Most liked posts in thread: The Phoenix - The GP Roadster Project

Transmogrification Step 3 - the point of no return.

I've been really limited in my track time in this car, because of the lack of "real" rollover protection. VIR requires a real roll bar in all convertibles, except for a very few with proven factory rollover protection. So do time trial and hill climb sanctioning bodies (NASA, SCCA). So I needed to fix that.

But, AFAIK, no one makes a "production" aftermarket roll bar for this car. I spoke with the Hard Dog folks about it several years ago. They were interested at the time, but I think that interest has waned, as they didn't return messages recently.

So I took the car to my friends at Performance Chassis in Cary, NC. Mark Cooper (the owner) spends almost all his time prepping track cars. Mark is also the tech/safety director of the Tar Heel Sports Car Club, and inspects cars for VIR and other tracks. So he knows what it takes to pass tech.

Mark had done work on MINIs before, but had never done a roll bar in a MINI convertible. AFAIK, NO ONE has. So we had to figure out a design. He had a Scion in the shop when I visited with a full cage he was finishing up. I said that I basically wanted the back half of that cage, with double diagonal bracing, and with the top of the main hoop diagonal moved as far left as practical to open up rear view in the mirror.

I had to strip the rear interior so Mark could do his work. I also needed to get the driver's seat in first, so he could build around the seat position and shoulder height. Only took him two days once I dropped the car off. He did a great job.




Great junction of four 1.75x0.095 steel pipes behind my head.


Industrial-strength front reinforcement plates, tied to the thick steel of the seat belt mounts.


Rear plates welded to the structural box between the boot and the back seat area, where the back seat attached.


With reclining (really any non-homologated) seats, I would need a seat-back brace for time trials. Mark could have welded in a fixed position one, but I opted for a nice aluminum Brey-Krause brace with weld-on brackets. Mark positioned it perfectly.


Step 4. Just needs paint. VHT Roll Cage & Chassis paint, satin black.

 

Step 5: Lightweight battery.

I've had an Optima Red Top for the past 5 years or so. Great battery, but heavy. Since this isn't a car that's going to sit outside a lot in the winter, travel a lot, need to run the stereo or accessories for hours... a lightweight battery would be a good way to save 20-25lbs.

A Braille 15lb battery should be plenty reliable for my use (the car lives on a Battery Tender all the time now). But those batteries are kinda expensive. Several folks said that the Braille 15lb battery was just a Deka ETX20L 15lb battery with stickers on it. So I bought the Deka for $90 and added the same terminals the Braille uses for $10.

Packed around it in the OEM battery box using custom-cut chunks of yoga block foam. These things are great. Easy to carve with a hacksaw, just the right amount of "give", and available in any color.



The small black cable connected to ground and hot is the Battery Tender pigtail. I just plug the car in when I park it. The multi-colored cable is my trailer wiring.

Starts the car with no drama. I even ran the top up and down on the battery several times, and then started it. No drama. All good.

 

Definitely an idea I had too... but fiberglass is heavy.
I think I'm going to go simple and light on the RSD, ala k-huevo. Gives me a good place to tie down my spare. Carpet arriving today for that.

And I have one more piece of metal fab work and some canvas work planned...

 

Yeah, when you pull all the seats out of the cabrio, it is REALLY like a bathtub. Kinda funny.

 

I think you see my vision.