newbie questions

[G67atp]

hi all firstly been looking around, and gotta say i love the site. my question is :

i have just cut the front of my mini off to fit a flip front/ removablefront, and im unsure wether or not it need to fit brace bars or not, it has a mini/metro hybrid subframe to accept the engine but im unsure wether i have to fit brace bars due to the construction of the subframe,
http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TgDSAqkW1mqtODt8w*awb7yLjHIuY7uSVAOsgMRsQAbclPXVq X8rf1!5xZWjaFB2mNq32zLVaLmfcNeju*5jYqB!L9KE8jvg!iE O4mM5J25duKcSNnuZ*w/Brace%20Bars%201.JPG

it already has bars which go from the rear of the subframe to the front which are welded in, i noticed that the clubman from www.theclubman.co.uk hasn't fitted additional ones but wanted to clarify whether i need any or not, http://www.theclubman.co.uk/images/Kseries/myk/out1.jpg

is this person a member ?

Cheers all

Dave

[Geehawk]

Yes I am :wink:

As you say I have not fitted extra brace bars, as I considered the solid mountings to the bodywork to be more than adequate. Time will tell whether this assumption was correct.

I have had no problems with MOTs either. The MOT man has been quite happy. Also when the steel front is bolted on, that adds quite a bit of support too.

Graham

[G67atp]

thats exactly what i thought graham , the mounts look realy solid anyway, think i will do the same as yove done then, is youre front end steel, if it is did you buy ity or build it, as im unsure what i wanna do yet,


cheers mate

Dave

[Geehawk]

I made up my front end, 2 new wings, slam panel, couple of headlight panels and a bit of sheet steel for the rest.

On the subject of brace bars, I was reading the David Vizard 'How to modify your mini' book last night and came upon a section on flip fronts etc.. He was of the opinion that extra bracing even using the standard Mini frame is not required as the rear top and bottom mounts are more than enough.