Here in Michigan our A/C is used most often to defrost, not cool

Keith, that is one wicked little skate and I can't wait to see it!

 

A Very Nice "similar" MiniMonster by MiniTec just sold on eBay for $34.5K.....
(eBay #220083082547, ended 20Feb2007)

 

Spoke to Keith earlier today as he picked up the Frankenmini - adrenaline apparently really messes with a mans mind.

Good, good chat today but you (Keith) owe the forum a "reaction" describing the love so they may know.

X-hold tight.

NSXguy - you may get converted yet, if you can handle the truth

 

I'd like to thank my good friend, Meno, for helping me get through the tough time of waiting for my mini. I am very pleased to report that Meno will soon be the proud papa of a VERY FAST 2.0 litre little beast of his own. His mini is looking very tasty indeed. If the naysayers behave, maybe he will share some photos with group?

As for the franknmini, we left the Royston Ramada this morning at 7:00am, hitched-up the trailer and said goodbye to the really cute goats and cows down the street from Mini Tec (we won't miss the unmistakable aroma of thousands of chickens). 768 miles later, the Franknmini is safely tucked away in our 17 degree garage just northwest of Detroit.

Photos and and details of our trip to follow after food and sleep . . .

Be well and good night.

 

Your Mini is really cool. I like it.

 

wow nice ride hahaha and damn those seats look nice. haha nice converseion to the honda motor :D

 

I love the seats in your Mini. Were they hard to install?

 

I did not install them myself, but I was told that they were a pretty easy install. I purchased the Sparco sliders with them, which helped. The seats are larger than stock (especially in seat bottom height/thickness). Add the rollbar to the mix, and it gets a little tight for anyone 6'-0" and taller/wider. I chose this model (Modena) because it has the smallest overall dimensions of any of the seats I could find that are both adjustable and have the ability to safely accomodate 4-point racing harnesses.

The seats are extremely comfortable!

 

amazing. i think mine would just fall apart with its lack of rust-free body panels...great work. the black looks fantastic.

 

IT WAS a UK bidder on the EBay car....which makes one wonder why someone would want to ship a mini back to the UK......must be the exchange rate.

 

Wow..what a head turner! lovely!

 

Thanks for the kudos. The car really is insanely fun! The torque steer and wheel spin is very diconcerting but it's something that I'm getting used to. This is a car that will punish those who can't resist lifting in turns. Once the power is on, keep it on! The little 13" tires (big by classic mini standards) have such a small contact patch, the car really wants to vault itself into another dimension. That stated, it's surpisingly easy to drive in a sedate, adult, responsible manner. Just push that little pedal on the right, and things start to get really interesting . . .

I have driven turbo Porsche's and Ferrari's (430, 330GTC) and Aston Martin's (DB8 & DB9) that are not as thrilling. Granted, the mini is not nearly as poised or refined as any of these aforementioned supercars, but it's a whole lot more fun! It's like a racecar for the street. It demands respect, but rewards with precise cornering and spirited acceleration. It's very much like an exotic motorcycle. Unlike a sportbike, rear wheel drift is predictable and comfortable. The car countersteers nicely back to center.

Fit and finish is very very good. I had one small coolant leak (fast idle sensor) that I corrected with a new hose clamp - all good so far.

The car goes on the dyno April 14th, we'll see what the little miscreant is puttin' down on the pavement!

 

Keith - Good to have you back

What about the ride? Beat like an enemy, shaken not stirred or suprise, suprise?

Are you going to tune and test the HP or just plug and play?

 

Hi Meno,
It's great to be back! The ride is firm and unforgiving but not brutal. The pock marked streets of Detroit could easily swallow such a small car, but it seems to soldier on through the potholes without upsetting the chassis. Body roll is functionally absent. The steering feel is direct and truly go-kart like. I really really really like the Mota Lita steering wheel I got. The leather offers a thick firm grip that is very comfortable. Being only 13" diameter, it takes very little input for big steering effect (this is ying and yang in the grand scheme of the cosmos . . . ). The seats are very comfortable and offer a higher knee position than I expected (that's a good thing). The steering column has been dropped a couple of inches which helps to decrease that "I'm driving the world's smallest bus," feeling. The downside is that your clutch knee doesn't have a ton of space under the wheel. Anybody long of inseam (not me or you) feels a bit cramped under the wheel. You'll love the Wilwood pedals; they've got a very connected and direct feel. I'm still waiting for the brake pads to fully bed; braking distances are coming down, although slowly. The manual brake pedal needs a fairly stout push; much like our 1941 Buick did.

This dyno visit is going to be of the "plug and play" variety. I just want to get a baseline on the car. I'm sure not looking for more power, I just want to be able to relate the math to the driving experience. At this point, I'm very satisfied with the B16A motor in terms of torque in this car. Any more torque, and the tires would just spin more easily. It will be interesting to see if i still feel this way in a year (I don't see myself bolting on a turbo to this thing, but you never know . . . )

 

Keith - I need a reference point...compared to the classic mini you drove prior the Franken Mini, how does the suspension feel? Does all of the Georgian dynomat make a difference on sound or vibration?

I'm pacing my cell over here, you know.

 

I'm interested to hear how the Minitec K-series build works out. How much more is it than the B-series build? Being that a K20 is lighter than a B-series engine and it is offset to the passenger side, not to mention the power potential with simple bolt ons, it really sounds like the way to go. It's gonna' be a fun monster for sure

 

Been driving I suppose...any words for us out here?

 

http://s99.photobucket.com/albums/l3...t=dynomini.jpg

Here is my B16B type R for comparison.

 

Meno,

You're driving yours now... right?

 

That is simply one fine looking Mini! I really like everything about it. Back in the day (I'm nearly sixty) we would have called a car like that a "sleeper". It looks normal, but would blow your socks off at the drop of a hat. What a great execution of modification. There sure isn't much room in front of the driver for anything frivolous, is there! Congratulations and have a great time! Oh, by the way, keep the shiny side up!!

 

Sadly I did not have the patience to get my motor looking so good.

I hope one day to have my motor looking that good. In the meantime I hope that we end up at some national event together as we could get some sweet pics.

 

Keith, It's been a while...

Let's have an update. How's your funfactory holding up? How many sets of tires have you burned through? Any options that you overlooked and now wish you had? Did you get the Tilton pedals? Are they worth it?

I'm only six weeks into the "build" process. It's driving me nuts just looking at pictures and other people's posts. I do think there should be a vtec support group. My wife is laughing at how obsessed I've become. Sound familiar?

 

The Minitec kit is really, really good stuff...but the body is modified compared to a "stock" mini. For their B and K kits you have to lengthen the front end by 4 inches.. and the big "sportspack" arches... It still looks good, but in my mind it's modified.

If I had one I'm sure I could choke back my comments. I think the grin would be too wide for me to do anything else!

 

Hey Latka,

The Minitec mods don't necessarily include four-inch flip fronts. Their new MTB2 subframe allows for b-series to be shoehorned into the original breadbox, preserving both the hood and original fenders. (sorry, I meant to say bonnet and wings).

I'm going that route, but with a smaller D-series engine. I don't care for sportspack-type flares, either, so I plan to run 10" wheels under Woods & Picket flares. A trade off for this more subtle look (10" wheel combo) is using the smaller D-series engine. I was advised to not hook up a B series on 10" rubber. After driving a 200 hp type R set up with 13x7's, it was obvious why one would choose the D-series for this app.

 

That's why I didn't include the MTB2 or MTD frame in my post. The original MTB kit (which it looks like the original poster has) doe require the lengthened front end.

A D16Y8 (I think thats the 135hp one) with a 3.47 Final Drive swap and 10" tires would be the dog's danglies. I think you could do it with a stock B16A2 on 10s, but I've yet to drive one. There's a dude over on Maui with a 13" wheeled Minitec car. I hope to get a ride in it sometime! Another guy on O'ahu here is going to do the 10" route.

Just heard of *another* Honda powered Mini on the island. I missed an SCCA Test 'n Tune date today, and of course the guy shows up.

I'd love to do the D series conversion for my '66. It needs to be restored anyway, and I would love to have a reliable engine / gearbox under me so I could drive it anywhere.

I still get a kick out of the fact you're up in KC. I haven't been back there (except one quick trip) since '85... totally blew me away how things had changed north of the river!