Welcome to Octane Motorsports winter thread.

We've shared the details in the past of what we have done to improve our championship winning MINI. Not that there's nothing left to do on it to make it better, but our competition thinks we're fast enough. Who are we to disagree. So what do we do over the winter? Watch TV.....euh no.

So we acquired a "new car":

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It comes with a good pedigree. But not a hell more than that in it's current condition.... More to come later.

 

speedtv has just such a show....it's called chop,cut,re-build! looks like a good winter project. lots of pics, please. good luck.

 

That was the initial plan. Now it's been modified to "just rebuild".

 

Well, since there's no police report or insurance claim, you have a car with a clear title. The VIN alone is worth more than what you paid for the car.

 

Funny. But everything will be done above and beyond. Our reputation is worth more than what we paid for the car......

 

You need to get in touch fith FRACKY on the midcal forums. between whats left of his car ant the one you posted you might have a complete car. He hit a palm tree drivers door at 60mph.
it starts here https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...60087&page=538

 

Thanks MINICHEF.

Unfortunately most of the stuff I need is fairly large and shipping out of Cali would make it fairly expensive. May be if there's smaller stuff available!

 

We picked up a replacement body shell yesterday. It was declared salvage due to flood damage. A good starting point. Since it's a Cooper, we'll assess if there's anything different that may affect the build. It is also a solid roof without sunroof.

 

very nice!

 

that looks like a good starting point. nice find.

 

Nice, cant wait to see the build. Post lots o pics

 

Looks like a fun project.

At least I know where Targa Cars go after they crash.

 

We used snowmobile skate platform with wheels to move the shell from the trailer to the garage:



It made unloading a breeze:



Bare interior shot: (notice the cardboard on the roof to insulate)



Donor/receiver:

 

I would have thought that the cage had been tweaked after seeing the accident.....

Good luck.

 

Haa... I don't see Alain using any part of that cage. His are far better, not to mention I don't think that this cage design would pass tech. But maybe in Canada?

Boy, ... I wish I had this to do over again. I know I could get a sub 2K lb car now.

 

Surprisingly (or not) the cage did a great job at doing what it's supposed to; it appears to be pretty well intact except for a couple of joints where the paint started cracking. Everything around the cage is twisted (at the rear), but that's another story. It could potentially be removed and re-used but we won't. The time and cost investment would not be much different than starting from scratch.

Greg, this cage has a few neat features but as you said, we wouldn't build it that way. It incorporates a "rally design" with the twin A pillar bars. But I'd hate to have a side-impact against a tree with the door cross-bars. I'll show a few pics later. Weight is always a consideration but safety first when it comes to the cage. So the next one will be over-built and heavy... we're not going for sub 2k lbs.....

 

So what exactly are you trying to get out of the Targa car to use in the new car?

 

Well I guess it's more of a build than a re-build!

It'll all make sense later. Or not! (We're just abit crazy that way....)

 

Alain, you should put this build thread on Bimerforms

 

Have fun........

Hopefully the soul of the Targa car will survive.....

 

Alain,

I am "green with envy" that you are getting to do ANOTHER MINI race car!

Sean

 

Sean,

I guess I've learned a thing or two from you with car builds in the past! I hope it will inspire you to do the same with one of your two cars....

Then again, may be you should just buy the sister car that's already built.....

 

Someday when I'm not so lazy, I'll start there too. I started one back then but never finished it (thread). I guess it'll be more interesting to follow along as the new one gets built.

There's not much that will hapen for another month or so anyways....

 

Since this car will be built on a "slim" budget (everything is relative), we're always looking for near-free stuff. So if you have taken off parts from your car and believe they might be useful to the build, please don't hesitate to drop us a line; we'll let you know if we can be of assistance by raiding your parts bin......

 

Just make sure you fill out the correct customs forms if shipping from here to there.

Do you have a list of parts you need? Be willing to keep an eye open for you.