2nd Gen Most liked posts in thread: Another Rally Mini - Sgt Pepper

Well the roof is done. Never tried painting that large of a surface with a rattle can, but it turned out alright after sanding and polishing (just doesn't look smooth when up close). Only really bad part on the paint is from when I was cutting the hole for the roof scoop and the cutting wheel ripped apart somehow. Caused a nice sized mark that I had to try and touch up.







A buddy who works for large glass company was able to hook me up with a 4'x10' sheet of 3/16 UHMW plastic for a good price. Now I get to start figuring out the underbody protection. Also, while I was under the car I noticed a decent dent in my exhaust I hadn't noticed before. So I will add that to the list.

 

Well today was disappointing. I was originally excited when I got home from work and this was sitting on my front steps.



This box is a bit big for the suspension mounts and a couple bushings.... I got sent a different order...

I have been working with Dirtfish Rally School to get my Reigers, so hopefully this was just one of their orders and not another customer. I'm waiting to hear back on where I need to send these, but I know Derik is super busy thanks to GRC in Seattle this weekend.

 

I know it has been a while since I made any updates. So here is the news.

Eventually the suspension issue got worked out after a lot of back and forth and me making use of my dremel. I wound up re-doing all my wiring for the lights so I can actually have a light bar that is easy to remove. It's mostly been working on small things. I was slowed significantly by some time issues and some plumbing issues with my house that decided to eat the rally budget.

Anyway, last weekend I did a rallycross as an initial shakedown of the vehicle. It was a very last minute event so I didn't have a chance to get an alignment, which is really bad because I had replaced struts, control arms, tie rods, and bushings. I also didn't even have a chance to test fit the new wider gravel tires that I got.

I did a rough guess type of alignment (rough is being nice). Then threw the tires on and had to add some positive camber cause they were rubbing on the springs. After all that, I got a good number of laps on the course and really finally got a good test of the car on dirt. It was a little uneven in how it turned, but that seems to be an alignment issue. Overall it turned great on dirt. After some practice I was able to get the car to turn as tight, if not tighter than I was able to get the STIs that I trained on.

Overall I was extremely pleased with the car. I really have to work on my skill so I'm not holding it back.

 

Thank you.



I also have video from the event. This is just a small clip from one run.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7CAz7aZHhA"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7CAz7aZHhA[/ame]

 

Well I know updates have been sparse, so here we go.

I just completed the first one day stage rally in the Mini. It performed great, exceeding mine and my co-driver's skill. While several cars found themselves going off the road, on their sides, or rolled down an embankment, the Mini kept moving forward. The only mechanical failure we had was with the service truck cracking its radiator. The irony was not missed by me.

I had a great time, and now it is time to start prepping for the next rally.


Shortly after unloading from the trailer.




Tech inspection had me very nervous, but the car passed without issue.




My co-driver posing with the car after throwing up the previous stage. (yes, there is video)

 

There aren't many action shots out there yet, but here are some.

 

I will post video eventually. I have a lot of it to edit. Video also includes my co-driver throwing up in the middle of a stage, haha.

 

The roads there were really tough. Lots of crests and jumps into 1 or 2 turns and if you missed the turn the car would go off an embankment. The roads were also very rough and if you went off there wasn't really any hope of getting back on without a truck helping you. Lots of broken drive shafts, control arms, etc. Everyone I talked to said they were some of the harshest roads they had competed on.

The Zestinos worked great. No complaints, they gripped well. For a soft compound, it still looks like they have been hardly worn. I'm running on 195s. I wish they had some that were 175 wide. But the price is good, they perform well, and they actually seat at a reasonable psi.

 

Well I have started some of the videos on the Rally Colorado journey with more coming soon.

The first one was some of the rush that went into the last minute work to have it done. It's not very informative, but features a big hammer and garage piano.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=880vWzzGxCw"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=880vWzzGxCw[/ame]

The second video is our trip to Colorado where the truck breaks down and we can't check into the room for that night.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6py89JSn8o"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6py89JSn8o[/ame]

And a clip of my co-driver throwing up, if you want to see that.
https://www.facebook.com/hnpgeek/videos/vb.156251671535840/256291428198530/?type=2&theater