Then I broke down (74 mini mild refurb)

[94touring]

I've considered it but they don't seem to offer a comparable handling.

[MiniDave]

I did it on Buzz and I really thought they improved the ride considerably - that said, my understanding was that you could only get either the "hard" (red) springs, which were too stiff, or the "soft" (Blue) springs that were too mushy - I found black springs at Huddersfield that were advertised as medium softness and bought those - they come complete with a hi lo kit made for them.

However, I was not as impressed with the hi lo - specifically the adjustable bolts on the fronts, after so many miles I found the left one bent. They offered to send me new ones (for £25!) but I thought they were low grade bolts, so I bought some high grade ones from McMaster Carr and made my own. End of problem.

I think my next Mini I'll either go back to the original rubber springs or go with a set of coilovers.....

[Dmulder]

Dan and Dave - thanks for the advice. I think I will stick with the rubber cones I have for now and just order the hi Los. Getting excited.

[94touring]

Actually had time yesterday to tend to a bad wheel bearing and sloppy ball joints.  What I found was a very broken ball bearing assembly and one ball joint that was a pita to replace.  Got them in and actually drove the car after a couple months of being off the road.  The initial plan was to do my disc conversion sooner rather than later but I think what I'll do is wait till the 1275 is built and ready to drop in. I have a feeling iI'll tend to bad cills and door skins at that time...do I hear respray.  I'll use these hubs on the clubby which are shot when I get that far.  I've gone ahead and ordered new pre assembled twin shoe assemblies since the back plates are siezed up and everything else is crap, aside from the new cylinders I replaced after first buying it. 

[94touring]

...

[94touring]

Non frozen back plates with all new everything.

[94touring]

Added a new steering wheel that matches my shift knob, thanks to Vikram for ordering the wrong wheel on his car lol.  Need to balance my front wheels in a bad way.  After my last wheel bearing fix I apparently knocked the toe out about a 1/4" and burnt through some rubber.  Put it back to a 1/6th out, drives a bit more steady too.  Also ordered a ridiculous amount of suspension parts to begin rebuilding all these subframes I have laying around. The plan is to built this cars frames up in preparation for the built up 1275 that's going in. 

[94touring]

The 74 is about to get a major overhaul, as I have time obviously.  The new fast road 1275 dave built is ready for paint to drop in, but also building up suspension to match the performance and painting the car. Needs new door skins and sills too.   Will be going with a deeper blue and going with black accents.  Interior will also go all black.  Basically making it look mean!  It's in the shop and on the wheel dollies, which in conjunction with the front wheels makes it a whiz to move around.  Way easier than dollies on all 4 surprisingly.

[MiniDave]

A smooth floor is a must for those rollers!

Another rotary on the engine stand?

Poor Rusty, moved to the back of the line (along with the Pup) yet again!   

[94touring]

It's the one that I have all the parts to build but haven't actually slapped it together.  I'm in no rush with it since I want to try a few things on the engine currently in the car.  That way if I blow up it's not on new housings.  Going with a bored out intake system a company makes and different fuel rail/injectors. I'd rather tune on the bad engine. Plus it's still insanely fast as is.

Too many projects.  The blue 74 shouldn't take long though.

[BruceK]

Darker Blue sounds great.   I've seen a nice dark blue on VW products - is that what it will be?  Or something else?

[94touring]

I'm looking at this one.  Saw one parked at my complex and liked it.

[BruceK]

Yup. I think that’s the one I was thinking of.

[94touring]

Kinda want this look.

[gr8kornholio]

 

[BruceK]

Kinda want this look.

Very nice! I like it a lot.

[94touring]

Put the carbs completely together. Did a test fit in the engine bay with the shielding. Pretty tight fit but works.

[MiniDave]

Hey, that's a great looking engine, all it needs is a spot of paint!   

[94touring]

Wheels and wheel weights!  I have done some research this week.  Already know I want 10x6 wheels for the performance and handling, and the lightest I can find but without spending a small fortune.  Up first is your standard 10x6 minilite wheel, weighing in at 8.25lbs and good as a base comparison.  The next wheel is the all black Kad 10x6 weighing in at 4.85lbs.  A huge difference but at a price tag of 400£ EACH! Pricey! Third wheel are Force Racing in the UK.  They have a variety to choose from.  I sent them an email regarding the v5 style and modular 3 piece in 10x6.  The weights being 5.25lbs and roughly 600£ for a complete set of 4.  A very good compromise in weight and price in my opinion.  Now what does a difference of 3lbs per wheel actually do?  From seat of pants experience in my rx7s, going from a heavy 18" wheel down to a lightweight 17" wheel was very noticeable.  For every pound you take off a wheel and it's rotational mass, you effectively shave 6-7lbs off the car.  Some people say as high as 10lbs but I'll be conservative at 6lbs. So 3lbs per wheel is like taking 72lbs off the car.  What does 72lbs mean to a mini? Assuming a 1400lb car with a hotrod engine making 100hp your power to weight ratio is 14:1.  The new ratio becomes 13.28:1.  Take the old weight of 1400 and divide it by 13.28 to get 105.42.  With the various mods and rotational items I intend to do, have calculated a new ratio of 11.25 based off a starting weight of 1400lbs.  Assuming my engine will produce 100hp crank, that's now equivalent to about 125hp.  At some point I should weigh and dyno the car to see what it's actual doing.

[MiniDave]

Are you  going to paint or powdercoat that steel intake manifold?

I just can't justify the price of those KAD parts for a street driven car, people seem genuinely happy with the Force wheels....but saving 2 lbs, I don't know as that will be noticeable - again on a street driven car...I can see it for a  track day monster, but street?

[94touring]

Wasn't planning on doing anything to the manifolds.

3lbs per wheel on a mini is actually pretty significant given the car weight.  It will be comparable to a light flywheel, which I also have!  Having done these type mods on other cars, the gains are there and noticeable.

[MiniDave]

If it's plain steel, it will rust.....I know that's a trend right now, rusty parts covered in clearcoat but.....

[Jimini II]

That black KAD wheel is really thick at the mounting points, just look at the length of the wheel nuts.
Rotational mass on wheels is a big issue just look at all these full size trucks running 18 inch plus wheels that weigh a ton it's no wonder their gas/diesel mileage suffers. Look at Toyota Prius's running maybe 15 inch wheels that look tiny by today's standards but get great fuel mileage.
Just compare the weight of a 13x6 Rover Sportpack wheel with a stock Rover 12x4.5, there is a reason the sportpack was slower than a stock wheeled Rover Mini, of course the wider sportpack flares did nothing to help either.
Years ago Mamba's were the choice of lightweight wheels to go with.

[94touring]

If it's plain steel, it will rust.....I know that's a trend right now, rusty parts covered in clearcoat but.....

Good point.  Easy enough to spray with the block too.

[94touring]

Rotational mass on wheels is a big issue...

Definetly so.  One way to look at it is flip a bike upside down and turn the pedal. Then take the tire off and see how much less force it takes to spin it.