The Lowly Gentlemen 1974 Austin Mini

[Rally]

Still not a whole lot to update as far as build is concern but the parts collection is growing. New engine top-end parts should be here this week and the rust repair panels are on their way as well. I'll be cutting out the sills and front floor pans as they are completely toast and while I'm working on the bottom portion of the car, I'll be welding up the holes left from the arches that I removed.

I tossed on the new mirrors and took her out for a proper photoshoot before I start cutting out the rust.

[MadMax]

this is awesome !

really like the way those 10 inch wheels look...and that you´re keeping it classy

[mekken]

subbed for sure.. looks great!

[Keith602]

Awesome photos as always.

[montgomery]

Looks way better without the flares.

[99sil-teg]

Can't wait to see the progress on the Mini, been hiding it from us haha

[theseeker411]

I feel like this is one of those cars that you have to drive with a permanent grin on your face.

What are you doing as far as suspension?

[Rally]

I feel like this is one of those cars that you have to drive with a permanent grin on your face.

What are you doing as far as suspension?

Haha as cheesy as it sounds, the car really does bring a smile to your face with each drive.

The Minis are odd with their suspension. They use rubber cones rather than springs. I'll be upgrading to new stiffer rubber cones and installing Hi-Lo adjusters so I can begin tweaking the ride height.

[Byron]

Let me know if you need an extra hand with the rust repair or engine rebuild, I'd love to help out.

[bimmerspotter]

i will be happily following this

[Rally]

Let me know if you need an extra hand with the rust repair or engine rebuild, I'd love to help out.

Thanks, I'll definitely be taking you up on that.

[improbb]

So glad to find this build thread! It looks so clean its hard to believe theres any rust that needs to be looked at. Its good to see another classic

[Rally]

So glad to find this build thread! It looks so clean its hard to believe theres any rust that needs to be looked at. Its good to see another classic

At some point in its life, someone did a rather poor job patching up the rockers which are already prone to rust on Minis. The patch seems to have collected water and just rusted out from within.

It's been repainted at some time so it hides some of its flaws. It's a driver quality car which is perfect for me.

[Rally]

I've got some quick updates for the build progress.

I worked with Mastermind to bring over some Impul wheels that I found for sale in Japan on their Yahoo auctions. There's a huge selection of unique old wheels on those auctions pages and the guys at Mastermind bring over containers from Japan rather regularly. It was a simple process and I'm really pleased with the outcome so far.

10x4 Impul Pro Mesh Group-C Jr.



My other auction win was a complete engine from a 1995 BMW K1100. The plan is to integrate the head with the standard Mini 1275 A Series engine to build a 'fast road' engine for the Mini. Cylinder head swaps have always been part of the Mini's history since its inception. It wasn't uncommon for race teams to adapt twin cam heads for their builds.





The BMC A Series engine is a fantastic little engine, but having started out its life at just 803cc, it has its limitations. By the end of it's production, it was being produced at 1275cc and many bored them out to 1380, but you begin to find those limits of airflow with the standard head. They used a 5 port construction to save on space, but the siamese intake ports aren't ideal when searching for power. So, the BMW Twin Cam head will convert the engine away from a 5 port pushrod setup to a Twin cam belt driven powerplant along with ITBs and a more modern design. The result is a more powerful, higher revving engine which ought to be perfect for this little racer build.

This past weekend, while we were all hanging around the StanceWorks garage and working on various projects, Byron and I began to tear into the K1100LT engine. We got the head off and I couldn't resist the urge just to set the head on the block to test fit its future home.

[Beware]

I love the selection of little 10in rims on Yahoo.....those should look great on the car!