The Phoenix - The GP Roadster Project

Discussion in 'Car Builds, Projects, Idea's Experiments' started by BlimeyCabrio, Jun 24, 2014.

  1. TheModFather

    TheModFather Well-Known Member

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    ^^^ EXACTLY!

    I was hitting third in a few spots on the Dragon... Christie can vouch for that! Bet the Porker won't do it though.
     
  2. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    #1102 BlimeyCabrio, Dec 18, 2015
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2015
    Got up this morning, and buttoned up the engine bay. Header heat shield, strut bar, IC air diverter plate.
    8A49632E-13D2-44C2-86AE-B5287E424089_zpsm99mx3wv.jpg

    Then, the rain stopped. 4 months and 175 working hours into this project... this happened...
    [ame=""]Locutus Mk2 for realz - YouTube[/ame]

    Bliss. Still have plenty of work to finish things up, and the TVS stuff will be here soon... but I'm loving actually DRIVING again. Drove 50 miles today. Between two drives, I learned to align the car and installed the side skirts.


    4DFCDFC8-66FA-4A2A-B6CF-E3A37BE428D8_zpsplloope9.jpg 9278C1AF-0809-41A2-ADDE-7C498AC99721_zpshg6akoq6.jpg

    Zero toe front, a little toe in rear, reasonable camber, all good. Learned a lot of alignment tricks. I doubt I'll pay anyone to align a Mini again.

    So it's still new-to-me... and I'm getting to know it, and babying it a bit (since the newly refreshed clutch started slipping at high revs; I need to let it break in before I destroy it). But, some initial thoughts:

    It's a very raw, visceral car. The OSG diff does all that chattering LSD stuff. The OSG STR clutch rattles when it's in. At idle, the car sounds like it's a giant cat purring, ready to slay and eat a wildebeest. Then it pulls like a freight train and sounds like a race car. There's all manner of little squeaks and stuff from the interior, with the tight fitting dash, door bars, etc. The suspension is stupid firm, but not at all harsh. It steers like a laser scalpel. It requires very little input to do anything... just a thought, really. It demands respect. While it has good manners, you're constantly aware that if you disrespect it, do something stupid, or give it too much input, it would go ballistic in the blink of an eye.

    IMO, it's the best MINI I've ever driven. It should be, given what's in it... but it's still a little surprising, because I've driven some very nice cars. And this thing was just three totaled Minis, a few months ago, plus a mountain of new parts.

    Tomorrow will be cold. And I'll be driving.

    I'm really, really, really happy. :D
     
  3. cct1

    cct1 Well-Known Member
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    How long does it take to get the alignment perrrrrrfect?
     
  4. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    This makes for a very marry christmas!

    Great job Paul!!
     
  5. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    I spent a few hours on it today, but most of that was "learning".

    Now that I know what I'm doing, toe is quick and easy. And I won't mess with camber often. That's quick and easy in the rear. Front is a pain because I haven't cut my new strut towers, so I have to drop the struts to adjust camber, then put it back together and see what I got. But with the lift everything else is pretty easy. Lift, adjust, drop, roll, measure. Repeat as needed.

    Since the front and rear track on the MINI is almost exactly the same, you can get toe very close by eyeballing it. Lock the steering wheel straight, eyeball down the side of the front wheel, line up the leading and trailing edges of the tire at the level of the hub... and zero toe would mean that this pretty much perfectly lines up with the rear tire. It's very obvious when it's toed in or out, when you look at it this way.

    Use a long straightedge (like a straight board) to line up against a front or rear wheel, and extend it toward the other end of the car. Also makes toe apparent.

    I also have a level with a laser built in. Put it on the rotor horizontally and shoot the laser toward the other end of the car. With zero toe, it should hit the tire the at a spot even with the same height off the rotor. On the front, I use this to visually the impact of tie rod adjustments. Get it even and close to zero on both sides, then use the toe plates and tape measures to fine tune it.

    With the new suspension, there's minimal droop with the car lifted, so there's very little change in toe and camber between sitting on the ground and up on the lift.

    Now that I have things in the right ballpark on the rear, by adjusting the trailing arm sliding pivot, I can do fine tuning of toe with the adjustable upper control arms. Shouldn't have to mess with the pivots again.
     
  6. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    I have this Longacre setup for camber and caster:
    [​IMG]

    And these toe plates:
    [​IMG]
     
  7. minintrigue

    minintrigue Active Member

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    My favorite thread. Ever. I was excited for version 1.0, this is epically better. I might make my first dragon ever to see this, and I've owned a MINI for 8 years.
     
  8. old81

    old81 Club Coordinator
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    Very nice, I like that you are respecting the GPness and not pushing until you know it is right. Congratulations!

    If you are driving it in the cold what tires are you running?

    :)
     
  9. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    The GP wheels came with Michelin all seasons. Those are now my winter wheels.

    I'll be ordering new summer wheels & tires soon.
     
  10. cct1

    cct1 Well-Known Member
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    The suspension is one thing I want to learn to do on my own. It doesn't take much to knock it out of alignment.
     
  11. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    It's been one of the two things I've been terrified to mess with (with engine building). It was an unjust fear. It's really no big deal, if you understand how the suspension works, you have a few tools, and are patient enough to work through it.

    Soon I'll understand alignment on this car much better than any shop ever would. I'll understand exactly how much of what adjustments generates a given amount of change. Then it will be dead simple and fast. Just takes a little trial and error to get there.

    But I started with a car radically out of alignment yesterday. And, by my second drive, it drove as well as my old car ever did with a professional alignment. :cornut:
     
  12. cct1

    cct1 Well-Known Member
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    I think what I'm going to do is get it aligned at a shop I trust (or have it checked if Jan aligns it to make sure it hasn't shifted, it's a long trip back), and then measure it myself as a reference point. It's not so much camber but toe that I'm worried about. Fronts should be relatively easy, it's the rear that at least looks tougher.
     
  13. TPLS BLR

    TPLS BLR Member

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    Wow Paul, I have just "wasted" an afternoon at work reading through your build. Amazing!!! I have not been around in a while, long story, but we used to have similar cars and yours was one I always admired, but now you have taken it to a whole new level. Excellent read, excellent build, just excellent all the way around.
     
  14. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    Thanks!

    So, I haven't updated in a few days...

    Sunday, I went for a spectacular drive. Car was fantastic. And looked fantastic.
    BA76AFCB-755E-424E-9C63-5FC174F0A71B_zpsk9rcndyx.jpg

    Drives like a dream. :Thumbsup:

    Remember, the last time I built a car, the new motor was in it for THREE DAYS before I tore it up.

    Well, we have a new record. ONE DAY. :eek6:
    2770F331-C53E-4244-87F7-CB7F4C2498A3_zps3jqbescm.jpg

    Greek Tragedy of Epic Fail. Short version, do not attempt to pull your car by the tow hook if the crush tubes aren't installed to support the bumper frame. I already knew that. But now it's been reinforced a bit. :mad2:

    Destroyed the brand new bumper frame, brand new radiator frame, and brand new right wheel liner. Scuffed up the brand new bumper cover and broke some clips that hold in the grille. Broke a couple of tabs off the grill trim strip and the grill base, and tweaked a little corner of the new bonnet. Pretty much destroyed the bumper mount bracket on the right engine rail.
    29F2DB33-9CEB-43B0-8D8D-F661C4835A27_zpsrvdjuqig.jpg

    Anyway, after going home, drinking a beer, and curling up in a fetal position to sleep it off, I got up the next day and pretty much fixed it. Or at least got it drivable again.

    F3026E14-BAA6-4926-8537-7341B7508E0E_zpsszg7fw9b.jpg

    It looks meaner that way, anyway. I have the grilles back on it now, and from 30 feet away, you don't notice anything. Only flesh wounds, replacement parts are already purchased, I'll get the paint and body fixed in January and it'll be good as new.

    Just a speed bump in the build. And builds character, or something.

    I chose to re-use the original bumper frame from GP0769 (MOAR GPness) and, at Art's request, wrote a little epitaph on it.
    D16271F5-98C9-4911-B425-4EA0F1A741D4_zpswreyytem.jpg

    My RMW front mount intercooler for the TVS system arrived direct from Bell. Being in an, uh, INTERESTING mood, I had my daughter snap a pic.
    1F7B7802-1516-482B-8FC5-1B1E4F8E3102_zpsai850jny.jpg

    Bluetooth kit arrived, so I installed it. Now the CDless GPness haz bluetooth.
    F1BD3729-4A88-4138-83B6-FF33F015AB53_zpsmjdpi1yd.jpg

    Radio is all back together and looks totally stock.
    DBE7B5C3-A4CB-43D1-B64E-BF663CD396C2_zpsnbqapcov.jpg

    Fixed the fubar passenger seat slider, and also wired my driver's seat heater. Not possible to control it with the OEM button, the circuit is very different, but it IS wired into the proper switched and fused seat heater circuit. I'll find the OEM GP mirror control pod and add the new heater button to that. I think it's at the bottom of my parts mountain.
    F3026E14-BAA6-4926-8537-7341B7508E0E_zpsszg7fw9b.jpg

    Good news is, I drove the car enough to get all the OBD emissions stuff "green". So the car is ready to pass inspection, whenever I can get all the paperwork issues resolved.
    72A7F0DB-A5BF-4664-8154-523549A9E2FD_zpsswvnmcfl.jpg

    Today, decided to install the GP underbody panels. Figured out how to mod them to coexist with the cabrio subframe (which is different). Done.


    More replacement parts will arrive tomorrow. Also bought some vinyl upholstery fabric to prototype the tonneau cover. Still waiting on the last of the paint to arrive, to repaint my roll cage. Will work on that stuff over the holidays, when I'm not traveling. And might drive some more, if the monsoon here ever ends.
     
  15. TheModFather

    TheModFather Well-Known Member

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    Jeebus Paul, maybe you shouldn't drive it until it's DONE!

    Nice touch putting my name on your bumper... In picture form of course! You do know that piece has to get cut out for the I/C though right?
     
  16. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    Yeah, it's getting hacked anyway. :cornut:
     
  17. TheModFather

    TheModFather Well-Known Member

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    Tip from somebody who has done it twice... Use masonry cutoff wheels... They don't clog and last longer slicing through that Aluminum.
     
  18. old81

    old81 Club Coordinator
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    Amazing pretty picture #1.

    I could do without seeing the others. Why did you have to tow? Or did I mis-read something.

    I do like your attitude as you build, mishap and build again. :)

    Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
     
  19. BlimeyCabrio

    BlimeyCabrio Oscar Goldman of MINIs
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    You didn't misread anything. I didn't say. :)

    Lost locomotion near home. Shifter, clutch, motor all behaved normally, but car wouldn't go forward or back. Just sat there. Eventually determined that right axle had worked its way through the mount bearing enough to pull out of the tranny, and left axle had popped out also. Corrected both and they stayed put on a test drive on Monday. I didn't press the bearing on all the way on the right axle initially; hopefully now that it is, it will stay put. If the left pops out again, I'll replace the circlip. I now carry enough tools to pop the axles back in on the road, if needed.
     
  20. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Would you PLEASE be careful! I would like it to make it to the Dragon!!
     

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