374 replies to this topic

[Joe250]

i love all your fabricating skills, its just awesome! i love it! is the centre binnacle just for looks or will it work as well as the R1 dash?

Ed

Haha! You love the fabricating while I just want everything to bolt up and work! Oh well. I guess if I wanted a stock Mini I would have bought a stock Mini.

The speedo and lights in the centre binnacle will not be operational. Way too much work in my opinion. However, I am hoping to be able to use the fuel gauge since I'm using a stock fuel sending unit. I've also replaced the smaller stock mechanical gauges on either side of the tach with Smith's modern replacement units. These use electronic sending units and I should be able to adapt those to the R1 engine without too much trouble.

Joe

[JordanRaisbeck]

4 words for u.

Oh My F*****g God!! Just read from the begining wow. what an amazing piece of enginerring right up to this point! Cant wait to see it completed, and your choise of colour is superb!! welldone pal.

Jordan.

[Joe250]

I've got a small update for everyone. First up is my 5th wheel. I couldn't find a new 5x10 Revolution wheel to serve as my spare anywhere. Thankfully a plea for help from my fellow TMF'ers yielded this beauty:





Not pretty but it would work. A local wheel repair shop transformed it into this for just $100:





Here's the completed fiberglass cover I made for the seat back. I was told covers were not available so I just made my own.




I sealed up these holes where the valence and fenders came together.




I then decided to make my own steering column covers, using the stock ones as a starting point. The process required making fiberglass molds, something I've never tried before.















Now I had my female molds. I just had to clean them up, paint them, wax them, and then lay in the fiberglass to make my finished pieces.



And here's one of them. They turned out pretty well in my opinion. I still have to do some final shaping and painting as well as making a durable method of attachment to the column. Hopefully I'll have these finished up soon.

Edited by Joe250, 17 September 2009 - 07:52 PM.

[tedmcedd]

all im gonna say!

[sim_ou_nao]

Lovely...

[Joe250]

Yes, this project is still moving forward. Just took a little break is all. Here's where things are at:

The MINIeXvo kit arrived from a place called England the other day. The kit consists of a steel frame, a transfer box, a reverse mechanism, and miscellaneous sub-assemblies. The frame holds the R1 engine and transfer box. It then bolts into the stock Mini front subframe using the same locations as an original A-series motor. So stock motor mounts are used below while a very short dogbone link is used up top. The transfer box takes power off of the R1's transmission countershaft and sends it through a set of gears down to the differential. In my case I spec'd a Quaife LSD to give me all the help I can get dealing with 164+hp through the front wheels. Not only does the transfer box incorporate cush drive but unlike most other BEC (bike-engined car) kits, there's no chain! That means no need for constant oiling, no chain cleaning, no oil flung around the engine bay, and no need to deal with chain stretch. (And just for the record, I'm not bashing chain-driven kits. Chains have advantages like higher efficiency, lower costs, easy gear ratio changes, etc. The more choices on the market the better. I'm just outlining the advantages of this kit that appealed to me - as a motorcyclist for the past 10 years I've had my fill of chain cleaning.)



The R1 motor fit perfectly into the frame. I then slid the power transfer box into place and used an engine hoist to drop the whole assembly into the engine bay and onto the stock subframe. It is a tight fit but with a Mini-sized engine bay, anything would be.



Here's a detail shot of the revering mechanism. Yes, that is the Pro-Shift solenoid sitting above it. Just doing a little test fitting.



Here is the car out on the driveway getting the exhaust system fitted.



And here's where I'm at currently - fitting the throttle mechanism. I love the throttle pedal I purchased a while back but it is a push-type whereas the R1 motor is a pull-type. A week or two of fiddling with custom brackets and linkages and I should have that sorted.

Edited by Joe250, 08 December 2009 - 01:19 AM.

[Chris C]

Looks amazing Joe, those MINIeXvo kits are really neat.

Glad to see progress is still being made, this car is very well done.

[xBR4DLEY]

Just sat and read through this
Great project, great car, great fabrication
Good luck and will be checking for updates
Cant wait to see this finished

[Joe250]

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I'm getting close to firing up the engine for the first time. Hopefully shortly after that I'll be able to run the car around the block a few times before tearing the car down in preperation for bodywork.

Anyways, should have some more updates soon.

[tedmcedd]

the engine looks so at home in the mini engine bay!

nice update! its getting close!!

[bodgeit]

nice build

i'm just about to start building a miniexvo mini myself. less trick bits than you though, unfortunately!!!

Matt

[Sir Cheat]

bloody awesome project, Will you be filming the first start up?

[miniQ]

damn sexy great job

[Joe250]

nice build

i'm just about to start building a miniexvo mini myself. less trick bits than you though, unfortunately!!!

Matt

Excellent! Create a new thread in the Motorbike Engine Conversions forum. I'd like to see your car and I'm sure others would as well.

[Joe250]

bloody awesome project, Will you be filming the first start up?

Thanks, Sir Cheat. Yes, I'll definitely be filming the initial startup, as well as the first drive. Give me another month or two.