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Mini track day: A track day arrived. I'd been planning on bringing out my Seven but the weather was not cooperating with an open-topped roadster. So the Mini came out instead. It's the first time I've ever run a FWD on the track, and also the first time I've been out in the wet. At least I know the track pretty well so it wasn't all new to me.
The first session was in pouring rain. There was standing water on the track and the little Mini wanted to wag its tail pretty badly. It also couldn't put down much power, but that's not a big surprise. I was learning that the car wanted to be on power more than my usual RWD mount, especially when it came to keeping the tail in line through a downhill chicane.
As the track dried, I started to experience more understeer and difficulty in putting down power. A bit of trail braking helped the car to rotate into turns, but it was still abusing the fronts more that I wanted. My lap times were coming down but the car still wasn't working as well as it should. The only place it really showed its potential was through that chicane. In my Seven, that's one place where I move faster than anywhere else so I'm a little aggressive. The tail was dancing around and I was having to commit heavily to keep the car in line - but I was going through quickly.
For my last session, I decided to try a faster entry speed. In other words, I just tossed the car to see what would happen. All of a sudden I had the rear wheels howling in concert with the front and the car was moving happily through the corners. The clock confirmed this as well - my lap times dropped by about a second. Even better, it was hilarious fun. I've always known that this is how you're supposed to drive a Mini, but after so much time driving the Seven I have to make a very deliberate change to my driving style.
Mechanically, the car didn't skip a beat. The brakes were strong and provided some great braking at the end of the front straight. I have the habit of double-clutching my downshifts into second gear and in a whole day of driving I only had two less-than-perfect shifts. Even those were probably better than average for people who simply rely on synchros. Good for gearbox longevity! It sure was busy at the end of the back straight - threshold braking on a curve while trying to double-clutch into second gear! A lack of bolstering on the seats meant that I was having to work pretty hard hold myself up on a long fast sweeper but that's part of the fun. There was a drift event being held at the same time and my 10" wheels caused a lot of entertainment.
A change in plans: I've always planned to paint the Mini Almond Green. But I'm reconsidering. The original Sandy Beige paint has grown on me and I think it's going to stay. The car will still need a respray when I'm done repairing some rust of course, but the beige is a more fun color than the green. Well, that's the thought this week anyhow.
The repair parts are here for the radius arms. I've put the instructions on my server here as they're now hard to find. I'll try the repair in a couple of weeks when I have lots of time and the shop to myself.
Some switches also showed up. I'm going to dive into the wiring harness of the car and set the dash up similar to a MkI Mini. I know, it's not legit for the MkII Cooper theme but I just love having to reach over to start the car. Some nice switches came from Del City which look like the originals but they're about 1/10th the price. I'll also add some relays to keep these ones from cooking.
Superfins!: In a moment of weakness, I decided the Mini needed new rear brakes. See, at the autocross there was a bit too much front bias. And I thought that lighter rotating mass would be good. And I knew that one set of shoes had been soaked in brake fluid with the cylinder failure last year. So I ordered new shoes, Minifins (you have to, don't you?) and stainless lines.
There's a dramatic difference in weight between the stock drums and the Minifins. Well, that's what they're for. But when it came time to install them, I had a real problem. The drum just wouldn't go on! Careful examination showed that the backing plates weren't quite the right shape and they were holding the shoes too far out, no matter how much I backed off the adjuster. So the angle grinder came out. After a couple of attempts (I didn't want to take off too much meat for fear of not having enough room to adjust for worn shoes and drums), everything slipped together as it is supposed to. Victory!
While reading back over this site, I realised that it appears the Mini is constantly under repair. It's true, I've done a little fettling and it is one of my little project cars. But many of these repairs are separated with miles of fun that I don't mention here.
And of course, right when I was thinking that, I discovered that one of my rear wheels has play in it! It's in the radius arm. Ah, shoot. The repair kits are cheap, but the process is apparently not one for simple mortals to take on. Something about having to hone out a bushing. I'll try to dig up more information, as my manual is frightened of telling me the truth. The repair kit is on the way here now.
Autocross time: I joined the Colorado West Corvette Club for one of their autocrosses. After all the work on the suspension, brakes and tires I was really curious about how it would behave. The day was hot - a high of 34C (93F) - so it was also a good test of the cooling system.
The course itself was a Corvette course. A couple of spots were wide open and a fast car like my Seven would have been seriously moving. Not so much in the Mini of course. There were a couple of tighter spots I figured I could rely on to help me catch up and I was planning on very different lines than those taken by the Corvettes. Most of those drivers were going relatively slowly around the corners and then blasting through the open sections, although a couple were working the cars hard all over.
I've only autocrossed a FWD once before, and that was the Mini about a year ago. So on the first run, I found myself fighting understeer on a lot of the corners. I also shifted up into third gear where most of the Corvettes were starting to brake! For subsequent runs I played around with tire pressures and driving style and it got a bit better, but my times didn't change much as the course slowed down in the heat. Apparently the little Mini was a hit amongst spectators, especially when I would lift a rear wheel while sliding the car around! No mechanical problems, no odd noises - just fun with my little car. I don't have the final results yet but I finished in the middle of a bunch of the Corvettes.
Badges and flares: I had better things to do. But the garage was calling me! So I found myself futzing around with the car. My purpose was to get it ready for the autocross. So that meant pulling off the cheesy mid-80's era badging and replacing it with something from the 60's. In the front, I installed a Cooper S badge that was used on the MkII versions. The car will look more or less like a MkII Cooper when I'm done, so that's good. In the back, I didn't feel like drilling the required holes for the vintage badge quite yet. So I took a badge off my spare 1966 Cadillac and glued it on. If you can't smile at yourself, you probably shouldn't be driving a Mini!
To cover up my protruding wheels, I also attached a set of new black Rover flares. I took off a set of these some time ago but figured I'd give them another shot. They do look better. They'll look more cohesive if I paint them body color, something that will happen when the long-anticipated paint job gets underway. So now I'm ready for the autocross!
Drag strip action!: Bedding the brakes led to a very soft pedal much sooner than I expected, but it's back again. I'll have to take the car out and work it hard to see how well they survive before an autocross this weekend. However, we still needed to do some racing last week...
...so it was off to the drag strip! Obviously, this is the spiritual home of the classic Mini. I even stuck the flames on the car for maximum horsepower. I've never drag raced before so I had a lot to learn. My biggest problem as I headed down the strip on the first run? "Whoops, I never asked anyone how to tell when I've reached the end!" The little car did pretty well and provided a lot of entertainment for the others who came out. The tech inspector laughed pretty hard when he tried to check the steering wheel and found that it was installed on the wrong side of the car. My best run was 18.619 seconds with a trap speed of 73 mph.
The Mini wasn't flawless. The headlight switch - an aftermarket part with no relay protecting it - overheated when I tried a run with my driving lights on (you go faster with more lights on, of course). It was most entertaining as I tried to drive down the drag strip and wiggle the switch to try to find an undamaged part of the contact. It's a good thing I wasn't driving a 10-second car. I'll source some good switches and use relays to isolate them.
Cool brakes and 10" wheels.: I'll definitely go back to Mini Sport again. They were easy to deal with and the parts were top quality. I chose their special 4-pot calipers for 7.9" vented rotors. I could have saved a couple of dollars by not ordering rotors (I have a set already) but the price difference was minimal.
The first thing I noticed when I picked up the calipers was the weight. Mini Sport claims they're 1.1 kg (about 2.4 lbs) and that's no exaggeration. It's almost eerie. I'm used to racing calipers but nothing this light. The rotors were nicely turned down and the pads were already modified to fit in their new home. Installation was a matter of pulling off the old caliper, unbolting the driveshaft and removing the drive member and disc. These two are bolted together, so just unbolt them, open up the holes slightly and then bolt on the modified Metro Turbo rotors with the included bolts. Take the dust shield off the swivel hub then remount the new rotor and drive flanges. Torque the hub bolt to 150 ft/lb in my case. The caliper simply bolts on. Pads slip in and are held in place with the included cotter pins and then it's a matter of bleeding. I'll have to take a second shot at this tonight as there are obviously still some bubbles in the system.
When I went to bolt on the wheels, I discovered that the balancing weights hit the brake caliper. No problem there, I relocated them further outboard with some double-sided tape.
So how does it drive? Well, it's obvious that Minis are supposed to have 10" wheels. The ride is better and the lighter weight can really be felt. Turn-in is not quite a psychotic as it was before on the 12" Yoko A048s, but the A008s do quite nicely. The whole car just works better. I'm not going to pass judgement on the brakes themselves until I have them properly bled, but they let me fit the 10" wheels so they're already a good item!
Well, never mind then.: I welded up the brackets for the brakes and then had to take a bit of a break to get the Seven ready for a high-profile test. When I got back, I reexamined my work. The big problem is that the Metro Turbo discs are thicker than a full-thickness Miata rotor, and the clearances are very, very, very tight. I'm not convinced I can even get it to work despite a lot of careful measurements. I then pulled out my most recent Mini World magazine and discovered the four-pot calipers from Mini Sport were less expensive than I thought. I still had to buy the good brake pads for the Miata calipers and get custom brake lines made, bringing the prices even closer. So I decided to simply let someone else do the engineering. I'm eager to get the little critter back together and running around on the 10" wheels. So far, Mini Sport has been a real pleasure to deal with.
The caliper is in the wheel!: After looking at the cutaway picture I put together, it became obvious that my steel adaptor plan wasn't going to work. Cutting and welding was the alternative. I went after the caliper bracket with a bandsaw and made room for it to fit over the mounting tabs on the hub. With a little bit of grinding on the backside of the caliper - not too much! - it all slipped into the wheel fairly well. My initial thoughts of a 6mm shave on the rotor still look good to give a little extra room. The Miata pads line up really nicely with the rotor. I will have to move the wheel balancing weights to the outside lip of the wheel but I'm willing to accept that. Tomorrow the rotors will be turned down (assuming I am persuasive enough at the machine shop) and I'll be able to start welding up the caliper bracketry.
Getting closer on the brakes: The Miata brakes look as if they'll work pretty well on the Mini hub. I may be able to do a little cutting and build a steel adaptor to join the two pieces. It's either going to be easy or very, very difficult.