Tink: My '89 Mini

Started by MtyMous, April 01, 2013, 08:44:41 PM

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94touring

Doh  :-[  yeah I forgot about that.   

MtyMous

I am going with the 7075 aircraft grade aluminum hubs. CNC machined from a single billet, and has a bunch of nice upgraded features. Hard anodized, 3 bolt steering arms, and the best feature is they accept metro ball joints which are beefier, and don't require you to lap them or shim them yourself.



Boom. Subframes out.

Mudhen

Work of art.  Love that and added to my list!!!   4.gif

94touring

Where did you snag those and how much lighter are they?

MtyMous

It's the minisport kit. Haven't ordered yet. I'm waiting to place a couple of really large orders to save on shipping. My wife is gonna hate me. Haha.

As for weight savings:

Weight of standard cast swivel hub - 4 lbs each

Weight of Mini Sport Alloy swivel hub - 1.5 lbs each

Mudhen

My wife wouldn't hate me...she'd divorce me!

The biggest weight savings will be in your wallet... :-\

MtyMous

I've been looking for a way to get into the metro ball joints since my last fiasco with a blown out BRAND NEW ball joint.

MtyMous

Forgot to mention I found this hitchhiker while I was tearing down the subframe.


94touring


MtyMous

Oh yeah... the wasp's nest was hiding in the subframe behind the lower control arm bolt. Found that one last night.

Finished up the front subby cleanup today. I'll probably lightly sand the epoxy paint and put another coat on tomorrow.






jedduh01

I would por15 black that subframe - Rattlecan wont last long at all - surface rust will re appear.

MtyMous

Quote from: jedduh01 on July 21, 2014, 12:56:10 PM
I would por15 black that subframe - Rattlecan wont last long at all - surface rust will re appear.

I saved further than the picture shows. Most rust is completely gone. And the paint isn't just standard enamel. It's actually a quite thick enamel. I tried to chip I today. It's on there. Lol

And short of blasting and powder coating it, I'll always be susceptible to rust. POT15  too damn expensive.

Mudhen

Quote from: MtyMous on July 21, 2014, 06:04:57 PM
Quote from: jedduh01 on July 21, 2014, 12:56:10 PM
I would por15 black that subframe - Rattlecan wont last long at all - surface rust will re appear.

I saved further than the picture shows. Most rust is completely gone. And the paint isn't just standard enamel. It's actually a quite thick enamel. I tried to chip I today. It's on there. Lol

And short of blasting and powder coating it, I'll always be susceptible to rust. POT15  too damn expensive.

Says the guy buying the million dollar hubs!   ;D

I worry about POR (even though I've been using it) - it's not like the paint is magically going to stop the metal from rusting is it?  More like, 'lets make the outer coating so hard that when the metal underneath rots completely away nobody notices' - rust...gone!    :(

94touring

Hard to say what the best option is.   I've been doing it like a normal paint job with sealer primer, which even if the paint gets gouged up the sealer does a good job at keeping rust away.   

MtyMous

Well I've been talking to quite a few people over the last few days. Specifically I didn't want to jump into the suspension without making an informed decision. So I've been talking w ith KAD directly about their hubs. There are two major drawbacks in my opinion. 1) they are using an inferior metal to the Minisport kit. Minisport is using 7075 Al in a solid billet. This is seriously strong. KAD is using a cast Al. It's been cast to produce grain in multiple directions, thus making it nearly as strong as the Minisport kit. But to make it stronger they had to ad metal to the bearing housing. This leads to problem #2.

2) You can't run 7.5" discs with the KAD hubs. Just can't happen. And if I'm gonna spend that amount of dough on hubs, I want them to work with the setup I want. I don't need to build my setup around fancy hubs. I need hubs to I integrate into my setup.

Another point. I've been trying to drill down exactly what offset and hoop width I need to order on my wheels I'm order to fill the arches, be able to go low, and not have to cut any metal. We're still working on a solution. I'll let you know when we get one drilled down.

MtyMous

Forgot to mention the issue with the helicoils getting goobered when removing the steering arms. While I don't see this being an issue with the proper fastener lube, helicoils offer better clamping strength than cut threads (rolled threads are a different story) so I will roll with them.

Mudhen

Quote from: bikewiz on July 21, 2014, 04:06:19 PM
You may want to read Joe250's http://www.joe250.com/cars/mini/rebuild/step60/step60.html trials and tribulations using the Minisport kit. After reading about his problems and his solution I opted for the KAD hubs like he did which I bought directly from KAD same basic make up except they're not "handed" which sort of prevents you from using the OE disc guards.

Wow, quite the build Joe250 is doing  :-\

So with the KAD setup you can't use 10" wheels?  Is that the end result, MtyMous?

MtyMous

You CAN use 10" wheels. But only those that will fit over 7.9" rotors and calipers. The issue is not the rotor size. It's the rotor plus the caliper.

So I could probably run the wheels I'm buying now, but if I wanted to switch to another set of 10's in the future, I may not be able to do it with those hubs. And that's a lot of money to not be able to use whatever wheel/brake combo I want.

So since I REALLY want to run the metro balljoints, I think I'm sticking with the minisport kit.

MtyMous

Still having a hell of a time with this bonnet, Dan. Doesn't matter what I do, I still have about a 11mm gap at the rear of the bonnet to body, and about a 13mm overhang at the front. Gonna have to get creative.

94touring

The overhang on the front is normal.   The chrome covers and blends that up. 

MtyMous

Sorry. I didn't mean the lip for the grille piece. I mean the actual bonnet itself still latches with some effort, but the entire thickness of the hood and a small gap still exists when shut. If you look along the headlight opening sideways at the hood, you can actually see daylight. You could look into the engine bay. I'll post a picture tonight when I get off work.

94touring

Oh can you screw the latch up a little so it closes tighter?   Technically there should be a rubber bump stop that creates a small gap too.   Bonnet fitment is rarely easy it seems.  Did you put in your minivation hinges?   Where I had it placed on the stock hinges was about as close as you could get.  Only thing I didn't like was it sat a little higher than the scuttle in the center but unless you have a group of minis together and said spot the differences no one will likely notice.   Your bonnet fit more squarely than Deans though, and that was even using all heritage panels. 

94touring

I think I understand where you're talking about better now.   If there's a gap big enough for light can you lift the rear slightly or push the center of the hood upwards to bend it up, then slide the hood back?  Lifting the rear will keep it from hitting the scuttle when you open it.  Then of course if you can get it to close downward tighter will close some gap too.

94touring

Went back to compare to some other cars.   Having to attach from my phone but do these look comparable?

MtyMous

Honestly, those look much better. Mine seems like the brackets are just too far back. I've already used the Dremel to take out a bunch of metal and open up the mounting bracket hoes to try and get it to slide back more. But I'm running out of metal. I even put on the minivation hinges last night hoping I could use those to slide it back further, and they have me an extra 2mm. But not enough to really "fit". It closes and latches. Side gaps are great. Just looks a mess front and rear.