374 replies to this topic

[Joe250]

Here's my rebuild. I purchased my first Mini last month - a '62 MkI. It was just a shell sitting in a field (!) along with a dozen boxes of old parts, but it seemed perfect for my plan. I'd like to build a street-legal Mini for drives in the twisties.



The shell seemed solid enough although someone grafted on some flares and de-seamed the poor thing.

One other detail - I plan to run a Yamaha R1 motor, but I'll leave most of those details for the Engine Swap forum. There will be plenty of other things to worry about before I really get to that.

Joe

Edited by Joe250, 05 July 2014 - 11:48 PM.

[J4C]

Nice.
I want to find a mini in a field.
It's surprising how many people have.

[Joe250]

Being new to Mini's I've had to educate myself a lot on what this project will require. I've still got a ways to go. Here's a list of what I have planned so far. Please feel free to comment or question my choices. I'm trying to plan out all the major components and ensure they'll all work together before I place any orders.

Body: -standard MkI appearance (chrome bumpers and trim, etc.)
-will remove current aftermarket fender flares and front bumper
-will run either no flares or small flares
-will add a basic roll cage that will tie into the 4 suspension points
-will reinforce a number of points on the chassis (suspension towers, harness mounting points, etc.)
-will be media blasted, epoxy primered, and painted
-color undecided

Subframes: -MinieXvo R1 subframe up front
-Beam axle rear subframe (looking at the FRA and the one offered by MiniSpares)

Suspension: -Coilovers all around
-KAD alloy swing arms
-Considering sway bars front and rear

Hubs: -Looking at the KAD and Specialist Components alloy hubs.

Brakes: -KAD 4-piston calipers for the front
-Considering the KAD rear disc conversion for the rear
-Stainless lines all around
-Master cylinder (undecided)

Wheels: -definitely going with 10" diameter wheels running the Yokohama A008 165's
-Looking for 5" width rims

Seats: -Recaro speed seats (purchased)

Engine/transmission: -2003 Yamaha R1 (purchased)

Differential: -Quaife

Steering rack: - 2.2turn rack (purchased)

Pedals: -Undecided

Instrumentation: -3-gauge pod with original Smiths mechanical gauges
-R1 dash mounted directly behind the steering wheel

-Fuel tanks: twin original tanks (have the LH tank. Looking around for a RH)

I'm leaving out a lot of miscellaneous items obviously, but those are the basics. Any thoughts?

Edited by Joe250, 05 July 2014 - 11:48 PM.

[Daveuk]

lmao your sig's quailty

all the best for the build, i'm sure the z boys can answer all your problems with the engine installation!

as for body work just go by what what everyone else has done on here in thier build threads

enjoy

Dave

[mk1leg]

sounds like wacky racer time again......good luck with project...............

[Joe250]

As I said, the shell appears to be rust free. I had planned on stripping it down to bare metal after watching Speeding Orange's progress in his rebuild thread. He makes it look so easy. However, after receiving a very low quote for media blasting, I decided to get lazy on this part. They should be done with it shortly.

Here's what she looked like before:

Edited by Joe250, 25 September 2008 - 06:16 AM.

[Joe250]

Here's a few pics of bringing the car home. Thank God for good friends! Not only did I make him lift a ton of boxes in the heat, I ended up taking up his whole night. He never complained a bit. (He did question my sanity a few times though!)

[Joe250]

Time to remove the subframes. They are the only things bolted to the shell, so I've got to remove them prior to having the thing sandblasted.











And here are the 2 new subframes I installed. Much smaller, lighter, and cheaper than the stock ones. They also allow me to run even smaller wheels than the usual 10 inchers:



It was about this time that I began to suspect a previous owner had intended to make a race car out of this. Big flares, a giant hole in the front firewall (for giant carbs I think), patched over fuel tank hole (because they were going to run a fuel cell in the center of the trunk), and a few other things. Who knows for certain though. The good news is that this should still be a decent starting point for what I want. It won't be concours-original but it will look reasonably close to how it rolled out of the factory.

Edited by Joe250, 27 July 2008 - 10:20 PM.

[Joe250]

Just trying to get caught up to the present time. Here's a few things that have happened recently:

The 2003 R1 motor showed up.







I wasn't real impressed that the seller didn't take two seconds to stick a rag into each inlet hole, ensuring no debris would get into the engine.



And here's the R1's instrument panel. It will look just a little out of place in the Mini but it will be a very convenient way to get all the information I need while driving. I plan to mount it right behind the steering wheel.



I purchased a copy of the original Mini dimensional blueprints. It's already proven useful for helping me pick out new front seats that aren't too wide for the car. Also interesting to find out that the rear track of the Mini is 2 inches narrower than the front.

[Joe250]

Off to the sand blasters!









Soon I'll know exactly what's underneath all that primer. Hopefully the shell will turn out to be pretty original and rust-free. More soon...

[Joe250]

A lot has happened since my last post. I've done most everything I need to do to get the R1 engine ready for use:

Removed the AIS system





Installed a Fluke oil pan baffle:





I don't have photos but I also installed a new clutch along with a second diaphram spring. I then performed a compression check since I had no way to verify the soundness of this used engine I bought. All 4 cylinders registered 210psi. Just what the manual calls for. Hooray!




And I cleaned up the steering rack a little bit.



Joe

Edited by Joe250, 30 September 2008 - 07:36 AM.

[Joe250]

Here's what the shell looked like after sandblasting:











I'm not happy with how wavy so many of the body panels are. Several are going to have to be replaced and others are going to need a lot of filler I'm afraid. That said, I'm pleasantly surprised at just how solid this chassis seems to be. And speaking of that, I'm really upset that someone attempted to deseam this car. That will take a lot of work to undo.

One other development, after reading so many posts on this forum about members repairing their bodywork themselves, I'm going to attempt it with a good friend of mine. This was never intended to be a concours car anyways so if it doesn't turn out perfect, its ok. I am just looking forward to learning something new, getting to hang out with my friend, and having the satisfaction of doing the whole job myself. Wish me luck. I am going to need it!


And here it is after getting a quick coat of primer:



You can see some of the rust repairs someone made to the floorboard:

Edited by Joe250, 30 September 2008 - 07:43 AM.

[Joe250]

My wheels arrived. These buggers were hard to find. 10x5 is just not very popular as it turns out so I was lucky to track this set down in the UK.



The seats arrived. I went with Recaro Speed seats. Here my friend is helping test an SRD seat as well. Definitely too wide to fit in the Mini.




More later...

Joe

[miniboo]

Looking good Joe. how much did the blasting cost?

[Joe250]

Looking good Joe. how much did the blasting cost?

Thanks. $850 for the shell, doors, bonnet, boot, and a few loose panels (battery box, door bins, and lower dash). They did a good job so for anyone in the SF Bay Area, I'd recommend them.

Joe