276 replies to this topic

[Vinay-RS]

Top work on the engine conversion and passing the MOT! Looks great and now with the metal front end, it will be a proper sleeper

[Will16]

L2B was a success and a great break in for the car. No major problems, driving in the torrential rain on saturday with semi slicks and single speed wipers was interesting and I lost the alternator slide bolt but managed to get home, but chasing a 330 coupe was funny I thought the car was running hot, but have boxed off the air filter so its not sucking hot air from the rad and that improved it. YES I know the front height is very offensive, nothing I can do atm as I've got about an inch between the subframe and tie bar, any lower and the handing will be rekt, have ordered some lower balljoint spacers and new ball joints to sort this a bit. I'm also rather happy with my insurance, under £700 for a 19 year old! Off to Peterborough this weekend, roll on Lemans mid june

 

130888C5-EBE4-4338-9566-A2C0D90D992F_zps686ddt2e by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

517293F6-7ED7-4D50-9369-9FDEC307293A_zpsg9jp4fq9 by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

34FD8F36-4678-4FF7-B034-9B86012DEA56_zpsesg61sbb by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

 

 

Top work on the engine conversion and passing the MOT! Looks great and now with the metal front end, it will be a proper sleeper 

 

Thanks Vin :) Maybe sleeper stylee when I'm bored of the race look ;)

 

Also went to modifed nationals in Peterborough, which was a mental weekend of cars and music, car did about 300 miles and was flawless 

 

CCDBCB67-9DD9-4D77-BF80-6918F566E9CC_zpsipkkexrc by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

Got ball joint spacers fitted, so the front could go down again 

 

E5EBB4B3-053A-4A3F-ABC9-82D2FA9A2419_zpspxaf6tzq by Will Giddings, on Flickr

Edited by Will16, 30 June 2017 - 09:32 PM.

[Jared Mk3]

I really like this car, just as it is.

[coopdog]

Love it bro

[lawrence]

Fixed the hot running yet? That rad looks tiny in comparison with the big engine haha. Do love your little beauty tho!

[Will16]

^^^^^^^^ Thanks guys, appreciate it   

 

Well, I glad to say nad managed to get to france and back this past weekend! Its was a real bucket list item for me to go to the Lemans 24hrs, especially in a car I’ve built myself.

 

Car ran really well, its still running hot, temp sat at 110   all the way back from Lemans to Caen in 35 degree heat, and then sat at about 105 sitting at 70 at 10pm, and thats both with the fan on! So I’m convinced somethings still not quite right. Apart from that it was pukka, though I did wake up this morning to a little coolant leak under the front, but that was just a hose clamp

 

DE76EF6C-9FA8-44A5-A563-3424232E6991_zpswucpxqza by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

BB72C098-77D6-4EBC-A54F-00A94E719AB3_zpstavfserp by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

86361E93-135E-4D99-8133-8377A7754475_zpsrxbwecsi by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

5243638F-9188-437A-A655-C620197F4BAB_zpsmjocxjhp by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

4D13DDB4-7774-4A6A-A983-2751BFEB0329_zpsqe6dh2gt by Will Giddings, on Flickr

Edited by Will16, 30 June 2017 - 09:32 PM.

[Vinay-RS]

Congratulations! Proof that a Mini can definitely handle a serious drive. 

[Will16]

Today was a sad day, I'm selling my mx5 as its not really getting much use and I'm hankering for something else to be honest, so it has gone back to how it was when I bought it   Coudn't resist a couple photos! I would of been working on the mini, but somewhere along the line, the tie bar has decided to snap, most likely a pothole, and the pair I ordered a week ago havent turned up  I have been building up another gearbox though, with a 3.6 final drive and a Torsen LSD, and bloody hell gearboxes are complicated Realised I never put up a engine bay pic too.. 

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

Edited by Will16, 01 July 2017 - 06:03 PM.

[alex-95]

Looks great mate, How do you get away with the wheels like that! Mine sticks out a bit but don't want arches. Did your ATS's stick out much? I've got a set to refurb so may fit them. The tie bars unfortunate, surprised you didn't machine one  , how does the lower arm lock it's position? 

 

 

Fair play on changing your photos to flickr, not looking forward to changing mine when they disappear

[Vinay-RS]

The way that tie bar snapped is hectic! Especially given that those look like the heavy duty adjustable ones. Luckily you spotted it before taking the car for another spin.

Good job on getting the photos shifted to another photo manager. I'm trying to sort out our local forum using Google drive, before hopefully fixing my build thread.

[Will16]

Looks great mate, How do you get away with the wheels like that! Mine sticks out a bit but don't want arches. Did your ATS's stick out much? I've got a set to refurb so may fit them. The tie bars unfortunate, surprised you didn't machine one  , how does the lower arm lock it's position? 

 

 

Fair play on changing your photos to flickr, not looking forward to changing mine when they disappear

 

Thanks man! I just wing it, you dont see many police cars on the road nowdays, archless all the way! ATS's had about the same poke as normal reverse rims, I think it was about 1/2", barely noticable, and if you put a bit of camber on it you'll get away with it easy. Do it! I love ATS's still need to sort my set out.  haha I should of really, at least I could drive it, the lower arm has a lock nut so shouldnt of moved, but I'll check it

 

The way that tie bar snapped is hectic! Especially given that those look like the heavy duty adjustable ones. Luckily you spotted it before taking the car for another spin.

Good job on getting the photos shifted to another photo manager. I'm trying to sort out our local forum using Google drive, before hopefully fixing my build thread.

 

Its not good is it! Heavy duty my a*se

Edited by Will16, 02 July 2017 - 08:44 PM.

[miniQ]

What happened to H458?

[Will16]

What happened to H458?

 

My first one, it was returned to standard and then put in my grandparents double garage. Sat there unused for 6 months, I felt guilty about it just sitting there so my parents and I decided to sell it. We owned it for 2 years, I did 8000 miles in it probably my favourite car I've owned, went to a chap down Bristol way, I hope its doing well

 

So, update time on this pos Not really been feeling this atm, its fun to drive and turns heads but I'm almost bored of it I guess. Got round to changing the tie rods a couple weeks back and put new bushes in whilst I was at it. I found that the bottom arm locknut was loose which probably allowed the tie rod / bottom arm to rotate on a big bump and snap the end off! I alos found the other side tie bar locknut was loose 

 

Been busy today on it too, not alot of gain though! So started by taking the front end apart and took the engine / box out. This was easier said than done as I dont have a ball joint splitter and could only split one joint on the drivers side, so had to leave the long drive shaft in position and wiggle the engine in / out around it. The reasons for doing this was to fit a new lightened flywheel, clutch kit and the C7 LSD box I built...

 

Taking the old box, clutch and flywheel was off easy, and fitting the new flywheel and clutch was finee, then the problems started Manhandling the box on to the engine alone took a few attempts, and then I wrestled (literally!) the engine / box back into the car. Connected up the linkage, got in it, couldnt get any gears   So engine / box out, split the box again, put the old box on, and repeated the process again, put the rest of the car back together. Rather annoyed as I spent a decent amount of money and alot of time building that box and I've literally no clue why it wont work, I'm certain when I bench tested it it felt alright

 

Also thanks to another 16 valver, I got a 52mm throttle body, fitted that too, but it idles really high and when you touch the throttle its revs the nuts off it and doesnt come back down, so need to have a look at that now! So, not the best day working on it, but I'm hoping with converting to mems3 (later management) and a fresh remapped race ecu will make me a bit more keen on it! Anyway, off the pub now to forget about it

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

 

Untitled by Will Giddings, on Flickr

[Vinay-RS]

Making some progress and fixing broken things, always good :) Any idea how the lock nuts came loose? 

Edited by Vinay-RS, 29 July 2017 - 07:19 PM.

[mini_matt_106]

I think if you're getting bored with it the best thing you can do is make it look pretty.
Get the front sprayed/ replaced with metal if you're not keeping the fg and polish it all up.
Then you'll want to show it off