Dragonflyer build 2

[dragonflyer]

Well I think I will start the diary here for this one.

I'm starting a new project. Learning from my last experiance I decided to do this one myself.

You know what they say... "If you want something done right, do it yourself"

I'm going to be working full time on this vtec project right after I sell my first one. :wink:

So here is the start of many pictures. Picked up the shell from a local guy. Just kind of fell into my lap. NZ shell very minor rust and already included the panels I need to fix that. Also included a MK1 convertion kit for the tail lights.

This will be a whole new level of aesthetics for me and a big learning experience. You guys on here are always helpfull and I thank you for that.

So with out further adue' here is the new shell.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/dragonflyer/New%20VTEC%20build/Miniofftruck2.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v31/dragonflyer/New%20VTEC%20build/Miniofftruck1.jpg

[mooncat]

If your doing another one do a B20 as the bits are easily pick up in the US, and it will be alot quicker than the first one....

good luck
Keith

[BigAndy]

oooh that shell looks mint!

Hope there hasnt been too many problems with your first one - i know you had a couple but i didnt think they were very major?

Good luck with the build. No matter how proud you werer of the first one, if you do the work yourself its a whole different feeling!

Andy

[dragonflyer]

I still have a few things to fix on the current Mini to be able to sell it. I really want a Pick up so hopfully I can find one. I was a day late on one on the east cosat. :x

I would really like to get the cruise control to work so that is one thing I will work on. If I can't get it to work that I just rip it out of there.

If the B20 can bolt right into Minitec subframe than I would do that other wise I'm going with a B18c5. I'm going to make this one stock fast but really focus on the aesthetics reliability. The one I have now has Lucus wiring spliced into Honda and it just doesn't hold up.

This new one will have a Painless set up from another manufacture.
What do you guys think about the Spoon Sport chip?

[mooncat]

I have 2 pick ups... and Im on the East coast.... Scotland that is.. 8) best of luck anyway... :D

[JoBu]

I have 2 pick ups... and Im on the East coast.... Scotland that is.. 8) best of luck anyway... :D

Can you give me one of your pick ups? :D 8) :lol:

[dragonflyer]

I have 2 pick ups... and Im on the East coast.... Scotland that is.. 8) best of luck anyway... :D

When your on the net it's never to far away. :D

Would you concider selling one?

[mooncat]

Nah not selling one of the Pick Ups, but would sell one of my woodys... it needs a lot so work though like all Minis, could do with one going as I now have 15...!! :roll: and also being scottish I would need paying in haggis and swathes of tartan..!! :lol:

[Allan McD]

15...!! :lol:
You must have a big car park are you sure you wont sell a pickup :?:
Allan

[mooncat]

I have some big sheds..... I did have 4 pick ups but 2 went... but they aint for sale.... sorry.. 8)

[jimfai]

there was a pick up for sale here in mpls earlier this year, he tried ebay a couple times and didn't get anywere, may still have it, i will look around for his email addy if you like? have you driven or sat in a pick up DF? i am a shade over 6' and i think they are horrible to drive for any amount of time as well as get in and out of. just a thought for you, vans are way better as you can cut out the rear seat shelf and get a lot of comfy leg room. why not look at one of mooncats woodies and convert it to a bigger cab pick up since you are doing body work, having just completed the b16 to b20 swap in my car a couple weeks ago i agree with what others say, more torque = more fun at this time. so please tell all with why you are selling your car? after waiting so long for it are their just to many issues to be worked out? i still believe you were only like the second person to ever buy a turn key from them except for the demo cars? there have been 3 minitec cars on ebay just within the last month so it makes you wonder whats up? jim

[dragonflyer]

Alright here is the story. This in no way reflects Minitec. They are great guys and very helpful. Just a lot of circumstance.

First thing you should know is I went all out on this car. Broke the bank as you might say. Minitec did a lot of stuff with this car that they had never even thought of before. Power windows,Power canvas sunroof, Keyless entry,(the key fobe also rolls down the windows) Cruise Control and the sterio went into the center toggle switch spot.

So here is what happen. The only thing I can say about the build process is it took a lot longer than they said and they did manage to waist some of my time and $$. I flew out there with a friend to pick up the car and it wasn't ready. They said it was. But they aslo realized that and paid to get us back.

Then when I picked up the car for real the first motor was bad. It worked well while testing it and then I drove about 600 miles took it autocrossing and through a rod. Stuck in Knoxville TN, Norman Paid for a new motor and a local place to do the swap.

I have lost every fender flare that they put on there because thay got a bad batch of glue to hold the bracets on. Since then I have fixed them all with rivets and replaced one that I lost on the trip home. Then I lost the alternator. Norman Paid for a new one.

Then we had some major A/C issues. Still working on that but they are paying to replace the comperssor,drier and condensor. The problem with the A/C is the condensor was under the floor in the back next to the exhaust. Normally that is fine but I live in AZ. It reached record Highs of 120 this year and I was driving the mini the whole time. So with temps like that you get 180 from the road 250 form the exhaust and no real air flow. So I'm still working on that. Still this is the first VTEC in AZ how was anyone to know it would have these issues.

Another major issue was the flip front. The brakets kept coming out of the fiber glass. This was a result of putting them in after the flip front was built and the shape they made them.(L shaped) Normally they do that as part of the build. Fixed that too by making the bracket more efficent. (welded the top part in to the center of a square piece) Also fixed the hinges to work better by adding sealed barings.


Now here is the issue I'm still frustrated with which I will be fixing in the next couple weeks. One is the cruise control. It has never worked. They said they have got it to work but I have never seen it. Not sure what the problem is but that is something I will have to figure out. The other major issue is some shorts in the electrical. They seem to do a lot wierd stuff with fuses. I had to fixe 1 fifty amp fuse and the 100 amp that runs the alternator. The only thing that would make those any better is if they were all part of the same fus box. So I'm looking into honda fuse boxes for the next build.

Minitec did not know how to do the keyless entry bit at all so they out sourced to a local car stereo place. The stereo place not really knowing what Norman did for wiring just did their own thing and tapped into power wires that were already taxed, so now I blow fuses all the time until I can figure out where they are going. The other issue is I think a crossed wire in the window switches. They work fine but the driver side window has always been real slow. Not happy with that because that is something they were supposed to look at when I left the car to be finished.
Sorry back to the curent issue. I have switches for driver an passenger on the driver side and just passenger on that side. When I try to roll up the passenger window from the driver side I blow the fuse for the windows. So there is another issue.

Maybe all this was for a reason so I could fix all the issues and learn how to do my own Mini. So that is what I'm doing now. I've learned what not to do with this car and will make the next one a lot better. I think Minitec has learned a lot from this car as well. Every time I fuigure out something new or some way to make the build more efficiant than I tell them. I believe in what they are doing and they get better with each car they build(with my help and research of course :D )

So there is the story in a nutshell. I was very frustrated for a while and them came to grips with the fact that it really wasn't Mintecs fault. I still work with them and Norman helps me out every change he gets. The main reason to sell the car is like I said I broke the bank on this car. so at this point I could not even have fixed the car to keep it anymore. it needs to go. With the $$ I get from this Mini I will then build another one. It doesn't take a whole lot of $$ to build one of these but it does take a whole lot of time. When you buy one of these turn keys you are basicly paying for someone else to build it for you. So yes they are a lot of money here in the US But if you want one and don't have the time or know how to build one yourself than turn key is the way to go and worth the extra $$.

[jimfai]

the wiring on these can be a bummer for sure, i fully understand the level of frustration especially after the money spent and time waited. i had a similar experience some time back with my mgb, i ended up with a car that had many electric quirks that no one could figure and i finally sold it because i did not trust it, never wanted to drive it anymore because i got tired of calling a tow truck or the wife for a ride, in the end the electric issue was solved and the problem had a lot to do with the fellow that did the conversion. not that it matters anymore. when you do a harness i can refer you a company in WI called kwik-wire, i used their kit to do the resto on my MGA V6 and i have been thrilled with it, have had it in the car for almost 4 years now with no problems and their set up is about 1/2 of painless wiring brand, good luck with it, jim

[dragonflyer]

the wiring on these can be a bummer for sure, i fully understand the level of frustration especially after the money spent and time waited. i had a similar experience some time back with my mgb, i ended up with a car that had many electric quirks that no one could figure and i finally sold it because i did not trust it, never wanted to drive it anymore because i got tired of calling a tow truck or the wife for a ride, in the end the electric issue was solved and the problem had a lot to do with the fellow that did the conversion. not that it matters anymore. when you do a harness i can refer you a company in WI called kwik-wire, i used their kit to do the resto on my MGA V6 and i have been thrilled with it, have had it in the car for almost 4 years now with no problems and their set up is about 1/2 of painless wiring brand, good luck with it, jim

I'm already planning on buying one of those wiring harnesses for this next prodject. Someone from this forum told me about ez2wire about a mounth ago. $250 for a 22wire set Your storry is a lot worse than mine is. The electrical problems I'm having are all in relation to the power windows and keyless entry so I don't think it will be to much trouble to figure that out.

[dragonflyer]

Just a quick update. Not much has been done yet. I did go out and get most of the tools I will need and have since found a few more that I still need. Did some practice welds today with the mig. I'me learning as I go but before I go and ruin a good shell I wanted to practice. So i'm building a raw steel picture frame for a fine art pice I have. Made one frame today. Did ok but it still needs lots of work. It's really hard to see what your doing. :?

Anyway. I did manage to grind off some paint where there was known rust. It looks like I will need to replace the floor panel on the left side. I guess I should get good at welding before I try that bit.
Had to have some lady come over and redo the registration. she missed a couple letters in the Vin. At this point I would really like to juts loose that vin and start fresh with one that doesn't need to be emission tested. I figure that out when I'm almost done.

I'm only a few things away from selling my current ride. Got a new windshield. Replaced all the lights. Got a new CF fender flare to replace the one that went missing and I should be ready to fix the A/C next week too.

That's it for now.

[BassAddict]

It's really hard to see what your doing. :?
I presume you've not got an auto-darkening helmet then ? If not, get one - its makes life soooooooo much easier ! :)
Rich

[Allan McD]

It's really hard to see what your doing. :?
I presume you've not got an auto-darkening helmet then ? If not, get one - its makes life soooooooo much easier ! :)
Rich
I second that I got one from ebay cheap and its ace.
Allan

[dragonflyer]

Didn't even know something like that exsisted. I'll have to look in to that. right now I'm using goggles with a flip up lense. that seem to work but sometimes I for get to put the lence back down when I start. That's probably not good :?

[chrisg]

using goggles is definatly not a good idea anyway :lol: get a lot of uv radiation from electric (ark, mig....) welding = sunburn :oops: why welding visors have a full face shield , just use those for gas welding. also looking at an ark can give you ark eye, which is apparently very very painfull. something about burning the surface of your eyes, the painfull bit comes when it starts to heal itself. imagine sunburnt eyes :shock:

[BassAddict]

Yeha, goggles are usually only quite a low shade, like 5 or so - helmets designed for mig / tig etc are much higher - like 11, 12, 13 or so. The auto ones cover a range - mine, I think, is 7 to 12.
These goggles are shade 5:
http://www.welduk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=211

Whereas these auto helmets cover a range:
http://www.welduk.com/Results1.asp?Category=49

My mate's welded without the right clobber a couple of times - and he says the pain from arc-eye is unbelievably horrid ! I wonder if that why his eyesight went bad enough to need laser eye surgery ?!! :)
Rich

[mooncat]

Arc eye.... had it, wouldnt recommend it to anyone...... basically imagine being sensitive to all light and having to be locked in a darkened room.... all without a Miss whiplash either....

[dragonflyer]

Yeha, goggles are usually only quite a low shade, like 5 or so - helmets designed for mig / tig etc are much higher - like 11, 12, 13 or so. The auto ones cover a range - mine, I think, is 7 to 12.
These goggles are shade 5:
http://www.welduk.com/Details.asp?ProductID=211

Whereas these auto helmets cover a range:
http://www.welduk.com/Results1.asp?Category=49

My mate's welded without the right clobber a couple of times - and he says the pain from arc-eye is unbelievably horrid ! I wonder if that why his eyesight went bad enough to need laser eye surgery ?!! :)
Rich

I've already had lazer eye surgery :shock:

I think I look into those face sheilds.

[jevs]

I don't think I agree with the building one of these yourself is cheep idea :). I am nearing 30 grand on mine. Done every bit myself. Of course, I really spared no expense LOL. As for wiring. I am using a Painless setup. And for a computer I am using Accel DFI. Might as well go whole hog with 100% control (plus comes with drivetrain wiring harness and sensors. I also got the Accel dual sync distributor, injectors, coil, and spark box. Not much Mini left in my Mini, but I hope it will be more reliable than a stocker.

[dragonflyer]

Just thought I would through in a quick update.

I can't start on my new build till I sell the one I have now. So BTW I have a VTEV Mini for sale if anyone is interested.

I've also been thinking that it's going to cost way to mucvh $$ to get all that I need for the shell I bought. So when my car sells I will bve looking for a cheep Mini with all the parts.

That's about it. Oh and I bought a Mini Pickup. I'm leaving that stock though. It's a 68 leyland Austin.