THE ROADSTER, THE 16V SOON TO BE.....

[imabitnaughtyxx]

Ok so i already own ( with my husband) 3 minis. we have a 1972 1330 MG powered saloon saved for our 15 year old son, a 1410 ex hill climb 1960 austin seven beast and my little 1275 1964 hideously chromed & customised automatic :D They are all on the road as well by the way.
By the way I also run the infamous (lincs-mini-chaos-club). :shock:

Anyway to cut a long story, I saw this roadster on ebay last month, ive been looking for another car to replace my bmw z3 roadster, saw this project for £495.
Shes 1963, all metal & no fibreglass and has the front already extended by 90mm! the metal work is awesome, and the best thing is there is no filler or F/glass whatsoever, its ALL metal. the guy who did the conversion was obviously very talented.
Plans......
Seeing as i drive like a granny most of the time but like to give the odd blast when required i was thinking around 160bhp would be sufficient for my needs.
I really have no clue where to buy anything from atm so the plan is to build up the honda conv subframe with all the components needed and when complete put the whole lot in at once. Ill run an a series for a couple of months just while we get the hood etc sorted out.
Im not exactly a novice at this game having built the last 2 minis from a bare shell & helped with the 1410 A+engine in the austin seven.
16v is a whole new ball game and im going to attempt all this at home on the drive one inch manicured fingernails and all! :wink:
any comments appreciated.

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/lincs-mini-chaos-club/new4.jpg
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/lincs-mini-chaos-club/new2-1-1.jpg

[rwdvvcmini]

yes i saw this auction myself. was half tempted to bid, :)

but the styling of it is superb i love the boot cover and the smooth rear end in general

with a bit of tlc this could be one seriously nice car :)

[imabitnaughtyxx]

Thanks, Its going to be orange, probably house of colour tangerine with a special secret paint effect... also going to have some team dynamics 13" wheels for it which ive just done a good deal on, these will be black/silver until i can afford some bling chrome crosswires for the summer.
interior will be basic but functional and most of all comfy!

[ChrisClubmanEstate]

That ass looks fat!

Good base for a project though :lol:

[imabitnaughtyxx]

well the shell is ready for paint right now, all the prep was done by the last but one owner, just needs a rub down and paint. no rust to tackle either, always a good thing that! :lol:
Like i said though until ive sold my z3 (april/may) the honda conversion wont start, mind you ive been offered a scrap civic for £45 so we will have to see what comes of that and if the engine is suitable.
If anyone can help with sourcing a subframe etc etc i can make a list of places to go and a shopping list.
until then ill get the painting done, its got a 1330 engine that just needs a cooling system and electrics and fit full brakes as someone robbed the 7" brake system while it was in storage or maybe the last owner did not realise they not had been on the car.

[Oz]

If anyone can help with sourcing a subframe etc etc i can make a list of places to go and a shopping list.

If you've bought some 13" wheels and they are mini fitment then you are limited to the Allspeed frame or building your own. The Watsons frame uses a modified K-Series Metro frame so you need Metro fitment wheels (these are different to Mini and A-Series Metro fitment)

[imabitnaughtyxx]

Thanks for that, someone did mention allspeed, do they have a website because i cant find it anywhere?

[Owen]

If you've bought some 13" wheels and they are mini fitment then you are limited to the Allspeed frame or building your own.


What about the minitec kit?

[imabitnaughtyxx]

ive no idea, new to the 16v scene tbh

[Owen]

http://superfastminis.com/Mini-HondaProducts.htm - Minitec. I know it's US, but there are a few people that have imported them.


http://www.allspeedengineering.com/subframes.htm - Allspeed.


http://www.watsonsrally.co.uk/home.html - Watsons, but you'd have to either get the PCD changed, or change your wheels.


And there's a guy on here (mooncat I think) who has recently got the AMT jigs. I don't think the honda one is ready for production yet tho?

[Owen]

And do some searching of the site! You'll find a lot of questions have already been answered.

Good luck with the build!

[imabitnaughtyxx]

cheers for that, im hoping to get the engine all done for about £2000, or am i being overly optimistic?

[mooncat]

The frame is ready for production but I havent had any driveshafts made for the kits yet, ( concentrating on the vauxhall frame just now )but will have by next year 8)

[imabitnaughtyxx]

coooool, im looking to get started in around april anyway!

[Owen]

cheers for that, im hoping to get the engine all done for about £2000, or am i being overly optimistic?


How long is a peice of string? :lol:


It sure can be done, but you'd probably need to be doing a lot of the bits yourself, i.e. making your own frame etc. You could get lucky and find everything you need at killer prices.

Difficult question to answer really, depends how you plan to go about it (i.e. pre fabbed frame or home made etc).

[imabitnaughtyxx]

well i plan to buy most things like frame and driveshafts, can source the engine by buying a whole car at scrap value, i know someone who can source this hopefully, so everything bar the engine & loom must be about £2k
looking at allspeeds prices it can be done. will be building it all at home.

[Oz]

The frame is ready for production but I havent had any driveshafts made for the kits yet, ( concentrating on the vauxhall frame just now )but will have by next year 8)

Apologies Keith I hadn't realised you were putting the ex-AMT ones back into production in near future :oops:

With regards to Minitec they are designed with LHD in mind and reading their site there are extra mods to steering rack that are required, I believe the same applies to the Brian Campbell and Ringmini frames.

£2000, everything is possible but there is a poll of how much the cars have cost and the majority is in excess of £10K but a fair few were done for that cost where most or all the fabrication was done by the owner rather than buying off the shelf kits

http://www.16vminiclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=8111

[mooncat]

Thats ok Oz I cant spend all my time on the frames/jigs as I have other work to do, including my business, renovating my house, and an 8month gone girlfriend, so time is tight... but the Vauxhall frames should be ready for the off before chrimbo, and the Vtec frames early next year. :D

[imabitnaughtyxx]

luckily though the front end is already extended, and ill have the full honda with loom etc so its just the extras. its not like im building from scratch. im also getting strengthing bars welded in for free around the bulkhead and the bulkhead already has the large box welded in as the last owner was also doing honda conversion!

[imabitnaughtyxx]

so now its off to the paintshop over xmas for a bit of a tangerine fling and in the meantime collect the essential items required to get it through an mot with the 1330 engine i have spare for it at the moment.
Its a totally bare shell but ive had a few ebay bargains luckily and a few mini friends have been helping with some cheapo bits.
some more pics added for your enjoyment!

the boot opens on rams

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/lincs-mini-chaos-club/rita006.jpg

dash is also made from steel
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/lincs-mini-chaos-club/rita003.jpg

boot still in situ, the welding and deseaming is remarkable

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/lincs-mini-chaos-club/rita012.jpg

door still in situ cut in half
http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/lincs-mini-chaos-club/rita007.jpg

modified petrol tank

http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp92/lincs-mini-chaos-club/rita013.jpg

[Andy_S]

Welcome to the world of engine swapped Mini's.

£2000 will be a good start, especially if you're going for a pre-made subframe & shafts. But then you'll just buy a few extra bits, then some other stuff and maybe some more things that you really need. :D

These wee beasties are seriously good fun and a serious drain on the wallet. But until you've experienced 150+ horsies in a Mini you haven't lived.

Have fun with the conversion ........ just make sure have an elastic wallet :wink:

[imabitnaughtyxx]

im not expecting it to cost only 2k but for the basic elements id like to try. Im going to show the car on our clubstand in the summer and use my current mini as my daily driver, once my Z3 is sold in the spring.
once the conversion is complete, my daily to be mini is getting the honda treatment as well!
Im well aware that im going to want to spend a bit more on bits as i go but thats not a problem.
thanks for the interest x

[2many]

That is an excellent base for a project. The metalwork would have taken many hours to get to that stage.

[imabitnaughtyxx]

well managed to get some 13" wheels and metro 4pots, converted with vented discs.
getting spray sorted asap.