Most liked posts in thread: Rally Mini Cooper

So at first they called to say the engine was fine.....I had emailed them instructions which they did not follow. Anyway once they followed the email the fault happened. Hoooo bloody ray! so now they have the injectors out testing them. I bet the crappy fuel buggered them up.

 

Ah Modfather thanks, that was last week! I can't give up on the Mini. Plus the reason I got the Mini was to be different and gain sponsors. 2015 was not for us. Roll on 2016!

 

Ahhh this week has been nice not glued to the internet reading about all kinds of misfires and what causes them. Now I need to fix 6 months of standing outside. Some painting, cleaning and removing the wildlife that called the Mini a home!

 

what's the plan? you know I have battled with the Mini since 2012. When it's running we win but most of the time it's not running. I have rallied many cars but only the Subaru has never failed to finish. I love the R50/53 shape and over the years we have gained a following. Not finishing is bad for all. So this year the rally in CR opened an open class and will expand this class next year. After talking with our sponsors we decided not finishing is not exactly good. I told then I want to build something special, something that the fans will want to come and see. I have a Mini with Subaru STI suspension, Nissan 13B cable clutch, Suzuki Swift throw out bearing, Peugeot straight cut gearset and a lot of other strange things which has inspired folks to rally a Mini so why not a Subaru conversion? As with this build I will try to document good/bad everything I do with the hope others might follow or say this dude is nuts. LOL press on regardless

 

I survived the holidays! I started the project about 3 weeks ago and so far things are looking good at the rear. I spent a few days stripped down the Outback/Mini and then stripped down the rear suspension of both cars. There is a difference of about 7cm of height between the Subaru and the Mini so I had to cut the Mini chassis and hatch floor. Also, the Reiger coil overs are the same as the Subaru dampers so I can use them. Overall the Subaru rear subframe fits in position and I can still use the Mini fuel tank. Currently, I'm away working so when I return I will fabricate the mounts to bolt up the subframe and axle.

 

Found these two monkeys checking out the increased ride height! looks high due to no fuel in the tank and spare wheel etc.

 

It was this month in 2012 that the R50 shipped up from PA after the Ebay purchace! Wow a year flew by so quickly. Since then I found the original head was junk. I added a “S” head, fixed all the tech test issues. Stripped out the interior, added the race seats, STI front struts and STI radiator. Then I drove the Mini in MA for a few months. In August the Mini was shipped to Costa Rica. I drove the Mini in Costa Rica for a month on MA plates then started the rally build in October. The Mini went to Customs jail, got sprung out, now I’m in March with the final push to finish. Considering all the parts was carried in my check in bags to Costa Rica since October this has been a very interesting rally project. A big thanks go to the folks on this forum for advice and patience, eMiniparts for prompt delivery of all my parts, Helix, Way Motors, Mod Father, Beaner , Crashton, Nathan, monkeys , Ebay I hope only another 9 weeks to go before I drive the car. Then let the fun times start on the stages.

 

Got the Eminiparts coil pack, another rim and some other stuff to take down to CR. Leaving at 2:45am with the hope that this will be the month to have the Mini on the road.

 

The nice thing about Costa Rica is you can grow almost anything! I have grown a really nice Mini Copper spare parts tree....now I working on growing money which is not so easy.

 

any monkey will do! at least yesterday i moved the Mini 3' under its own power. Engine still kicks in the SES light at idle but at 3000+ rpm has a gorgeous sound with a slight crackle from the twin pipe . I think I need to put some miles on the engine for the codes to sort themselves out. I have the tech test for 11:45am on Saturday

Finished interior.

 

Been a busy 2 weeks. I pulled the gearbox out and replaced the 2nd gear and the bearing housing thanks www.minigearboxws.co.uk Once the box was back in the noise was better but still a noise remains which I think is the selector shafts rattling due to the solid engine mounts. All the bearings were good, I fixed them loose in the housing. I did notice the sector shaft selectors were a little worn which explains when I move the gear stick to select a gear with the clutch in the noise stops. I figure in time I will need to replace them.

Last Friday was an odd problem. Since I bought the car the engine cooling fan was running. So I wired in a manual switch as when crossing a water splash the incoming water tends to destroy the fan. Anyway I’m arriving home the monsoon raid when I notice the windscreen wipers going really slow, also the brake warning light came on as did the left side middle turn signal, front side marker light and the fan ran very slow. 4 hours later I found out the fan wiring was to blame. So I kept the incoming power wire (red/blue) then cut the other 2 wires. The larger brown wire I connected to the switch then the return wire to the chassis. All worked well after that.

I spent 14 hours at a local Mall promoting the Mini on Saturday. I think around 300+ viewed the car and liked the rally tyres!. Also Mo Joe’s now make smaller burgers called Mini Joe’s which is cool! also picked another sponsor. G oil who will supply all the racing and road oil I need.

 

A BIG thanks to Mini Of Bedford who stuck by me as they waited for MINI USA to approve the PSP.....on the final day before I leave the PSP is on it's way to me!

The squeaky wheel was squeaking very loud! Control arms and axle will arrive today. Bags of stuff to take this time.

Rally numbers are ready (37) , just need to fit the PSP, axles and skid plate....then tech test, gravel test, recce then rally!

Been a long time coming , thanks for your patience and help.

 

Thanks fans! No pressure for me. hahaha I have Yaris, Sentra, Civic, Echo and Accent to battle against. On paper the Mini should be a winner with the mods I've done but you know how rally is. So steady as she goes.

I have have to do the Homologation papers for the rally. This paper is a tech report of the complete car. So any mods I've done I have show them here.

I have most of the info but can't find the angle of the valves (in/ex) for the head. I might be asking some other stuff too as I work my way through the paper.

Thanks in advance.