Mini ST Hotrod

[bikewiz]

The one from Huddersfield Supply is cheap but would probably cost as much in freight as the unit 

https://www.minispares-online.co.uk/roller-jig-powder-coated-for-classic-mini/

[cstudep]

Yeah I contacted them a few years ago because it was actually cheaper than building one. Shipping was actually more than cost of the rotisserie at the time. Can't imagine its any better now.

[MiniDave]

There's an issue with the rear mounting, it's attached to the shock towers which I'll be cutting out. It's possible I could attach it to the parcel shelf, but I'm not sure that would be strong enough.....dunno.

Although I like the way that one's built, but the part is £375, and the shipping was quoted at £800!!!!

[94touring]

Mine bolts to the rear parcel shelf.  But depending how much you're cutting out, may not be an option. 

[cstudep]

most I have seen attach to the shock towers and rear parcel shelf, but you could probably attach to the underside of the rear parcel and the seat back/rear bulkhead somehow instead and still be strong enough?

[MiniDave]

Except all that will be gone!   

[94touring]

You could increase your attach points on the B pillar and use that as a place to mount a rotisserie.

[MiniDave]

all things are possible.....I also could use the seatbelt anchors points on the C pillars....but before I go to all that trouble I'm going to cut out the big hole, and then see about welding in the first panel....if that goes well I'll just carry on.

Another possibility is to just roll it on its side on a couple of tires or a mattress, like they do in England

[94touring]

I've been just using a jack stand against the roof gutter on Brants car.  No need for mattresses.

[skmini]

I rolled mine over onto a roof rack for doing the lower panels.  I only put it onto a rotisserie once the shell was complete, to make it easier to do the bodywork and paint.

[MiniDave]

I remember that!

I have a scissor lift so I can get the car at a good height to do work, especially on the outer sides. but bodywork and paint will fall on someone else's shoulders..   

I plan to get all the metal work done to a good standard so body work will hopefully be minimal. 

[94touring]

I initially rolled Brants car on it's side using the jack stand on the gutter because I didn't feel like setting up the rotisserie that day.  Then I realized it's pretty easy to work on like this.  I don't have metal legs in the way either.

[MiniDave]

I made a hole! Next I'll cut out the seat backrest, that should give me pretty good access to see what I need to cut next, and how to get to it. It pretty much filled the house with smoke smell, both from the metal and the undercoating I cut thru. This is going to be a pretty long and involved process. MiniTec sent me some pics of how much they cut out when they did this conversion on one of their cars, I think they went a bit further than necessary but considering they put a Honda V-6 in theirs that made about the same HP as what I'm doing maybe it doesn't matter?

We're headed for a spell of brutal cold, with lows down to -11* and highs around 5*, so I won't be doing anything in the shop till nature bumps the thermostat back up a bit in a week or so......

[94touring]

Is there any reason you didn't go ahead and cut out the wheel arches and the lower part of the rear end panel?

[MiniDave]

Yes, I'm not convinced I need to cut out the whole panel of the arch, I'm thinking just the part where the shock tower is,, and then plate over that with flat plate. Trying to keep as much strength in the back as I can. Same with the boot floor.

Next I'll cut out the seat bottom, then the companion bins, then the floor....that should get me close to being able to do a trial fit.

I did go ahead and cut out the backrest tonight, but given our weather pretty much all next week I think that's as far as I'll get for now.

[MiniDave]

It took just over two weeks, but MiniTec say they got my axles today   

They say they can turn them around to me in a week......we'll see. I hope they return them via FedEx or UPS tho, cause I'm reading that the post office has close to a million undelivered packages, some from before Xmas!

[MiniDave]

I've been studying my pics above, trying to plan out where/how to cut out the remaining metal so I can start to fit the subframe in. I found that it bolts on where the old subframe did, at the front, and one of those bolts broke off in the captive nut, so I may need to get out the acetylene torch to get that out. I did buy a set of the heel board repair panels just in case, but after looking at them I figured I could have easily made them myself, since instead of using captive nuts in a bracket they simply welded nuts to the back of the new panel - shoot - I could have done that!

The other interesting part is I only need the outermost portion of the heel board, right where those bolts are.....if mine is rusted badly (and it looks like it is) I may do something creative with the new panels to shore up the area a little more. I won't know till I get the rest of the sheet metal out.....

Once the subframe is fit into place and bolted down I can start to replace all the rust with new metal - there will be a LOT of that based on what I'm seeing. Looks like I also need to order a new inner fender/wheel well as the right side has some huge holes in it that I didn't see till I was reviewing the pics. Pic below is of the inner arch, looking up from below.

I'll also need to smooth out some of the sharp edges I left so I don't slice myself to ribbons!

Binky has nothing on this car when it comes to rusty bits!

[MiniDave]

I did a massive amount of cutting out sheet metal and rust today, still have quite a bit to go but my back called it quits. It was so nice today - mid 50's - warm enough to be able to open the back door and run a fan to suck the smoke and smells out so they don't go into the house.

First I cut out the seat bottom, I thought about trying to save it by drilling out the spot welds then I decided that was just a waste of time and used the saw and cut off wheels on it. I put a new blade in the air powered recip saw and what a huge difference that made - I guess I didn't realize just how dull the blade had gotten. I also found I had bought some small fine tooth blades that let me control the cut a little better, the new one of those went thru the sheet metal like butta!

I'm going to wind up replacing a large part of the floors as they've been bent up badly and have rust both on the edges and in various places along the center tunnel. Oh boy! s/

Next I went after the companion bins - again I thought to just drill out the spot welds and decided to just cut them out. I seriously doubt I'll be using any part of them unless it's to build some cubbies or covers somewhere.

Once those were out of the way I went ahead and trimmed up the floor, the only reason to do this at this point is to do a trial fit of the subframe......I'm almost there now. I still need to remove a few brackets and trim up some edges, then I'll see how it fits and what more needs to go.

My current plan is to fit the subby and use it to help locate the new panels and stiffen the shell as I cut metal out and replace it.

[MiniDave]

I managed to get the rest of the sheet metal cut out today, although I see I still have to do some clean up and trimming, but I decided to do a trial fit of the frame first.

It didn't go.

So next I'm going to try something different......but first I'm going to try and get ahold of Mini Tec and see how they do it.

My next attempt will be to go in thru the door cause it simply won't go from the back, unless they have some secret way of doing it that I haven't figured out yet!    I'm not keen on that cause it means removing the bracing on one door and the cross brace......I got it almost all the way up, but the forward lip of the frame is supposed to go over the top of the floor, and that wasn't happening.

Here's a pic of the pile of metal I've taken out so far.....

[94touring]

Hard for me to tell by that picture what the fitment hang up is.

[MiniDave]

The front lip of the subframe is supposed to go over the edge of the floor, coming up from below there doesn't seem to be a way to do that - it's just too tight. Next thing I'll try is to go thru the door and drop it down into place - that's going to take some real maneuvering, I think it will go, but I really don't know if that will let me get it in place or not.

They don't send instructions or anything......based on the few pics I got from them of their cars, it looks like it goes in from the bottom.

I have a call in to MiniTec right now, we'll see if/when I get a call back.

[Scargo]

From the photo, it appears that interference lies between the frame and the inner edge of the wheel well. It looks as if the wheel wells need to be notched and trimmed for the the frame to slide upward. Are there other points of interference not evident in the photo?

[cstudep]

Will it rotate around the rear so the front portion would go up and in first and then sit down on the floor when the rear is rotated up and in? Like Scargo says though it looks like the wheel arches will be a problem once you get that far? It is kind of hard to tell what's going on at the front in those pics though.

[MiniDave]

There's no interference on the sides.....the rear upright is hard against the bracket, the front upright is hard against the floor edge, so it can't go forward or backward, and the whole front bracket is still under the edge of the floor. To go where it needs to it would have to move back about 2-3", so the lip could go over the back edge of the floor.....which it can't do because the rear upright is against the bracket.

I'm half considering cutting those rear brackets off and either making them a bolt on deal or welding them back in place after the subframe is in place......that way the whole subframe could move backwards enough to go over the floor and slide forwards into place.

MiniTec's pics

[cstudep]

The way the mini tec picture shows it up on the 4x4 at the front with the rear rotated lower is what I was poorly trying to describe in my previous post, lower the rear down enough so the uprights stay below the opening, that way it can move back far enough to get the front lifted in and over the floor, then shove it as far forward as you can and rotate the rear up and in.

Not saying it can be done, but that first picture is sort of showing exactly what I was thinking.