How low can you get a classic Mini?

[coleman262]

As the title suggests.

This is what I started out with in may '09



Pretty much a mint. its 1982, and only had 28k on the clock. powerhouse? well that was 998cc's with probably 30ish BHP and drum brakes all round

Plans were, keep it looking clean and original. however that didn't last long.



A cheap stainless exhaust was fitted and the wheels painted black. Look at that arch gap!


(sorry for the poop phone picture was at work)

8.4" Disk brakes were then fitted, along with some arches as the brakes increased the track by 1" spacers were used on the rear to match.


Found a spare bonnet, painted that black, and got a magnetic numberplate as i pulled the standard mounted one off in the snow.

Then I started to get bored!


Finally I had saved enough money, being an apprentice mechanic is a bit of a struggle!
And I got fed up of scraping my head on clouds!

Gaz adjustable shock absorbers.

Hi-lo's
In case you weren't aware a mini doesn't use springs it uses rubber doughnutswhich you can see in the picture at the bottom, the adjustable threaded bit is the Hi-lo. and the bit on the end is the knuckle joint. Crude, but it works
This is where things started to get interesting.



Then we had snow, before it got too bad i got a shot of how she was sitting (not out of adjustment on the hi'los but was hitting the actual wheel arch,




Then the snow got worse, I know its not as bad as what you get in american mind you!


And I ran out of money, again!

so it stayed like that for a while. whilst it warmed up again, i dropped it a little lower.


Still now low enough.

[Jorge]

That last picture is so close to being on the money, looks sweet. I'd love to see it mixing it up with a different style wheel.

[coleman262]

Then it was time the interior got some attention.
black carpet was fitted, corberau buckets (you can see them in some of the other pictures)
And an omp rep. steering wheel

Indicating is fun

I realised then i wasnt going to get low enough on 12" wheels. so i got 10's!
Smaller brakes were needed on the front as the 10" wheel didnt clear the 8.4 disk and caliper, so 7.5" brake discs/calipers were fitted.



They didnt quite fit.


The front had to get some trimming!

(oh yeah thats me.)


needs finishing. but i can almost get full lock now

Wheel spec, not very interesting but 10"x6" all round tyres 165 70 R10 I haven't got a lot of choice on tyres because of the size.

So thats where im at, i've got a sump guard to go on as ive allready smashed some of the gearbox cooling fins. another engine to fit and the wheel arches which need to be rubbed down and painted.
Oh and some rose jointed camber arms.

Comments and criticism welcome.

[coleman262]

That last picture is so close to being on the money, looks sweet. I'd love to see it mixing it up with a different style wheel.

Check out the next post then haha! I didnt want to do it all in one just incase I lost it!

[e36cruiser]

you need some golf kart wheels and tires!

That's a 12" rim and tire...

[coleman262]

You can get some go cart wheels in the same PCD however I don't think they'll stand up to the amount of pot holes around here!
more pictures to come later of the new arches.

[Minuki]

Interesting to see how you do this, building a Mini myself. Are you going to tub the rear arches? Me and a friend are trying to get ours as low as possible haha

[coleman262]

Pictures!


The new arches are whats on the front, i had some others for the rear but they dont tuck the wheels and have rubbed through the fibreglass...



That's how far i've got between my sump/gearbox and the floor. i've caught the exhaust clamps on speed bumps a few times but thats it.

Minuki I will be tubbing the rear arches when I get a daily which should hopefully be very soon. then im going to try and raise the front subframe too so the ball joints arent under as much stress and locking out which means i'll be able to go lower.

A picture of my brothers car which im also helping build.



Its only a saxo, but I put a twincam VTS engine in it which has cams and a short ratio box, has around 140ish bhp. but the way it goes from 0-60 is mental.

[Minuki]

How was the handling that low on the 12's? You have the height i'm pretty much after.

[Rally]

Love this so much. It's great having classic minis on the forum.

[coleman262]

to be honest the handing was quite good! i had the shocks set a little firm on the back so it did tend to hop on the corners, but if you spend a little time fettling and adjusting you can have it spot on to your driving style, and still have the look your after.

and thanks! got to try something different every now and again ive not seen anyone else try and get one as low, static. everyone in the mini scene is too concerned about keeping things original and following the trend.

[Minuki]

Nice. I'm running coil-overs so I'll have plenty of adjustment. There's a few low Mini's popping up now, but not many.

[X5X]

Nice mini, I like where this is heading.

[Nosfer]

Sick project. Those wide wheel arches make it a lot more aggressive and interesting. Do you have any problems with those new wheels? They seem a lot bigger than the standard ones and I think the engine would struggle a little more with them.

[coleman262]

The rolling radius is actually smaller not sure on the exact measurements the new ones are 10 wheels with 165 70 profile tyres, the old were 12" wheels not sure on the size now. i'll find out later.
so in theory it helps with acceleration, and looses me a bit of top end but its not noticeable.
They're a few inches wider however so its supposed to put a little more strain on everyting else, but only time will tell.