brads 1963 mk1 850.
Turbo Mini Forums

Ok so an update on the seats!

I emailed Velo and they could modify the seats how i asked but at a significant amount. I would literally paying the price for 3 seats and getting two. So i vetoed that idea.

So next idea was to try a Velo Milano extra Large. Thanks to a generous Sydney Mini owner, i had (/still have) a XL Velo Milano to borrow for sizing and measurements. Dimensionally the Velo Milano will fit side by side in a mini unmodified.



Unfortunately after sitting in it for about 40 minutes it killed my hips. So no-go. I will be driving this car for periods a lot longer than just 40 minutes in future.

I had a real "fuck it/yolo" moment this morning and after checking the Velo GPT-2 was a good fit and comfortable, i ordered two. They are each 10mm too wide from our measurements and Velos dimensions. So each seat can be max 570mm across the wings and these are 580mm. I got a decent price, they are FIA and ADR (Australian Design Rules - so road legal in Australia) approved, and are a good Australian company (im sure some of you guys like supporting the local to you/british manufacturing/engineering companies).

So the idea is to stagger them and have the passenger seat solid mounted slightly behind the drivers seat, so the drivers seat can be run low on custom rails to slide back and forth for whatever driver decides to hop in; OR, we trim the seats 10-15mm each and wedge them in, both on rails.

I could have taken the seat in the picture below but seeing as i bought two and Velo using different coloured yellow for the 'Velo' branding on the headrest with different batches, i didnt. My slight OCD nature would have ruined me, so it will probably take a week to get them in, but they will be colour matched.



So for anyone interested, i have a pants size of 36 (or 97 depending on your size system). Dimensionally the Cobra Evolution, Cobra Monaco sport and the Velo Viper should fit wider guys like me AND as a pair in a mini. The Evolution and Viper both have large wrap around wings that i dont want (and they are also over AUS$1000/seat). The Monaco was a fine seat but the harness holes were completely covered by my back. Im no giant, but im just over 6 foot and 90-100kg, so while i did fit in some seats (i.e. cobra monaco and velo milano xl) they were ruled out due to not only insufficient width/height but also they didnt hold my frame like i was desiring. Yes, im picky, but if you spend so long in a seat you should enjoy it as much as possible

So an update. Last thursday afternoon i picked these puppies up. They came in and i drove the hour or so trip straight away



So i lined them up between two verticals at 1140mm apart. That was the dimension between the B-Pillars off a mates mk1 mini (my car's still at AGI). It looked like i would have to stagger the seats as such

There was about an inch of overlap. When sitting in the seats it didnt seem to interfere with anything but my OCD.




Then on Saturday i took the pair of Velos over to Adam @ AGI to get my driving position so they can make the rollcage to suit. When in i realised that with my height my preferred position was behind the B-pillar. The seat wings were a good 50mm behind the pillar, so adam threw the other seat in and they fit side-by-side. Perfect. At this initial glance it's almost as if they were made for it. We will need to make out mounting system pretty precisely to maximise the few millimetres we have spare.

All in all, i'm incredibly happy as these were my favourite seats of those i tried, they were the best sized for both the mini and myself, and they look awesome!

They will fit similar to below

So popped past AGI this afternoon. First reason was to drop off a sliding window door with the big door pockets so they can make a cage with doorbars that dont interfere with the pockets. Second reason was to have a perve at the mini. As you can see in the pictures they are welding bases onto the car with captive nuts, then bolting the cage will bolt directly to those bases.

The idea is to have the whole cage removable by one, and the front half as it will be taken out for road duties. The rear stays are going to mount to near the top of the rear firewall to "maintain the required 30 degrees from the main hoop", they will then bolt to the top of the main hoop. Speaking of, the main hoop is on a slight rearward angle to allow me some more backward room with the seat angle, pretty nifty.

Looks good n great news about the seats.. even my ocd was going! Lol, them doors tho... they dont look the norm ?

Speaking of OCD, I was offered a new Velo 6-point harness for aud$110 when they retail for $300. My main gripe was it might not match the shade of another one.
Its a serious problem! Who wants two odd-coloured harnesses?!

Not when the seats now line up! Ahha...
N i suppose your just making up for the weight of dynamat by lightening other areas.. interrsting about doors tho

What part about the doors has spiked your interest?

Just looking at the shape of the inside i never realised they did different doors for the mk1

Yeah i think the Australian minis differed a little in that regard. Then a bit later we had burst proof doors with better locks and a pull up handle, but they were all still externally hinged

The completed rollcage on the jig before painting

Just sent a pic of after painting.

THAT is a good looking cage!! How much do they charge for something like that...

After looking at so many different cage and seat combinations... that has to be the best looking cage! And to me.. that looks like a real nice place to be once on the road

+1 on the above really nice cage and seats. Well done

Very nice indeed

So got a few goodies today








And this little beauty will be helping the rear trailing arms




every millimetre counts! Since the picture below was taken we have shrunk that gap further...

After frigging about, this is how the passengers seat sits when the drivers is in a more-or-less perfect spot to come forward on rails/slides. It will have to come across slightly, but i think we can make it work


drivers front on, the rails will angle up so the wing will rise as it comes forward to miss the b-pillar


Looking at the passenger seat as close to the b-pillar as possible



Said Weber 45DCOE, roughly setup for a 1408

So sent this drawing off to be fabricated today. Should be done sometime next week. Its the base of the new rear suspension, the trailing arms mount to it, doing away with the subframe... well, as long as the engineer approves of it. Hopefully get the engineer out to inspect and discuss the car on 15th june. then it can move along





And apoke to Carl @ Force Racing about some 3-piece 10x7 wheels. He has a new mesh design hopefully finished at the machinist today. Excitement

hey guys, anyone who reads this, do you have a measurement from the hub face (which your wheel mounts) to the edge of the guard?

actually, maybe just those with 7.5" 's' disc setup, i assume the 8.4/7.9" could be different

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Edited by braad on 30th May, 2015.