664 replies to this topic

[M44K TS]

Had a quick look last night at hitting the Mini with the lowering stick.

Only tried adjusting the o/s/r, before, the arch gap was a whopping 3"

Before (excuse crappy phone pics, forgot to take the camera)



After, 1" arch gap, it's going a tad lower still at the weekend as it still looks a little high.



The other 3 corners will be done on Saturday

[mentalmini89]

wicked mini mate it will look sweet lowered ive lowered mine to its got about jus under to an inch of travel all round and spax shocks all round wound up so they are super stiff but it handles so well i wouldnt change mine at all keep up the good work cant wait till an update on the weekend lol
dean

[M44K TS]

Cheers dude, I'll take my camera on Saturday

[M44K TS]

Attempted to lower the car yesterday, but hit a snag, got the back how I wanted it, but when I went to lower the front, I found that because the front arches havn't been chopped, the tyres caught on the arches. Managed to lower the back about 2" and about 1"1/2 on the front. It's not sitting exactly as I'd like it, but it's certainly better than it was.

But, I've been thinking. I've always wanted a set of Allycat's or black and polished superlights in 13x7 with some sportpack arches. I once tried my mates superlights off his volvo on the Mini....

(These ones)


And the looked superb, plus they're Mini fitment currently on his car with wobble nuts. Liam mentioned that he might be selling the wheels so I might snap them up if he does. That way, I can trim the front arches and get it sitting how I want.

I quite like the look of Allycats though, hmm, tough choice!

Edited by M44K TS, 14 November 2010 - 12:44 PM.

[M44K TS]

Been looking at the Group 5 bullet arches that ABS Styling sell..

(Picture taken from his site, hope you don't mind!)


I think I prefer them to Sportpack arches the more I look at them, as they're alot like the W&P ones I already have.

Still no luck on the wheel front though. Nothing really seems to be coming up for sale that caught my eye.

But tonight, I've been on a shopping spree on ebay.

First off, bought an original jack and wheel brace, then a brand new last of the line jack bag with the winged Mini logo. So I'll clean up the jack as it looks like it has a few marks on it judging by the ebay pics, possibly even have it powder coated and keep it as an original looking thing.

What I want to do in the boot with the boot lining kit I have, is to ditch the current sub box and have a one that fits to the o/s. That way, the boot floor will be left clear so I can make a feature of the floor. What I want to do is cut a hole in the middle of the boot lining floor section and make a box for the under side to house the jack in it's bag, the Mini first aid kit and even possibly a set of basic tools. Then for the top of it, a piece of perspex with the winged Mini logo etched in, then some white LED's to illuminate it when the boot is opened either by a switch or courtesy light switch.

I've also bought some original foam and rubber sound deadening sections that sit under the carpet against the bulkhead and behind the dash as both of mine were rotten and never replaced. That coupled with all the other sound proofing stuff I have fitted should quieten the car down even further.

[charie t]

Mike coles pick up, was on the cover of one of the mags a few months back,
Very quick, and a tidy conversion
Your mini is well done, like how the small things don't get ignored or over looked and parts are fited to a good standard not just thrown on. Well done mate
Did you have the nasty over sills fitted in the end or did the body shop cut them down so they were vented?

[M44K TS]

Cheers Charie, I'm sure I have a mild form of OCD hence all the little details

Also, the sills, well, I was advised to buy those as everything was getting chopped out and replaced so they're not just bodged over the top of rusty sills, everything was given a coat of chassis black paint then pumped full of waxoil so supposedly, the vent holes shouldn't matter. I was dubious at first about having them fitted though.

I wouldn't have thought they would create much of a problem if they've been protected with the paint and waxoil should they?

[Bean]

Thost 13x7s on the Volvo are awesome!! Though - I am biased!!

[charie t]

I wouldn't have thought they would create much of a problem if they've been protected with the paint and waxoil should they?

The natral design of the min shell allows the sills to breathe (and water drain) Blocking them off traps the water. Backward theory i know
Chopping off the ends of the square lumps usually sorts this.
Glad you protected the sills before fitting them though, its a car to be proud of.
Any thoughts of wheels yet?

[M44K TS]

So would some circular vent holes, i.e. drilling some small breather holes in the bottoms of the flutes, help the ventilation?

As for wheels, well, I'm still torn between Alleycats or the black and polished Superlites. But then, I look at the anthracite ones I already have and think I should go for some of those.

I'm indecisive at times

Bean - good taste!

I've also acquired some led strip which will go into the boot feature, we've been fitting out a drum shop with loads of lighting these past few weeks, one of the features was about 13m of blue led strip lighting and a load of led par-can looking spot lights to illuminate a sort of stage area for promoting Yamaha drum kits. We had a spare couple of feet of led strip that would have only been thrown away, (£120 for 5m I think it cost?) So being that it's 12v, I thought I'd "dispose" of it. So I have put that to one side ready for making something with it.

This is it lit up, (dodgy phone pics again!)



And with the LED spots on


I've also been thinking about the heater in the car too. The twin speed heater is surprisingly good, but there's too much of a step between the 1st and 2nd speed.

So this is what I've been thinking about, (I know, me and my fantastic ideas, usually ends up costing me a fortune!) I have a spare switch on the dash which was for the headlight levelling control on MPI models, this has 3 settings. I can pick up a Ford Escort heater resistor module which has 3 speeds. Roofless does replacement heater panel stickers so might be possible to blank the switch off on that. You can see where I'm going with this can't you Basically having a 3 speed fan controlled by the neat little switch already on the dash. That brings me on to the temperature control. I've never been a fan of the push/pull thing, so browsing Car Builder Solutions, I found this...

http://www.cbsonline...vrot-3764-p.asp

I was thinking about incorporating that into the dash under the level switch and putting a cigarette lighter in place of the old heater control. I just need to find out if there's enough clearance for the mechanism behind the dash first.

Edited by M44K TS, 23 November 2010 - 09:54 PM.

[charie t]

Yeah that should be enough so long, as long as they are decent size original gap is 1/2" would have thought its easier to cut it with a thin disc.

I found this...

Thats a smart bit of kit. I'm sure you're just showing off now

[M44K TS]

It's called OCD

[MiniLandy]

My friend, looking at this, you should most definately have been in charge of designing the interior of the later minis.

Sir Alec had a brilliant starting point, but the interior on every standard mini was pants...

[M44K TS]

haha, thanks dude.

[M44K TS]

A small update I know, but couple of bits I've bought over the last few weeks. (yes, more OCD type things)

So, some stainless bumper nuts, the ones I have aren't the right ones hence my front bumper not being 100% secured. Then a set of stainless door hinge mounts, currently, the hinges have small washers behind the nuts, always been a bit wary of that, so decided to buy the correct things. Also, you'll notice that I've bought a set of stickers, mainly to give the engine bay that OE look.



There's a small bit of vibration from the bonnet under deceleration and when on fast idle, so bought some neoprene foam rubber to go along the shut lines of the bonnet to dampen it




I also bought the rotary heater valve control I mentioned, so just got to find a place for that on the dash. As mentioned previously, I'm doing away with the original push/pull heater cable, then opening up the hole and fitting the 12v socket in it's place.



It also came with the cable and heater valve, but unsure if it's for the right size heater hose diameter, might just attach the new cable to the old valve if it's different.



Can't remember if I took a pic of the new jack bag, so here it is



And a jack to go with it, (not that I'd ever use it, it's just going to be for show) The plan is to clean them up and get them looking like new again



Also came with the wheel brace



Then my ebay bargain, dash and lower bulkhead sound deadening pads that are in good condition. My originals went soggy and mouldy years back after I accidentally left the window open for 3 days during heavy rain, (4 inches of water in the foot wells kind of destroyed it) So I'm hoping these will make the car that bit quieter, especially behind the dash where it's needed the most.

Dash sound deadening




Lower bulkhead sound deadening, some bits could do with being cleaned up a bit on it.


Plenty to keep me occupied over Christmas, that's not including a few other small job I want to do on the car either.