I wanted to be able to fit the roof racks inside the Mini. It fit inside the mini if I took the ends off the racks, but it was almost impossible to put the ends back on because of the way the nuts are slid inside the rack.

To fix this problem, I took a piece of 1" x 1/4" steel stock and drilled 2 threaded holes in it 1 3/8" apart. The holes can either be metric (8 mm x 1.25) or english (7/16"). I went with the 7/16" because I liked the bolts that I could hold when starting the bolts.

I left one end longer to form a handle. In total, I made 4 of these. I kept an extra piece of stock to temporarily slide underneath each piece while screwing in the bolts. Finally, I painted the steel to prevent rusting. I did the work myself with a drill press, a tap, and a hack saw. If you’re not mechanically inclined, your local metal shop could do it for you.

 

So, if you put the rack on the inside, don't you hit your head on the skis?