Slightly O/T my 1380 rally car
Turbo Mini Forums

well....progress and lots of it

I wored up the flip front, using that mil spec master and im well impressed

fitted/shimed the doors once i found the packet of bolts for the hinges, retrimmed the a panel on the flip front to get the panel gaps back to normal, stuck the windows in, windscreen too

all the electrics (besides one gremlin which ill come to later) work as they should, even managed to wire the hazards switch up (my brains still frazzled)

got the ride height somewhere near level and high enough so the wheels wont rub on the arches (ill lower it and trim the arched back later on), roughed out the suspension so its driveable, about parallel tracking (about 0.25 to out), 1 degree neg camber, and as a temp measure i set the tie rods to 14.5" (same as std) to get the castor within reason.

started her up, let her get her temp up a bit (no thermostat so sits at about 70 until driven), no leaks and sounded healthy, so was sat there looking at it and thought sod it ill take it for a spin round the block

so went for a short blat, and was well impressed, had a grin so big i couldnt fit it on my face, its sounds evil when on the move

darts a bit from side to side when giving it a bit, presume this is the diff, but nothing major, my mates 106 with a gripper is miles worse to the point of scary

tomorrow will set the suspension up, and hook up speedo/odometer (was going to fit a mountain bike speedo, but someone helped themselves to it :( ) and go do a few laps of the tt course to break her in and see what temp she sits at on the move, might refit a stat , maybe with a few holes if she runs too cool

would post some pics but lost my camera building the igloo the other day :(

will borrow someones camera in the week

Well chuffed!

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

Is this project finally nearing completion then?

i hate to say it, but yes, im throwing the towel in, mr fenton can keep his crown, lol



well, did a bit of refining today, didnt get chance put it on the ramp and tickle the suspension, but its not a millionmiles off where it is, so went for a lap of the tt course to put some miles on the engine

it was not getting up to temp only about 60 really, and spitting water out left right and centre, whipped out the blanking plate and stuck an 82 stat in this morning and problem seemingly solved

id plumbed in the hydraullic hammy backwards, so swapped the unions around and viola, instant russ swift satisfaction

fitted passenger seat/harness

new problems though:

1. bit of an oil drip from either the timing cover or the crank seal, cant tell which yet :(

2. need to fettle the idle, when warm it wont drop below 2000rpm? and the AFRs def need tweaking,

idle is 13:1
under full throttle its at 12/12.5ish:1 (which isnt too far off)
cruising at part throttle its at 13:1
on overrun with the throttle shut off 14:1

so needs leaning off a shade at idle/part throttle me thinks, will do some reading and find out where best to start, wheres dave gone when you need him?

3. wiper motor is dead? hopefully a fuse

4. starting is hit and miss, im experimenting with pumping the pedal 'x' amount of times before firing her up, ive not connected up the choke as most people regard it as a waste of time? 3 seems the most succesful so far lol

more fun for tomorrow i guess!

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

me backs been giving me right gip for 2 weeks, and just been across on the mainland for that last 5 days, so not really had chance to tinker all that much

got some up to date pics at last:




































Also some pics of how i wired the flip front up:














ive got some std grp2 arches, but i dont think they will cut it at the front and the flip front seems to have shrunk in the wash a bi and left the tyres really exposed. So whilst noseying around ABS last week, i spotted some lovely wide gr2 front arches being prized from their moulds, they looked like they would cover my tyres, so bagsied them and got them on the car today:


















still need a bit of trimming so they clear on full lock, but im gonna leave that until ive had chance to finalise the suspension settings (waiting on corner weight gauges and grease plates off a friend) as its running about 8/9 degrees castor at the mo and ill be changing that to about 5 which will hopefully move the wheel back into the arch a shade

Edited by joeybaby83 on 22nd Mar, 2010.

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

Can we see some more pics of your calendar please?

Why does it say Cock, Piss, Partridge on your window?

If something is worth doing, it's worth doing half of.

nic, i should have guessed you would like it, ill snap some shots tomorrow, just for you!

john, its from an episode of alan partridge

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

good work nearly done?, so lucky having a TT course to go test the mini out on .... jelous! lol

where was that connector you've used for the flip front wiring from mate? i have a caravan connector and its not the tidiest solution


cheers, rich

2012 Avon class c 2nd place 13.8 @98mph

well....its kind of done, but i skimmed over lots of areas just to get it on the road sooner, but i can do lots of things as and when, like~:

fitting MJ
re-doing the flip front brackets (panel gaps have twanged and i could squeeze an extra mm or 2 of clearance)
rear arches
passenger wing mirror
lightening the doors more
fitting some nice alloy bits from mr kimmins
lightening the gear selector housing ala wigginton & co
re-jig the seat mounts
find the e clip under the workbench that pinged off during reskinning for the passenger door lock
ripping out the headlining
buy extra door bars and weld bracket to dash bar for steering column
etc etc

so its still gonna be a rough 'work in progress' like it should have been all along

yeah, its neat plug, i was umming and
arring over a trailer plug, but i dont like the look of them

but what a complete bastard to solder up though as theres no space and the 7 core im using is the hd stuff so had to trim the wires down a few strands to get them to fit, could have done with a pair of baby hands

saying that, i took about 2 hours to do one, so palmed the other one off on my old man who took about 10 mins, lol

it was off ebay, but he only seems to have the male in stock right now though?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Amphenol-8A-250V-7Pi...=item23058c47d1

Edited by joeybaby83 on 23rd Mar, 2010.

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

least you can drive it now ... gotta be worth it after how many years? looking ace!

soldering isn't my favourite of all jobs.. getting fed up of having headlights then hitting a bump and having 1 headlight lol

thanks for the link

rich

2012 Avon class c 2nd place 13.8 @98mph

i know the feeling, dodgy electrics have been the bane of my life for many years now, so i make a point of trying to do things right once, like the waterproof connectors for the lights/indicators etc, no more shitty rusty bullet bad boys etc

and yes, the first outting was emmense, although a bit nerve wracking, every squeak, clang and rattle had me on tender hooks for the first few miles, then i just realised i was being a massive girl and just enjoyed it, the grip its got off the line is incredible, and it doesnt seem to matter what the car is doing in the bends, just wrestle the steering wheel where you want to go and it goes there

running the engine in was a bit of a joke, i was steadily loading it up in 3rd to about 4/5k, then backing off, then loading it up again etc, for about 20 mins, but after a bit i gave in and did a full on power run from stop to 7500 in top, then felt guilty for the rest of the trip haha

at least i know it can go some, i plugged the figures into guessworks gear ratio calc, and at 7500 on the 3.9 with 165/55r12's it gives 107ish mph, and my tyres are 165/60r12s, so i will have been doing a few licks more than that

now at trackdays, the lads in the evo's and skylines get about 120/125 tops on the back 'straight' (its only a small track), so fingers crossed i wont be such a snail compared to them, maybe even hold my own? dare i dream? lol

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

arghh fuckin bullet connectors!! useless! lol
bet you cant wait to get out on the track in it .. give them jap things a run for there money do you have an lsd fitted?


rich

2012 Avon class c 2nd place 13.8 @98mph

yeah, a jack knight badboy, mk7 i think (might be mk6 actually, cant remember, came with the g'box from ian hargreaves old turbo racer)

i was under the impression it was a plate diff, but ive been informed now that its a cam and pawl design, eitherway, i actually really like it, its just have to show the steering wheel who's boss (thats why im gonna tie the column to the dash bar, bit of extra support)

was going to be doing the 3 hills in 2 weeks, but the entry forms had to be in last friday, and i didnt get back from the uk till last sunday so have missed out, i have sent them off anyway, but not holding any hopes :(

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

just checked the receipt, its a mk6 whatever that means?

*edit* just had a look on the website, theres hardly any info, but in the price list it says its a plate LSD

http://www.jackknight.co.uk/pricelist/JKD%...20v2%202008.pdf

so thats cleared that one up

Edited by joeybaby83 on 24th Mar, 2010.

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

thats a nice busy dash :)

cars looking tidy too

Yes i moved to the darkside

Instagram @jdm_brett

my mate had a salisbury lsd in his andsaid it was fine you just have to hold on and keep your right foot in lol.

bit of a bastard about missing out with the forms


rich

2012 Avon class c 2nd place 13.8 @98mph

IMO take that fuel filter off and chuck it in the bin... I ran one and the inside dissolved in petrol and pushed small bits of plastic into the fuel system.... Wang-it.

Oh I really like this car.

On 22nd Mar, 2010 joeybaby83 said:

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

crikey, cheers for the heads up, ill check that tomorrow, as it happens its been on there for about 6 years lol, so i guess if it was gonna melt it should have done so already?

well had quite a productive day today, firstly i fitted the mountain bike speedo, works a treat (took her for a right thrashing to the sound and back, lol)





Also tried a cut down std gear stick instead of the tall KAD one, and hit a problem, it fouls the cut off switch in 1st and 3rd:





so looks like im gonna have to relocate the cut off switch :( will be a crunt to get behind the dash now the screen is in too! hope the wires can stretch a bit!

fitted the passenger wing mirror (cheers R1_Manx), using riv nuts, love those bad boys, and also rear arches, and they just cover the rubber:





ive tracked down where the oil leak is coming from too (well most of it anyway!), when i was fitting the speedo magnet to the cv joint today, i realised i never blanked off the speedo drive, and oil has been pissing out everywhere haha

luckily i have an blanking plate off an old challenge gearbox



so will fit that tomorrow, or maybe wait till i have the rad off to fit the trigger wheel back on, yer, will probably do that!

also fitted a bit of stainless threaded bar across the extra alternator mount to support the waterpump housing, a few people have mentioned that the boss on the water pump can snap off if left unsupported, so this should give it a hand i hope:



and i think thats about it, oh one more thing, spoke to a couple of people and it looks like they will accept my late entry for the hill climb, so i best get the car fighting fit asap!

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

Well maybe mine was a bad one. It looked ok until I took it apart to look at the inner basket/mesh section, I will grab it tonight and take a pic.. I wondered my I had to keep clearing out the float bowl..

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

Joey, it is an honour to have my cooper wing mirrors on the grey 1380 badness , just make sure you bring her back from the hill climb in one piece. To all others viewing this thread, I will be putting an on-board camera in with joey and doing some exterior filming hopefully, so it will be on youtube for all to see after the event. :0

"If i'm not in action...i'm in traction"

Nice car, I also have a Mini rally car that I have been using in various specs for a few years. Your pics have helped confirm my future plans with the tank and gear linkage, thanks. Where did you get the tank?

Thanks mate, its a copy of my old tank, got it made locally as r1_manx wanted a copy for his car, so got a spare made up at the same time

Well, got a fair bit done today too, lots of 1 step forward, 2 back though

Mocked up the crank sensor bracket, needed a fair few washers to space it to the correct position, and had to drill and tap the sensor holder and space it back a bit as i think there designed for a different type of sensor?





so got that bit sorted, also set the missing tooth sees the crank sensor approx 90 btdc, can alter the bracket by about 10 degrees in each direction, so ill get it dead on once the edis is installed by using the limp home mode and getting the spark dead on 10 degrees btdc on the crank damper.

having a bit of a mare with the engine mount though as i want(ed) to be able to have enough space to change fan belts, but it doesnt look like thats gonna happen unfortunately



also took the chance to fling on the speedo drive blank, and fit some lovely alloy tower bolts from SC, but that intricate task had its problems too, so had to put the std ones back :(, arse.

couldnt even put her all back together either as i cant find my spare fanbelts, need to tidy up the garage haha

so tomorrow gonna nip out for a fanbelt, zap her back together, then see what i can do about the cut off switch....grrrr

if i get all that done, ill start positioning all the other edis rubbish in prep for the jolt install, need to get as much as possible done before the enthusiasm wilts away as it always does lol

i really am thinking of sticking a clubman front end on this now, 2 of my mates are doing theirs soon and the extra room is emmense, could just sling a front mounted rad on and be done with it!

"Turbo's make torque, and torque makes fun"

"did you know you can toast potato waffles?"

The SC trigger wheel kit uses a Magneti Marelli SEN8D sensor

http://www.specialist-components.co.uk/cnb...odCategoryID=17

I run a supercharger and I don't care the TB is on the wrong side.
VEMS + 12 PSI + Liquid Intercooler = Small Bore FUN!

your dash looks like the starship enterprise

Looking good, on the fanbelt clearance side of things you've got on better than me, i had to cut the engine mount just to get the trigger wheel to fit as it was that tight it was rubbing.