1446 replies to this topic

[Jammy]

http://www.theminifo...mp;#entry926255

[The Matt]

Well, it's been so long since I posted in here, but I've made my mind up now.

This weekend, I'm going to start preparing the mini for sale. Really CBA with minis or the mini scene any more, so mine's going to have a last little bit of investment to make it 100% right and then it'll be sold, along with all of the spares I've accumulated over the years.

I really am not sure of value, I'm thinking around £3.5-4K when the bodywork's sorted, but we'll see.

So, the reason for a cheeky bump is kind of for a valuation, kind of to see what interest there would be in a swift little tax exempt mini with a desirable number plate

As a side note, I think I'll be stepping down as a moderator on the forum too, don't have the time for it any more and my heart's not in it. I'm also selling my Scirocco and a load of other toys that I've got. Time for a little overhaul of my life methinks!

[The Matt]

Well, this is going to be a draft of my for sale thread (and should hopefully help with a valuation):

Here's the little bugger in a final montage of pics and specs:

Specification:

1971 Mini 1000, Black - FRK 15J -completely rebuilt in 2007. I've had some interest in the number plate, I've also had a supposed 'valuation of £500' for it, but I don't know how realistic that is. It's kinda stuck with the car though, hence the name FReaK! Car will be sold with a 12 month MOT certificate and yes, it's totally tax-exempt!!!

Extrerior
Generally tidied, fitted with CF MKI bonnet (mounted on 4 bonnet pins), CF MKI bootskin (exposed weave, hinged plus spring attachments), MKI internal release style grille and moustache, group 2 arches. Sunroof (after market) and chequered roof sticker kit (can easily be removed). Minidoor company doors were fitted (purcashed in 2005 and dry-stored until they were fitted to the car.

Interior
Currently pretty stripped out, but fitted with brand new complete carpet set from Minisport. 3+3 clock dash, radio cut-out fitted with custom alloy starter button panel and toggle switches for fuel pump and ignition. New pair (covered 300 miles with me driving) of Cobra classics bucket seats on sliding subframes. Luke 4 point harnesses (blue, road legal). Rear seat has been taken out, doorcards currently not fitted, ummm, that's about it. No, it had a new heater radiator and unit (well, good second hand) fitted last summer. There are also some alloy shiney door furniture bits fitted.

Engine
A+ block taken from MG Metro. Offset bored to 73.5mm, fitted with 9cc dished Powermax pistons, GT conrods, A+ crank reground to -10/-10, Vandervell bearings, centre main modified to take centre main strap and new bolts fitted to all mains. New thrust washers fitted. New ARP rod bolts fitted, bottom end balanced, but not massively lightened. Cam timing is by way of a Kent vernier duplex kit, driving a KC286MD camshaft and lightened followers. New pushrods were fitted at the time of build and are now bedded in. HC steel backed oil pump fitted (Minispares).

MG Metro head (unleaded) ported out as far as reasonable to something like a stage 3/4 specification. All work done by me. Inlet ports matched to alloy inlet manifold. Exhaust ports opened out a reasonable amount too. New manganeze bronze valve guides have been fitted, along with a set of Minispares double valve springs. All of that's topped off with a set of Minisport 1.5:1 roller tipped rockers. It's also been drilled for 11 studs and fitted with Minispares uprated head stud kit (equivalent to ARP type).

Fuelling is by way of a Weber 45 DCOE, fitted with Specialist Components alloy ram pipes, filtered with a Pipercross foam filter. Exhasut manifold is a brand new Maniflow Phase 2 (or stage 2, whatever it's called) from Minispares. It's also fitted with a Facet silver top fuel pump mounted in the boot, and a Malpassi Filter King fitted under the bonnet (pressure regulator).

Ignition system is a custom EDIS 4 one robbed from a Ford Fiesta, but fitted with a brand new ignition coilpack, VR sensor, coil leads and custom loom. All of this is driven by Megajolt (see my guide in the FAQ section for more information). The Megajolt ECU is mounted in the passenger compartment (under N/S dash rail) for ease of access. The trigger wheel and VR sensor bracket is a Specialist Components kit.

Gearbox is a SCCR tran-x kit, with a 3.444:1 FD ratio (Tran-X cross-pin differential fitted). Drive to gearbox is by way if a Minispares U/L flywheel, U/L backplate, 'rally' clutch plate and orange diaphragm (properly set up so it's not a nightmare to use and is quite light on the pedal). All of that lot drives a Tran-X straight cut transfer gear set (standard ratio). The gearbox is also fitted with a central oil pick up. All of this was built by Guessworks Gearboxes in 2006. The gearbox is a rod change unit, with the gearchange tunnel un-modified (I made a bracket that picked up on the normal remote change mounts and fitted the rod change lever and housing to that). A new slave-cylinder is also fitted, along with a new Goodridge flexible hose.

Engine cooling
Brand new minispares uprated water pump, silicon hose set, super cool 2 core radiator, metal 4 blade cooling fan.

Exhaust system
Stainless steel single box system with a 3/5" outwardly rolled tailpipe, built by Scorpion Exhausts and bought in 2005. Sounds lovely really, but for those with sensitive hearing, it may need some extra sound deadening!!!

Suspension/steering/braking system
Front
Wheels are GB 6x10 alloys (minilite style) fitted with a new set of Yokohama A008R tyres.
Brakes are Minisport alloy 4 pots (anodized gold), running 7.9" vented disks.
Goodridge hoses are also fitted.
Bottom arms are -1.5deg camber (fixed)
Heavy duty adjustable tie-rods are also fitted, with uprated front bushes (polyurethane/deflex)
A brand new set of standard ride height adjustable AVO's were fitted during the rebuild
Hi-los are also fitted, along with new knuckle joints,

Rear
Same wheel and tyre combo (obviously)
brake drums are spacered minifins
AVO adjustable dampers (brand new)
Hi-los
Goodridge hoses

I think that's really about it, this thing has cost me thousands to build, it's been pretty much unused for the last 3 months though. Iv'e moved house, changed jobs, bought another car and want to leave the wonderful world of minis to buy something bigger, faster, better and more reliable. I'm gutted to have to sell this, but I've got no choice, it's too much money to have sitting in my drive being unused!

I will be doing a little more completion work prior to selling her, so she'll have doorcards, bonnet painted and also a little bit more tidying up done to her before she's sold (starting work on her today).

Video of her running:
LINK

A pic or two:

[The Matt]

Oh, brand new starter motor and alternator too there are probably loads of other things that I've forgotten to mention in there too!

[Deathrow]

Aww Matt, I'm so sorry to read you're stepping back from the Mini scene and even more sorry to see you're selling your lovely car, however I am even more sorry that I don't have £4k to throw at you for it because it is a stunning little car and anyone would be really lucky to own it.

Good luck with the sale and thank you because your thread has been a real inspiration to me.

[The Matt]

Thanks for the kind words Deathrow!

Oh yeah, topic moved!

[Bec]

UTC

Did the minis at the Nurburgring stir something deep inside Boing? No, not your bowels.

I'm so excited about the FReaK

[Deathrow]

Thanks for the kind words Deathrow!

Oh yeah, topic moved!

Tell me you're keeping it!

TELL ME, TELL ME NOW!

[The Matt]

YEEEEAAAAAH BBBOOOOOOOIIIIIIIY!!!

It's being kept! I'm giving the current engine a once-over this weekend, going to try to get it to Castle Combe on the 27th for a track session on this engine and gearbox combo, then in the garage I'll be assembling a brand new custom subframe, mounting a set of R1 carbs on a nice little alloy manifold, bolting them to a nice little 16v Vauxhall engine, getting my Megajolt setup to work on said Vauxhall engine, then at some point I'll be popping that little lot into the FReaK!

I'm also thinking of getting two GRP front ends. One Clubman and one extended roundnose. Fit them both out with grille, lights, looms fitted with a nice Amphenol multiplug (free issue from work) so I can chop and change from Clubman to Roundnose to suit my mood!

So yeah, FReaK's gonna getmore FReaKy soon!

[Deathrow]

YAY! Good man!

Sounds like a good plan with the removable front ends!

And you can definitly never go wrong with a 16v lump

I'm going to keep watching, I'm still inspired by your thread .

[RacingGreen]

You know it makes sense matt.













Please dont finish it before mine

[The Matt]

Soooo, more details of my plans:

I am going to pick up a C18XE engine tomorrow. That's going to be slowly stripped, checked and rebuilt over the next couple of months. Nothing major, just a general check of things like ring condition, shell/crank journal condition, block/head face condition etc. It'll be cleaned up so it's nice and shiney and then the head's going to get sent of for some mild work (little bit of porting and valve work and a skim if necessary). After talking to RacingGreen last night on MSN, I'm probably gong to fit a F18WR gearbox, with the looongest FD ratio I can find so that I can try and keep to 10" rims. The C18XE engines aren't that sought after as most people think that if you're going to the hassle of fitting a large block Vauxhall, you may as well fit a C20 Red Top (150bhp out of the box compared to IRO 130bhp for the C18XE(but that's on a car with emissions control and a catalytic converter)). It's basically an early Ecotec engine, but without some of the emissions control gubbins. I've got a complete engine with loom, ECU, manifolds, radiator, fan and alternator for £90. Bit of a bargain IMO, but by the time the engine's built up I'll have spent another £500 or so on it. I'm planning on fitting a pair of vernier pulleys and fast road cams (nothing too wild, just something to increase the fun factor). So, I'm aiming to be pushing the C20XE boys along with it!

Whilst I do have the Vauxhall ECU, I'm going to be ditching the injection gear so am going to be fitting my good old Megajolt kit on it, which will make it more tuneable with the R1 carbs. The manifold for the R1 carbs is something I'm undecided on ATM. I may go to Bogg Brothers for it, or I may get a custom one made at work. I can get a good old LASER cut flange and get the guys in the work shop to weld the inlet tubing onto it to mate up with the carbs, all for a total cost of nowt. Or I can go to Bogg Brothers and get a tried and tested one that will be a couple of hundred quid. I'm also going to make up a composite airbox for it I think. Might have a play around with how much space I've got between the carbs and the bulkhead

Whilst all of this engine work is going on, I'm also going to make a custom subframe out of a brand new twin bolt frame that I've got in the garage (and have already started chopping up) and some CDS tube that I've got at work. I'm going to do some serious stress calculating on the frame to make it as strong as possible without being OTT weight-wise, but it's going to be a sort of hybrid design, influenced by the tubular style of the Z-cars frames, combined with the overall fit of the Allspeed big block Vauxhall frames. I'll also fit adjustable camber rose jointed bottom arns and tie-rods, so I can take out any tolerancing problems with the frame manufacture

So yeah, I've decided not to sell her just because I'm disappointed with the A-series, I've decided to throw a load more money at her instead!

[The Matt]

UTC

Did the minis at the Nurburgring stir something deep inside Boing? No, not your bowels.

I'm so excited about the FReaK

I know, I'm excited about her too! BUt I'm also excited about meeting Vern soon!

[Tomf]

Sounds quality mate, cant wait to see developments in this project.

And shiz that really is cheap for the engine and all those bits, where did you get your hands on that?

[The Matt]

Egay FTW!