246 replies to this topic

[SukiDawg]

Hey,

Wheels / colour scheme... Well - I'll decide at the time. That really isn't important at the front of m mind right now! I was thinking of fitting minilites to be honest and keeping the colour fairly subdued - I'd like the mechanical details to do all the talking....

Interior, its a minimum weight project so the interior will reflect that - functional...

Engine wise the intention is turbocharged with single plenum and jenvey throttle bodies. Port injection and FBW to give me flexibility with the turbo sizing / launch control and ALS.

I am a professional CAD user, so I have a bit of a headstart on that one. The package used here is NX. Solidworks really is pretty good these days, and in terms of picking it up and using it beats NX and Catia hands down. It can struggle a little with very large assemblies, but I know companies that are using ot for race engine design work - so its clearly pretty good.....




Dave.

Edited by SukiDawg, 07 October 2011 - 04:46 PM.

[SukiDawg]

The patient prepped for surgery....


First incision...


New tunnel laid in place





There is a lot of trimming to be done yet, both to the tunnel and floor, but I am quite pleased with how it looks. Doesn't intrude into the cabin too much and from the underside there looks to be enough room... There should be according to the CAD, but anyone familiar with the phrase "but it fits in CAD" will understand how often that lies!

Lots more fabrication to go yet with the tunnel and floor supports but its a nice step to have that there - even if its only laid in place for now.

[WOU 362J]

just read through every post good luck man. looking awesome so far. defiantly following this one

[cptkirk]

Looking good there buddy.......

[SukiDawg]

Cheers!

I found a very very useful website last night.... http://www.motaquip-ecat.co.uk/

Basically - on this website is a complete list of the pattern parts that motaquip make, listed with them is all the dimensions and even a picture. So - say for example you were looking for a bearing for your offset rocker housings - and you thought that a wheel bearing might be about right, and you had it in your head roughly the car you thought the wheel bearing might come from....

Well - then this website wouldbe pretty damn useful!

There are alll sorts on there though, not just wheel bearings... Track rod ends, brake discs.. loads of stuff....

[Tupers]

Looks like it's coming along nicely there Dave. Those cross members and tunnel will look sweet when they're all welded in.

[SukiDawg]

Hey,

Yeh - I certainly hope so! I've shrink wrapped it round the prop in the CAD, so I hope it all works out.

Been a little held back over the last couple of weeks by some day job stuff, but been on the CAD this afternoon.. Should be cracking on with the real work out in the shed as the autumn comes on..


Slight diversion - but had my friend's mini round this week for a bit of tinkeration. She's had a new 1275 engine fitted and the exhaust needed sorting out as the old one didn't fit. I've tig'd up a new downpipe for her (Babbins is her name on this forum) and would have fitted the rest of the new system to it today for her if the rain hadn't come. Of course I have an indoor workshop but its.... er... kinda occupied right now!

Credit to the Babba-Mac. Here's her baby on stands outside my workshop.....

[MalcolmB]

Hi Dave
You asked a while back about ideas for mounting your suspension rocker arm to the subframe. This is a bit over-engineered I know, but how about bolting a sealed wheel bearing hub assembly into the subframe. Then you would just need to make up a bolt of the required diameter to go through the bearing and rocker arm. The VW bearing units are reasonably priced.

By the way, if you make that floor tunnel a bit bigger it would be ideal for a battery pack...

Attached Files

•  BCA_512012_FRO.jpg   64.08K   3 downloads

Edited by MalcolmB, 09 November 2011 - 05:11 PM.

[Giant Mini]

amazing build !

[SukiDawg]

Hi Dave
You asked a while back about ideas for mounting your suspension rocker arm to the subframe. This is a bit over-engineered I know, but how about bolting a sealed wheel bearing hub assembly into the subframe. Then you would just need to make up a bolt of the required diameter to go through the bearing and rocker arm. The VW bearing units are reasonably priced.

Good plan Malcolm - but a bit chuffin heavy...

However - thinking exacty along those lines and also taking some inspriation from your go-kart idea, I've designed the mounts in aluminium using exactly that type of bearing. Got as far as that and then for some reason had one of my periodical bouts of writers block - so I am decorating upstairs at the moment hoping it comes back in a week or two!

[MiniLandy]

Anyway - I promise there's good reasons this project has been stalled, and I'm not smoking anything when it comes to my description of the places I have been in the meantime.. The last 12 months have been awesome for me professionally, and we are very nearly at the end of it now. Our product is flippin awesome. Keep your eye on Top Gear for a very special and entirely British supercar which I have sacrificed this project for in 2010. Ferrari look over your shoulder, there's a new kid in town.

Would you have anything to do with this, per chance?

If so... Cool.

[kcchan]

Ahhh, if it is then well done. One came to my uni and a couple of guys from Mclaren did a little talk about it to engineering students. I also watched "How To Build A Supercar" the other day on TV.

Edited by kcchan, 23 November 2011 - 07:57 PM.

[SukiDawg]

Happy New Year Everyone!

Yeh - the 12C was part me. Done and in the past now though... New challenges what what...


So, not been much progress on the mini recently has there... I kinda got sidetracked by this lot. I'm a fits and starts type of person when it comes to stuff out in the garage, but there'll be more in 2012 I promise.

In the meantime, I've been doing this...








(thats not me - thats the plasterman)







Just gotta paint it and I'm back in the shed!

Hope 2012 is great for you all..... I have a feeling its gonna be a good one.

[cptkirk]

All the best for 2012 to you too Dave, lets hope its a good one.....

[Bert66]

Any updates.
Thanks, Robert in USA