|
Member's Car Journals Car journals by our members. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
07-02-2014, 12:51 AM | #1 |
Now w/ over 400 womprats!
Join Date: Nov 2011
Drives: BRZ LZR
Location: Texas/Illinois
Posts: 4,785
Thanks: 10,452
Thanked 3,420 Times in 1,424 Posts
Mentioned: 301 Post(s)
Tagged: 4 Thread(s)
|
My VTEC Morris Mini : The Car in my Shed
Okay guys, I'm FINALLY getting around to making a build thread for this damn thing. But before I begin, some preface:
I am not a mechanic or mad jam tyte car builder by trade. I am simply a student who loves cars and working on cars, and decided to take on a big project. In this build thread you will see plenty of Harbor Freight, plenty of ghetto fab, and plenty of YOLO. Please understand that I am not building this to make it show car pretty, but rather to challenge myself so that I can grow not only as an engineer, but also a car enthusiast. Summer 2012. I have just graduated High School (I'm a little kid, I know). My oldest brother and I decide to take on another project car (one that isn't a Supra). We are watching Wheeler Dealers one day and see a rerun from Season 1; It's the Austin Mini episode! After the episode, both of us are 100% in agreement, it's going to be a Mini. But we realize that an 850cc motor would be a bit anemic, and so we look into our other options. Hayabusa Swap? Naaahhhh, that's a little too crazy. D-series swap? Naaaahhh, D-series are lame. RWD K Swap? Naaaahhh, Too much work to make this thing mid-engined. B-Series Swap? YES! B-Series are awesome. And my brother has a lot of experience with Bs from back in his Civic days. So, we begin buying parts and sourcing ourselves a Mini. We look far and wide across the valleys and plains of Texas, finding a few rusty jalopies, but then we find one not too far from us, sitting in some dude's property. She looks rough, don't she? Upon closer inspection though, she wasn't so bad! Most of the rust was simply surface rust, and the body was fairly straight! The car had been sitting there since the 70s. Turns out it was a 1959, the first model year, which was a very rare find! So we bought it! And took it back to the garage, where it's roommates were very suspicious of it. The big bad Supra picking on the Mini, so we had to separate them. And thus we began the build! First thing was removing the dingy old Morris motor (along with the front subframe) Then, parts started coming in: The black thing in there is the Minitec B-Series Front Subframe, which is what the B will sit in. We also managed to source ourselves a relatively low mileage B18c5 locally! So, from here, we had a metric shit ton of stuff to do, so we started with some easy stuff, stripping the car down, sanding the body down and priming. We also bought a new front clamshell that was designed with this kit in mind But that isn't being installed til the very end, so we took it off and flipped her over to address the underside! We cleaned her up and undercoated her, so no more rust issues! And then, she sat. I left to Illinois for college, and my brother's were busy with school/work, so she never really got touched. My oldest brother bought parts here and there, but never really got around to installing much. When I came back the following summer, I was motivated for about a week, and I started working on doing the wheel bearings and the rear drums, but then I kinda lost the motivation, and the project once again became idle. It might have been largely because this was when I bought an FRS, so much of my time and attention was put into that. I also painted the Valve Cover And started putting the pedal box together. Fast forward to this summer and my FRS was left up in Illinois, and I came down to Texas with no race car. So, what do I do? I kick it into top freaking gear and I start building the race car that I should have built years ago. At this point, my brothers have moved out, and I have nobody to help me, but it's no matter. I CAN DO IT! Now bear with me, because I didn't take too many pictures, and many of the ones I did take are on my phone somewhere, so I will update the thread as best as I can. Update 1: Okay, so about a month ago, I moved the Mini from our main garage to the shed in the backyard. Along with it, I moved all my tools and stuff, so I had a proper workspace instead of the mess that was there before The Mini was tired so he laid down Another shot of the Motor after relocating the Alternator Then I flipped the Mini over completely and installed the rear subframe that I took out two years ago. (Which now has new drums, shoes, radius arms, and bushings) After putting her right side up again, I realized I had a problem. The tires we got with the wheels had too much sidewall and were hitting the subframe. But it was no matter! There was room to trim the subframe to fit! And thus the rear end was on! Dat Ass From there, I tackled the various driver inputs! I rebuilt the steering rack, installed the pedal box, mounted the factory accelerator pedal and mounted the steering column, shaft and wheel! I didn't have the original steering shaft mount, so i got clever with some bolts and washers and made my own. In the meanwhile, I had bought an alternator belt for the B18, as the factory one was far too small with the relocation: Since then, I have also removed the Intake Manifold and modified it to fit I have installed all three of the reservoirs (2 brake, 1 clutch) I have installed the coilover suspension in the front. I did the front wheel bearings and am currently waiting on some ball joint shims from England to finish up the front hubs. Once I get the shims in, I will install the hubs and steering arms, and then hopefully get the motor in, axles in, then front wheels on, and the car will officially be a rolling chassis with a motor in it. After that is wiring, brake lines, fuel lines, shift linkages etc. and then it'll be driving. And then I'll worry about making it look pretty. Oh yeah, and did I mention? My deadline is the beginning of August, because that is when i am going back to Illinois (and driving to 86Expo with my FRS!). So, these parts better come in fast! UPDATEEE 2: 7/2/14 My silicone elbows came in for the Intake manifold!! Now, you must be thinking, what the hell does he need silicone elbows for? Well, turns out the factory Intake manifold won't clear the bulkhead in the Mini. And so the solution (this is written in the Minitec install guide) is to cut the runners in half, and then put 90° elbows on in order to effectively shorten and relocate the plenum! Now you must be saying, "but Guff, won't that reduce flow? " OF COURSE IT DOES! It's a terrible design! I'm honestly kinda pissed that it has to be like this! But, at this point, I couldn't care less! If it runs, that's all I care about! (I should mention, I asked a couple dudes at various shops with TIG welders and they all said they don't do cast aluminum, Idk why, probably just jelly of the awesome Mini) And now it's on! Update 3 7/3/14 I got my shims!!! (There were more than that, but that's the only photo I took) And so, I assembled my ball joints, and finished my hubs! After that, I took the hub to the car and mounted it up! Only to realize that I put the left side hub on the right, so I had to take it off (which was a mission in itself). After that, I mounted the correct hub on and installed the caliper mount for the Wilwoods (which was also a mission because I managed to cross thread the lower bolt). After that, I put the rotor on to mock it up, and it looks swell! At that point though, I realized that perhaps I was a bit too out of it to continue working, as it was rather late and I had just opened a 16 hour fast (It's Ramadan, I'm fasting, which makes this project all the more challenging). No matter! Tomorrow I will have two of my close friends (they're on this forum actually) and my brother helping me wrench and I'm going to knock out a ton of stuff! Including getting that pesky motor in! Stay tuned! :thumb up: Update 4 7/6/2014 Okay, so after trying (and failing) for a number of hours to get the motor in with the subframe attached to the chassis, (This is as close as we could get it) ...we decided that it would be best if we removed the subframe and installed the motor directly into that. Then we would install that whole unit into the car. I've seen it does both ways, but most do it the second way. So we pulled the subframe and then the following day, we put the motor in the subframe. There goes the first mount bolt! Then after a bit of dangerous shaking of the motor and subframe, we got the other mount in! Once we got it in, I began realizing how tight of a fit this thing really was. Turns out the alternator belt is hitting the subframe, so I'm going to have to put the belt on a different part of the crank pulley and move the idler in a little so it will clear, but before that, I will need a longer alternator belt. All of the vacuum and heater hoses in the back will need to be tied back in order to keep from hitting the firewall. And then the throttle cable itself is in a very peculiar position, so I will have to figure out how to route it without it getting caught or stuck behind something. Oh yeah, and the chain from the engine lift was trained against the edge of the valve cover, which resulted in the valve cover bending and cracking right above the cam gears. Hopefully I can fix it, because I can't afford another valve cover... Monday night is when the motor+subframe is slated to go in, so I will have to buy a number of things in the morning in order to make sure the night's work goes smoothly. UPDATE 10/15/14 WHAT IS UP GUYS!!!! I haven't updated this thing in a while, so i am going to highlight what I accomplished this summer and where I am now. Hopefully you guys will understand that I was rushing to get this bad boy running before summer ended and a lot of the work I did was done solo, so I don't have many pictures. So, we got the motor in!!! It was in properly, and I went to town wiring everything up. The harness I have is a shortened harness by Minitec so it was mostly plug and play. Still looks clean! On top of that, I found myself replacing various things that were broken, such as this very difficult to reach knock sensor. Then I ran brake lines, which (thanks to my Harbor Freight flaring tool) were all very leaky! And then, as I was really anxious to start it, I went ahead and put the fuel cell, along with a Walbro pump in and ran fuel lines! Which I then forgot to photograph. Got the ECU mocked up and wired in! So, I gave her a crank to see if the starter was functioning and got this: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcA4VjXeebM"]VTEC Mini Starter Issues - YouTube[/ame] So, there was an issue with my starter wiring. And after quite some time of thinking about wiring and circuits and other things that make me far too confused, I figured it out! [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AYnfjtpurU"]Fixed Starter Wiring : Crank Baby! - YouTube[/ame] She was cranking! Hopefully oil pressure was good, because I'm ready to plug fuel in and start this baby up! [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9aoJyPovGQ"]VTEC Mini Start - YouTube[/ame] SHE LIVESSSSS HELL YEAH BABY! Lots of emotion at this point! After so many years dreaming of this moment, I found that it was even sweeter than I could have imagined! She wasn't driving yet, but she was alive! So, at this point, I had perhaps a week left in Texas. I had to work damn quick in order to be able get this old girl on the road before heading back to school. At this point, I was working and taking summer classes on top of all this, so time was not easy to come by. I finished up wiring, sorted out suspension and brakes, fixed leaks, etc and just tried to get her there. By the last day, I was fabricating shift linkages, and mounting the shifter assembly, but when I was underneath the car, I found this: Two of the bell housing bolts were not there, and there was a significant gap between the motor and trans. How did I not see this before? How the hell did this even happen? It occurred to me that the shop (who I will not name) that worked on refreshing my motor somehow forgot these two bolts. So my buddy and I frantically drove to the nearest auto parts store searching for a bolt that would fit. But alas, we couldn't find one. We came back to the shed feeling defeated and confused. How could something like this pop up this late in the game? It was a crippling feeling knowing that something like this very well may be the thing that stops us from meeting the deadline. But then, I began looking through my bolts box. Who knows, I've got a million bolts, perhaps one will fit... And after quite a bit of searching, we found some! It was almost miraculous! They weren't exactly the same, but the thread pitches were the same and they were long enough! So we got those bad boys in and closed up that damn gap! At that point, it was really late, and the two of us were insanely tired, but we soldiered on. I cut and began welding (with my damn flux-core welder) up the shift linkages. But then came the point that my eyes were literally closing with between passes, and I knew I couldn't continue that night. My friend had already left, and I decided to call it a night. I realized that even if I finished this, I still had to bleed the brakes and clutch, and sort out a hundred other small things before I could drive it. I woke up the next day far later than I should have. My flight was later that afternoon, and I still hadn't packed. On top of that, I couldn't spend my last day here without hanging out with my family. It was at this point that I realized that it wasn't going to happen. I wasn't going to be able to smugly drive my open header, VTEC-powered Mini with no doors past my disapproving neighbors. I wasn't going to be able to rip a nasty burnout in my driveway with no safety restraints and a seat made of couch cushions. All those fantasies that fueled my passion to build this thing were just that, fantasies. I flew back to Illinois later that day with high hopes that I would ship the Mini to campus and work on it on the weekends with all my gearhead buddies, but sadly it hasn't happened yet. Shipping this car and all my tools with it without actually driving down there and trailering it up has proven to be far more difficult (and expensive) to organize than I originally imagined. On top of that, I work full time and am a full time student, and as such, time is pretty limited. That being said, the Mini will come up here. And she will get finished. And you guys can bet your asses that I'll put up the video of my smug mug ripping a nasty burnout with her when I'm done. Until next time.... BRIEF UPDATE 1/12/15: It's amazing how life gets in the way of everything! I've been in Dallas for the last few weeks, but hardly have had time to work on the car. In the time I did get, however, I did a couple things: -I bought and bent all brand new Napa brake lines for every brake line in the car. -I towed the car to my local exhaust shop and got a wonderful exhaust made! Now, turns out the new brake lines are leaking as well. Why? Well, the gentlemen at the muffler shop tell me that it is because the brake line fittings are not long enough. Apparently, they need to be longer in order to hold the line with more tension and seat the flare better in the fitting. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to get new lines/modify these ones, so that'll have to wait till the spring. The exhaust on the other hand, sounds absolutely sick and isn't leaking (I don't think), so props to Miller Muffler of Lewisville for hooking me up! And with that, my brief update comes to an end. As you guys already know, there's lots of time in between my updates, and unfortunately that is just how it is, so I apologize to any and all of you who just want to see this damn thing finished. Trust me, I do too. But going to school in a different state, in addition to working full time, and boosting my FRS-- WAIT WHAT? YOU'RE TURBOING YOUR FRS TOO? Yes, I am. Who needs a daily, when you can just have projects, right? But that's a story for another thread... I leave behind a present for all of you, in the form of a YouTube video. Let it be a taste of wonderful times to come.... [ame]http://youtu.be/9nXSV1XZHmA[/ame]
__________________
"Sweet Subaru, sweet Subaru, send your BRZ unto me, for the roads of the unworthy must be baptized in speed and glory."
- The Ancient BRZ Sacrament by Zaku Last edited by Guff; 09-09-2015 at 09:39 PM. |
The Following 23 Users Say Thank You to Guff For This Useful Post: | akyp (07-06-2014), Atropine (07-02-2014), Bg8780 (07-06-2014), Bu-Tang (07-03-2014), buddy32 (07-02-2014), Calum (07-04-2014), DarkSunrise (07-02-2014), disgruntld (10-15-2014), Giccin (07-02-2014), itsibarra (07-07-2014), John.Hong (07-03-2014), Jrryjms07 (01-12-2015), LivingLegend (07-02-2014), meWant (10-15-2014), MTCRX (01-12-2015), n2oinferno (07-02-2014), reni (07-02-2014), Rican_D (07-02-2014), rice_classic (07-02-2014), Shagaliscious (07-02-2014), Slash (07-07-2014), Timmy_Jones (10-20-2014), Zaku (07-03-2014) |
07-02-2014, 12:51 AM | #2 |
Now w/ over 400 womprats!
Join Date: Nov 2011
Drives: BRZ LZR
Location: Texas/Illinois
Posts: 4,785
Thanks: 10,452
Thanked 3,420 Times in 1,424 Posts
Mentioned: 301 Post(s)
Tagged: 4 Thread(s)
|
Reserved
__________________
"Sweet Subaru, sweet Subaru, send your BRZ unto me, for the roads of the unworthy must be baptized in speed and glory."
- The Ancient BRZ Sacrament by Zaku |
The Following User Says Thank You to Guff For This Useful Post: | Giccin (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 12:52 AM | #3 |
Now w/ over 400 womprats!
Join Date: Nov 2011
Drives: BRZ LZR
Location: Texas/Illinois
Posts: 4,785
Thanks: 10,452
Thanked 3,420 Times in 1,424 Posts
Mentioned: 301 Post(s)
Tagged: 4 Thread(s)
|
Reserved 2
__________________
"Sweet Subaru, sweet Subaru, send your BRZ unto me, for the roads of the unworthy must be baptized in speed and glory."
- The Ancient BRZ Sacrament by Zaku |
The Following User Says Thank You to Guff For This Useful Post: | Giccin (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 02:14 AM | #4 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Drives: 2021 Toyota Supra 2020 4Runner
Location: New Plymouth, ID
Posts: 701
Thanks: 1,396
Thanked 829 Times in 346 Posts
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
I am looking forward to seeing how this plays out!
Love the old Minis! |
The Following User Says Thank You to Atropine For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 02:20 AM | #5 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Drives: 1994 Toyota Tercel
Location: Hillsboro
Posts: 279
Thanks: 331
Thanked 98 Times in 56 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Damn the way you carry yourself around the forum, I thought you were in your 30's or something! Kudos to you and keep us updated on your build!
|
The Following User Says Thank You to LivingLegend For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 02:28 AM | #6 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Drives: 2021 Toyota Supra 2020 4Runner
Location: New Plymouth, ID
Posts: 701
Thanks: 1,396
Thanked 829 Times in 346 Posts
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Also, you should name your car...
"Lieutenant Dan" Because it ain't go not legs. |
07-02-2014, 02:30 AM | #7 | |
Now w/ over 400 womprats!
Join Date: Nov 2011
Drives: BRZ LZR
Location: Texas/Illinois
Posts: 4,785
Thanks: 10,452
Thanked 3,420 Times in 1,424 Posts
Mentioned: 301 Post(s)
Tagged: 4 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
Hopefully it won't be like that for long!
__________________
"Sweet Subaru, sweet Subaru, send your BRZ unto me, for the roads of the unworthy must be baptized in speed and glory."
- The Ancient BRZ Sacrament by Zaku |
|
07-02-2014, 03:29 AM | #8 |
Junior
Join Date: Aug 2013
Drives: a car
Location: Probably at school
Posts: 4,341
Thanks: 3,184
Thanked 2,512 Times in 1,502 Posts
Mentioned: 20 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
from one engineering student to another;
shoulda had a V8
__________________
"Ah! What music! They could have never imagined, those pioneers who invented the automobile, that it would posses us like this, our imaginations, our dreams. Men love women, but even more than that, men love CARS!"-Lord Hesketh
|
The Following User Says Thank You to cdrazic93 For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 08:41 AM | #9 |
Praise Helix!
Join Date: Jan 2011
Drives: Accord 2.0T, Silverado
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 2,859
Thanks: 428
Thanked 2,208 Times in 1,072 Posts
Mentioned: 11 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
In for this one! That's awesome. I see an old Mini every once in a while up at Cars and Coffee. I don't think I'd be able to fit in the thing, hah. Of course since I couldn't make it this month there was one all wide bodied out and custom with a Renesis swap from an RX8, and I missed it..
|
The Following User Says Thank You to n2oinferno For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 09:31 AM | #10 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2013
Drives: WRB Subaru BRZ Limited
Location: Atlanta, GA
Posts: 257
Thanks: 287
Thanked 171 Times in 107 Posts
Mentioned: 9 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
In, if I lived anywhere near you, I'd be there to help anytime lol!
|
The Following User Says Thank You to buddy32 For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 11:18 AM | #11 |
(╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻
Join Date: Dec 2010
Drives: Yaris HBK, Audi 09' TTS<Had>
Location: Orange County~~~
Posts: 5,162
Thanks: 4,345
Thanked 1,899 Times in 966 Posts
Mentioned: 87 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
In the earlier days of the forum.. @Guff was the supra horder. Lol
__________________
I am the Ice Queen.
Logic > Emotion ┬──┬◡ノ(° -°ノ) Yashio Factory Pink adds +10HP to anything. TOYOTA FT-86 |
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Giccin For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014), Sportsguy83 (07-03-2014) |
07-02-2014, 12:41 PM | #12 |
-
Join Date: Nov 2012
Drives: '13 FRS - STX
Location: SF Bay Area
Posts: 10,377
Thanks: 13,770
Thanked 9,495 Times in 5,008 Posts
Mentioned: 94 Post(s)
Tagged: 3 Thread(s)
|
Had a fantasy of doing a Honda swap into a Mini but it was short lived, I'll enjoy it vicariously! Can't wait to see it running.
|
The Following User Says Thank You to strat61caster For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 12:51 PM | #13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Drives: Nevermorange FRS
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 4,160
Thanks: 755
Thanked 4,200 Times in 1,803 Posts
Mentioned: 77 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Still think you're wrong about the D-Series.
__________________
SCCA T4 - FRS
|
The Following User Says Thank You to rice_classic For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
07-02-2014, 01:01 PM | #14 |
head of infinite swagger
Join Date: Apr 2012
Drives: 2013 FR-S 6MT
Location: Toronto
Posts: 1,577
Thanks: 238
Thanked 556 Times in 378 Posts
Mentioned: 24 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Sweet project, in for updates
__________________
2019 Golf R 6MT - current daily...I need another coupe
2008 Civic Si - winter beater 2000 Silverstone M5 6MT - SOLD 2013 Ultramarine FR-S 6MT - Car Journal - SOLD 2004 AlpineWhite M3 6MT - SOLD |
The Following User Says Thank You to f0rge For This Useful Post: | Guff (07-02-2014) |
|
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
ΘΘΘ Tomei Titanium Exhaust Systems ΘΘΘ Cat Backs, Front Pipes, Over Pipes and Headers | FT-86 SpeedFactory | Engine, Exhaust, Bolt-Ons | 291 | 02-16-2017 10:37 PM |
Go Fast Bits - Photos of the pulleys that shed weight for 2013 | FT-86 SpeedFactory | Engine, Exhaust, Transmission | 34 | 10-20-2016 12:14 PM |
Guess the Vtec kicked in... | Bad Habits | Off-Topic Lounge [WARNING: NO POLITICS] | 10 | 11-22-2013 08:12 PM |
Human VTEC Sound | radroach | Off-Topic Lounge [WARNING: NO POLITICS] | 7 | 07-10-2013 12:51 PM |