MED 1293 Lightweight Mini Minus
Turbo Mini Forums

So... I bought a mini minus shell which I am currently restoring.

And I thought I'd share it with everyone on here. Here are the pictures of the car when I picked it up. I'll be posting pictures as often as possible. Any advice or constructive criticism will be very helpful👍🏻 Enjoy!

JB

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Edited by JBMini on 4th Jun, 2016.

Minus Build Thread!

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=599991

Nice, check out jonnys minus for inspiration

I've always liked the minus.

I'll look forward to seeing this come together.

In the 13's at last!.. Just

Thanks for the immediate interest! I am a fan of jonnys minus, lovely car with some great details!

Hopefully this build can help people and people can help me during the build. It's almost a rolling shell, so I'll do some updates soon to show you where I started and what I've done so far:)

Regards
JB

Minus Build Thread!

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=599991

Got it home.

And the sanding started😷

Im quite pleased with the condition of the shell, apart from the front end which looks like someone hammered it off:/

Cheers
JB

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Minus Build Thread!

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I'm liking the lack of rust👍🏻

So I've started filling and sanding some bits I'm not so happy with. Also started tubbing the rear arches as I'm running coliovers. And the protech ones I bought although they are offset, they don't fit in the current arch. So I did this... (Using a tonne of resin)😀

Also fitted the rear beam to double check that it all fits and the coilover are in the correct place.

Thanks
JB

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Minus Build Thread!

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Small update.

Got my hands on some used 7.9" callipers and disks today. Removed all the steel bolts so I can replace them with titanium.

Will be ordering them Monday:)

Cheers
JB

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Minus Build Thread!

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At the risk of being someone who only ever seems to ask what something weighs.....

Any idea what your Minus shell weighs with out front end or doors, boot lid etc?

Just interested to see if they are any lighter than a like for like steel shell

Cheers

You need to be careful using 'tonnes of resin'. Too much resin is just as bad as not enough. As you're expecting this to take the weight of the car it needs to be right.

It looks shiny like it was too wet in the photo.

Fastest 998 mini in the world? 13.05 1/4 mile 106mph

www.twin-turbo.co.uk

Thanks for the comment aubrey_boy! I'd like to know the weight of a minus shell too mate. Haven't got any scales which could fit it, there is a local garage near by, I'll go and ask them. you could also look at it in a different way, for example mine has had all the steel removed and I'm fitting a full rollcage to keep the car stiff, you also have a standard minus with all the steel obviously. But if I can weigh mine with and without the rollcage I'll do that mate:)

I don't think the weight will be much different to a metal shell, and with my rollcage it will be a lot heavier, but we will see!

Wil_h thanks for the comment! Thanks for the info, I didn't know that, I only used a little more than the recommended so should be okay, also it's not taking the weight of the car because the rollcage will tie in with the rear coilovers, so I'm not expecting it to be as strong as it was, but it should be good enough:)

Thanks again for the comments
JB

Minus Build Thread!

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=599991

Looks like a nice project.
Where abouts in Bedfordshire are you?

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

Sounds familiar!

Hope you do a good job of it. Looks good so far.

You say the steels not in it? I can see it is?

With regards to your glass work on the turret. It really needs to heavily keyed and feathered right out to edges. I can see primer under the glass which I would be careful off. You'll probably find bits of the original work on it that's lifted to where it's not been keyed very well.
Powerfile works wonders for that kind of work. Messier the better lol.

Edited by jonny f on 22nd May, 2016.

Hi JT, I live near Ampthill mate. Yourself?

Thanks for the comment Jonny. My tactic after cutting it out was fill it with as much glass as possible lol. But after having done so I'm thinking that a more strategic approach would be better than just dumping loads of fg round it. Will have to get myself a powerfile and do the other side a different way and compare, I can always try again, that's the beauty of fibreglass:)

Also with the steel, it's there in those pictures but I've removed it since then, pictures of that will come along soon!

Also thought I'd show you guys what I got in the post the other day...

Cheers
JB

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Minus Build Thread!

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Something else I need help with, brakes.
I have 7.5" brakes and some 7.9" brakes, neither are vented, do I need the 7.9"? Is it worth the extra weight? Has anyone noticed a huge difference in brake performance, both are minisport with mintex pads. Let me know what you think.

Cheers
JB

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I'm in Hitchin mate. Not far.

I've got 7.9 vented brakes on mine. There vert good. But I'm in a standard weight mini.

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

Not far at all then mate, I visit hitchin a lot!

I see, well it's not a track car trying to get better lap times so if the performance between 7.5" and 7.9" isn't very noticeable unless you're on a track I may use the 7.5". I'll see what other people think before I make my mind up, might bring both the setups to work a see the actual weight difference

Cheers
JB

Minus Build Thread!

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Can anyone help me with my 7.5" or 7.9" non vented brake dilemma?

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Well making the discs bigger is probably the best thing you can do to get more stopping power really so id say its 'weight well spent'

However

The way i see it there two thing going on with breaking, one is the physical 'leverage over the car' if you like and generally if you can lock the wheels you have more then enough of that and wont need bigger discs for more.

The other issue is their ability to shed the heat fast enough to maintain that leverage and not fade with prolonged use. This aspect is probably more important but for road cars and hillclimbers and the like it too isn't really that important as you hardly use the brakes..

Anyway im waffling.. 7.5s will work fine but 7.9 is hardly weight wasted.

I have vented brakes as I do trackdays. They sure so get hot on track!!

My build thread..

http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=542985

Hi slater, Thankyou for the reply!

Your absolutely correct, like I said, racing cars are as light as possible but big brakes make the lap times faster so that's why they are used. But that's not nececarry for what I want. So it's really down to what I'm going to use the car for. Think I'll go with the 7.5" brakes and if they aren't good enough, it's not a big job to replace them.

Also got a spare 30 mins tonight and took the diff out of the GBox I'm planning to use.

Cheers
JB

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I've just changed to 7.9 non vented from 8.2 vented. 1kg lighter each side.

Got to think those historics run cooper S 7.5 calipers, solid discs and race pads, don't look like they fade at all.

Edited by jonny f on 23rd May, 2016.

Amazing weight saving from that small change. And very good point you've made there Jonny! What made you go for the vented ones?

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They were cheap and fitted under 10's just about. That's all I cared about at that point.

Fair enough mate.

Thanks for everyone's help:)

JB

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During and after pics of removing some of the interior, even put a seat in to see what it looks like.

Now you can see what I've removed Jonny, more to come👍🏻

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Edited by JBMini on 31st May, 2016.

Minus Build Thread!

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