1843 replies to this topic

[Artstu]

 

It’s important that the brake bias is right and I’m not sure where to go from here. I have Minisport vented disks with 4 pot calipers and Minifins on the rear. The brakes will have to be servo assisted (sorry) but I could do with a proper way of setting the bias. I also prefer a pedal box servo to the remote type. It’s all mega complicated but if anyone can point me in the right direction I would appreciate it.

Thanks
Pete
 

 

 

Perhaps the same valve as already pictured above by gadget. Local-ish too

 

http://www.compbrake...ons-new-silver/

Edited by Artstu, 11 December 2017 - 08:15 PM.

[Petrol]

I bought the same as gadget but thanks for the heads up

 

 

Had to drill two 20mm holes in the bulkhead. These are the the only holes I've had to drill since the shell was painted

Brushed some paint on though

 

 

Hole punched in a 20mm grommet

 

 

 

 

I prefer this method to bulkhead connectors. Less joints and all that

 

 

Made this bracket out of 2mm stainless. Since there are no flexibles it needs to be rigid

 

 

 

Its all a bit tight in here. Glad I fitted this without the drivers door on

 

 

 

Fuel cut off switch in console

 

 

 

It's not hit the road and the mods have started!

 

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[gadget555]

Look's good mate, like the positioning of the adjuster. 

[Petrol]

I wanted to adjust the limiting valve from the dash because I prefer less bias to the rear in the wet.
A bias pedal box is the best bet but it's a bit late for that.I have just ordered a pair of GWC1131 rear cylinders which are 0.5625"(14.29mm) in diameter, a bit smaller than the ones Minisport supplied with the rear brake backplate assembly. This will bring the static bias (before the valve kicks in) a bit more to the front. The last thing you want is the back end locking up when it's slippy.

Lesson learned, these are Quinton Hazell so hopefully the quality will be OK. I'm tired of cheap crap sold at inflated prices.

 

Brakes are mega important for a "proper" driving experience. The best stock car I have driven with regard to this was a Lotus Elise. You could hit the brakes and feel the lockup point through the pedal. I was mega impressed!

A properly setup Mini will have the same feel and with some sticky Yoko's will stop on a sixpence.

People pay a lot of attention and spend a lot of money to get good acceleration. For the best driving experience deceleration is just as important to me.

 

Lots going on with this build now, lots's of questions because I want to get it right. I'm on it 24/7

I'm looking at a wedged / bladed crank and lightened backplate for the clutch. I also need a crankshaft damper which is proving interesting reading!

 

More soon

 

Thanks for looking

Pete

 

 

[Petrol]

I need a good original (unground) 998 crank if anyone has one.

The car needs to fit the thread description (screamer) and in order to achieve this, I'm going to fit a Knife edged and wedged crank. The work will be done by Rob Walker Performance Engineering who have a good reputation.

To do this work the crank needs to be clamped by the main journals. The crank I have has been ground 10/10 and I don't like the idea of 20 thou off the mains. The crank I have will be for sale as soon as I have the modded crank.

 

Pete

[Northernpower]

I need a good original (unground) 998 crank if anyone has one.

The car needs to fit the thread description (screamer) and in order to achieve this, I'm going to fit a Knife edged and wedged crank. The work will be done by Rob Walker Performance Engineering who have a good reputation.

To do this work the crank needs to be clamped by the main journals. The crank I have has been ground 10/10 and I don't like the idea of 20 thou off the mains. The crank I have will be for sale as soon as I have the modded crank.

 

Pete

You may get a better response if you put up a separate wanted advert.

[Chappers]

Wow! Just finished reading your entire build thread, what an amazing journey, the quality is mind blowing and the wisdom youre sharing is invaluable to our community.
Thank you.

I got near the end and noticed you said you were in the Fylde coast area and then mentioned Redmans. After you had the problems with machine work at Minisport, I was thinking you needed to go to Redmans.
I was also thinking why Minisport for any of their parts? Why not mini technique, I find he has good used or new old stock parts that are far better quality than the cheap crap mini sport sell.

I lived in Cleveleys/Fleetwood for 27 years before moving to the US. My parents still live in Fleetwood.
I used to have minis over there and was a regular customer at Redmans and they do really good work.

Ironically I ended up acquiring a mini over here that is a total mess and could really use your skills! Ever fancy a holiday over here any time and help me out youre welcome to stay as long as you want! Haha

Now I only wish I had the access to the resources I had in the UK, decent machine shops and used parts etc

[Petrol]

 

I need a good original (unground) 998 crank if anyone has one.

The car needs to fit the thread description (screamer) and in order to achieve this, I'm going to fit a Knife edged and wedged crank. The work will be done by Rob Walker Performance Engineering who have a good reputation.

To do this work the crank needs to be clamped by the main journals. The crank I have has been ground 10/10 and I don't like the idea of 20 thou off the mains. The crank I have will be for sale as soon as I have the modded crank.

 

Pete

You may get a better response if you put up a separate wanted advert.

 

 

Ok thanks, I might have found one. The problem is finding a good one! So many things to consider....... A good radius at the end of the journals, good taper for the flywheel and an undamaged slot for the woodruff key.

Wow! Just finished reading your entire build thread, what an amazing journey, the quality is mind blowing and the wisdom youre sharing is invaluable to our community.
Thank you.

I got near the end and noticed you said you were in the Fylde coast area and then mentioned Redmans. After you had the problems with machine work at Minisport, I was thinking you needed to go to Redmans.
I was also thinking why Minisport for any of their parts? Why not mini technique, I find he has good used or new old stock parts that are far better quality than the cheap crap mini sport sell.

I lived in Cleveleys/Fleetwood for 27 years before moving to the US. My parents still live in Fleetwood.
I used to have minis over there and was a regular customer at Redmans and they do really good work.

Ironically I ended up acquiring a mini over here that is a total mess and could really use your skills! Ever fancy a holiday over here any time and help me out youre welcome to stay as long as you want! Haha

Now I only wish I had the access to the resources I had in the UK, decent machine shops and used parts etc

 

Thanks for the kind words. I have been to Mini Technique and whilst he has a lot of used spares, he's not geared up to supply good quality new parts. I guess he hasn't the budget to mass stock parts.

Redmans work has always been spot on for me. They did most of the machining on the Mini I built in the early 80's and their work was to the same standard when I rebuilt a Nissan 200sx engine a few years ago.

You have to keep an eye on them though....... there were a few problems with the Nissan engine that I had to sort out.

 

I will be visiting Texas next year for a Mini related holiday

 

Got the brake lines run inside to the bias valve, I used a coupling on the bulkhead

 

 

Drilled and tapped the pedal box for a pipe clip

 

 

Pic of under dash

 

 

I will straighten the pipes up a bit more when the pedal box / master cylinder is finally fitted

 

Going for a HIF38

 

 

This will flow more than the twin 1 1/4's I planned to fit. Doesn't look as good though

 

Pete

 

 

[Petrol]

Started cleaning the carb up ready for mods / rebuild

 

 

 

Fuel pump fitted to rear subframe- 4psi. Filter on the inlet. I had braided hoses for this but it's too tight so I had to use rubber.

 

 

Fuel, vent and cable run through existing grommet

 

 

For discs with 4-pots and latest built-in servo and 7.5" discs with S-type servo, the rear cylinders need to be GWC1131 - 0.5625"(14.29mm) This gives the best brake bias

 

 

Painted to stop them rusting. Quinton Hazell should be OK.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Petrol]

Mini's came with various sized wheel cylinders. To prevent people fitting the wrong size, the cylinders were fitted with a rawl pin.

 

 

Since the backplates I have are "generec" one size fits all.... yer right, I had to slot them for the rawl pin to fit

 

 

I did this with a rotary file in a drill. I also had to drill the backplate for the bigger bleed nipple that came with the new cylinders.

 

The rear cylinders that Minisport supplied with the rear backplate assembly were too big

 

 

The bigger the piston, the bigger the force but with the new cylinders, the brakes will be better biased.

 

 

A bit more on this. Many fit big brake kits to the front on modern cars, 4 and 8 pot calipers with huge disks are common. I have driven many cars with this setup but remember, most modern car's have ABS. The electronics will sort out any brake bias issues.

 

There are no driver aids on a mini so the static brake bias is all you have until you hit the brakes hard..... Then the bias valve will kick in. A back end lock up in the wet is not good in a 10` car. It will swap ends at the blink of an eye!

 

Sorry if this is boring but to get a car to drive right you have to get all the components working together in sync

I have seen it time and time again.... bolt on goodies that don't work.

 

Modding cars is complicated

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Petrol]

This dropped through my letterbox today

 

 

 

Dutchdave's25 sent it to me so the bezel's on my gauges all match

 

 

I'm a bit lost for words but his generosity is touching. I am very grateful.

 

Thank you.

 

[Chappers]

Lovely work and great advice on the rear brakes!
I am confused why people would opt for rear disc brakes on a mini, Im sure they are lighter than drums if youre on a light-weight crusade.
But if youre at the point of trying to reduce that much mass out of a mini, you will need much less rear braking force! Ironic really.

The rear brake bias with weight transfer under braking can be compensated for without ABS, on my old Audi Quattro I had a rear bias valve that had a mechanic link to the rear suspension. When the rear unloaded during braking the rear brake bias reduced.

[Petrol]

I discounted disks on the back because the handbrake works so well.

Good idea to link the brake bias to the suspension. Quattro - proper car!

 

I have bought another crank and it's going for wedge lightening, knife edging, tuftriding and balancing.

Cam is here. Billet ground VP3 scatter cam which is pretty wild for a road build

 

 

Short block stripped

 

 

 

Cam was tight in the new bearings. It's a no brainer why. I oiled it up and "run it in" by hand

 

 

Billet oil filter housing. This gets rid of the bypass valve problem

 

 

After much thought and reading about dampers I'm not having one. Just this lightweight pulley

 

 

The valve springs I was recommended were too heavy which justs wastes power and makes heat. I have the right ones now

 

 

 

Carb has gone off to be modded. It will be fitted with this stub stack

 

 

 

I can't get the insert into the front windsceen, it's too tight. The shell is right, the glass is right - yup, you guessed it. Not much MS bits left on the car now 

 

Huge thanks to Andrew at Retro Minis for his help and guidance. The guy has raced mini's so he knows his stuff. It's along time since I tuned an A series and things have moved on. It's a breath of fresh air to have proper advice from someone with real experience rather than a sales person who "thinks" they know. 

 

Hopefully this build has turned a corner now and things will go smoother. It's been very challenging due to bad advice, very poor workmanship and poor quality parts that don't fit.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Pete

 

 

 

 

 

[Petrol]

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Edited by Petrol, 24 December 2017 - 08:31 PM.

[Petrol]

I'm trying to sort out some loose ends... Many of them!

 

This is the tool to fit front and rear screen inserts

 

 

It's a case of taking your time....

 

 

 

Insert fitted at the join

 

 

 

Happy days

 

One of the niggles with this build were the spotlights. I bought some brand new Cibie Oscars but didn't like them because the surround is painted rather than chrome. Old skool Oscars with the chrome surround are hard to find in good condition and very expensive.

 

Genuine new model Cibe on the left..... On the right is an old skool Cibie copy

 

 

 

I know which I prefer. Thanks to my son for a fantastic Christmas pressie!