Happy Birthday, Mini

A bit of a break from my Mini now, but still a Mini project.

This is a plaque that I have designed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Mini being built.

Ive sent a couple of these to MiniWorld magazine to see what they think of them.

Maybe they'll commission me to do some more work for them. Who knows?

This is the most up to date photo that I have at the moment.
It now has number squares on the doors and a GB badge on the back.
I've also changed the mirrors for convex original style items from MiniSpares as the bullet ones pictured had very limited visibility.

I'll get some more photos asap.
Just waiting for the weather to sort itself out so I can get out on the road again.

Interior

A shot of the interior.
No frills. Just what you need to get you and 1 passenger down the road as quickly as possible (legally of course).

Some updating has occured since this photo was taken. Main clocks now sit in specially formed aluminium binnacle and harnesses are now 3" Sabelt items as original ones wouldn't stay tight.
Footwell plates soon to be scrapped aswell to make cleaning and mopping up water a bit easier. Yes, it leaks a bit - it's a Mini, that's what they do!

Front Suspension

Adjustable bottom arms, tie rods and coil-overs take care of business at this end. Poly bushes replace worn out rubber ones for control and comfort.

7.9" vented disc kit from MiniSport (with billet 4-pot callipers not fitted) does a good job of stopping the car and fits inside 10" wheels...just!

Black anti-stonchip again liberally applied to all of underside.

All suspension components finished in black 2-pack paint for protection from the elements.

Rear Suspension

The rear suspension assembly fitted to the car.

Rusty (and heavy) subframe has been replaced by beam from Huddersfield Spares (very good supplier-highly recommended).
Gaz coil-overs replace standard Mini suspension in one lightweight unit and provide loads of adjustability.

Black anti-stonechip finish looks great, goes on easily and provides much needed protection to vulnerable underside.

Engine Installed

Engine built and fitted.
Supercharger kit by Vmax Scart is ok, but has lots of potential for development / improvement.

Still a bit more to go in here like oil cooler etc. Mini engine bay gets full very quickly!

Incase you were wondering it produced 130bhp at the wheels when I had it tuned by Peter Baldwin in November 2008. Not bad for 1293cc's!

Changes since then include a smaller supercharger pulley which has taken inlet manifold pressure from 0.6bar to 1bar. Haven't had it re-tested since then so can't indicate new figures, although I can tell you that it has improved drivability significantly.

Future plans include fuel injection with mapped ignition and revised intake manifold to replace the Vmax Item which I feel is very restrictive. I need to save up some serious dosh first though, so it could stay like this for a while...

Engine

An amazing amount of bits to fit into such a tiny space.
Most of this was a kit from MED who are brilliant by anybodys standards.

The Boot

The boot in a just about finished state.

Single tank should be just about big enough to get me from one petrol station to the next.

Lots of repair work was required in here but looking at it now it's virtually undetectable.

The Shell

After about 6 months of restoration and then further modification to make the shell strong enough (note rollcage) this was the finished result.

Panels replaced include:
both front wings, front valence, scuttle, hinge panels, a-panels, inner & outer sills, boot floor, rear valence, subframe mounting points, roof skin, door skins and many more.
Not to mention all of the repairs and patches that were necessary.

All work completed by my dad and I including, I am very proud to say, the paintwork.

The Plan

In late 2008 I decided that I wanted to build a Mini. I mean a proper Mini, not one of those BMW things.

I spoke to friend who runs a garage that specialises in classic Mini's and he quickly found one that was ideal - a 1971 Austin Mini Super. It was in a bit of a state, but it certainly had potential.

The first few posts of this blog are a brief story of the restoration and build of what turned into a major project, but became a really serious Mini.

From time to time I'll be updating with additions and improvements so check back from time to time to see how it's progressing.