New Project ??
Discussion
Ok, the the absence of any new posts in Mini-land for a couple of days, I'll start one.......
I am thinking of starting a new project, I have the opportunity of a lightly front and rear'd '93 Cooper which will take about £500 of bodywork to put right. I'm thinking of a more radical road and track special; removing the rear companion bins and seat pan so I can sit further back in a less simian position, without hitting my helmet-clad head on the roof when on trackdays. This shell has no sunroof either so slightly stronger and less likely to get a wet bum in the winter !!
As the '93 is a complete car the plan would be to swap the mechanicals from one car to the other by swapping subframes, and then selling my existing car, now returned more or less to standard Cooper spec. While the engine is out for the swap I'm thinking of changing the Kent 276 for a Swiftune SW10....... any thoughts or experience ?? Another mod made in anticipation would be putting twin 5/8ths fuel lines on the new shell in case I ever want to fit fuel injection.......
I've not decided yet on whether to cage, or braze/seam weld instead. It will be predominantly a road car and insurers hate cages in road cars. Any views ?? If I did cage it, I would either get one that attaches to the shell in straigic places or have brackets fabricated to do so, such as attaching the rear hoop to the b-pillar in the area of the upper seat belt mounting. I was thinking of removing all the ineffective sound-proofing and possibly using some of the car Hi-Fi sound-deadening material like "Brown-bread" or "dynamat" instead. Any thoughts ??
So should I go ahead, or should I look to buy an ex-race or rally car already prepared and go that route ??
I am thinking of starting a new project, I have the opportunity of a lightly front and rear'd '93 Cooper which will take about £500 of bodywork to put right. I'm thinking of a more radical road and track special; removing the rear companion bins and seat pan so I can sit further back in a less simian position, without hitting my helmet-clad head on the roof when on trackdays. This shell has no sunroof either so slightly stronger and less likely to get a wet bum in the winter !!
As the '93 is a complete car the plan would be to swap the mechanicals from one car to the other by swapping subframes, and then selling my existing car, now returned more or less to standard Cooper spec. While the engine is out for the swap I'm thinking of changing the Kent 276 for a Swiftune SW10....... any thoughts or experience ?? Another mod made in anticipation would be putting twin 5/8ths fuel lines on the new shell in case I ever want to fit fuel injection.......
I've not decided yet on whether to cage, or braze/seam weld instead. It will be predominantly a road car and insurers hate cages in road cars. Any views ?? If I did cage it, I would either get one that attaches to the shell in straigic places or have brackets fabricated to do so, such as attaching the rear hoop to the b-pillar in the area of the upper seat belt mounting. I was thinking of removing all the ineffective sound-proofing and possibly using some of the car Hi-Fi sound-deadening material like "Brown-bread" or "dynamat" instead. Any thoughts ??
So should I go ahead, or should I look to buy an ex-race or rally car already prepared and go that route ??
Hmmmm, well I've managed to "trackday" sucessfully at Cadwell and Mallory for the past 3 years or so without a cage....... and the car currently has a 276 with 1.5 rockers. As trackdays are supposed to be "non-competative", and I tend to do general rather than Mini-specific days that's not an issue. Most things out there have more power, but not necessarily the handling. 
I have been thinking of changing the cam for a little while in a "power corrupts" kind of way !! I was going to go the to a Kent 286, maybe Piper270, and then along comes Swifty with the SW10. The mini is my "everyday" car but I don't do that many miles, maybe 5k a year. As the car has developed the bias had changed to performance rather than comfort, the straight cut gearbox finally distroyed that !! I'm not talking about sitting in the back like a Se7en or Mig, just lower and further back, like the ERA Turbos. The current car has so-called sound deadening, which is not all that effective really, but I agree about the weight reduction thing. The wife rarely drives it, and if I'm going any distance I put in ear-plugs anyway !!
I have been thinking of changing the cam for a little while in a "power corrupts" kind of way !! I was going to go the to a Kent 286, maybe Piper270, and then along comes Swifty with the SW10. The mini is my "everyday" car but I don't do that many miles, maybe 5k a year. As the car has developed the bias had changed to performance rather than comfort, the straight cut gearbox finally distroyed that !! I'm not talking about sitting in the back like a Se7en or Mig, just lower and further back, like the ERA Turbos. The current car has so-called sound deadening, which is not all that effective really, but I agree about the weight reduction thing. The wife rarely drives it, and if I'm going any distance I put in ear-plugs anyway !!
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