131 replies to this topic

[Curley]

Thanks for the kind words guys! I'll be honest it's been a bit of a struggle recently. I was joking with the Mrs that at times it's felt like giving birth to a child, at some point you just want it over with! 

 

But today was a big day as I took the engine and all the shiny parts down to Bristol today & the guys recon it will be a rolling shell by the end of next week :)

Edited by Curley, 14 August 2019 - 11:50 AM.

[johnR]

Looking lovely - it will soon come together now

[rally1380]

Loving this build and the colour!!!!!! 

 

What cage is it you have fitted or is it one fabricated up to your spec?  Never seen rear diagonals going back that far is what has caught my eye.

[Curley]

Loving this build and the colour!!!!!! 

 

What cage is it you have fitted or is it one fabricated up to your spec?  Never seen rear diagonals going back that far is what has caught my eye.

I guess it's built to my specs, a '71 is too old to be an traditional Appendix K Mini. We started with print outs of the Custom Cages layout and the Blue Book. I mostly do track days which means I'm on track with bigger cars so my cage builder wanted to build to Appendix J. The reason for bringing the rear bars that far back was, when combined with the bar on the heel board, to pick up the rear subframe mounts so the rear subframe and cage can work together as one

Edited by Curley, 17 August 2019 - 10:47 PM.

[rally1380]

I guess it's built to my specs, a '71 is too old to be an traditional Appendix K Mini. We started with print outs of the Custom Cages layout and the Blue Book. I mostly do track days which means I'm on track with bigger cars so my cage builder wanted to build to Appendix J. The reason for bringing the rear bars that far back was, when combined with the bar on the heel board, to pick up the rear subframe mounts so the rear subframe and cage can work together as one.

Excellent. Looks like a great build.... Definitely not using a stock fuel tank I'm assuming ??

A bit more of a serious question though.... Is your harness bar going to have any more fixings or triangulation?

Dave

[Curley]

Hi Dave, not on the harness bar no. It's purely for the shoulder straps and seat back as such it doesn't technically make up part of the cage. The main hoop is braced at the bottom with a bar which picks up the heel board. You can see a pic of this in post 20 on page 2. Diagonals don't really work for me as they restrict were the seat can go & I prefer to be down low with a straight leg than the traditional up & over of the standard Mini.

Edited by Curley, 17 August 2019 - 11:06 PM.

[rally1380]

Hi Dave, not on the harness bar no. It's purely for the shoulder straps and seat back as such it doesn't technically make up part of the cage. The main hoop is braced at the bottom with a bar which picks up the heel board. You can see a pic of this in post 20 on page 2. Diagonals don't really work for me as they restrict were the seat can go & I prefer to be down low with a straight leg than the traditional up & over of the standard Mini.

PM'd

[johnR]

I can see why rally 1380 has asked his question - but presumably your harnesses will be mounted on a bar in the boot at the height of the top of the rear seat and that hoop is just there as a guide and to stop the rearwards movement of the seats?

Edited by johnR, 18 August 2019 - 08:20 PM.

[Curley]

No, that's the final routing for the shoulder straps/HANS. The 5/6 point loops round the seat base, lap belts attached the seat frames & seat attached to all of it.

 

rally1380 sent me a PM concerned that the harness bar is NOT triangulated in any way. As I understand it the worry is that in the event of a frontal impact the bar will want to rotate about the base were it attaches to the main hoop. The suggestion is to add additional pickups on the hardness bar to resist this. I'm grateful for his concern and agreed to speak to my cage builder for his advice.

 

In a 'standard' mini cage the rear bars pick up off the rear wheel arch inside the cabin. In this configuration the harness bar can be a simple horizontal bar through the pair thus no leverage for it to rotate.

[Curley]

Big day today, the body had all weekend in the booth to dry so, I took a day out of the office and into the workshop. First on the list was getting the rear subframe, sub-assemblies and wheels on. I wanted to get the front on as well but unfortunately I ran into an issue with the front HiLo's not fitting the knuckle, the ID of the hilo thread is smaller than the OD of the knuckle  (but that's a job for tomorrow)

 

 

I decided to stick with the standard rear drums setup but a turned down set of alloy drums & custom RetroSport backing plates which where also turned down to match the OD of the drum. A massive thank you to Dave @DSN/RetroSport! 

Edited by Curley, 21 August 2019 - 09:02 PM.

[mini_surfari]

Excellent build, Great to see things being done properly. 

 

When do we expect to see it out?

[Curley]

 

When do we expect to see it out?

I'd like to say this year but I doubt it. Truth be told I wanted it running by end of July. However, reality was, it's all the small details that eat into the timelines. It would be good if it is run in by the end of the year?  Once I accepted it won't be ready by November I took the pressures off and now thinking take the winter & be ready shook down, track ready end of March.

[Curley]

Small update, I spent some time yesterday to enjoy the bank holiday in the workshop. Didn't get anything big done rather finished off the rear end. Handbrake in, bolts torqued, nipples greased.

 

 

I modified the rear boot hinges such that the boot lid can be removed while keeping an original look. We also made up a fake petrol cap for show. Cut the neck off an old tank & welded a compound plate as a base; to be bonded to body. However I'm not 100% sure on the fit... what does TMF think, does this look right?

 

[KTS]

i like the mod to the boot lid hinges

 

is the neck on the filler a bit short, or the rubber grommet a bit too thick ?  

[Carvell]

Loving the colour and cleanness!