1971 mk1 replica sleeper with 180bhp

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rich@minispares.com
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by rich@minispares.com »

gazwad wrote: one was the brakes, they have plenty of stopping power but I did get some fade when pushing really hard. This was with mintex road pads, I have since tried some EBC ultimate road pads which were absolute rubbish. I am now on mintex 1144 pads which so far seem very good.
two words...


...carbon metallic...


you will never look back!
should you wish, you can contact me on rich@minispares.com

'long beard boss'
gazwad
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

I have looked at those but the price puts me off a bit as I seem to get through pads fairly quickly! I think these mintex 1144's will be plenty good enough for me
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

ok so just went for a spirited drive to test out these 1144 pads and it didn't take much to make them fade so I'm a bit disappointed really. I'm just using standard dot4 brake fluid so would changing this help? otherwise has anyone got experience with both the 1144's and the carbon metallic pads?
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rich@minispares.com
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by rich@minispares.com »

the carbons last for ages, so the cost of them isnt actually that much
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'long beard boss'
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

New tyres are fitted ready for blyton, these have soo much more grip than the a008's that I had on before and lack of grip was my biggest problem especially with all that power! - I was flying on the straights but less powerful cars were faster on the corners:
ImageIMAG0841_zpstmiqsnyf by garrywadey, on Flickr
also did a couple of little jobs like fitting a floor start button:
ImageIMAG0825_zpshbb30en2 by garrywadey, on Flickr
and made some new dash cards, the card on the old ones was falling to bits and the vinyl wasn't great. I didn't like the newton ones as I thought the vinyls looked to modern so I made these using an old headlining to cover them with:
ImageIMAG0827_zpswjrg3skt by garrywadey, on Flickr
finally made some brackets that allows me to clip in a 3 point harness for track days without having to remove the normal belt. Last year at blyton it was hard work holding myself in the seat on hard cornering so this should help:
ImageIMAG0794_zpslohmezrm by garrywadey, on Flickr
ImageIMAG0797_zpswdnulfyv by garrywadey, on Flickr
ImageIMAG0799_zpsohjvspkj by garrywadey, on Flickr
Last edited by gazwad on Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
graham in aus
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by graham in aus »

Very nice, love this little sleeper!

Cheers! :mrgreen:
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by rolesyboy »

It really is one of the best Minis I have ever seen. Love it
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

thanks! just got to fit some carbon metallic pads now and i'm all set for Blyton, the speed I was getting up to on the straights meant the brakes were working really hard before the corners and fade became a problem (as well as the mintex pads disintegrating shortly afterwards). Hopefully these will solve it
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by java gt »

Love this Mini,one of the best around.
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

Carbon metallic pads are now fitted and WOW what a difference over the mintex 1144's! Feel like twice the braking power with much less leg effort and I couldn't get them to fade no matter how hard I tried, in fact the hotter I got them the better they seem to work. Blyton will be the real test but I have high hopes. Would recommend them to anyone who has 's' discs and needs better braking, I honestly can't see how you would need better brakes than these.
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smithyrc30
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by smithyrc30 »

Take a bow Rich. 8-)
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by rolesyboy »

I am off to buy a set tomorrow now you've jumped!
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by GraemeC »

Just make sure you keep on top of cleaning the wheels when it's been used in anger ;)
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rich@minispares.com
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by rich@minispares.com »

smithyrc30 wrote:Take a bow Rich. 8-)
it only took five months....... 8-)
should you wish, you can contact me on rich@minispares.com

'long beard boss'
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

haha yes thanks for the advise, took a while as I had a few other things to upgrade/change and like to do one thing at a time so I can tell what difference it has made
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

ok so a little follow up report on the carbon metallic pads after a long (2+hours) drive on various roads including fast b roads, country lanes and motorway. So far the main downside is they don't work well from cold and need heat in them to work. this is great on a twisty country road where you can keep the heat in and will be fantastic on the track. The problem is normal road driving, you have rubbish brakes for the first half a mile so need to get them warm quickly, and if you do some dual carriageway or motorway driving the brakes can cool down enough to a point where an emergency braking situation on the motorway could be dangerous. So for these reasons I will be swapping back to the mintex 1144 pads for the road (good all-rounder) then putting in the carbon metallics for track days.
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miniminor
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by miniminor »

Oh how much fun could you have in this against all the Corsa chavs?
Superb car and attention to detail in build is really impressive.
"Get the wheels in line, Get the wheels in line with it! ..... and then slam your brakes on or we'll be in the cabin ! "

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gazwad
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

Went to the mk1 action day at blyton park earlier in the year, 100 miles there, loads of track time then 100 miles home without incident apart from Shaun's clutch master failing at the end of the day (he still managed to drive the 100 miles home with no clutch!). The carbon metallic pads were fantastic with no fade at all no matter how hard I pushed them and the a032r tyres have what seems like limitless grip so very pleased with the car again! managed to get some video, the camera work isn't the best but you get the idea:
https://youtu.be/pFhe-yg62JU
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by gazwad »

I found at blyton the car had a lot of body roll which resulted on the rear tyre rubbing the arch on a couple of corners so i made some alterations to the rear susupension. First was some genuine hilo's on the rear, mainly because the cheapo set that was in there has some slop in the hole that the long pin goes in to and I was concerned a big bump could cause it to shear. the other is that the are almost at maximum adjustment and didn't have many threads left in the cone which I didn't like. so for comparison look at how much further the genuine one is wound in compared to the cheapo one for the same ride height, and also how much beefier the big pin is (and the the pin which goes into the big bolt is a much better fit and much longer).
ImageIMAG0918_zps8amm2bru by garrywadey, on Flickr
second thing to note is the size of the spring platform, much bigger with a large radius making the spring rate more progressive = better handling
ImageIMAG0919_zps52ozzyun by garrywadey, on Flickr
next was the rear ARB, generally straight forward to fit apart from the bushes in the drop links being too tight on the bolts so I had to drill them out.
(the drop link isn't actually connected to the bar in the first photo)
ImageIMAG0928_zpsh3qgocue by garrywadey, on Flickr

ImageIMAG0925_zpsrd6t7rpz by garrywadey, on Flickr
A couple of things to note for anyone wanting to fit one of these, first is you may find some of the sleeves on the drop link bushes are too tight for the bolt to pass through - I had to drill a couple out. Also make sure you use loctitie or similar on the top droplink bolt (that screws into the plate on the radius arm) as this will un-do itself otherwise. Also once I bolted up the aluminium bush blocks the bar went incredibly tight and couldn't be moved by hand, the blocks were machined too tight so I loosened the bolts, smeared in some lapping past then nipped them up and rotated the bar until it could move by hand with the bolts fully tight but not so there was any play.

Another thing I did when it was apart is to modify the Hilo's. when set at a lowish ride height the hilo's can drop out of position on the rubber cone when the car is jacked up - obviously not safe if the wheel drops low enough on the road. I got an A series oil pressure relief valve spring, cut it in half and dropped it into the hole in the bolt of the hilo, put the long rod in and pushed it until the spring was coil bound and measured how much of the pin was sticking out, cut this amount (plus 1mm) off the end of the pin so when pushed in it goes all the way. this keeps the seat of the hilo in position on the rubber cone when the suspension drops.
ImageIMAG0929_zpsh8hhjsgg by garrywadey, on Flickr
the small bit of pin above the spring is what was cut off

The ride is now fantastic, lovely and smooth with the new cones but progressive on corners and bigger bumps, the ARB is fantastic at keeping the car flat and seems to help to put the power down out of corners, cant wait to try it on a track
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rich@minispares.com
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Re: 1971 mk1 replica

Post by rich@minispares.com »

i always fit cut down oil control springs into hilos, its a sensible modification as it stops them all rattling when the car is jacked up, and it means there is no risk of the cone dropping out of its locating ring on a lowered car
should you wish, you can contact me on rich@minispares.com

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