# Grant electric mini.



## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi lads.

So, I decided to attempt this project.








































. Yeap …it’s a mini. Not the best example, this one. In need of full restoration. That’s way this isn’t gonna be one of those fast moving threads. Although , I will work on electric drive train, along with restoration, so I hope I’ll have something to show for soon enough. 

Mini isn’t the easiest one to convert. This transmission in the sump stuff makes it really difficult. I should probably have chosen different car. Say, Nissan Micra. Or Toyota Yaris. Or…but hey, if I am to part with 10k Euro plus in the course of this build, I’m not putting me dough into something that I can only drive while wearing balaclava. I don’t want a car that I have to park two blocks away from meeting place just to avoid being seen in it.

Mini on other hand, is a pretty little thing. Nice little car. And, if it wasn’t for that strangely designed drive train, I’d say it would be an ideal base for EV conversion. It is light, it’s simple, and it’s cool. 

Mini it is, then. 

My plan is to use preferably off the shelf parts, and components. New ones. Where not possible, those easily available. Scaling engineering and fabricating work down to the very minimum. The idea is to work out a way of converting these cars without complicated machining work, without difficult fabrications i.e. Can spent up to 10k Euro. That’s only conversion. Excluding car and its restoration costs. Anything above 10k Euro mark doesn’t actually make much sense for me. I don’t care for environment Neither I’m into saving the planet crap. I want the return of my investment during few years of using the car as daily commuter. 

I’d like, driving this car wouldn’t require any special skills. That it could be driven by anyone. My teenage daughter, my partner (she doesn’t drive stick), and also my nearly 90 years old grandma. My grandma hardly even walks, to be honest. Let alone drive. But you know what I’m getting at here. Tricky clutch less gear shifting is out of question. Any gear shifting - for that matter- is out of question. 

Car will be mainly used for commuting to work. I live in rural area (25KM from nearest town), and my partner drives to work 5 days a week. She does from 52 to 60 (depends on her shopping frenzy) kilometers there and back. And that basically covers our transportation needs. 

I’m gonna start from the drive train. And here I could really use your help. Any advice, any suggestions, will be most appreciated. Actually, trying to figure out how to transfer power from electric motor to mini’s wheels - without getting into advanced engineering stuff - is the reason I’ve lost sleep lately.


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

Taking a guess your Irish??  I would look at using a small fwd gearbox say from a civic or a micra.


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## skooler (Mar 26, 2011)

Hi,
You mentioned not wanting to use gears. Have you considered direct drive?

I'd be tempted to mount an oversize motor directly to a differential on the rear axle.

You can then control take off torque/speed in the controller (ramp rate?)

Cheers,

Mike


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

jackbauer said:


> Taking a guess your Irish??  I would look at using a small fwd gearbox say from a civic or a micra.


Not Irish. But living in Ireland. Small place in the middle of nowhere in county Tipperary. 

Actually it was you Damien who infected me with the idea. Been watching you building your beemer and it got me hooked. 

Yeah that’s what I’m thinking. Small fwd transmission. But in my case it has to be an automatic one. See it’s not me who will be driving this car. I don’t get into a car unless it’s absolutely necessary. And me woman doesn’t have a clue how to change the gear.

I been cracking my heed around CVT tranny from Micra. Older Micra. Plenty of those around. The thing is that its control unit would have to be modified, to work with electric motor and I’m not sure I’m up to the task here. But I probably try this route.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

skooler said:


> Hi,
> You mentioned not wanting to use gears. Have you considered direct drive?
> 
> I'd be tempted to mount an oversize motor directly to a differential on the rear axle.
> ...


The trouble is, it’s FWD car. Oversized motor may also be tricky to fit. Mini’s engine bay is a size of larger watermelon. I was thinking about 9” kostov. Or one of those 










Yes, direct drive could be the way to go, I guess. If CVT won’t play out, I probably attempt to fabricate a direct drive transaxle. Came across something like this










It’s drive train from berlingo electrique. Smartly designed I should say, but way beyond my engineering skills


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

You could use two of the Agni motors, one for each wheel but will need a reduction gear, chain or belt to get usable torque.

The Berlingo unit is nice but you will need the controller to go with it as it is a high voltage SepEx unit. There are some Berlingos being broken in Kent IIRC. The breaker isn't allowed to sell them on as vehicles but could be persuaded to sell the front half, which is the half that has all the useful bits. You would need someone who knows them though to make sure you are not missing any of the many hard to get components.

I would be tempted to just use an auto transaxle from something small and just go with it. A pre electronically managed car would be the easiest I suspect.

Alternatively, you could get a chain drive diff unit as used on motorbike-trike conversions. That will give you a wide range of chain or belt drive ratios for direct drive from one motor.
I know of a chap with the same set up in a mini/2CV based clown car he uses for children's shows.


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

Glad to have been an inspiration My 2 cents would be this : Keep it simple. Sure , lots of interesting things can be done with enough time , effort and money but sometimes the best solution is the simple one. Also i would not go direct drive. It sounds great and works out great on paper but you end up with a milk float or a cooked motor.

I wouldn't be so quick to give up on the mini gearbox. Been years since I worked on one but it should be possible. As woodsmith suggested a small , non electronic automatic might be another good choice.


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## Caspar (Dec 17, 2011)

The solution is easy, let me help you find a Think Classic donor in Norway. You can get them from 1500-2000 euro. Spend a Weekend in Oslo, and take out the driveline and the wiring, and you will have all you need too do a nice convertion of your Mini.
I have all the wiringdiagram you need also
http://elbilforum.no/forum/index.php/topic,4416.0.html
http://forum.autoclassic.no/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6078


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Woodsmith said:


> You could use two of the Agni motors, one for each wheel but will need a reduction gear, chain or belt to get usable torque.


Somehow I don’t like the idea of using chain or belt to propel a car. Don’t know why. I’ve seen Malcolm”s dual drive power train in mini’s sub frame and it is very nicely put together, but …nah, no chains for me.



Woodsmith said:


> There are some Berlingos being broken in Kent IIRC.


I also found berlingo in Ireland. 3k euro asking price. In decent condition. Don’t know. Seems like kicking down an open door. Braking up good car to build a different one? Why not get and drive berlingo in the first place? 



Woodsmith said:


> I would be tempted to just use an auto transaxle from something small and just go with it.


Small auto. This idea is most appealing. Say, there's that cvt transmission from Micra K11 a was looking at. It has electromagnetic clutch witch I would scrap, and couple transmission with motor directly. CVT doesn’t have to idle to be operational. Now, the pulleys that change ratios are pushed together or spread apart by hydraulics operated by set of valves. And here the troubles start. The valves are hooked to ECU. Do you think there could be the way of controlling those valves skipping the ECU ?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

jackbauer said:


> I wouldn't be so quick to give up on the mini gearbox. Been years since I worked on one but it should be possible. .


Actually this mini is an automatic. But, how to hook the motor to a gearbox where the gearbox is actually a sump? Seen it done thou. Metal plate bolted to the top. Then motor to it, chained up with a layshaft. Can’t say I liked it.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> I also found berlingo in Ireland. 3k euro asking price. In decent condition. Don’t know. Seems like kicking down an open door. Braking up good car to build a different one? Why not get and drive berlingo in the first place?


I know what you mean. The ones in Kent are all form a university and were good running vans but they were only allowed to be sold to the breaker on the basis they were never put back on the road in any form. The best deal with them is to buy a front half, about £750 the last time I heard. There were about 6 of them.



Studebaker said:


> Small auto. This idea is most appealing. Say, there's that cvt transmission from Micra K11 a was looking at. It has electromagnetic clutch witch I would scrap, and couple transmission with motor directly. CVT doesn’t have to idle to be operational. Now, the pulleys that change ratios are pushed together or spread apart by hydraulics operated by set of valves. And here the troubles start. The valves are hooked to ECU. Do you think there could be the way of controlling those valves skipping the ECU ?


What provides the hydraulic pressure? You would need to replicate the pressure supply if it was engine driven or input shaft driven.

No idea about the ECUs, not my field or knowledge. Maybe look at a conventional auto from something from the early 90s.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

Hi Studebaker,
Like you say, the mini is ideal in many ways, but challenging in others. I think your conversion goals are spot on.
So you want simple, but no chains, belts or manual gearbox. It sounds to me like Caspar's Think solution is the best fit. It's neat, reliable and should involve the minimum of machining and fabrication.

Having said that, if I was starting again and didn't already have a couple of cheap motors I'd like to try using a rear diff from something like a Sierra or Freelander and mount a motor directly above it, with belt drive to the diff input. I've checked the design specs for the Gates Carbon belts, and with a 36mm wide belt you can easily put 100 kW + into the diff.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

But then the motor would have to go diagonally. I think in that case it’d be better to mount motor on the side of diff - not above - to utilize space more efficiently. Good idea Malcolm. Very good.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Woodsmith said:


> I know what you mean. The ones in Kent are all form a university and were good running vans but they were only allowed to be sold to the breaker on the basis they were never put back on the road in any form. The best deal with them is to buy a front half, about £750 the last time I heard. There were about 6 of them.
> .


Right, so who is the breaker? How do I get in touch with him. Or perhaps you wanna be a middle man? I make it worth your while. What you say? I don’t feel like go to Norway at this moment. Kent’s like…closer? 

Thank you Caspar for help, thou.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

I hadn't realised the Berlingo motor incorporated the diff and CV joints. That's very interesting, just a shame it's Sepex as it means a very limited choice of controllers. Do you happen to know what diameter the motor is Woody? Eight inches would be about the maximum you could get into a Mini without setting the drive shafts at an angle.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

I did a quick search on the Battery Vehicle Society forum and came up with this. Maybe worth a try to see if they still have some.



> I saw someone was breaking an electrique on ebay and called to see if the had the vaccum pump and controller for sale, to be told they had SIX electriques and they'd put me through to the owner as he was working out what to do with them!
> 
> I spoke very briefly to the owner who put me on hold/lost me a few times and appeared very stressed about anyone coming down to see the vehicle(s) for a week or so - looks like he's been fielding quite a few calls about them...
> 
> ...


http://www.batteryvehiclesociety.org.uk/bvsorguk/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2417&hilit=gosport


Not sure if the link will work if you are not signed in.


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## Woodsmith (Jun 5, 2008)

MalcolmB said:


> I hadn't realised the Berlingo motor incorporated the diff and CV joints. That's very interesting, just a shame it's Sepex as it means a very limited choice of controllers. Do you happen to know what diameter the motor is Woody? Eight inches would be about the maximum you could get into a Mini without setting the drive shafts at an angle.


I can't remember what the diameter was, but the motor is a square section with the corners knocked off. Maybe about 10"?

This is what one looks like.

















You might get an idea of scale here.









The controller.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

Thanks for the pics! Assuming the drive outputs are centred in the motor block it would mean the drive shafts exit around 25mm further forward than normal. Combined with the increased width, that would put the drive shafts at quite a steep angle.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Studebaker

I was sorely tempted to do a mini - I used to have a mini with a Lancia twin cam in the front

My tuppence worth
A mini is light - a 9 inch or 11 inch DC motor with a decent controller and a 3 : 1 diff should be able to spin tires
This means a gearbox is unnecessary

I would be thinking about something like a Subaru or Sierra diff in the middle at the front
I would put the motor in the boot with a drive-shaft along the exhaust tunnel 
- would probably need to cut the tunnel out and weld in a bigger one

You could reverse this for rear wheel drive - but then its not a mini


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Yes, but then you would have to turn the diff around. I think they deigned to spin in certain direction. You know the annoying whizz that comes from diff when you reversing. You’d have it all the time in the set up where diff is spinning in opposite direction.


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## PThompson509 (Jul 9, 2009)

Hi Folks,

A friend of mine has a Kewet (possibly smaller than your mini), and she replaced the old worn-out DC motor with an AC motor from HPEVS. The motor is the AC50, and can be ordered from the factory with a transaxle. She was able to fit it in using Geo Metro drive shafts, with no machining needed.

Cheers,
Peter


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

That would be something for me. How can one order it? All pages on their website say “ This Page is Under Development
Check Back Soon “ 
Can’t even find the e mail address.


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## PThompson509 (Jul 9, 2009)

Well, not quite all. Not sure what the deal is. However, they do have phone numbers (how 20th century!) on their website tho. 

I'll see if I can locate an email address for you. Another possibility is for an EV vendor near you to order it...not sure who would be best for Ireland.

Cheers,
Peter



Studebaker said:


> That would be something for me. How can one order it? All pages on their website say “ This Page is Under Development
> Check Back Soon “
> Can’t even find the e mail address.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

I'd go for the Think! drivetrain. I am using a chain drive and a simple DC setup because of cost and simplicity but expect it to be noisy.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> Yes, but then you would have to turn the diff around. I think they deigned to spin in certain direction. You know the annoying whizz that comes from diff when you reversing. You’d have it all the time in the set up where diff is spinning in opposite direction.


I think you would turn it around and upside down - then all of the gear loads would be in the right direction


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

You right mate. I guess starring at computer screen all day long makes me see the world in only two dimensions.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

I was just reading through Caspar's build thread and noticed there's a slight problem with the Think system. Top speed for the Think was limited by the controller to 90 kph, but with 10" Mini wheels that drops to 70 kph.

Caspar, if you're following this, did you manage to find out how to increase the controller's rpm limit?


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## tomofreno (Mar 3, 2009)

PThompson509 said:


> Hi Folks,
> 
> A friend of mine has a Kewet (possibly smaller than your mini), and she replaced the old worn-out DC motor with an AC motor from HPEVS. The motor is the AC50, and can be ordered from the factory with a transaxle. She was able to fit it in using Geo Metro drive shafts, with no machining needed.
> 
> ...


 Is this a single speed transaxle? What ratio?


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

It sounds like the Azure Dynamics system. Fixed ratio of 10:1.
http://www.azuredynamics.com/products/force-drive/documents/AC24_DMOC445ProductSheet.pdf


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## electricmini (Oct 21, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> Actually this mini is an automatic. But, how to hook the motor to a gearbox where the gearbox is actually a sump? Seen it done thou. Metal plate bolted to the top. Then motor to it, chained up with a layshaft. Can’t say I liked it.


I still have the setup from my Mini pickup conversion - which was based on an *automatic* Mini gearbox. We (Paul Compton and me) removed all the insides, leaving just the diff & final drive pinion. Paul then made a shaft and adaptor to bring the shaft out of the side where the transfer gears used to be, put the motor on top and coupled it up with a big toothed belt.
Worked ok, could do with having bearings on both sides of the belt

The gearbox is still here outside my garage, even the motor is still here & looking for a new home! Fancy a trip to Cardiff?

Would be nice to see another electric Mini, especially if it's got lithium cells....

Richard


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## PThompson509 (Jul 9, 2009)

The HPEVS transaxle has a ratio of 8.5:1 - the transaxle is single-speed. The AC50 has a max motor speed of 8500. The limitation is actually the controller, as the motor and the transmission have a top end of 10K RPM.

She's able to get 65MPH out of her Kewet using this combination.

Cheers,
Peter


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

electricmini said:


> I still have the setup from my Mini pickup conversion - which was based on an *automatic* Mini gearbox. We (Paul Compton and me) removed all the insides, leaving just the diff & final drive pinion. Paul then made a shaft and adaptor to bring the shaft out of the side where the transfer gears used to be, put the motor on top and coupled it up with a big toothed belt.
> Worked ok, could do with having bearings on both sides of the belt
> 
> The gearbox is still here outside my garage, even the motor is still here & looking for a new home! Fancy a trip to Cardiff?
> ...


Cardiff - really nice place. Been there on couple of occasions. Beautiful spot.

I have an automatic mini gearbox already. Been thinking about matching it with motor. But…nah, such set ups take lot of space, and mini - what its name says - is quite a small car. I would like to save some room under the bonnet for other components. 

I actually won this 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAP...me=ADME:B:EOIBSA:IE:3160&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

few minutes ago.

So, I probably be trying to get a transaxle from HPEVS. That’s providing we - I mean I and Ptompson - manage to locate their email address. If not, I try to hook this motor directly to some differential with high ratio. 

OK lads, you don’t expect me to build this car in a month time. Do you? I’m going to the garage now to rip off the engine. Post some pictures later.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

And it’s done.













What the hell was I thinking buying this car? Funny story BTW. I went to see two other minis. Arranged meetings with sellers, but they never showed up. Stopped to answer me calls when I told them I’m there and waiting. What the bloody hell these people are playing at I was asking myself. Are they listing their cars for sale out of boredom? 

When I went to see the third one and the guy actually came, I felt like I hit a lotto jackpot. But when I seen the car I gasped in despair. What the hell I said to myself. Is now or never. Didn’t even tried to talk the price down. Bought it just to get it over with.

So, here we are…


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## tomofreno (Mar 3, 2009)

PThompson509 said:


> The HPEVS transaxle has a ratio of 8.5:1 - the transaxle is single-speed. The AC50 has a max motor speed of 8500. The limitation is actually the controller, as the motor and the transmission have a top end of 10K RPM.
> 
> She's able to get 65MPH out of her Kewet using this combination.
> 
> ...


 Thank you. I have a Swift (http://www.evalbum.com/3060) with an AC50 and nominal 115V pack. With 8.5:1 the estimated zero to 40 mph time would be about 7 sec and zero to 60 mph would be about 23 sec. It really dies at the end due to low torque at high rpm. The zero to 60 mph time with the original transmission is about 16 sec (measured). I don't need 5 speeds, so kind of watching for something like 2 speeds, and thought maybe 1, but the AC50 doesn't have enough power for that to work well at highway speeds. The 8.5:1 should work well and be very simple and convenient for lower speed city/secondary road driving though - all depends on what you want.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

You were thinking it's better to have something work on than to spend all day waiting for flakes that might not have anything better to offer. 

I think that is a great size motor for this car. Any chance you will have enough space to mount it flat with a diff attached? If so, you will have a fair amount of space on top of it for other stuff.

The stock output shafts are pretty close to the cabin floor so it may be possible. If so, it's a very good option for mini conversions.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

You think? Well, lets hope so, because motor is bought. I’m not sure about attaching it directly to the diff. Regular differentials have a ratio of about 4: 1, little less. I’d say it’s to low. This HPEVS transaxle Ptompson was mentioning could do for me. But where to buy it?


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## PThompson509 (Jul 9, 2009)

Hi Studebaker,

I sent you two private messages with info about the transaxle - I believe there is a company in the UK that sells them. You'll have to check out the info I sent and see if that works for you.

For those following, the transaxle is from Graziano, and is the UVT 900 gearbox. My friend had it modified to use 8.5:1 instead of the more standards 10.5:1.

Cheers, Peter


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi guys.

Just waned to write few words so you wouldn’t think I gave up. Bet you thought I did. Not a chance. I’ll stick with you for a while. Well, it takes more than this












or this











to put me off.


Looks like I’m in for a long haul, but I won’t be boring you with progress of car restoration. Is not that forum. As far as conversion is concerned - the motor arrived yesterday. It is AC50. 






























I’ve pretty much made my mind up, that I’ll be hooking it up to this transaxle.










However, before I order it I need to get further with the car itself. To have something one can call a car, in the fist place. Now, as you well can see… I don’t. 

Cheers 
Chris


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

Glad to see you're still at it. I reckon that's just about the ideal choice of motor and transmission for the Mini. Does the transmission come with CV joints, or do you have to get those made up?

Looks like you're well set up to replace those rusty panels. I'm envious of your workspace. I have a tiny little British garage with not even enough space for a Mini, so I cheated and bought a plastic bodied replica


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Heh. Garage came with the house… which I have to pay rent for. Luckily I’m in Ireland and they have huge garages here. You know what they say…

Don’t really know how the CV s gonna play out. The moment I see transaxle with me own eyes, I will. Not concerned much about it though. I’m gonna make it play...


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## Aboveliquidice (Feb 12, 2012)

I feel the need to bump this thread, as I am about to throw down for an electric classic mini myself. 

I have been researching this for the past few weeks, and this is definitely where I am heading. 

Couple of questions. How are you planning to mount the "transaxle is from Graziano, and is the UVT 900 gearbox?" Is this simply a modification of the front subframe, or something more indepth. I had already zeroed in on the AC setup, utilizing an AC50 motor. But the mating to the differential / transmission has me stumped.

Looking forward to getting into my own project.


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## mizlplix (May 1, 2011)

> The HPEVS transaxle has a ratio of 8.5:1 - the transaxle is single-speed. The AC50 has a max motor speed of 8500. The limitation is actually the controller, as the motor and the transmission have a top end of 10K RPM.


You will find that the usable torque stops at about 6,500RPM. SO getting 10,000RPM would not really help much.

AN AC50 is quick in a 453KG auto, good in a 900KG auto and is disappointing in a 1,400KG auto.

Keep it light. You only need 2 gears. Town and open roadway.

A direct drive Mini has been done. http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52461&highlight=cooper+mini

An AC50 build here: http://evmini.tumblr.com/

Hiding the cells are the biggest challenge.

Miz


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi guys.

Metal work goes painfully slow.





















First I tried to avoid getting new panels as much as I can. Done up one wing.






































And decided - it’s just not worth it, when you can have one for 40 quid.










Bought the rest of’em eventually.












Hi Aboveliquidice

I think mounting transaxle, I mean entire drive-train - once the motor and axle is bolted together - isn’t going to be very difficult. Mini’s sub frame gives you plenty of space to manoeuvre. Guess, couple of brackets, should do the trick. Just to hold the unit in required position. Bigger challenge - in my opinion - will be connecting drive shafts to the axle. Messing with drive shafts may be tricky. And if you ask me - unless one has access to precise machining equipment - it is never a good idea. Anyway, I’m not quite there yet. Once I finish up the shell I order the axle, and report back on working progress.

About battery cells accommodation, mizlplix - they’ll go into the boot.










I intend to cut out boot floor and make a box which will be sunk inside rear sub frame. There is quite large not utilised space inside the rear sub frame, there. 

Cheers 

Thanks for reading.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> I intend to cut out boot floor and make a box which will be sunk inside rear sub frame. There is quite large not utilised space inside the rear sub frame, there.


I was seriously thinking of doing the same, but decided against it after reading up on the UK regulations. I don't know what the regs are like in Ireland, but here if you cut any significant holes in the monocoque or subframe you have to inform the vehicle licensing authority and put the car through single vehicle approval. For the time being I'm just going to put the pack in the rear seat space.


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## skooler (Mar 26, 2011)

MalcolmB said:


> I was seriously thinking of doing the same, but decided against it after reading up on the UK regulations. I don't know what the regs are like in Ireland, but here if you cut any significant holes in the monocoque or subframe you have to inform the vehicle licensing authority and put the car through single vehicle approval. For the time being I'm just going to put the pack in the rear seat space.


Hi MalcomB,

Do you have copy/link of the regulations?

I can't remember where I read it but I'm sure that its only the chassis and subframes themselfes you can't cut?

So cutting out the boot floor shouldnt be an issue.

I've done exactly that, informed the DVLA of the conversion and made it clear in my letter that I altered the cars structure. All they have asked for to change the fuel type is an MOT - I then change the tax class when its taxed (at the local office) and then change the fuel type on the log book (sent to Swansea).

Simples 

Cheers,

Mike


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

skooler said:


> Do you have copy/link of the regulations?


There's a 'clarification' of the regulations here: http://www.the-ace.org.uk/chassis-and-monocoque-modification/ though they're still not totally clear. I decided to err on the side of caution. If you reinforce the perimeter of the cutout with angle and a box structure like you and most others do I personally don't see any problem.


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## skooler (Mar 26, 2011)

MalcolmB said:


> There's a 'clarification' of the regulations here: http://www.the-ace.org.uk/chassis-and-monocoque-modification/ though they're still not totally clear. I decided to err on the side of caution. If you reinforce the perimeter of the cutout with angle and a box structure like you and most others do I personally don't see any problem.


Thanks for that...
eurgh! not very clear at all 

I agree, as long as it is reinforced, and no parts of the chassis, subframe or framerails are cut I see no issue.

The way I look at it, It is very unlikely the DVLA is going to check the vehicle in the UK - so use common sense and reinforce what is cutout.

Cheers,

Mike


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Exactly I gonna go even little bit further. I’m making a small, simple die cast, to press out few creases on the walls of the box.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Right On. 

I would argue that the car is coming along quite nicely.

I am also planning a battery box that extends into the rear sub-frame. I have 30 CALB 100AH cells that will fit between the sub-frame with some extra space for a contactor and possibly a charger.

How much clearance are you guys planning to leave between the battery boxes and say the garage floor as the car sits fully loaded?


- Jaesin


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Don’t know how much it’ll leave from the floor, but I was thinking of some 7 inches.deep box. 
Depending on battery height they may stick out above the surface couple of centimeters. I wouldn’t worry about it . In practical terms, mini’s boot isn’t of some strategic importance . Loosing few cubic inches won’t do much harm. Why not to put batteries in it as it is then?. Well, lower center of mass helps handling. Besides, even though mini’s boot isn’t practical, having some room there, may come handy from time to time.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

I think a 7 inch deep box would let me keep a new boot floor level that is even with boot opening. I don't know if there is some sort of pre-determined safe clearance for chassis parts. A skid plate might be a good idea. 

I want to keep as much space as possible in the boot as I use it quite a bit.
It is very easy to get stuff in and out since it opens like a tail gate.

- Jaesin


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

There’s 9 inches between the levels of boot and cabin floor, so 7 inch deep box will still sit higher than the main floor. You could actually go full 9 inches with no trouble I guess.


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## HPEVS (Jun 6, 2012)

Figured I would jump in here. The motor for the Graziano transaxle is different from the one you have. The AC50 you need is the one for a Wheego, it is designed to bolt directly to the Graziano.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks mate. You wouldn’t have more information , would you? I mean …say, how to get one of those?


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## HPEVS (Jun 6, 2012)

We can build you one. Very few of the parts in the standard AC50 work with the Graziano style motor. My suggestion would be to find someone to buy the motor you have and buy the correct motor for the trans, or use an adapter to use the motor you have on a standard trans.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

“We can build you one” …is, what kind of money we talk about?


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## HPEVS (Jun 6, 2012)

You are in the $1800 range. You may want to just look at buying a kit with controller, it's a little cheaper that way, unless you have a controller already. Keep in mind, if we didn't provide the controller setup for that motor, the software in the controller most likely won't have the motor characterization for the AC50 in it.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

HPEVS said:


> You are in the $1800 range..


Sounds reasonable.


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## HPEVS (Jun 6, 2012)

Studebaker said:


> Sounds reasonable.



We also have the Graziano transmissions in an 8.5:1 ratio in stock.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Right. I’ll be on the market for one of those, mate. Give me few months, thou. Need to bring this mini back- to something that resemble car - first.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi guys

Been a while. Thought, I do some update.

Well, things been slow. Very slow, actually. My enthusiasm towards this project plummeted. It’s at its all times low now. However I’ve manage to do little progress. There’s been discussion in Jaesin thread http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/1972-mini-cooper-e-64941.html?highlight=mini 
about battery box in mini’s boot So, here is what I come up with. I mean what I been working on for a last couple…nah, more like… few months. 

































































































Box is 70 centimetres by 32 centimetres . Deep ? Depends where you measure. Deepest is 21 centimetres . Anyway its bottom levels up with the main floor level, 
Don’t know how many, or what kind of batteries it’ll fit. Eventually Tell you the true, I start to fear, that by the time I be getting them batteries , the box will fit enough of’em to power mini for… half a year. Not that I’m this confident in battery manufacturing industry. Simply saying…it may be a while 

Salutations to all
Chris


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Some more pics. I didn’t realise you limited to only 10 of em in one post. 











.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

Hi Chris. I've been on the enthusiasm roller coaster a few times myself. If it's any help I reckon you've done the right thing by sinking the battery box in the boot. I considered doing the same for ages, but in the end chickened out and put the pack in the back seat. If I was using prismatic cells I would definitely have put them in the boot.

Looks like you've done a neat job. Those dimensions for the box are almost identical to what I was planning - about the maximum you can get inside the subframe.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Ops. Seems like you are acutely restricted to ten pics - a day. Or a week Or year perhaps I assume, because once I put those above all pics from earlier post diapered. 

Crapy, as for a... specific subject forum, ain”t it?

Anyway


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Pics keep disappearing. One more try.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

MalcolmB said:


> Those dimensions for the box are almost identical to what I was planning - about the maximum you can get inside the subframe.


Choosing an easy route - it is. You right. But you can cut through back seat wall and go few more inches into a cabin. This would add some 5 -6 inches to the length. Then you'd have quite decent battery box.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

I must be using wrong image hosting. Let’s try different one.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Here is some further progress.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

I also modified a boot lid slightly . Smoothened it out a little. Got rid of the number plate light housing, and installed white diodes instead.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi
I LOVE the bootlid!

I used to have a mini that grew a 2 litre Lancia twin cam!

Suggestions (probably too late)

Lose the rear subframe - fit a cross bar that the rear swinging arms attach to and fit coil over shocks
This will give a mighty amount of space in the rear - and get shot of a rust nightmare

You can get fiberglass boot lids

While you are doing all of this - lose the vertical seams de-seamed minis look good

I am making a 2 seater Lotus 7 type but every now and then I get the urge to get a mini shell
I have resisted so far


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

It looks great. 
Coming along nicely.

Awesome. 

- Jaesin


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks Jaesin 



Duncan said:


> Hi
> 
> 
> de-seamed minis look good


Yeah, I know they do. But I would very much like to finish this project by 2020. Or by the time I can no longer afford baying fuel, which my come sooner than 2020. So as you can see - no time to fool around. 
I’ll get a new subframe, and fit it with coil springs.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

Neat work. We seem to have a few ideas in common. I've fitted some nice little numberplate bolts with built-in LEDs. Not quite as cool as yours but they make for a cleaner look.



Studebaker said:


> I would very much like to finish this project by 2020.



I was close to doing as Duncan suggested and fitting a rear beam subframe. It would open up a good deal more space under the boot floor, but I realised I'd probably never get finished at that rate. The other option I considered was to cut out the entire centre tunnel and fabricate a bigger version with a closed bottom to take prismatic cells. I still fancy doing that.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Yup, I bought them too


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Just to come back quickly to beam axle ( cose I have to admit I didn’t know there are cheap conversion kits available, I only knew this American very expensive stuff). It got me thinking when Duncan mentioned it. Seem to be a very good idea. I nearly began to pull my hair out, that I’ve missed it. Then I thought little more and it occurred to me that it may cause some structural issues afterwards. Okay if it’s regular mini. There is no real weight behind subframe mounting panel there. But once you leave 200 pounds worth of battery hanging below the boot’s floor - without practically any structural support - it may not end well. Not saying is not doable. Rear section of car can be strengthened of course. But then again, it would required lots of work, and my 2020 couldn’t be kept.

Sounds like I’m explaining myself for a screw up.


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

I wasn't too worried about loss of structural strength, I reckon the boot floor could be strengthened easily enough to support the extra weight, especially if you tie in to the tops of the arches/damper mountings. I was more concerned about losing the rear crumple zone (what little there is) and adding more weight behind the rear wheels, which could make the mini tail happy.


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## Ace_bridger (Nov 22, 2011)

Looking good...I'll look forward to the up-dates!!

Good work, lovely job!


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

MalcolmB said:


> NThe other option I considered was to cut out the entire centre tunnel and fabricate a bigger version with a closed bottom to take prismatic cells. I still fancy doing that.


Hi MalcomB

I did that with my Lancia Mini - (with an open bottom)
Got the exhaust system and silencers up inside the car 
worked wonders for passing the noise limits at the track and for fixing the ground clearance issues

I did it by making a square section tube subframe, welding it in cutting away the old floor
It frees up a lot of space


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> I’ll get a new subframe, and fit it with coil springs.


Hi Studebaker
If you get a nice new subframe - don't bother messing with coil springs the rubber doughnuts do a good job

It is difficult to get coil springs to do as good a job as the doughnuts - the doughnuts have a rising rate

The only reason I went for coil springs was to get rid of the subframe


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi Duncan
That’s exactly what I’m gonna do.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Salutation guys

Didn’t realize such a small car could be so demanding. But I’m nearly there. I mean, metal work wise. Got only this corner to sort out, 





























then fit the sill, left wing, and by the end of a summer she should be in primer. Not sure which summer though.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Driver side is done




























































And as soon as passenger side is finished I’m starting to work on what I’ve set out to do in the first place. Conversion. Let’s hope it will happen. Eventually…


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Bonnet is also ready


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Lookin' nice. 

Man that's allot of work. I feel your pain. 

I especially like the bottom view. You can see the battery box.

Good job, Studebaker


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## antidigerati (Jul 13, 2010)

Hey. Chiming in here to say you are doing an incredible job.
I'm the owner/converter of the 1978 Mini documented here: evmini.ca

I'm very jealous of your lowered battery box. I assume with the batteries sunk you'll still have a fairly usable trunk? 

My lack of knowledge and skills around fabrication, welding etc was both a boon and a curse I think. On one hand it allowed me to just forge ahead even though my solutions weren't the cleanest / most elegant. On the other hand, I don't have a usable trunk =)

Keep up the great work!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi Antidigerati

Run trough your journal. Excellent work. You probably way better at fabricating and engineering than I am. Design… isn’t my strong suit. Dolly for instance










I’ve redone it four times already. And soon it is going to be redone again . The battery box may also turn out not what I hoped for. You never know. But yes, keeping batteries out of sight is the idea. I won’t be using conventional gearbox so I hope to squeeze some more of them under the bonnet. Think between that and a box in the trunk should be enough. 





















Well, the metal work is almost finished, and I hope the next stage of my build, the actual conversion, will begin any day now. 

Cheers


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Salutations guys

Metal work is almost finished.




















I want to do few modifications, tough. In an attempt to bring this little girl a bit closer to 21st century, and as it will require some more welding I don’t prime the whole just yet. 

I’ll be modifying suspension, steering, brakes and, heating/ventilation system. 

First heating/ventilation. The way it’s done in minis, seems really odd. To me at least. Those huge pipes under front wings. It don’t seem to be the smartest way of supplying air. But most strange, and what I just can’t get my head around, are directly fed dashboard side vents. I can’t figure the idea behind it. The only thing that comes to mind, it’s been some attempt to create sort of quazi air conditioning system. Didn’t work unfortunately. In reality those vents are known to sprinkle water inside, during rainy weather. 

It all had to go. I disposed of all openings and fixtures of mini’s original air ducting. Every hole in inner wings and flitch panels were rid of. 



















In most cars fresh air intake is located on windscreen scuttle panel. Not quite doable in mini. Because of wiper assembly. What I did , I put a scoop on the bonnet.



















I did housing with pipe connector for it.










Run the pipe to a bulkhead. 










Cut trough it. And run it all the way dawn to matrix box. 










I chose passenger side to do it as there’s much more room. But by doing so I had to flip the matrix box over. 

And that in turn made some more modifications necessary. To the box itself .


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Heater box in mini has three positions. Closed. Half opened - where the air goes to windscreen diffusers. And fully opened - where air goes to diffusers as well as trough holes in the bottom of the box and its sides. Now as I have it upside down, the bottom hole is on top. I’ve made two connectors here. 










I also shielded the openings in sidewalls of the box, to direct the air downwards. 










Pipes connected to the top (formerly bottom) will now supply air to side vents in the dashboard .










The outlets on sides of the box will blow air at passenger/driver feet. 










Windscreen stays as it was.






































Thus how it’s gonna work. At least in theory. How it works in real life remains to be seen.










Hope I didn’t bore you guys to death. 
Next stop … brakes

Cheers


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

You're making good progress Studebaker. Yeah the Mini heater ventilation/heating system isn't great. That's a neat alternative. I took the minimalist approach and just blanked off the holes inside the wings, then fitted speakers in place of the dash vents. I can always wind down the windows if I want some air. For demisting I've installed a 110V 1.6 kW hair dryer behind the dash, ducted directly to the windscreen vents. It works reasonably well at 80V, about as effective as the original heater anyway...

What are planning for the suspension and steering?


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Studebaker

Your inlet vent for the heater looks well made - BUT - I'm not sure it is in a high pressure area.

When I had a mini I arranged the air intake with a reversed scoop so it took air from the high pressure zone just in front of the windscreen


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

MalcolmB said:


> For demisting I've installed a 110V 1.6 kW hair dryer behind the dash, ducted directly to the windscreen vents. It works reasonably well at 80V, about as effective as the original heater anyway...


Hi Malcolm
Very clever. I Didn’t think of that. 



Duncan said:


> Hi Studebaker
> 
> Your inlet vent for the heater looks well made - BUT - I'm not sure it is in a high pressure area.
> 
> When I had a mini I arranged the air intake with a reversed scoop so it took air from the high pressure zone just in front of the windscreen


Hi Duncan. 
You probably right. I actually tried to put it further up but the bloody strengthening bars are in the way.




MalcolmB said:


> What are planning for the suspension and steering?


Not much changes to suspension. Just replace rubber cones with coil springs. Steering however, I’m gonna reconstruct entirely. 
This coming out of the floor, almost vertically, steering column in minis is ridiculous. Even tractors these days have horizontally positioned columns. It can’t stay like that. Steering rack? Jesus… that simply isn’t proper engineering . How can one assume two u-bolts are enough to hold in place the crucial component of a steering system. TV aerial on pole perhaps. Even then given the wind ain’t going to be very strong. When I got my mini, steering rack was swinging 2 inches in each direction.

I’ll be fitting this steering column



















And matching rack. Rack isn’t here yet. The column has electric power assistance. Wiring it up will probably be tricky, but I’ll worry about it later. 

Cheers guys.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Studebaker

Steering rack
Almost every rack I have seen in any car is held on by two U bolts!
and the mini one should not move even when used to win rallies

The angle is ... you kind of forget about it when driving
Besides in a sporty mini you lower the seats and lower the steering column - (used to be a common modification) and that helps the angle

Power steering! On a Mini! - Why???

You don't need power steering on a mini BUT we used to laugh at minis with very small steering wheels as that indicated a lack of power!
A powerful mini needed a moderate sized wheel because of throttle steer
This was because of the two different length drive shafts,
If you don't have that "feature" you car should be better behaved

Suspension
If you are keeping the standard wishbone system I would definitely advise against coils springs
The rubber doughnuts give progressive rate increase as you corner,
Steel springs are either going to be too stiff in normal driving or too soft when cornering
The limited wheel movement drove the mini engineers to the progressive rubber springs

Saying that front rubbers were "softened" in 1977 - and it may be worth while getting some new ones as they may stiffen with time

Two changes that are worth making;
longer lower arms
The old method was to cut and shut two sets and and up with them 1/4 inch longer
I think you can buy ones that have been machined with the tapered hole 1/4 inch further out the forging 

Adjustable height front aluminium cones
These are great you adjust them with an allen key through the doughnut
Saying that you get the same effect just taking the cone out and cutting it to the correct length 

I used to have a 1430cc mini - great fun - 
then it grew a 2,000cc twin cam - also great fun but not nearly as much of a mini


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Duncan said:


> Almost every rack I have seen in any car is held on by two U bolts!


Hi Duncan

Well, unless you talk about cars from 60s 70s I don’t think it is true. Even those used u shaped brackets or solid mounting blocks rather than u-bolts. Nowadays steering racks are bolted to chassis trough flexible mounting bushes incorporated in the unit.



Duncan said:


> The angle is ... you kind of forget about it when driving
> Besides in a sporty mini you lower the seats and lower the steering column - (used to be a common modification) and that helps the angle


At 6f4 lower the column to an angle resembling that of a normal car I would have to sit in the trunk. 



Duncan said:


> If you are keeping the standard wishbone system I would definitely advise against coils springs
> 
> The rubber doughnuts give progressive rate increase as you corner,


My goal is to build daily driver. Not a race car. I want it to be practical, low maintenance, low running cost. No rubber cones change every year or so. No drum brakes adjustment every two weeks or so. No carpet striping to tighten steering rack bolts every two months or so. It’ll be transaxle oil change once per 100K, brake pads change once per 50K some ball joints as they go.



Duncan said:


> Power steering! On a Mini! - Why???


Power steering? Well… I’ll just have it. 
Cheers


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> Hi Duncan
> 
> _Well, unless you talk about cars from 60s 70s I don’t think it is true. Even those used u shaped brackets or solid mounting blocks rather than u-bolts. Nowadays steering racks are bolted to chassis trough flexible mounting bushes incorporated in the unit._
> 
> ...


_No rubber cones change every year or so._

The only reason I ever heard of anybody changing the cones was to get the softer post 1977 ones
I NEVER heard about them wearing out or changing

_No drum brakes adjustment every two weeks or so._
You got that one right!
Even with 1275GT discs the pads only lasted a few months
Come to that the discs only lasted 30K between changes

_No carpet striping to tighten steering rack bolts every two months or so_
No never did that in all my years of mini driving

_some ball joints as they go._
Bloody ball joints! - need to be greased and every annual inspection I would need to replace at least two

But you have missed the big ones, the main reasons I decided against another mini

Rear swinging arm bearing!
There are two bearings on the rear swinging arm, the inner more heavily loaded is needle rollers
The outer is a plain bush
These need to be replaced every couple of years

That is when you find that the bolts holding the outer bracket are stuffed
Then when you get it all apart you need to fit a new bush
AND REAM IT IN PLACE!
DO NOT DO NOT use an adjustable reamer - your reamer must engage on the needle rollers to keep both bearings co-linear



Seriously you will regret coil springs they will either be far too stiff or they will allow the car to roll and hit the bump stops every time you corner,

Or even - both!

Minis are inherently bad here
Small wheels - so a bump hits harder
Limited wheel travel - a Mini has less than half the wheel travel of an "ordinary" car

This means that after the wheel hits the bump (harder than a normal car) the suspension must stop it in less than half the distance

Using rubber doughnuts the initial travel is relatively gentle so a small bump doesn't rattle your jaw but the rate rapidly increases to control even a large bump

Coil springs will either rattle your jaw all the time or allow the suspension to hit the bump stops - that will definitely rattle your jaw!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi guys
“Home improvements” are nearly finished. 





























Got everything pretty much where I wanted it to be. Steering wheel is the way all cars have it. Brake pedal moving forward rather than up and down. Hope the heater manage to keep windscreen and door windows clear. I honestly believe driving this mini, when, or if, it eventually happen, may be quite a pleasant experience. 



















Next order of business gonna be building the drive train. Before I get to that thou, there’s couple of glitches I need to sort out. First, the aftermarket boss. It has that nonsense structure on top of it.











It pushes steering wheel some two inches further back. And the wheel is over an inch higher then. I think I cut it off, take the boss to a machinist, to turn it slightly so it fit the base of steering wheel. Then drill and thread new holes. The boss, wheel originally came with, is made this way.











Works and look much better. 

Also, I need to redo extended seat brackets.











Making these I didn’t realize they gonna be fully exposed when the seat is pushed back. Actually they be one of the first things you see getting in. Can’t leave it like that. Need to make new set. I think, I’ll try to make them out of stainless steel.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Finally, I got to a drive train. 






















I was thinking of buying Borg Warner transaxle, but they asking insane money for these. 1500 Euro. Plus shipping! It’s a single gear transmission for Christ sake. Two cogs, crown wheel and differential. Nothing else. I’ve seen sequential gearboxes for half that price on eBay. Besides even if I got one I’d still have to work on it quite a bit. Motor and drive shafts would have to be mated. So, after talking to a friendly machinist, I decided to homebrew my own transaxle.

The plan is to chop up standard small FWD gearbox. Leave only enough to operate one gear . Luckily the gearbox I’m gonna use, takes mini drive shafts.












Unluckily one driveshaft is couple inches too short. 












Tried to avoid that, but I guess I’ll have to fabricate this one. No way around it. 

Anyway, if things go according to plan, transmission will run 7.25 final ratio which on wheels I have should get the car to 60mph at little short of 4k rev. 










Comments? Suggestions? Criticism?


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

Great to see it taking shape. Who was it again who suggested a small FWD gearbox when you first started out ?  I see your using the AC50. Good choice for that size of car. Will you have to mod the subframe to make it fit?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

jackbauer said:


> Who was it again who suggested a small FWD gearbox when you first started out ?


 It was you…


jackbauer said:


> Will you have to mod the subframe to make it fit?


 Yes. I’ll cut it up to accommodate motor


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Are you sure your speed and rpm calcs are correct? That seems too little rpm for 60mph. I have huge wheels and 10krpm for 80mph at 10:1 so I can't work out how your ratio is correct. Sounds like a great setup though. 

How will you make up the gearbox? Will it have a new. Housing? If so you can offset the gears to move the motor more central. Also, if you have to lengthen a drive shaft you could shorten the other to move it central also. 

Looking awesome!


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi
I don't think you will have room but if you could 
you could make up the difference by lengthening the short driveshaft - this would make them more equal in length and should reduce the torque steer
(Always assuming we were correct when we blamed the torque steer on the unequal length driveshafts)


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Yes lengthening might help torque steer. I can see that the motor and gears should all fit without cutting the frame and keep everything relatively central. I remember a transaxle that had the off take and reduction gears coming alongside the motor to move the diff more central for equal length drive shafts and central weight position but this may require clever modification to get the motor further into that bell housing or machining your own custom housing for the gears. I would personally try to build a custom housing and incorporate the front plate design of the motor into the transmission housing like Azure did with the AC24LS and AT1200 transmission. 
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=ac...AA&biw=360&bih=615#biv=i|35;d|ASfkX3SppeM1MM:


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## MalcolmB (Jun 10, 2008)

Hi Studebaker

That's good news finding a gearbox that takes the mini driveshafts. Which car is it from?

Yes, I'd also suggest checking your ratio calculations again. The top speed seems high unless you plan to fit very large wheels. But since you're fitting a gearbox anyway, why not keep all the ratios?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Your absolutely right guys. My mistake. I meant short of 6k RPM. Make these calculations while back when sourcing the gearbox, and 4k was what I aimed at. Then I figured the ratio would be too low, and the load on motor too big. Is why I confused it. Pot doesn’t help your memory neither. At least that’s what they saying. 

About drive shafts, the inner joint on the right side (right on the pictures) is pretty close to subrame. 










I suppose it could go an inch or two further, but then the subframe may not clear the gearbox which after chopping up will be 5-6 inches thick. It would require cutting supframe up on that side too. In the end I’d have to do two drive shafts, instead of one. And do subframe on both sides instead of one. Twice as much work for not apparent gain. Think I’ll leave it the way it is.

Bell housing will be machined. But not that much. After some point it gets complicated, because the clutch shaft gets in the way. Machinist who I'll be working with also set some limits. Especially in regard to hard steel. And his milling equipment is pretty basic. Turning is cutting edge, thou. I already had to find someone to make the driveshaft's spline abroad, and as I don’t have very big budget for this project, I try to keep it as simple as I can.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

MalcolmB said:


> That's good news finding a gearbox that takes the mini driveshafts.


Almost takes…to be precise. It has to be tuned slightly. Half a mil. Then half an hour with dremel tool, few rounds of knocking on and off the tripod, and it fits like a dream. 


MalcolmB said:


> But since you're fitting a gearbox anyway, why not keep all the ratios?


Could be tight. And it’ll certainly require inner wings modifications. Length of assembled unit, toped up by adaptor plate might even cause there’ll be not enough clearance for wheels when turning. Also the weight. I had real trouble to lift the gearbox myself. Now I can hold the bucket, with all parts I’ll be using in it, up in outstretched hand. And the parts not even cut up yet.


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## electricmini (Oct 21, 2008)

This project's turning out to be a real good one....

I'd also like to know what gearbox you've got there, as I've got a classic Mini
that's begging to be converted, along with a complete Azure/Transit connect drivetrain (but not the driveshafts!).

The BorgWarner gearbox definitely doesn't fit into the Mini subframe - it will physically fit in, but the driveshafts end up at quite an angle as the whole gearbox is at least 40mm further forward than the old Mini gearbox, due to the BorgWarner's final drive gear/diff being bigger.

If I cut out the rear crossmember of the subframe to clear it, the gearbox still fouls the steering rack. Major mods to either are bad news as far as our MOT tests go, so I won't do that.

It might be possible if I could modify the hole the driveshaft passes through in the subframe, but again this involves cutting significant parts of the subframe's structure.

Lastly, even if someone does shoehorn one in, you'll find that the Siemens motor sticks out so far to one side that the tyre on that side will foul it when you turn the steering wheel!

In spite of all this doom & gloom, I really like what you're doing with this project - especially the modern steering column. The solid-steel non-collapsible steering column is one of the _*deadliest*_ parts of the old Mini....


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

Probably a stupid idea but what about a RWD diff and mount the motor to the input flange pointing up at an angle?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

jackbauer said:


> Probably a stupid idea but what about a RWD diff and mount the motor to the input flange pointing up at an angle?


That would actually be a great idea. If you could find 7 or 8:1 ratio RWD diff.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

It’s fiat seicento 1.1 gearbox. In the beginning it looked really promising. The fact that drive shafts can be fairly easy worked up , in particular. I thought I had drive shafts sorted, and all there’s to do just trim the box around the edges little bit. Now I see it isn’t going to be that easy. Turns out inner join pots in mini are further apart than they are in fiat’s gearbox. Couldn’t tell because I sold mini engine/gearbox long time ago. It looked close enough to me. Up until I assembled front suspension. 

Eventually it should fit OK. But I seriously doubt complete gearbox bolted with 9” motor, as Malcolm recommends, would.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi everybody. 

Little bit of DIY creativity and I’ve managed to mark incision line . Surgery is going to be performed any day now.


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## z_power (Dec 17, 2011)

Great project!
If you're interested in cad file of adapter plate let me know your e-mail address; I'm converting Fiat CC with the same gearbox and made an adapter on CNC laser machine. After a few trials I found crankshaft centerline within 0.1 mm, it works for me during on-jackstands testing, no vibration or abnormal noises.
These gearboxes are quite common between different Fiat models and if you need some final ratio tweeking there should be a few options available, good for direct drive tuning.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> That would actually be a great idea. If you could find 7 or 8:1 ratio RWD diff.


Hi
With mini wheels the old problem was finding a diff low enough
I had a specially machined 2.9:1 diff that was great with a 1430cc A series with peak power at 5000rpm (std was 3.8:1 or 3.4:1)

How many revs can that motor do? - even if it is a 10,000 rpm motor you would only need 5.8:1 - 
My Subaru diff is 4.1: 
With mini wheels that would be great for a 7000rpm motor 

Ps - there is not a lot of difference between the 10 inch wheels and the later 12 and 13 inch wheels because the later ones use lower profile tires
PPs - the limiting factor is the rear swinging arm - there is room for bigger at the front - but not ay the rear


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi z power.

I’ve looked up couple of online laser cutting services providers. Got a quote, based on rough drawing, from cut-tech.co.uk for 220£. And that’s only for 12mm thick plate, the thickest aluminium they do. So I think I’ll pass. Thanks for your offer thou. 

I’m gonna use 16mil plate. 56£ posted. Aluminium isn’t that hard to work with. And working on this kind of stuff is actually what I enjoy most, about the project. Again, thank you.


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## z_power (Dec 17, 2011)

Ouch, this would be fair price for ready to use adapter/coupler solution but for single plate sounds on the high side. I did mine from two steel plates (12+10 mm) with a lot of enlightening holes, it weights about 4.5 kg. Steel cutting was much cheaper at CNC shop, like 1:4 to Al.
Good luck with your build, it's a pleasure to read updates on this thread


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

So far so good.


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Studebaker, how will the wheel clear the motor like that? And how will you keep road grime out the precious motor? Curious rather than critical as I'm impressed with this build and have thought so classic mini would be a great build!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Actual motor is an inch shorter. I messed up measurements (again) when making the model. Anyway motor is going only as far as the inner wing’s wall. Wheels clear inner wings by good few inches. Plenty of room


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Nice! So the motor will be fully enclosed. Can't wait to see the assembly!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Stitching up the subframe continues. 





































There’s going to be a sidewall at the outer end. Plan is to incorporate two rubber bushes in it. They’ll be holding the motor in place. Before I weld the wall in thou I need to bolt motor and trans together, to align everything properly.


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

I was about to ask that, should you have an end plate over that cut out. Great minds hey 

Looking good sir!


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

tylerwatts said:


> I was about to ask that, should you have an end plate over that cut out. Great minds hey
> 
> Looking good sir!


I thought the same!
But then I thought with quality of the rest of the build he is not going to leave it like that

Nice to see a big bit of metal bolted to the towers to make sure they don't move

Those look like the later towers (single bolt) - if they are then they will have been fitted with the softer rubber cones


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Towers wouldn’t move, would they? Nah, highly unlikely. The angle bar is to hung the transmission till the proper mountings are done.










I just needed the trans held in place to take measurements. I’ve made two mounts, so far. 































Brackets are not welded together yet, as I need the whole drivetrain assembly to align it , and some adjustments may be required.


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Looking good. How will you modify the transmission? Will it require lots of machining or custom parts? Nice way to do it.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Happy new year to all. Hi guys. Been a while. Things got slow lately. Don’t know why. Christmas and stuff I guess. 

I’ve started putting together drivetrain. 

















































Coupler isn’t quite finished yet



















The clutch spline will be incorporated into it later on










I’m using the coupler as an aligning tool meanwhile.

Why I did only three bolts? Well, my lidl pillar drill, best 40 euro I ever spent BTW, couldn’t reach the fourth one










No worry thou. I’ll do it when the plate be trimmed around bellhousing.


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

also noticed the Lidl airline  Out of curiosity how did you machine out the center boss on the ali plate?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi Damian. Lidl tools are great. Have this drill for 8 years










It’s been abused from day one. Still working fine. So I bought another one few months back. 19.99 should sort me there for next decade. Had couple of bosch drills in the past. In terms of durability and toughness they don’t come even close to lidl ones.










Reciprocating saw - forty something quid. Cuts like hell. Really good value.

Center boss was machined in the shop. That, the coupler ( not fully finished ) and couple of other tiny pieces cost me a small fortune. That’s why I decided buy myself mini lathe. Gonna get it soon. Pity the don’t sell them in lidl.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Tiny bit of progress.


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Looking good Studebaker! I like the engine mount arrangement


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Which one? Wooden wedge, chain, or tie down strap?


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

No the one bolted to the adapter plate. Meant it in all sincerity! It sits snugly in the subframe also. Have you got a solution for the drive shafts? That mini is going to move like greased lightning!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Oh, you mean these




























Seams like bit of overkill. It’s electric motor in the end. Doesn’t vibrate much. Some square tubing here and there would probably suffice. Well, it’s done. And there are going to be two more rubber mounts. One on motor’s sidewall. One on transaxle’s. 

I finished up the coupler










Face ain’t that neat. 










Machinist said it was tricky to weld. Very little room. I don’t mind as long as it fits. And it does.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Studebaker,

Looking good!

Re motor mounts - have you looked at absorbing the torque reaction?

Mini's used to be a pain - the normal solution was extra torque rods mounted high on the engine - and on the gearbox

Because you have the motor and gearbox as one unit it needs to be able to handle the total torque reaction
Motor torque x diff ratio x bottom gear ratio
Probably about 12 times motor torque

Not sure if the front of the subframe will be able to handle that


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Well, I think front beam of my subframe will handle anything










That’s a 5mil flat welded in.

And as I mentioned there are two more mounts to be installed on both sides of the drivetrain.

Those and these two





















should do. As I said I actually think it is an overkill.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Yep - looks like overkill to me!
Much better than underkill!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Third mount finished










and the motor is in


















































Inner wing needs to be slightly modified . Other than that, quite a good fit.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks. Yeah, I know these. Don’t think they would do me any good, thou. Mini’s arches ain’t designed for coilovers, and with additional weight I’m gonna carry in the trunk using one of those the coilovers would probably shoot trough the roof on first bump. 

I’ll stick to the good old stuff


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## RIPPERTON (Jan 26, 2010)

This thing is going to fly.
First thing you will notice is its got too much power.


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Looking great Studer! Where are you with the trans build? Are you running 1 fixed ratio? What rpm are you expecting from the AC50?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Didn’t mean I don’t like it. It just doesn’t feel very…automotive to me. You don’t see many cars, I don’t seem to recall even one, that use belt driven drive train. There must be good reason for this. 

BorgWarner? Well, I didn’t have spare two grand. Even if I did, I don’t think one gear transmission is worth 2000$. For this kind of money, I cut the gearing on three cogs whit the hacksaw. Besides, if I remember correctly someone said there is a problem with aligning BW gearbox in mini. Distance between centre of bell housing and centre of differential in BW trans is too small which causes drive shafts sit at an awkward angel. This may be true since sub frame towers don’t let the motor to go back far enough. I too might have to grind some flesh off the motor to make space for nuts of suspension arm’s pinion. You shouldn’t have this problem thou. But if you ask me I don’t see the reason in using BW transaxle if that’s a custom build. You can use any gearbox. “Any” gearbox will cost you 50$. From …any scrap yard.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

RIPPERTON said:


> This thing is going to fly.
> First thing you will notice is its got too much power.



There is no such think like “too much power” mate.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

tylerwatts said:


> Where are you with the trans build?



I bought the lathe.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Studebaker said:


> There is no such think like “too much power” mate.


Hallelujah!


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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Wow nice, the freedom of your own lathe. What is your plan? How many gears? Will you cut the shafts down? Looking good


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## dtbaker (Jan 5, 2008)

chain drive is MUCH noiser than belt, and probably a bit more maintenance with tension and lubrication.... Modern toothed belts can carry far more HP than the old vbelts, and are worth considering probably up to 100HP or maybe more (look at the belt drive motorcycles!)


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

sunworksco said:


> I'm trying to shave every bit of weight off the build and also save space.
> The first Honda cars, which were Mini Cooper clones, used a chaindrive. I'm thinking that it is less weight to use beltdrive and less friction.
> I'm planning on using the West Garage drive with belt pulley, instead of chain (shown). It has an LSD.
> 
> ...



For a trike that should work really nice. My goals are different thou. I aim at building virtually service free vehicle. There will be enough hassle with charging it every day. I won’t have greasing differential, every week, on top of that. Or changing and adjusting drive belt every now and then. Actually I think, that one of the biggest benefit you get out of EV conversion is maintenance free propulsion source. Why would you want to hook it up to high maintenance transmission?

But it’s really nice gadget. Insanely expensive also. I think I’ve seen on eBay, limited slip diffs for some older models of Honda’s, (or was it Toyota’s ?) gearboxes at fraction of west garage price. 

Anyway, show us your build sunworksco. Because I kinda want this forum to be a serious place . And I get a feeling that lately it becomes… like kids making us old farts talk. Well, I’m done talking fantasies.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

It ain’t soap opera neither. So, your build …or piss off. 

Sorry moderators, but this section is called “All EV Conversions And Builds” . I think the only people allowed here should be those who convert or build something. Get a feeling that advertising space buyers might think the same.


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## RIPPERTON (Jan 26, 2010)

Studebaker said:


> There is no such think like “too much power” mate.


Yes there is !
Unless Grant is building a race car, Having too much power only works at higher speeds (160kmh plus) where theres less tendency for wheel spin.
Il assume this car will mostly be driven on public roads where too much power will only make the front wheels spin and the car will be clawing for traction sliding left and right.
So what you have is unusable power. You will only ever be able to use less that half throttle in any traffic situation.
Meaning all the extra motor weight should have been designed as battery weight by using a smaller motor.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

RIPPERTON said:


> Yes there is !
> Unless Grant is building a race car, Having too much power only works at higher speeds (160kmh plus) where theres less tendency for wheel spin.
> Il assume this car will mostly be driven on public roads where too much power will only make the front wheels spin and the car will be clawing for traction sliding left and right.
> So what you have is unusable power. You will only ever be able to use less that half throttle in any traffic situation.
> Meaning all the extra motor weight should have been designed as battery weight by using a smaller motor.


Possibly - possibly
But I used to have a mini with a two liter Lancia twin cam - just over 170Hp
And I can remember actually wanting more power - at that stage I decided megalomania is open ended 

Grant,
This is my "device"
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forum...-dubious-device-44370p2.html?highlight=duncan

Every now and then I see a mini like yours and I go - damn I should have gotten hold of an old mini to electrify -


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Studebaker said:


> It ain’t soap opera neither. So, your build …or piss off.
> 
> Sorry moderators, but this section is called “All EV Conversions And Builds” . I think the only people allowed here should be those who convert or build something. Get a feeling that advertising space buyers might think the same.


Well, plenty come here to learn and swap ideas too. Not every thread leads to a build off. Even I chatted here and there before building mine.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Studebaker said:


> It ain’t soap opera neither. So, your build …or piss off.
> 
> Sorry moderators, but this section is called “All EV Conversions And Builds” . I think the only people allowed here should be those who convert or build something. Get a feeling that advertising space buyers might think the same.


Wow! Play not, here!

I just wanted to chime in and say your doing an awesome job on your build. 
I do like what you did with the transmission.

And you fabrication work looks awesome. Keep up the good work.

Great progress!

Best,
- Jaesin


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

david85 said:


> Well, plenty come here to learn and swap ideas too. Not every thread leads to a build off. Even I chatted here and there before building mine.


Isn’t “ Chit Chat” where day dreaming can (and should) be accommodated. Lots of crap talkers, children actually, come here, to get us discuss their dreams. Electric plane, electric tank, electric… space rocket. On other hand guys who do real staff, are stopping to share their experiences. There is a chap who was on the forum with his first build. He didn’t bother with second one. Real build. Not imaginary one. More and more lately, I myself think about getting the hell out of here. Deleting posts taking down pics forgetting about this site for good. Not sure if you realize that guys like us may actually be interested in buying things your advertisers sell. Daydreamers won’t. 

I think, you should allow here only those who already did something. For real. Got a donor car, got a gear, or at least made some drawing and calculations of their vision. If it’s a fantasy in your head that’s not a build or conversion. That’s not even planning. That’s fantasising. And it should be kept where it belongs. In your head. Not spread all over the forum. No forum that aspire to be a serious platform should allow to get plastered with BS either.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Duncan said:


> Grant,
> This is my "device"
> http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forum...-dubious-device-44370p2.html?highlight=duncan


Yeah. I’m familiar with it. I know all real projects here


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

RIPPERTON said:


> Yes there is !
> Unless Grant is building a race car, Having too much power only works at higher speeds (160kmh plus) where theres less tendency for wheel spin.
> Il assume this car will mostly be driven on public roads where too much power will only make the front wheels spin and the car will be clawing for traction sliding left and right.
> So what you have is unusable power. You will only ever be able to use less that half throttle in any traffic situation.
> Meaning all the extra motor weight should have been designed as battery weight by using a smaller motor.


It was a joke. Attempted at least. Seriously thou I don’t think 50HP peak is too much power.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

I needed to make some cover for the side end of motor. Thought aluminium would be best. But how to weld it together? Then I remembered some guy here suggested laser welding. So, I went on eBay to get myself nice little laser welder. Since it was recommended on diy forum, I figured it can’t be that expensive. Well, turns out it is. Buying Tesla Roadster and forget about having to weld anything, would make better sense. I had to come back to planet earth and make amends with my old faithful mig. 
































May not look very impressive but should do the job. Not everyone can afford to buy laser equipment for diy projects, unfortunately.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Looking good!!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## z_power (Dec 17, 2011)

Now that's the kind of machining which becomes expensive part of project if you don't know right specialist  Congratulations on closing the driveline path!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

milling stuff


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Wow! 

Milling on a lathe. I've never seen that before.

What's going on here?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Popular amongst model makers method. You need vertical slide to get 3D movement


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Wow. Nice work.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Started assembling the drivetrain.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Spins smoothly.

http://youtu.be/vvAGqyikK74


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Looking great man. Keep up the good work.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Cheers Jaesin, how you get on with your own project?


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Slow. 

I've been working on 2 cars and 2 motorbikes at the same time not to mention my first baby was born in the meantime.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Can’t squeeze these bloody springs in. Guess I’m gonna have to make some sort of compression tool


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## marcexec (Feb 11, 2009)

threaded bolt like for the original cones?
That would obviously depend on your lower plate where the ball joint goes in.
Or some plate to grab the spirally part. I can borrow you mine if that's any help - I'm in Dublin, though.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

From your photo you probably don't need a compression tool
Just pull the top wishbone pivot bolt out,

Once the ball joint is in it's hole you should have enough room to slide the bolt back in place


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Yes, you right Ducan. But there’s a small flaw in my design. Off side pivot won’t clear around the motor, and I don’t feel like taking the whole thing apart.












I knew it may cause maintenance issues, but since pivots rest on needle roller bearings I figured they should last for quite a while, if I keep them greased. Didn’t think I’ll have to deal with it this soon. 

Hi Marcexec. I have original cones, and by the look of them, standard mini compression tool won’t cut it. I’ll try to make one that will. Thank you thou


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

_But there’s a small flaw in my design. Off side pivot won’t clear around the motor, _

Don't you hate when things like that happen!


_I figured they should last for quite a while, if I keep them greased. _

I think you are right there - I don't remember ever seeing those bearings worn out


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Had to alter height adjusting bolts

































And they in


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## marcexec (Feb 11, 2009)

Well done!
Enjoy the huge steps you'll be making after drivetrain is set up and in


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

I hope you have kept the rubber doughnuts so you can put them back when you find out how terrible it drives on those red springs 

Mini's have;
Small wheels
Limited wheel travel

So they need progressive springing

Those lovely red things may be OK on the track but on the road they will be either too stiff all of the time or they will be too soft and allow you to hit the bump stops

You can soften the rubber doughnuts by drilling holes in them if you end up with a lot less weight on the front


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

I know you big fan of rubber doughnuts, Ducan. I’ll stick to springs thou. They offer one big advantage. You fit them only once.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

marcexec said:


> Well done!
> Enjoy the huge steps you'll be making after



Afraid, they not gonna be huge. Money is tight.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

_They offer one big advantage. You fit them only once._

That's funny - of the various parts in a mini's suspension the upper wishbone bearings and the doughnuts are the parts that I had least bother with.

I can remember replacing early doughnuts with the later (post 1977) softer ones - but I can't remember any failures or problems 

Now the rest;
Bloody ball joints - always had to replace/rebuild at least one
Rear suspension pivot bearings - a total bear to fix - I had a special long reamer made for this
Knuckle joints - the ball would wear it's way through the nylon cup and start gnawing its way into the rear arm or top wishbone
A bit of body filler would fix that - but it's a horrible fix

The early driveshafts - with the rubber cruciform - my 1430cc would turn them from a cross of St George into a St Andrews
I was able to change one in 15 minutes
The later inboard CV's fixed that 

I really thought about getting a mini and electrifying it - every now and then (especially seeing something impressive like yours)
I think about it again
Then I remember the suspension - 

But I still love mini's


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

So do I, mate. So do I.

Suspension is crappy. You right. Ball joints going to be problematic. I know it already. That’s way I’m hunting for metro swivel hubs on eBay. No luck so far. Doughnuts have to go thou. 




These are front and back.












Half an inch difference. At least. Clock on the car showed forty some K which could be genuine given auto box was still working. And I know for a fact these can’t take much more than 40K.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

_Half an inch difference. At least._

That is interesting - I have never compared front/rear doughnuts after use
I wonder if one of them is the post 1977 "softer" one
What date was your mini?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Little bit of progress. Tiny bit 




















































Still progress thou. 


(fecking image hosts. All earlier pics disappeared. Sorry for that. But I’m not gonna pay them


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Those disc brakes turn out to be more challenging than I expected. But I’m slowly getting there. That’s only provisional assembly. Got to order some new bolts, and caliper rebuild kits.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Lookin' good.

Those don't look like Mini brakes. 
What are we looking at here?
Will the wheel offset need to change?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

They aren’t. It’s something I’m putting together myself. It sure will take standard mini 12 and 13 inches wheels. I personally be using 13s. Don’t know about 10”, but judging by the gap between rim and caliper 10s should also fit all right.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Rear subframe starts to come together. 





















Did refurb callipers. 

























And tried them on, to see how it looks.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Still long way to go


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Took me a while this one. But I got there. Well, almost. Still need to fabricate brake pipes.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Proper rear running gear for classic mini. Fully adjustable suspension. Toe, camber, ride height. Disc brakes. Adjustable brake line pressure with separate bias valve for each calliper. Braided hoses. Hand brake cable without idiotic quadrants. I also installed anti roll bar. Few more weeks, and my mini will be sitting on its own four wheels.


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## dladd (Jun 1, 2011)

wow!  Gorgeous.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Cheers mate


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

That looks really smart!

I think you are changing all of the wrong things (except getting shot of the bloody awful quadrants) but it does look the dogs bollocks


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thank you Ducan


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

It looks awesome man.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks man


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## QuietCar (Jan 3, 2013)

Is it just me, or is the caliper bleeder screw pointing down and rearward?

If so, bleeding your brake system is going to be tricky. 

Years ago on the GTP cars, we had a similar set up because of room.

We unbolted one caliper. Kept it grabbing the rotor and rotated it to the top position and held it there by hand. Got a helper to assist and bled it there. Afterwards, we rotated it back and bolted it in place. 

Otherwise, we would always have a spongy brake pedal due to small bubbles in the calipers.

QC


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## RIPPERTON (Jan 26, 2010)

QuietCar said:


> Is it just me, or is the caliper bleeder screw pointing down and rearward?
> If so, bleeding your brake system is going to be tricky.
> 
> QC


Nope its me too.
will have to remove caliper to bleed, no biggie


----------



## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Yeah, callipers are low. In fact I had to rotate them even further down from where they were in the first set up. Had to make new set of calliper brackets and stuff.











When first assembled, it turned out, the brake callipers are dangerously close to rubber doughnuts (springs in my case). So I rotated them downwards to get more clearance and eliminate possibility of callipers colliding with springs. Now thou I’m bit worried about them callipers hitting curbs. We’ll see. 

Bleeding? I got vacuum bleeder. If it doesn’t do I’ll bleed it the way you guys say.


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## Karter2 (Nov 17, 2011)

Doesn't the wheel cover the calliper ?
But I would be more concerned about getting all the air out with that low bleed nipple !


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

It does. Some of it sticks out thou. The part with hand brake lever. I'll bleed them all right. No worries.


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## BWA (Mar 14, 2015)

An easier way to do it, would be to charge up the brake system on the rear subframe by itself (you can just turn the whole thing over so the bleed screws are up.). 

Then, when you fit the subframe and, connect up the system, you just need to bleed to the brake hoses, no need to touch the bleed screws after that.

Hope you are going to fit an inertial brake balance valve to the rear brakes, and, shift a lot of weight rear wards. Those massive disc brakes on the back are going to light up way before the fronts even start to work.

As crappy as the standard rear drum setup is on the Mini's, it is still too much brake. Many race Mini's run no rear brake at all.

Nice job on the build BTW.....


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Discs ain’t that massive. I’ve machined them down to 190mm diameter and 7mm thickness. Look big probably because centre section is relatively large compared to outer flange. There are adjustable bias valves one for each calliper. You’d see if you went back one page. I have battery box in the trunk so there’s gonna be weight al right. Cheers.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Slowly start painting. Hate it. Hate every bloody thing about painting. 
























































Only engine bay, boot, and inner side pockets so far. It’s arizona orange. Renault captur paint code.


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## QuietCar (Jan 3, 2013)

> Hate every bloody thing about painting


I hear that! I hate all of the endless prep, all of the sanding and lastly...it is so costly to boot!

My last car was painted with Krylon, sanded and cleared. It still looks beautiful, (for under $100)

QC


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Is that as in Krylon spray cans? - or is the paint itself available?
$100???
That's very cheap
Tell us more


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## QuietCar (Jan 3, 2013)

Easy to do too!

You can use any type paint, spray can or bulk quart. 

I like it because the chips of day to day living are easily repaired. You can use enamel or lacquer, just do not mix. You may use lacquer primer under enamel paint though, not the reverse.

1- Using no-sand primer, Sand and prime as usual. Use light gray (in spray cans) for the base primer coat. That way you can do small patches at a time as you do your metal work.

2- Use dark gray primer for the top coat. Lightly hand, wet sand with 600 grit and a wood block. It shows low spots. Sometimes you can use nitro stain putty to get minor pits and low spots. Sand the last time with water and 1000 grit. Otherwise use catalyzed priming compound (it is like very thin bondo and spreads like butter, used to skimcoat 100% of the car) 

3. When satisfies with the smoothness, If you want a good job, primer seal it all and wet sand with 1000 grit again. (It adds expense!) I don't seal the primer...

4. Mask and paint. Yes, I use spray cans and do small areas at a time. It is less daunting and I do not dread it so much. Use gloss or flat paint, it makes no difference......Wet sand, re-spray any spots you do not like. It can not be detected later. Wet sand again with 1000 grit Grit Until you have a smooth nice flat colored surface.

5- Now...Choose either flat or gloss clear. Spray. Spray again. Add as many coats as you like so long as you wet sand with 1000 grit every 2 coats.

6- For flat finishes, wet sand after the last coat with 1000 or 1500 Grit.
Then wax with a good Carnuba wax. DONE If you are using a glossy finish, after sanding with 1500 grit, you can use a wet polisher and two or three grits of polish. Then Carnuba wax. DONE.

7- After a chip appears in the drivers door.....Grrrr... Lightly feather back the chip by hand with 600 grit. Prime twice. wet sand 1000 gr. paint twice, wet sand 1000 gr. Clear twice with gloss or flat. Wet sand 1000 gr. 
polish with grit if glossy, then Carnuba wax over it. UNDETECTABLE!

You can use bulk cans and spray in different areas, in Krylon and X0-Rust I have found perfect matches. 

When wet sanding with a block, I use a cut down 3" length of paint stirring stick for my "block". Sometimes on edges and uneven spots, lose the block and use finger tips. 

Pre-soak your cut up pieces of sandpaper in your water bucket. It needs to be limp. 

Add three drops of dish washing soap in your 1 gallon bucket to break up the sanded paint flakes. 

Some guys even use a paint roller and not spray....It just needs a LOT more sanding. 600 grit then 1000 grit. Same finish and gloss...nice!

QC


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

I still don't see where you get $100 for a car - the paint for my bonnet cost more than that


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## QuietCar (Jan 3, 2013)

10 cans primer= 30.00
10 cans of Hunter green= 40.00
6 cans of clear coat= 24.00

OK...OK...20.00 worth of sand paper


Or 1 quart of paint and a foam roller=even cheaper.

Examples: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MsVWj3fGkY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rGRYvi0WnU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJVnUZxDq4c

The last one is a 2 year later walk around of a $50 paint job.

It is all in your prep and color sanding/buffing.

That is where I learned it. You can even use xo rust or Krylon for the base and use regular clear coat if you wanted to go to a $200 paint job.

QC


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Well mate, I think you talk total crap. To all who may consider painting their cars with ten, or any number of spray cans, I say DON’T. Still, your car gonna look better than after ten spray cans paint job. I guarantee that. 

Moving on, some progress on painting front. 





















My gear












My foldable spray booth


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## mizlplix (May 1, 2011)

Then I should hide my car?









Yea, done with spray cans, with a satin polyurethane top coat.

Never done one before, time will tell though. Arizona is not noted to be easy on paint. It is 3 years on now and other than a few chip touch ups, this is it.

(It is parked inside. It never sees moisture. It stays waxed really well.)

Miz


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

None of my vehicles ever had the luxury of sleeping under cover. Even my EVsaturn sleeps in the rain next to my diesel pickup.

I like your curtain booth. If I had a little more time I would have been tempted to do that with my current project. Instead, I'm just doing all the rust/dent repair and bringing it to primer stage (sanded to 600 grit) before handing it off to a professional painter.

I don't hate painting, but it just never turns out right when you're picking stoned bugs out of the wet clearcoat

Are you putting down a layer of epoxy first, or going straight to urethane?

Like it or hate it, I think it looks good!


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

the great news is that the solvent resistance that proper 2k auto paints give you isn't all that essential for an EV because there's no gas- and the brake fluid eats just about any paint, 2k cross linked or not...

The spray can paints tend to have poor gloss retention and low hardness. Both are not much of an issue if you clear coat though. I have no experience with the durability of spray can clear coats. Find it tough to believe that their clarity and gloss retention and durability is all that good. But the point about being able to repair scratches and chips easily is a good one.

My paint materials for my build cost a fortune- a good 2k single stage urethane top coat here is $100 CDN per quart. In the U.S. you can get Eastwood for $200 a gallon. But unless your time is worth absolutely nothing to you, the cost of the paint is no big whup- the effort to do the bodywork and all that sanding makes the investment in good finish materials a total no-brainer!


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## david85 (Nov 12, 2007)

Moltenmetal said:


> the cost of the paint is no big whup- the effort to do the bodywork and all that sanding makes the investment in good finish materials a total no-brainer!


Exactly! A good finish is at least 90% prep work. No experience with Eastwood paint but so far I'm happy with bernardo. Its not water based so there's no problem touching it up later on. Solvent based paints also tend to be more reliable when it comes to color matching.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

You absolutely right guys. Prep and good materials are crucial. Decent painting equipment also won’t hurt. Don’t buy cheap spray guns. They worthless. Threw away like five of those. Weren’t good even for primer.

Yeah I use 2K epoxy primer for everything. Base - solvent based. Don’t know why this one is so bloody expensive, 80€ per litter, probably has something to do with new colour code. I use 2k high solid clear. 100€ for 5L can + 2.5L hardener. Think it’s good value. 

Booth, booth was a necessity. Before, every time I painted, the whole garage with everything in it was changing colour.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hell. Really difficult to take a good picture in these fumes.


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Looking good- lovely colour!

Hey, don't knock my Princess Auto cheap Chinese knock- off HVLP Gravity fed spray guns! They do the job...I blame my orange peel on lack of skill rather than bad equipment!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

What, You suggest I have any skills? No mate. I have devilbiss gti pro


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

And my copy is no good? Hey, it cost $30! Did I get ripped off?

...your skill extended to taking to doors off, which mine didn't...far too lazy, and too little space, for that!


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## BWA (Mar 14, 2015)

The cool thing about Minis is, that because of the way the body is made (external flanges to join major body panels), they are very easy to paint, as, you can do them one side at a time, and, do the front and rear separately, even at different times, or, days apart.

You don't have to get in a panic, getting a nice wet coat on the entire body in one go (without runs, dry spots, or, orange peel), as you do on most "normal" cars.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Exactly. Didn’t think these vertical seams might actually have practical use. Well…














…I stand corrected.


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## BWA (Mar 14, 2015)

Sure takes the stress off.

Car, conversion, and, paint all look great so far.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

I dig the color. It's coming along quite nicely.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

I took the seams off on my mini - it was very popular then
Not a good idea! the seams mean that the panels don't have to line up perfectly


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

I’ve given up on trying to deliver concourse quality paint work. Figured, I may not live long enough to see it through. Still thou, I do want this car to look nice.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Looking beautiful!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## tylerwatts (Feb 9, 2012)

Very nice job sir


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Right. Now, let’s have some fun…


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Looking very sharp indeed!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Started doing brake lines. Got some cupro tubing. They say it’s good.












Cheap pipe cutter. Cuts great.












Cheap pipe bender. Not that good













Homebrew pipe straightener. Does the job.














Sykes Pickavant flaring press. Proper stuff.















Also made, don’t know how to call it, circle making tool? 














And set out to work.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Bias valves ports have an odd thread 1/8 TPN. Couldn’t find unions like this. Found some adapters, but they ridiculously expensive, and I didn’t want to use them as it multiplies number of connections, and possibility of leaks. I machined my own. 
































Speaking of unions, I forgot to buy female ones.


































Ordered some now. I’ll finish this up when they come.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

That was quick.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

…and I run out of pipe. 25ft is not enough to do a car. Even very small one.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

On its own wheels for the first time. 












Done the brakes



































I’m little afraid to put brake fluid in. Wonder how badly is this going to leak.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## skooler (Mar 26, 2011)

looking very good!


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## samwichse (Jan 28, 2012)

Did the brakes leak?


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## bigmotherwhale (Apr 15, 2011)

Looking very good indeed, i have a mini myself that i am converting to EV i should start a project thread sometime 
i have always wanted an electric mini, its a great vehicle even unconverted.

your build is immaculate and the workmanship is another level, i have been waiting to see an electric mini done to such a standard for a long while.
i have to say i would have done some things differently i would have stayed with the rubber doughnuts and i always wanted to use motorbike brake callipers if only the parking brake legality problem wasn't one! 

did you consider a brake compensator valve? the weight shifts quite alot in a normal unconverted mini and they can endo quite well if you have good enough brakes, i know that you have a battery so it might not be a problem but i wouldn't like you to lock the rear wheels up under hard braking.

i really like the gearbox and the low mounted battery box, the battery box should also really help with the aerodynamics on the underside. some racing minis use a cover as it helps to pull the rear of the car down. 

How much power are you expecting to get from your battery pack and motor combination?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Cheers guys.


Don’t know Sam. I didn’t flood them yet. Had to free up the lift for a while.











But they will leak somewhere. Believe you me. Also, I’m trying to find a cap that would screw onto brake fluid reservoir. 












One this size. Wanna make pressure bleeding system. Nothing seems to fit. Guess I’ll have to order one in. I have this vacuum bleeding thing












Used it couple of times, but it doesn’t work that well.



Well Bigmothewhale, I thought of compensator. Mini thou, has pretty stiff suspension, and I doubt there would be much use for it, so I figured I’ll skip it. 
Battery pack and other expensive stuff is a long way out for me at this moment. I intend to go for 110V configuration with whatever cells size I can fit into the car.

Salutations.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Been working on charger socket.


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## marcexec (Feb 11, 2009)

Nice, we have the same petrol cap on our (ICE) Mini.
Is that a CEE socket?


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Nice!
Now all you need is a charger socket on the other side for the "Cooper S" look


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

I suppose it falls in CEE standard. Just ordinary domestic four pin socket & plug. Think it should do. If not, then I’ll make different one on the other side.


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## BWA (Mar 14, 2015)

In 50 years of bleeding Mini brakes, I have never needed to use vacuum, or pressure. They gravity bleed very easily.

I just fill the reservoir up, crack all the bleeders, and, close them when air bubbles stop coming out.

Pump the pedal a few times, let it sit for a couple of hours, and, crack the bleeders again just to make sure. I rarely see any air the second time round.

I use about 6 inches of clear tubing on the bleed nipple to easier see when solid clear fluid is coming out, plus, to drain it into a paper cup, to keep the mess down. And, away from painted surfaces.


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## marcexec (Feb 11, 2009)

BWA said:


> In 50 years of bleeding Mini brakes, I have never needed to use vacuum, or pressure. They gravity bleed very easily.
> 
> I just fill the reservoir up, crack all the bleeders, and, close them when air bubbles stop coming out.
> 
> ...


+1
I use a jam jar, though. 2 holes punched in the lid (tube in, air out) - no mess when accidentially toppled.


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## bigmotherwhale (Apr 15, 2011)

your taking about bleeding stock mini brakes which if you had read the thread you would see that they are not.

Vacuum bleeding is useful as it can be used to degas the fluid before it even gets in the lines, resulting in a better bleed, high temperatures can drive the dissolved gasses out of the fluid.

this is important for very highly stressed braking systems like the ones used for alpine decent, probably less so with a car brake, and even less for a lightweight mini. 

you can make a vacuum bleeder easy enough with a big glass or plastic jar and a refrigeration compressor from an old fridge or freezer - and a valve.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Ye, these ain’t exactly standard mini brakes. I don’t really expect any issues with bleeding them, thou I do occasionally run into trouble with extracting air from hydraulic systems. Mainly clutch hydraulics. That’s why I got this vacuum bleeder. But I wanna make pressure bleeding set up, for brake fluid changes. I hear it does make the job easier. And my helper won’t have to limp for a week every time I do brake fluid change.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Kilkenny classic car show


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Nice headliner and electric windows.


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Not to mention that the paint and wheels look fantastic.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks Jesse


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## bigmotherwhale (Apr 15, 2011)

Looking Great! 

I hope you have changed the steering geometry for the larger sized wheels, minis have a habit of behaving very strange when the steering isnt setup perfectly. 
One of the worse things is to alter the camber on the rear wheels past 0 degrees, once it goes positive by any amount its deadly! (just letting you know)

Ive heard of people using metro hubs and changing the mounting points, or even using spacers between the steering arms and the hub to get it right at the front. 
cant wait to see this up and running.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Wheels ain’t that big. They 13x6 and I stretched bit smaller 165x55 tyres onto them. Didn’t do any geometry adjustments yet, but apart from front bottom arms (gonna get them someday) I have it fully adjustable. Front, 















and rear















I actually have set of metro hubs.














Got them not to tweak geometry settings, but to get rid of those troublesome steel ball joints, standard mini hubs come with.


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## bigmotherwhale (Apr 15, 2011)

sweet 13s are 'big' wheels for a mini i wouldn't want to go any bigger. What are those tyres? 

looks like you have everything you need, this should be some serious fun minis always have the habit of putting a smile on your face when you drive them  

ive got rose jointed bottom arms on mine, i highly recommend them as well as a set of A539's bottom arms do increase road noise somewhat, although it was hard to hear over the whine from the gears, the handling was much better 

Ive never had a problem with the ball joints, i actualy quite like them, i bought some hardened ones when i did up my mini years ago and only once have i needed to take out a shim.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

I’m putting together heating/cooling system. 























































The plan is, to make two interconnected circuits. One for cabin heating, one for controller cooling. A cut-off valve between them. Heating circuit will have - pipe with heating element inside controlled by thermostat, matrix, and a circulation pump - in it. Cooling circuit will consist of controller heat sink (to be yet constructed) and small radiator with fan. 













The idea is, that when you turn on the heat the cut-off valve will open, and the pump engage. The heated water from controller’s heat-sink will flow to the matrix. If that’s not enough the heating element will help. Required temperature could be set by adjusting thermostat. 


Not sure if this is gonna work the way I planed, and it’s a bit complex (I like simplicity as much as the next person), but I ain’t got any better idea, so I’m going with that.


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## bigmotherwhale (Apr 15, 2011)

it should work although the amount of heat will of course depend on load conditions, i thought about using a thermoelectric peltier element to cool the inverter while heating the cabin, it would be slightly more complicated but i think it should give slightly higher efficiency than resistive heating alone


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

OK, vacuum pump.












Hopefully the last device to be housed on the space frame. Well, maybe water circulation pump yet, haven’t decided where to mount it, and that’ll be it. I really need to leave this frame alone. Sand it down, give a lick of paint and bolt it in for good. Every time I take it out and put back in there’s few more dings and scratches on the paintwork. If I keep doing this I'm soon going to have to repaint entire front of the car. I think I painted the car way too early. Probably the biggest mistake I made. Anyway, back to pump. I got it without original housing. Came bit cheaper. Original housing would still need to be customised so I figured, I may just as well make it from a scratch. Thou cheaper, it also came with one rubber bush missing. I got similar size poly bush - well, similar as far as hole diameter is concerned, otherwise much bigger - an made it fit.














My improvised dividing device














Homemade tool post drilling attachment. God, I love this little lathe thing. Constantly brings joy to my life.














Machined bottom mounting bush too. Out of polyurethane. You can’t get nice shiny finish from that stuff


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Now, how it works. You leave one mounting slot undone. 













It gives a room to manoeuvre pump into two remaining slots. 















When in place you slip the last rubber bush onto the pipe witch is also a mounting pin















Then push the rubber further into the slot, screw the locking cup on 
















And vuala














Pretty neat huh?

Wish all parts assembly could be done with one locking cup.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## samwichse (Jan 28, 2012)

Man, I love little details like that... they really make a build something special (as opposed to minimally shoving everything in till it just works). Keep up the amazing work!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Cheers man.


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## BWA (Mar 14, 2015)

Car is looking great.

You should get the early trunklid Cooper badge and, put the e behind it.

Cooper e


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Ye, the thing is it’s not a cooper. And when you think about it, cooper is a sporty version of mini. E letter usually indicates economical model of car. Cooper E sounds simply contradictive. My E has this arrow shape at the end of letter’s tail. I’d like to think is clue enough to what’s inside. Was thinking of putting mini sign after, not before E letter, but I don’t think there’s gonna be any confusion as to what car is this.


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## BWA (Mar 14, 2015)

Most non Mini enthusiasts call all Classic Mini's Mini Coopers these days.....

Sadly they have no understanding of the real concept of Mini Cooper, and, Cooper S. As soon as they see that style of Mini, they think Mini Cooper.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Coopers!
The Mini Cooper had
Disc brakes that didn't work as well as the standard drums
Twin carbs - that gave a fraction more power - but only a tiny fraction because they were too small 
By the 70's (when I started motoring) the Mini Cooper was just another mini

Now the Cooper S - that was an altogether different beasty


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Don’t know what happened here














Seem to remember checking the sizes before ordering the element. Well, got a reducer



























I also made housing for thermostat sender.



Last two gadgets on the space frame. Cut off valve, and circulation pump.



































Did few things inside, and in the trunk.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Battery cables tubing


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Little side project.






































I’m getting too old for hand hacksaw. Got myself and ancient donkey one. Must be hundred years. Be trying bring it back to life over the next few weeks.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Companion bins


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hacksaw is working at last




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K68GjVL3QkU




Took bit longer than I thought it would, and cost way more I was prepared to spend, but it finally cuts steel. As you can see (hear) there still quite a knock there. I did all bearings except the main ones. They rather big and I wasn’t sure I manage it with my gear, but I think, one of these days, I’ll have a go at them anyway. And of course…I need to construct proper cooling system.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Mini’s been given sponge bath. First in his life


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

And put to bet for the summer


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## Jaesin (Mar 6, 2011)

Awesome pics. The car looks amazing.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks Jessi


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## Moltenmetal (Mar 20, 2014)

Very sharp car! Looking forward to the rest of the build!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

It may be a while. I got kind of bored. And it costs so much. Don’t suppose someone would be interested in taking this project over?


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## samwichse (Jan 28, 2012)

Studebaker said:


> It may be a while. I got kind of bored. And it costs so much. Don’t suppose someone would be interested in taking this project over?


Whaaaaat? You've been doing such beautiful work on this thing! Stopping now would be a crime...

Maybe just take a break and look at it in a couple months with fresh eyes.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Heh, don’t know about beautiful, but thank you. Well, I been looking at it with fresh eyes. Tired eyes, sober eyes, stoned eyes, basically all kind of eyes, and the way I see it, it will easily take 10 thousand euro to finish. Between that, and what I already spent, it’s a lot of money. It recently occurred to me that I don’t wanna put that into diy car conversion. 

I don’t really believe it’s gonna find a new home, and I won’t brake it up. So I guess, it’ll sit in its corner and wait until the next…oil crisis.


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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

I have been following this build for some time. Would love to see it on the road. If I had the money I'd love to take it over. Why do you think it will cost 10 grand? You have the motor and drivetrain in the car correct?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Yes, running gear is all there. Ten grand? Well, I plan on 42 100Ah calb cells. Over 6K from EU supplier. Plus shipping. 650/144 curtis controller, can only find US sellers, will definitely total above 2K shipped and taxed. Battery management, terminals, contractors, DC/DC converter, charger, switches, cables, various accessories. Car interior needs some doing too. New seats trim, 250 sterling. Decent carpet, 120 sterling, moulded one nearly 200. Because of dashboard railings and steering column alterations, dashboard needs to be custom made. I do intend to make one anyway, regardless of the project’s future, but it’s gonna need some nice gauges and switches, and those ain’t no cheap. Also I wanted to change wheels (don’t know what I seen in those team dynamics rims) for minilites with sportspack arches. And here you go, 10K is actually very modest estimate. I’m sure there are ways of getting it done cheaper, but there is too much time, effort and money put into this tiny little thing, to go scrappy on it now.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Something I been working on.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGVs052foHw




Always wanned one of those american style auto transmission column shifters.
















































Couldn’t find a gauge that covers all idiot lights I needed, so I made one myself.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Massive overkill!
But it looks awesome!


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

It occurred to me that getting rid of this project is not going to be easy. If possible at all. May just as well have some fun with it. I’m making centre console switch panel now. 


























Really liked knobs like those













It’s Bentley’s dashboard. They don’t operate switches here, I think they open/close air vents, but I thought they would go nicely with old style push&pull switches. So I got couple of cheap ones from eBay 














, and made them Bentley style. 















Needed pair of momentary switches for electric windows. Decided to use rotary ones.


Before After























And for hazard lights 



Before  After


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)




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## jackbauer (Jan 12, 2008)

I have a few spare batteries if you are still looking.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi Damien. Thanks but I'm not looking for batteries.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Shaping up the dashboard


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Got the centre console panel done. I mean, except for finish paint and some graphics (icons and stuff)


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## Baratong (Nov 29, 2012)

Fantastic work as always! I enjoy seeing the updates of your progress.

I'm curious, what type of material are you using to shape the dashboard? It looks like the dash is fiberglass?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Thanks man. Dashboard itself is from plastic of some sort. I cut it up a bit and trimmed around to fit my needs. Now I’m filling the gaps and holes out with fiber glass and epoxy resins. The plan is to prep then vinyl wrap it in leather grain textured vinyl film.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Made this.




















































Not sure what I’m gonna measure with that, but it’s 0-100V voltmeter so I should be able to find some use for it, eventually. Meanwhile it is more like ornamental feature. Just fills up a hole in the dashboard.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Initial take at gauges scheme. Small 2 inch gauges for demonstration purposes only. There’s not gonna be any boost to measure, obviously. Not sure about tacho neither, as this is direct drive don’t see much point in it. Will have water temperature thou, with the sender in controller’s cooling system. Got them cheap gauges cos I wanted to see how it plays out, and these match my speedometer. Thought I get boost rather than oil pressure one, as it may come handy for checking vacuum in brake assistance system. Won’t need any oil pressure checking, will I? Next I need to machine a pod for the centre speedometer clock. 















Stock little bit too big for my gear, but I’ll try to work around it. Stay tuned.


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## marcexec (Feb 11, 2009)

Looking good, would be a blast to see in person.
Are you coming to the IMM this year by any chance?


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Not likely mate. Nor this, neither next. Or the one after. 2020 perhaps. If I live that long.


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## marcexec (Feb 11, 2009)

Bummer, you'd be the center of attention in Westport, even if you have her on a trailer. The camping grounds are private property, there are certainly other minis that aren't road legal...

Anyway, keep going. Your craftsmanship is an inspiration (or whatever the word is when you look at your own stuff and feel small ).


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Well mate, I don’t feel that big neither. Believe you me.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Progress on the speedometer pod.
























Want to form it like this














Should be fun.


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

……….


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## LocuL (Dec 3, 2016)

News?

Sendt fra min SM-N9005 med Tapatalk


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hi All,
I am selling my unfinished electric conversion project 1988 Mini Austin. Originally was automatic.
Fully restored body, rust free.
Professionally painted just unfinished roof.
Alloy wheels with new tyres.
Electric AC50 motor is already in.
Upgraded (new) breaking system.

Unfinished interior
Car's electrical system should be done, unfinished.
Needs batteries.

See my original build thread for more info in my Posts.


Many more photos and videos available.

Price: 4500 Euro. Any reasonable offer considered.

Location: Republic of Ireland, Co. Tipperary


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

For your quality of build that is a VERY cheap price
Shame you are on the wrong side of the world


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## Studebaker (Jan 22, 2012)

Hello!
I am moving. Have no chance to finish my project, its pitty. And it is a quick sale.
Regards


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