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This breaks my heart but the weekend plaything just has to go. The darling wife is expecting baby, and work commitments are pilling up and I no longer have a garage to tinker in. Let me start by saying this is not just a tarted up respray job it is a nut and bolt piece of engineering art work carried out by an obsessed genius, degree qualified automotive engineer with years of mechanical experience with major manufacturers. Who would rather build and modify classic cars rather than drive them!
If you are not a mini enthusiast or very confident with a socket set then please read no further!
If however you want a hot classic that can scorch the rubber from most modern vehicles but appreciate the amount of bonnet time involved in achieving that……..Then this will make you smile.
FULLY RESTORED AUSTIN MINI VAN
This 1979 van has undergone a bare metal, no expense spared restoration and covered just 3600 miles since rebuild and the work has been carried it is to a very high standard. The cost of parts alone is an estimated £8000, and 1000’s of hours spent on the rebuild. The car has had an agreed insurance valuation of £5000. I costs me peanuts to insure and comes with six months road tax and Mot till May 2008
Below is the specification; EVERY part has been replaced except for the front subframe and rear radius arms which were fully reconditioned. I hope some of you will appreciate the attention to detail with this restoration..
ENGINE:
Completely rebuilt using Minispares parts, all bearings replaced, genuine new rover unleaded turbo head, block bored and honed +20thou and 8.8:1 CR pistons fitted. Crankshaft and flywheel lightened and balanced. Duplex timing chain, new clutch plate, master and slave cylinder. ARP head and bottom end bolts. Remote oil filter head to allow MPI mini front mounted radiator, electric cooling fan and alternator.
GEARBOX:
Completely rebuilt, all serviceable parts replaced, central oil pickup pipe, Minispares high capacity turbo oil pump. All casings beadblasted, etch primed 2K painted. Rebuilt Metro turbo diff. New inner and outer CV joints and gaiters.
TURBO:
Brand New Garret GT17 turbo running 8PSI, dump valve and Toyota starlet intercooler, the exhaust and inlet manifold were designed and made by me so that the bulkhead crossmember didn’t have to be cut out. BOSCH electric waterpump on auto 10 minute run-on relay.
WHEELS/TYRES:
6x12” Revolites black with polished rims on Yokohama A048R tyres very cool very low with loads of tread left
BRAKES:
Front: Factory reconditioned Metro turbo 4 pot callipers and vented discs, new wheel bearings and ball joints.
Rear: Factory reconditioned Fiat Uno turbo rear callipers on Rover 200 discs, handbrake connected to standard mini handbrake lever. Adjustable rear brake bias valve.
All flexi brake lines are braided stainless steel; body lines are formed from straight lengths of brake pipe (not off the roll). Rebuilt Late mini Servo with new master cylinder and adjustable brake bias valve. All in all plenty of stopping power
FUEL SYSTEM:
Fuel tank blasted and reconditioned, new float, high pressure fuel pump and inertia switch, all lines under the car are rigid and formed from straight lengths and the ends have been flared.
SUSPENSION:
Coilovers all round, front Bilsteins, rear AVO adjustables. Rear beam axle with adjustable radius arm brackets, front subframe blasted, reinforced then etch primed and sprayed, Front adjustable tie bars and lower arms. All bushes have been replaced with superflex polybushes. this is a fantastic track/fast road setup however if I was keeping I would soften it up with some lighter gas shocks to make it a little more polite over speed bumps (pregnant women hate it!) ok if you like the race car feel! and sticks to the road like poo to a blanket
STEERING:
Reconditioned steering column connected to new rack and track rod ends, column lowering bracket also installed. very positive responsive setup.
EXHAUST:
Modified SAAB 93 2” downpipe mated to single box system via stainless steel flexi connection, subtle noise level. Lambda sensor and A/F ratio meter.
ELECTRICAL:
Late mini wiring harness with modifications to run new relays and fuses which have been located inside-beneath the glovebox. No crimped connectors all OEM grade and soldered. All exposed wiring has been protected with COT (corrugated tube) + heat-shrinked ends.
INTERIOR:
Colour coded dash with Smiths Oil/water temp, Tacho, boost and oil temperature gauges, Alcantara top and bottom rail. Hidden SONY minidisk stereo with joystick control. Professionally retrimmed full-length headliner in Alcantara, rear load bay has been trimmed with OEM grade carpet. MGF front seats, new steering wheel and gearknob.
OTHER POINTS:
Modern wiper motor system utilising OEM motor and custom made linkage, hidden electric aerial. Rear valence has plastic protectors to stop creating a rust trap. Stainless steel number plate backing plates. It had a 4 wheel laser alignment checked and MOT which it flew through. Kerb weight 600kgs with an estimated 115bhp (approx 200bhp/tonne). Supplied with road plates also.
BAD POINTS:
Not many! Drivers window is sticky and does not slide to eaisily 3 year old paint has now cracked where rear RH lower door hinge bolts on, as has bottom corner of rear door aperture
the timing case has developed an oil leak which would require a new seal and half a day in the garage to fix (if you are any good and have a garage….. which I no longer do!) The oil pressure sensor cuts the fuel to protect the turbo bearing so it is impossible to do any damage but annoying having to keep an eye on the dipstick.
The carb runs a little rich and can get I little fluffy around 3000rpm with hard driving. so it would really benefit from a rolling road session to get the bhp to up around the 125mark and with needle settings perfect and then it could be super lightning quick and well balanced.These are all small points that I would have loved to have had the time and opportunity to address but sadly this is not the case. I hope that this vehicle end up with a competent enthusiast who will appreciate it for what it is as I refuse to sell it to any weekend joyriders to abuse and break.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me with any questions or to arrange a test drive please no tire kickers or dreamers.
Time wasters will be shaved sterilised and destroyed!
Damianbadger badgerhqfrance@yahoo.co.uk
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