Most liked posts in thread: New Project Mini on the Board

Lest anyone else be afflicted with the same madness - I want to chronicle this journey as best I can to discourage or encourage any readers. So a little history is in order –

This Mini is my middle age crazy car. A 2008 British Racing Green MCS that I ordered thru the dealership. I picked him up on 08/08/2008 and it was love at first sight. It’s important to note that from my front door to the dealership is an 11-hour drive (Alpine, Texas to Houston, Texas). 3 months later I was driving to Houston and hit a mule deer while on US 90. I was going 70 mph when I hit the deer and the Mini, literally, saved my life. I have pictures and will post in the appropriate forum.

About $13,000 dollars (Insurance) and 3 months later, I picked up my Mini and drove to MSR Houston and drove my first track HPDE session. You should have seen the look on the faces of the repair shop people when I told them where I was going – they looked like they had just swallowed live piranhas.

Even with Continental run-flats and me being a rookie on the track, I was hooked. My brother had gone with me in his Superformance Cobra and we joked about how we should do a road race. Long story short my brother built a Factory Five Type 65 Daytona Coupe and we ran the Big Bend Open Road Race. If you think track day are fantastic…then an open road race is off-the-hook! I talked to the race promoters and asked how many Mini Coopers have been in the race? They told me only one and it was bone stock.

Clouds parted, Angles sang and I knew what I must do…

 

The BBORR runs 5 Divisions from street rod to unlimited. The tech inspection is not based on “street legal†but if you vehicle has the required safety equipment for the category you are running in. Each of the divisions dictates the speed that you need to run. You have to go through driver’s school and qualification.

Last year my brother and I ran his Daytona Coupe in the Grand Touring Division (GT1) last year. We could not exceed 140 mph and our target speed was 115 mph.

The unlimited division winner ran the 118 miles with an average speed of 165 mph.

 

In panning out this build I wanted to mod Beast Boy over time to not break the bank and be able to get the Mini on the track to work on my driving skills and keep up with the modifications. Loosely I have decided plan the build accordingly –

Gutting
Safety
Interior and Gauging
Suspension
Brakes
Exterior Trim
Power Plant
Tires

The gutting has been done with the mind set to making Beast Boy as light as possible without cutting lightening holes. If I had been smart I would have gotten a weight before I started the project, but will at the end and I guess that’s the one that counts.
The safety part is happening now and I was very specific about the major parts.
The full cage will be a weld-in model from Autopower. The people at Autopower told me if the build was going to be over 2700 Lbs they recommended a cage with 1.75 OD tubing and if under 2700 Lbs then 1.5 OD. I know the car will be less than 2700 Lbs but I went with the 1.75 OD tubing.
Call me silly, but if the defecation hits the oscillating unit I want the extra ¼ inch…
There are a lot of seat options out there but I went with Kirkey Series 47 Intermediate Road Race. They “sit†very well and are very solid. My pick for harnesses are Schroth Hybrid II 6-point. I have used a 5-point but under hard braking they got me in the “tendersâ€.
We are waiting for the roll cage to arrive because that needs to go in first. I will post the pictures when the parts are in.

 

The idea behind the Schroth 6-point is that the sub-straps are folded to fit more around your thighs than..ahhh...higher. I will let you know if they are big-fat liars. Thanks for the suits tips...a cool shirt is on my Christmas list!

 

Thanks Onasled...Just checked the invoice and the tubing is DOM 1.75 x .120 with the additional door bars (2x per side) per SCCA rules. I did a bad job of describing the 6-point Schroth...both sub-straps are routed through the crotch area but the attachment points are wider under the seat thus crating a gap for the twig and berries...

 

Some new pics!

 

Yes and no...My brother convinced me to do the build under close supervision so I worked out a deal with the same shop that helped my brother build his FF Daytona Coupe. I get to do all the very low level work under close supervision in exchange for floor space, tools and a lot of help with the complicated stuff...truth is that there is a lot about this build that is going to be complicated:yesnod:

Some Cage pictures: