325TI - Project Mpact
Discussion
Weekendrebuild said:
amc_adam said:
Nope, although I've seen it done a few times....in my opinion it makes the Compact look a bit out of proportion. The future plan is to have the M3 wider arches, and bonnet, but keep the compact headlights/bumper. That's a long way off yet, if it does eventually happen.
. Yeah it does a bit , Ive just done it on mine it’s a hell of a lot of welding to get the original compact lines to flow nicely into the widened front I’ve only ever seen it done by roughly cropping them , which looks s
t . I’m allso grafting in the rear quarters from my donor car that’s the next job. I was wondering if you had tackled the rear ( no pun intended) 
Edited by Weekendrebuild on Friday 20th December 19:43
, metal work wise it doesn't look too bad.... what to do with the bumper is the tricky bit, I saw one done on Instagram but couldn't work out what was done, maybe part of the M3 bumper was plastic welded into the compact bumper? 
amc_adam said:
Ah, I recognise that bonnet/vent.... was this Compact for sale not so long ago?. I can imagine it being a pain in the arse trying to get the lines right, especially where the wing comes down towards the sill, the lower part of the wings are flat on the Compact but slightly concave in on the M3's/Coupes etc. As for the rear , metal work wise it doesn't look too bad.... what to do with the bumper is the tricky bit, I saw one done on Instagram but couldn't work out what was done, maybe part of the M3 bumper was plastic welded into the compact bumper?
Yeah I had to many projects on an was offered 6k for her in pieces .. but decided I wanted to finish it off so shes a keeper now . I’m keeping the rear m sport bumper just going to fabricate the m3 splitter into that to finish of the exhausts probably do it in carbon fibre when she’s back from paint . Just swapped diff tranny fluids out the m6 ready for new exhaust tmoro morning . , metal work wise it doesn't look too bad.... what to do with the bumper is the tricky bit, I saw one done on Instagram but couldn't work out what was done, maybe part of the M3 bumper was plastic welded into the compact bumper? Edited by Weekendrebuild on Monday 30th December 22:05
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Edited by Weekendrebuild on Monday 30th December 22:09
Weekendrebuild said:
Yeah I had to many projects on an was offered 6k for her in pieces .. but decided I wanted to finish it off so shes a keeper now . I’m keeping the rear m sport bumper just going to fabricate the m3 splitter into that to finish of the exhausts probably do it in carbon fibre when she’s back from paint . Just swapped diff tranny fluids out the m6 ready for new exhaust tmoro morning .
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I like the fact you didn't use the wing vents, looks much tidier without them. Have you not got a build thread or anything? would be an interesting to read. Edited by Weekendrebuild on Monday 30th December 22:05
. Edited by Weekendrebuild on Monday 30th December 22:09
The M6 looks smart too, I should think it sounds nice with a new exhaust!
amc_adam said:
I like the fact you didn't use the wing vents, looks much tidier without them. Have you not got a build thread or anything? would be an interesting to read.
The M6 looks smart too, I should think it sounds nice with a new exhaust!
. The M6 looks smart too, I should think it sounds nice with a new exhaust!
Yeah I to prefer it without the vents , I mocked up an old rusty o/s wing I had with the vent in place an I wasn’t sold on it at all. Was way easier to follow the lines of the door without the vent to mess with.
Exhaust in now she’s 4” secondary cats removed , centre resonator delete an back box , mind blowing above 6k rpm lots of mandrel bends
Sorry if I’ve missed it on your thread but what’s your brake set up ? I’m currently attempting to install m5 fronts .
Weekendrebuild said:
Yeah I to prefer it without the vents , I mocked up an old rusty o/s wing I had with the vent in place an I wasn’t sold on it at all. Was way easier to follow the lines of the door without the vent to mess with.
Exhaust in now she’s 4” secondary cats removed , centre resonator delete an back box , mind blowing above 6k rpm lots of mandrel bends
Sorry if I’ve missed it on your thread but what’s your brake set up ? I’m currently attempting to install m5 fronts .
Having just read your whole thread I can not say anything that hasn’t already been said. I have worked in various stages of stainless and ali fabrication for a firm coming up to ten years now and am very impressed with your standard of work, it’s phenomenal and I’m sure you have work coming out of your ears (assuming here you run your own firm).
I look forward to seeing further progress with your compact. Compacts have never really appealed to me, this is the first one I’ve been impressed by! Do you have a build thread for your “S”?
Impressive dustpan as well.
I look forward to seeing further progress with your compact. Compacts have never really appealed to me, this is the first one I’ve been impressed by! Do you have a build thread for your “S”?
Impressive dustpan as well.
Big Tomm said:
Having just read your whole thread I can not say anything that hasn’t already been said. I have worked in various stages of stainless and ali fabrication for a firm coming up to ten years now and am very impressed with your standard of work, it’s phenomenal and I’m sure you have work coming out of your ears (assuming here you run your own firm).
I look forward to seeing further progress with your compact. Compacts have never really appealed to me, this is the first one I’ve been impressed by! Do you have a build thread for your “S”?
Impressive dustpan as well.
Thank you very much, I've been away from here for a while so I've only just seen these messages!. Yes I have my own Business, and you could say I am somewhat busy I look forward to seeing further progress with your compact. Compacts have never really appealed to me, this is the first one I’ve been impressed by! Do you have a build thread for your “S”?
Impressive dustpan as well.
Unfortunately I don't have a build thread for the Cooper S, if i did it would rather boring as it's just general maintenance, oil changes etc. (I've been told I'm not aloud to tinker with it). But I do think it's one of most run cars to drive! The exhaust is starting to blow on it, so I'll have to sort that soon.
Next build thread will be on my classic mini at some point, that will be an interesting head scratcher.
The dust pan
Time for a long awaited update, I didn't realise how long it had been!
After driving a R53 Cooper S for a couple of years while the Compact was off the road I was used to how direct/twitchy the steering was on it, when I finally got back into the Compact the steering feel was somewhat vague.
After a bit of Googling a solid steering coupler and Powerflex front lower control arm bushes were ordered (and a HEL braided clutch line).
First of all the steering coupler was removed from the car, and the rivets drilled out carefully. There was also a tiny Circlip hidden in the middle which was removed.
The rubber part is under the stainless heat shield, when it's on the car this is right next to the manifold and the heat can cause the rubber to deteriorate over time,
The holes in the original part need to be opened out slightly for the M10 bolts supplied with the coupling kit, upon fitting it all together I didn't like how the bolt head would sit on the casting, so a small part of the M10 bolt head was radiused .
Onto the Powerflex control arm bushes,
The old bushes were pressed out of the aluminium casings, the new bushes had a aluminium outer (very nicely made) that was pressed into the original casings and then fitted to the car following the instructions.
Steering coupler and bushes both fitted,
After a short drive it was instantly noticeable that the steering was much tighter and the majority of the vague feel had gone, no noticeable vibrations were transferred to the steering wheel from adding the solid steering coupler.
More tinkering to follow!
After driving a R53 Cooper S for a couple of years while the Compact was off the road I was used to how direct/twitchy the steering was on it, when I finally got back into the Compact the steering feel was somewhat vague.
After a bit of Googling a solid steering coupler and Powerflex front lower control arm bushes were ordered (and a HEL braided clutch line).
First of all the steering coupler was removed from the car, and the rivets drilled out carefully. There was also a tiny Circlip hidden in the middle which was removed.
The rubber part is under the stainless heat shield, when it's on the car this is right next to the manifold and the heat can cause the rubber to deteriorate over time,
The holes in the original part need to be opened out slightly for the M10 bolts supplied with the coupling kit, upon fitting it all together I didn't like how the bolt head would sit on the casting, so a small part of the M10 bolt head was radiused .
Onto the Powerflex control arm bushes,
The old bushes were pressed out of the aluminium casings, the new bushes had a aluminium outer (very nicely made) that was pressed into the original casings and then fitted to the car following the instructions.
Steering coupler and bushes both fitted,
After a short drive it was instantly noticeable that the steering was much tighter and the majority of the vague feel had gone, no noticeable vibrations were transferred to the steering wheel from adding the solid steering coupler.
More tinkering to follow!
Was intruiged by the title when this popped up on the page 1 yesterday evening, following your latest update.
Ended up reading it from start to finish. Amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail. The chap who made comparisons to something akin to Singer, this side of the pond, was not wrong
Absolutely brilliant.
Ended up reading it from start to finish. Amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail. The chap who made comparisons to something akin to Singer, this side of the pond, was not wrong
Absolutely brilliant.
Speedgelb said:
Was intruiged by the title when this popped up on the page 1 yesterday evening, following your latest update.
Ended up reading it from start to finish. Amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail. The chap who made comparisons to something akin to Singer, this side of the pond, was not wrong
Absolutely brilliant.
Well that's very nice of you to say so, I wouldn't say this build is to Singer standards...... but the next build could be! I appreciate the comparison though Ended up reading it from start to finish. Amazing craftsmanship and attention to detail. The chap who made comparisons to something akin to Singer, this side of the pond, was not wrong
Absolutely brilliant.
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