Most liked posts in thread: Rally Mini Cooper

The Mini made to Costa Rica with no issues! only problem I have is the roll cage guy got the wrong tubing which will delay the rally build slightly. This gives me more time to sell the Swift and raise more cash! Motorsport has never been cheap. Anyway I'm enjoying driving around in the Cooper.

 

Should be cold drawn seemless CDS he got tubing with a welded seem also the tube should be 45mm x 2.5mm he got 1.75mm

 

The problem is now I can't find the CDS tubing in Costa Rica. I'm still looking. Also I need to sell the Suzuki Swift to continue with the build. Driving the Mini on the same roads as the Swift highlights how much faster the Mini is! In stock form with just the interior taken out the Mini is way faster. I think this is because 2004 against 1989 handling. Budget wise the engine is the last thing I'm going to work on. The MA5 box is very similar to the Swift so I treat it with respect. The Mini has done 126,000miles so for sure the box will need a rebuild with a Gripper LSD and low final drive.. Last weekend I de-chromed the Mini and cut off the lip off the front bumper.

 

I tried to post some pictures but the image host I use does not work. Can you suggest another? Last night was a blow to the project as fellow competitor in another class told me when you start winning it's going to get ugly with our competitors in my class. With the Swift no one bothered because it was a SO SO car even though we were in the podium finish. So now with the Mini for sure they are going to be picky when we win. Looks like the good work with the WRX radiator will have to be un-done. So I have to keep the Mini as stock as possible to avoid being branded as a cheat even though I know all the folks have ilegal cars! So I have to get creative..hahaha Most likely I'll get the radiator shortened to fit the plastic surround. The STI struts should be fine so lucky I had not modified anything else. The focus now will be the MA box and some sneaky engine mods. Even OBX header might have to go......such is the ugly world of motorsport.

 

Thanks I'll try to up-load some photos. The good news is anything in the Mini Cooper range of Gen 1 and Gen 2 cars can be used. So I can use the Gen 2 trailing arms on my Gen 1 . Now I'll studying what Gen 2 up-grades I can put on the Mini. Cooper S oil heat exchanger would be one change. Is the Cooper S cam different to the Cooper? Because I have a Cooper S head on the Cooper now.

 

The main thing is if it looks stock it's ok so the S intake could be a good mod. I'm thinking the NS1 cam might be good.

 

what other cams are available? I see the Gen 2 engine runs 11:1 CR so at least I can bump up the CR.

 

I've been checking cams but not on RMW so I'll contact Jan to see what he thinks is best. I know the Gen 2 engine is different but at least I can say I used the pistons to get the 11:1 CR..hahaha Jan told me he can get the 11:1 pistons for the Gen 1 Cooper. I thought the S engine was the the same as the Cooper but good to hear about the stronger bottom end. I'm going to look for a S bottom end as I already have a S head. I presume the S block is different due to the bigger bearings?