Clubman fronts
Turbo Mini Forums

Anyone know the weight of the steel panels for a clubman front? Or even the difference between steel and a typical fibreglass front?

I've got an abs fibreglass front on at the minute and the shape of it is miles off so I need an alternative. I did originally want to go as light as I could but I can't bring myself to get the car painted when the front looks like ass.

I know steel will give me the best fit and looks, just wondered if anyone has a Curley carbon one or an arc angels carbon one and can comment on the shape of the wings ideally, pics would be great!

The front is on in this pic, it's like it's too narrow and the wings suck in above the wheels

With how it is now I'll need std plastic arches on the back which is what I want, but I'll need grp5's up front to get the same tyre coverage, which will look shite.

Edited by Nick on 19th Aug, 2016.

Have u tried trimming down the arch seam to see if it comes out a little? I have the same front as you and know exactly what you mean but i think some of the excess is keeping it a shit shape, i also have a metal front end and it is rather heavier!

On the other hand i picked up a carbon fibre front end for my roundnose at pod this weekend from arc angels, they had a clubby front behind it and it looked a better shape than the abs one.. i think arc angels have put a little more effort in getting theirs to look and fit a bit better

Nick , i had this same issue years ago , luckly i had two not gen wings so got a non gen front panel ( think there in 3 peices ) and put them together ! It is heavy tho !!!! I could possibly try weigh it .

The other problem i see is you carnt get non gen wings now so the heritage one hopfully will be better quality but possibly heavier aswell !

My arc angels heavy duty one isn't the worst, but the wings of it aren't true shape, most of them are the same flat sided design for some reason. Matt Skidmore has his stuff from Les/Custom minis and they're mouldings taken from a steel front and fit much better by the looks of it, worth asking him.

Hi Nick,

Clubman panels, all new unpainted;

New Heritage bonnet: 7.8kg (No prop or any catches)
New Heritage slam panel: 0.88kg
New Heritage front panel: 3.68kg
New Heritage wing: 2.89kg

I can't find the weight for the headlight mounting panel/s off hand but in the region of 100 - 150g each IIRC

It's a big weight hit compared to steel round nose when I looked in to it, what sort of weight is the Clubman ABS FG part/s

Cheers

The curley front end I have is miles better than the last one I had.

My old 2nd hand one was an unknown brand, but looking at the typical moulding features, it's similar to what you have.

The curley one I have now has much more in the way of original features, seam lines and an actual slam panel which goes over the headlamps rather than the open recess.

David.

Steel front with good GRP bonnet is the only way to get it right.

GRP fronts are for race cars imo, I'd not run a GRP front on a road car.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

I had a look at that arc angels clubby one at mitp, wasn't as bad as my abs one but still not ideal. I've already trimmed the lip off hoping that would cure it but it didn't. The whole front is too narrow, the bonnet they supplied with it doesn't even fit in the gap!

Phoned the Midlands Minispares this morning thinking fuck it I'll just buy steel panels... Only a n/s wing in stock, bugger.

Nick, i've got a couple of pattern wings and a rover lower front panel in the shed. The wings have a fair bit of surface rust due to storage for so long but front panel is good

Is the front panel for pre 76, the solid mounted version?

How bad are the wings, reckon they'd clean up?

Fire us a message on fb if you want mate before I order from Minispares on Monday

I think its a later front panel. Will get you some photos tomorrow

Can't comment on a clubman front, but I've got a fg arc angels roundnose front and its a bit shit. Gonna require a fair bit of work to get it right. It's amazing after all these years, and the clear demand for putting them on road cars, no one's making decent fg parts.

Im also considering steel like you, it's not necessarily the driving weight that concerns me, it's the weight when you want to take it off and you suddenly need two people

Edited by JetBLICK on 21st Aug, 2016.