My new racing car....

commited

commited

commited

Soldato
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
5,367
Location
Dublin, Ireland
I've been wanting to go racing for years, and a friend basically pushed me in the right direction and I just decided to buy it!

I wanted to wait until I had some decent pics of my own to post up but cant find the lead to my camera...

Crappy pic:
DSCN1941.jpg


Yes it isn't to everyones taste, so please no "Mini's are crap" comments - it isn't your standard 850 rusting Mini as you will see from this spec:

Rolling shell: Prepared to full Miglia spec by Peter Vickers, rear seat pan/storage bins removed, laminated screen, polycarb windows, steel doors lightened to Miglia spec, front end removed & replaced with removable carbon fibre front end & bonnet. Front bulkhead/parcel shelf removed - new bulkhead & dash fabricated, wrapped around additional bracing bars, fully integrated into Safety Devices bolt in & welded in full cage with further bracing to current Miglia race specifications. Boot floor removed, alu sheeting & foam filled race spec fuel cell with sump & lock, Facet race spec interrupter fuel pump & filter in boot, carbon fibre bootlid. Braided fuel lines & copper braking pipes routed through inside, brake bias adjuster beside gearshift. Gearshift mechanism/quickshift with 2 UV joints fitted inside car. SPA Design firex, electrical control box & special loom, aircraft switches, ignition cutout, start button fitted to passenger side on floor. Instruments: Stack RT 400 tacho with datalogger 0/10k, Racetech Design combined oil pressure/water temp gauge. Sparco rev seat, Sparco steering wheel, Luke harness, Varley Red Rop solid state race battery. Racetech big capacity alloy racing radiator, new 115 comp alternator.

Suspension: front & rear subframes fully seam welded, gussetted, strengthened to Miglia spec., brace bars fitted to front subframe, dampers: TrackSpax at front, Avo at rear, original Ripspeed Hilos, Minispares race rubber cones, KAD adjustable rear camber brackets, custom built rear antiroll bar, KAD rosejointed front lower arms & racespec adjustable tie rods. New Lloyd Hutchinson quickrack.

Brakes: KAD race alloy 4 pot calipers, 7.9in vented discs, carbon metallic pads, Minifin alloy rear drums with Mintex race linings, Goodridge braided hoses front & rear.

Wheels & tyres: Revolution alloys 6x10 - Avon CR6ZZ E rated control race tyres.

Engine/gearbox new May 2006 - Hutchinson built

MED supplied head, offset valve race spec No: 1187MED, fitted 37.8mm inets, 31mm exhausts, Iskendarian race double valve springs & caps, Titan 1.5 full roller rockers. Block MED 65400LW 1425cc, A+, full race prepared, offset bored & honed, Omega 11mm dish pistons, new Cooper S rods, relieved & balanced, crank stroked, relieved, wedged, balanced, 4 bolt steel centre main bearing cap. Comp oil pump, Kent 310 scatter pattern billet cam, lightweight race duplex gear, etc, filter head drilled, tapped & bypass plugged, ARP race spec bolts throughout. Lightweight race steel flywheel & backplate, race paddle clutch, Brise reduction gear starter motor.

Gearbox late spec casing fully machined to take very latest current spec Quaife dog gear set, LSD, race straightcut drop gears - 1.0416, centre oil pickup, race output shafts & bearings, semi helical final drive. Ratios: 2.309, 1.49, 1.197, 1.00, final drive 4.07. Primary gear 24 tooth, effective final drive 4.239.

Carburation: Weber 45DCOE tipo 152 on Maniflow 7in steel inlet (new 2005), MED integrated filter/induction box with revised carb trumpets (new 2006).

Ignition: Aldon Automotive race distributor & ignitor pack, Luminition blue silicone 8mm race leads, Aldon epoxy solid state coil - all new 2006.

Exhaust: Maniflow big bore race LCB with matching Maniflow exhaust system, single box silencer, centre exit.

Power plot - dyno sheet available: Tested at Westward Engineering 24 May 2006, newly built, ambient 14c, barometric 1000mb.

Max torque 107.10 ft lbs @ 5312 rpm
Max power 119.7 RPM @ 6991 rpm
Power loss, trans/tyres 19.4 bhp
Power at wheels 100.3 bhp
Max road speed in test 98.00 mph
Max engine speed in test 7655 rpm

My plans include:
Another set of wheels with slicks
6 pots
quickshift
Ramair system

It'll need a new carbon Fibre front end too, but that can wait until funds recover :o

Out for testing tomorrow - can't wait :D
 
A guy called Eamonn Ledwidge bought it in the UK and brought it back here and fitted that engine! I helped him out with the car a couple of times, he sold it as he bought a Crossle racer.

I'm racing in the Irish Mini challenge here, I missed the first race of the season, but next one is this Sunday. Really can't wait. I won't be eating for a few weeks though :D
 
kaiowas said:
Cool, Not sure I like the idea of a 1 piece carbon front on a race car though. Has the potential to get very expensive.
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They aren't all that expensive, Curley mouldings (Ian Curley used to race Miglias) make the whole front ends with removeable bonnet for about 500 quid (well they did in the year 2000). They can take quite a bit of battering - mine lasted 4 years and was involved in quite a few crashes. A metal frontend would have been ruined probably half a season.
 
volospian said:
I don't know much about the mini scene, but that sounds like a nice piece of kit!!

Although... are you sure about 6 pots? The Cerb racers all think 6 pots are a bit overkill for a cerb. I'd have thought 4 pots would be more than enough on a lightweight mini?
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If it doesn't do an Irish Wheelie then you aren't trying... :p

*n
 
Foxtrot26 said:
100 bhp @ the wheels :) in something that light?


you HAVE to mot it and go play on the roads :)
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It would take a hell of a lot to get it into a state that it was fit for road use, and it would also add a lot of weight to the car. Then you have the problem of getting it a registered and you'd need a set of road tyres, which would take away half of the handling qualities of the car.
 
Wicksta said:
They aren't all that expensive, Curley mouldings (Ian Curley used to race Miglias) make the whole front ends with removeable bonnet for about 500 quid (well they did in the year 2000). They can take quite a bit of battering - mine lasted 4 years and was involved in quite a few crashes. A metal frontend would have been ruined probably half a season.
Click to expand...

If they're that strong then they're overengineered and you've defeated the point in going carbon :p
 
The great thing about Ireland is that anything over 30 years old doesn't need an MOT ;) So theoretically, I could just tax it and take it out on the road, but it's so low that one pot hole (and there are many) would destroy it. :(

Volospian - 6pots are the way to go apparently. All the quick guys have them. Mine has the older design KAD 4 pots which are great for road cars, but once I get slicks they will really let the side down. There is next to no braking effort on the back.
 
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