You rang?
I'm not that far along yet as mine is still under construction but has given me ideas. I've got the subframe chopped up and the first parts of the replacement bolted into the jig.
I'm basically copying Bart Verstappen's design but in square tube plus some tweaks. Mainly I like the simplicity but also the extra width it gives me to play with and althoug it's not an issue for me I like that it means the inner wings of a Mini are pretty much untouched.
I've replaced the front crossmember with a longer one which means I need to re-create the front tie-bar mounts and align them accurately but I reckon it would be perfectly do-able by extending the original. That means the diagonals from the towers could probably be put in before separating the front and rear of the original subframe which should negate the need for a jig. It might make chopping the sides out of the Mini frame a bit of a pain as you would need to be working around the new metal but it's only an access issue (and my jig got in the way for part of this job on mine anyway so six and two threes I reckon).
I'm using the standard Mini top and bottom arms so the mounts for the top arm are un-changed but I've done away with the standard bottom arm bolt. I've added a plate with the second hole so I can just use a HT bolt for the bottom arm bush but it'll be the standard bush on the bottom arm. I've modified the subframe towers as I'm running coilovers and wanted to get them inboard at the top to make them work properly unlike the usual Mini bodge-up but that's to do with it going in a GTM rather than a Mini and doesn't affect the rest of the frame in any way.
What I am going to need to be careful of is that I can shove the engine further back than you could in a Mini as I don't have a rack or bulkhead behind the engine to avoid - I actually want to go back as far as possible to keep the exhaust away from the bulkhead between it and the cabin to avoid roasting my left elbow.
If anyone is having trouble signing up to the Leyland Mini Club forum then feel free to ping me a PM and I'll prod our moderators along.
Iain
