front end
Turbo Mini Forums

hi
im in the process of building my first turbo mini all going well at the moment thanks to alot of reading on this forum . I see alot of you guys on here have removable front end and i like the idea of this for my mini but i dont no were to start and cant find much info on here about it.Is there any pros and cons to it besides the odvious makin it easier to work on the engine. Any help woud be greatful.

Thanks

Jonny

Make sure you get a 2 piece front, i.e. one with a bonnet. For every day use a bonnet is essential. The extra room created by the removable front end is only of use for big jobs, IMO.

http://www.twin-turbo.co.uk
http://www.hillclimbandsprint.co.uk/default.asp

A man without a project is like a like a woman without a shopping list.

My car has one, and i doubt i'd ever go back to a steel front.

Pros-

Lighter
Alot more room to work on
Wont rust
You can change clubman/roundnose
Cheap and easy to replace as opposed to bent/rusted steel panels

Cons-

Flimsy
Quite tricky to fit/make look right
Won't offer as much "crumple" zone
Fiddly if you have a one piece
Always risking scratching nice paint when taking it off and putting it down.


Go for it, wont regret it!

chop the front end off
dont forget you will need brace bars if your having a removeable front end

Drives
-Ford S-max Mk2 Ecoboost
-Rover 100 VVC #2 - track project

Searching is all you need on TurboMinis

wheres the best place to buy 1 lads

PMED

1/4 Mile 14.3secs 96Mph Terminal 10psi of boost.


Fibreglass Parts? - http://www.tdkracing.co.uk/
Split Rims? - http://www.force-racing.co.uk/

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

HaHa thats true

Rod did you get a 2 piece or one piece, a-panels included?

Have you seen if it fits well out of the box yet?

Rich, I went one piece without A panels.

I did consider the 2 piece for the reasons Ben mentions above but I had a 1 piece on one of my earlier Minis (a long time ago) and didn't really find it a problem.

Anyway, the idea of all this fancy FI stuff I'm doing is to make it reliable and not need the front coming off all the time :)

I'm also thinking about making my own version of the fancy hinge system that takes it up and backwards out of the way completely without unbolting anything - there has been a piccy on here recently of an example.

The one I got is actually a very good fit although massive amounts will need to come off the flanges, but off their width only, not their fit to the A panels - that fit, and the match to the flitch panel is surprisingly good.

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

Why buy one! You have the perfect one already on the car. Just drill out the spot welds and use a hard thin blade to cut through the ones around the corners of the scuttle.

Nothing fits better or looks better than a steel flip front, unless its a two piece carbon job.

Own the day

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

How woukd you hinge it though

steel....heavy! pffftttt

I had a steel one piece front that I put on my mini. Didn't weigh that much really but I did wish that I'd have made it a two piece as simple things like checking the oil became a pain in the arse! I didn't make mine hinged either, it was just detacable. :)

This is the one I've seen on here recently although I've seen similar before, hence my comment earlier...
http://www.turbominis.co.uk/forums/index.php?p=vt&tid=283339

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???

ya i seen that a few weeks back. i like the way its done

have been doing my steel front , have a look at my pics ,http://s650.photobucket.com/albums/uu229/minivanrick/ . will put a couple on of it open soon ...
not much to do now just the sides to tie up!!!!

Don't go slow !!! Go Turbo :))))))

hey
im thinking about a 2 piece fg front with a panels.
how would the a panels work as won the seam strip be in the way etc?
thanks

The Panther

I have just taken receipt of a kit that does the flip up as seen in Rod's link.
Came from the US and was a bit expensive, but is complete and not seen as often :p

http://www.jolyonway.com

Is that for the steel front mate

i hate them, they look shit and very very rarely fit right

I have the kit for the carbon front end, however they do a different kit for the steel fronts . .

http://www.jolyonway.com

Honestly i think its too much work with no real benifit at all. way easier to just get a 2 piece fiberglass front which im going to do

Schrödinger's cat - so which one am I ???