Long haul mods

[Willie_B]

Being as I am in the planning stage to drive 5500+ miles RT to MMW2015. I will be making mods to the mini to hopefully make for a pleasant outing. The first mod is a pair of new seats. Not quite "race" seats despite the look. Fully reclining with good leg and side support. They will also come in handy for those spirited drives. They came off Craigslist from a stalled Honda project. Still wrapped in bubble wrap after 10 years. Material and foam is in as new condition.  4.gif Need to build/modify mounting stuff to get the seat angle I want. The front of the seat up a good bit higher than the rear for the extra leg support. Extra points that they already match the interior.

[94touring]

Very nice!  Is this your longest drive in a mini?  What tools and spares are you bringing?   

[Willie_B]

By far the longest. Till now I have done 5 days in a row of 150 miles of driving. That was all mountain driving. 71.gif This trip will be 99% freeway.

Still building the list of spares and tools. Hope to have really gone through the car beforehand. One of the good things is I don't have any time restraints on the travel.
Do not want to over pack and load the car down.

I do plan on at least one 2 day practice drive before then. A trip down to Florida to visit a long time friend. That will get me an 8 hour day down and back to see how it works for me.

[94touring]

Seems like half of my x country drives all involved mechanical work lol.  Even flur required adjusting the fan belt at midnight in sub freezing temps.  Take lots of pictures and enjoy the adventure.   Hope to see you.  And if you have room if you make it to Tulsa, I have 4 10" steelies with very new looking 008's mounted with your name on them.

[sparetimetoys]

Back in my 914 Porsche days the club had a members only protected list of folks names and contact info all over the US that had parts or tools to use if you broke down close to them.

[94touring]

Back in my 914 Porsche days the club had a members only protected list of folks names and contact info all over the US that had parts or tools to use if you broke down close to them.

Good idea!

[MiniDave]

One of the things I did to my Clubby to make it more roadable was change the diff ratio to the 2:76....I was concerned at first whether it would pull hills and freeway speed well with only a 1275, but I've been really happy with it. With the 3:44's I was turning 4500 @ 65 mph, now it turns 3500 @ 75 mph and just cruises...perfect for those long hauls across the midwest and western states.

I agree with changing the seats too, that looks like a fantastic deal on those seats...

Other than that, I'd suggest taking at least one or two extra tires, even if un-mounted.

For spares, extra oil and coolant might be obvious, extra oil filter, valve cover gasket, thermostat, fan belt, plugs, points if you still run them, set of wiper blades, some extra wire and connectors, brake fluid, tie straps, duct tape. If you're not 100% sure about them, a set of front and rear wheel bearings and seals and grease, maybe a inner and outer boot kit....things like that are hard to come by on the road but don't take up a lot of space in the car. Tools might be the harder (and heavier) part to figure out.....

[Willie_B]

As I have a sump guard installed oil changes have always been messy. To help with that I have had the drain plug drilled out and tapped for a Fumoto drain valve. I think this one may be the smallest one they make (F124), they do not make a direct fit any longer. Does not need to be any larger as the inside of the drain plug is not large anyway. Now I can hook a hose to the valve and flip the lever and direct it to the catch pan.

I just got the seat sliders in so that project is next.

[94touring]

Man that's slick.  I like that idea a lot.

[Willie_B]

Latest update. Changed the battery last year and thought a new cable may be good. I got 2/0 marine grade cable. Did not pay attention to what size the cable really is. 5/8" od. Too large to fit under the floor so ran it inside. On the engine end I ran it to a large terminal block. I plan to update the fuse block and add some relays in the future so this will make it easier to tie in. Added a rear red fog light for bad weather driving for what it's worth. It's hard to read the gauges at night so ran an LED strip above the binnacle and added a dimmer to the power wire. The other round button is for my stock horn, the stalk horn button goes to my air horns.

[Willie_B]

My try to stay cooler on the cross country drive. 12vdc bilge pump in a cooler. Double layer of foam camping pad glued together then routed out to hot glue hose in. Cooler sits in front of pass. seat, the handle will keep it from sliding forward. When I feel the need I just plug it in the power port under the dash. Put enough water in to cover bottom of pump, then fill the rest with ice. Hope it works as good as I envision. The cooler handle will come in handy as I will have to take the pad out when refilling so just hang it on the handle when rolling.

[94touring]

Ha, you need a fan attached where the mirror is so blow the mister that is strung where the visors are.

[Willie_B]

Ha, you need a fan attached where the mirror is so blow the mister that is strung where the visors are.

Just need to run a hose to just inside the side window to mist me while driving.

[MiniDave]

Did you change your mind on the seats? Cause I see you still have your stock seats installed and the cooler looks like it was made to fit the stock seat too.

My biggest problem re:heat in the car is getting cool air to the footwells - there is absolutely no way to get air down there in my car.

Good news is this is supposed to be the coolest summer on record for many decades, so it might not be too bad going across the plains.

[Willie_B]

Got the new seats installed and they are too restrictive for just cruising. The leg and back side bolsters do not leave any wiggle room. So they will be great for those spirited drives in the twisty roads.

[Willie_B]

Might see if I can add a side scoop in the window opening to funnel air to the footwell area. Should not need much air just for movement to keep it from getting too hot down there.

[MiniDave]

I can take the hose off that feeds the heater and just point it down at my feet.....it comes right off the right side fresh air vent.

I bought a pair of Miata seats off Craigslist for $50, really comfy and easy to install, although I did have to weld up some brackets. But once done they come out just like the factory seats, so it's 2 minutes to change back to the OEMs for a car show or local event.

[94touring]

Hose to the heater to your feet is a good idea.  It will also help keep hot air from being pushed into the car from the heater.

[Willie_B]

Too bad I do not have a outside vented heater. My car is from New Zealand so the heater was an afterthought.

[MiniDave]

Hose to the heater to your feet is a good idea.  It will also help keep hot air from being pushed into the car from the heater.

You shouldn't be getting any heat from the heater if your shut off valve is good, right?

Willie, are you planning to drive at night or during the day? How long/how many miles will you try to go in a days driving? Have you mapped out your city/stops yet? You are planning to stay at motels along the route, right?

The longest drive I've done in Buzz was from Baltimore to KC in 2 days - a little over 1100 miles. I did Columbus to KC straight thru, I think that was about 700 miles in one day - that was a long damn day and as it was in March heat wasn't a factor - I would not recommend doing that many miles a day. Of course, I was only running 60 mph due to the gearing, I can easily do 70-75 now.......but even 500 miles/day means you'll be on the road 10 days, plus the event.

I think my largest concern on a long drive like this would be fuel stops, my tank is 7 gallons so I stop every 150 - 175 miles, I think I'd have to take a 5 gallon can with me just in case. It's not as much of an issue on the superslab, but once you get west of Denver it could get interesting.

[94touring]

I leave my water valve open. 

[MiniDave]

For extra cooling?

[94touring]

Yep. 

[Willie_B]

I have maybe night stops planned out but that can change on how things are going and how I feel. Mix of hotels and others thru a site called "airbnb.com" that you can book a bedroom in someones house. Probably the daily average is 500 + or -. At the moment I am planning an overnight stop in Tulsa on the way up and another overnight stop on the return leg in Kansas City among others. The plan now is to drive during the day but if that is too hot then night driving it will be.

My last trip that I checked fuel mileage I got 35 mpg crusing at 70 on the superslab. So with the 7 gal tank I should be good, plus I will have a 2 gal gas can along.

How available is gas after Denver? I plan to bypass Denver by going up to I-80 to cross over to Salt Lake City, and then north from there. Return route is I-90 over to Sioux Falls then south thru Kansas City, Nashville to Atlanta.

[94touring]

In my experience the further west the fewer gas stations there are.  I did one trip through New Mexico once and was very glad I had an extra few gallons in a can.  I simply couldn't make it to the next station a couple times.