major, and a couple i thought a bit picky, but for what it is, it needs to be right.

think the worst is the hand brake, never could get a mini hand brake to work right

Edited by v8mini, 06 September 2006 - 11:09 PM.

[ed4ran]

Ive just got all my new suspension and the new springs are a tad too strong!!
Lets just say they dont compress with the weight of the car as they have been squished to get them on!! gonna have to get another new set of springs!!

Least those bits seem fairly small to sort!!

Ive got 2 sets of adjustable lower arms to fit for front and rear!! boy thats going to be fun!!
Just about finished mounting my handbrake, so ill be able to test that soon!!!

What dash are you using? Cant recall seeing it?

[fikus01]

have u tried weighing the car front to rear?? dont know how easy or what you'd use but it would give u an idea of what springs to start with! or give leda suspension a call!!

http://www.leda.com/

[ed4ran]

Have you gone for another MOT yet?
Are you on the road???

[v8mini]

not yet, did go for a retest but still got hand brake problems. not a big job but not had time to do it due to working on our loft conversion, and have just gutted out the bathroom for a new suite being fitted today.

Si