Is bootfloor structural
Turbo Mini Forums

Thinking about losing some of it to save wieght,but what would mr mot man think???

Spag has done it on his V8 mini on www.v8mini.co.uk for extra cooling for the boot rads

Metro turbo weekend driver,Mini turbo in the making again!

i'm not sure what Mr MOT man would say, i dont think he'd approve though, you're not supposed to have any rot within 30cm of suspension/subframe mountings, dunno what he'd say about a whopping great hole though.

asked loads of people about this, get varying answers all the time as well.

im cutting mine out!

My mot tester said it would be fine to change for the carbon fibre type. He said bolt/rivit it alot arround the edge and also lots of sikaflex inbetween the materials

Previous Engine: 1040cc Morespeed engine, 1275 turbo head T2 Turbo Mirage Manifolds Megajolt
Previous engine: STD metro turbo, megajolt
Drives: 399bananahp (flywheel) Honda Civic Vtec b18c4 T28 Turbo 1968 Mini

Megajolt maps to download: http://www.jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.ph...&gid=3&Itemid=3

I was thinking of alloy myself

Metro turbo weekend driver,Mini turbo in the making again!

Well in my opinion a think this is a hideous idea just to save a FEW pounds,
It may well be all for good intentions, for the straight line events BUT

If you are on the road and some buffoon lunges out on you with a mpv or an off roader then you need all the strength you can get not even mentioning track events think about it!

i have seen this done and you are not doing your minis any favours

You would be better off using all your energies to producing more power say with a bigger intercooler or whatever this would more than make up for the few pounds weight saved

I should know, been there in my youth and it hurts!

just my oppinion guys

Edited by BENROSS on 2nd Mar, 2005.

it saves 7.5 kgs....

or 16.5 lbs!!

alex

AlexF

16.5 lbs!! pounds thats a lot of Strength
alex,
even if its done correctley.

which i assume the guys would

i thought it was less!

makes it more so to think about!!!!!!!!!!

Looks very cool if it shows weave, and the CF hold shopping bags better!

Previous Engine: 1040cc Morespeed engine, 1275 turbo head T2 Turbo Mirage Manifolds Megajolt
Previous engine: STD metro turbo, megajolt
Drives: 399bananahp (flywheel) Honda Civic Vtec b18c4 T28 Turbo 1968 Mini

Megajolt maps to download: http://www.jamesfawcett.co.uk/cms/index.ph...&gid=3&Itemid=3

i reckon if your gonna crash in a mini you've had it regardless!
might as well do it

I have a CF boot floor in my mini, but I added lots of strength to the mini before I cut the floor out, I think my cage is attached to the body in over 20 places, and the rear subframe has been modified and solid mounted. I'm confident mine is stronger than the average mini.

Team Racing

7.5 kilos....... only because you have removed the battery!

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

Turbo steve.

i disagree

if it were so, mini miglia racing would just put their
145 HP race engines in to standard shells with no regard what so ever for saftey seats cages ete etc................

i deem the road now adays more dangerouse in places than most race tracks as you have traffic comming both ways and 99% of people have no regard for enyone what so ever.

saftey is everything.

jimster has done it right and i bet he has not got hurt

? think you miss underastood what i was getting at,
i was implying minis are unsafe in a crash as standard so much so that a crash at speed would probably kill you, if this is the case might as well take the boot floor out !
i ment it as a sarky joke lol
but i agree with what your saying totally as the steel boot floor would bend and crumple in a crash where a fibre one would just crack and break to pieces offering no kinetic Absorption

steve

i missed the point.
we need all the Strength we can incorporate

sorry mate its cos im welsh lol

now wheres me wood and nails to fix me subby

i asked my local garage about this the other day and they said its ok to do.

clubman dan

but is it??

saftey wise!!!!!

mot wise they say its fine.
not sure how safe it would be, cf and fibre glass is something like 40 times stronger than steel weight for weight but i suppose it wont bend to absorb the shock like steel does,
i reckon some bracing of somekind would be needed and in the end you probably wouldnt actually save any weight but what the hell it looks proper bo'

CF only stronger in static load tests, and also it is quite poor if used in compression with a slender aspect as it will quite quickly tend towards a buckling moment leading to failure. CF pushrods are an example, I have used a set in an engine before and 2 of them failed almost immediately they were used. If they survive first use they are generally OK, but it seems a bit hit and miss. Maybe they are better these days?

Impact resistance is what is important in a crash and laminates are poor as they are brittle. Also you will get more deformation of the back panel (assuming replaced the boot floor) as it will not be possible to bond the carbon boot floor to the rest of the car sufficiently well to transfer any load in an impact into the heelboard area.

Each to their own I suppose, it depends what you want to use your car for. Personally I would not even consider this mod for a car that went anywhere near the road. On a race or track day car that only goes on the road on a trailer would be the only one I would consider, and in this case the MOT would be irrelevant anyway!

Just my opinion.

Edited by Tom Fenton on 7th Mar, 2005.

what can i say!
PERFECT TOM

7.5kg from a sheet of 20 gauge steel???

You need to get your fooking scales re-calibrated...

I've always found it kinda ammusing when folks replace panels like a boot floor with a sheet of alloy - especially when they replace 20 gauge steel with 14 gauge alloy (twice the thickness) and a dozen or more nuts and bolts to hold it in place!

Density of alloy is around 1/3 of steel as i recall (?) so the saving in the above example is very little, especially given the time taken and the nuts/bolts to be undone!


I know there is a battery box there, but I think peeps do go overboard sometime. LOL!



Of course this is coming from the fella who won the 02 showdown with his 3ton trolley jack and spare tyre in his boot!

Edited by turbodave16v on 8th Mar, 2005.

that says it all! Dave

i think we are forgetting something when we think about the safety issue, i agree there will be less strength there in an impact it goes without saying really. but we can't forget about the rear subframe it is a fairly substancial peice of metal and it must go someway to keeping strength in the rear of the car. i might get shot down for saying this but i reckon most of the rear end strength must be in the subframe. so the loss of strength by removing the floor and replacing it cant be that substancial.
and the more i think about the more i think you might even get away with out needing any extra bracing.
feel free to rip that to shreds just adding a few more thoughts..
DAN :)