Yea Tony, it will be a whole new car and will certainly take a good amount of time in testing to sort it all out. As the car sits now, every single part is apart with the exception of the motor. Every suspension component, every mount, be it suspension, motor, tranny or steering box is being examined to see if we can make it better. Most parts will be. This car will be extremely stiff, so rotating it should be no problem. These are all reasons why we can go with more rubber. Wider rubber in a stock Mini is just slow. In fact this was how it went on the drawing board sorta speak. The quest was lets start with the widest rubber and make it work. But, who knows, when it comes down to testing we may find that 205s are the fastest way around the track...

 

I hear ya. When you do something, there's no messing around with half way!

Gosh, if you go with 205's... I'm guessing that these 9" wheels go in the marketplace

I wouldn't be surprised if you went back to 225's or 235's... We shall see!

 

I think the motor will first be installed as it was removed until we get it up and running. Being that 99% of all the wiring is gone and we are looking to only have about a dozen new wires, I need to make sure that any problems that we may have are not coming from any new motor upgrades. Once it's running it will get pulled and the new parts will be added. With the way the car is laid out, it should only take about an hour to remove the motor, if that much. With some help it might be out in 30 min.
I won't be getting into the block until this winter. I just want to get it on the track first and get the chassis and suspension working right. It is a slow process...

 

I should note, that many molded slicks are not as wide as a street tire labled the same.

 

Slow, but worth it. Hold in there, and keep us updated

 

And especially slow with a perfectionist at the wheel Do it right the first time...

 

 

All I can say is WOW If only my job entaled seeing this kind of metal work everyday...someday

 

Greg, if you have a larger version of that photo, would you kindly email it to me?

I don't know why, but I thought you had ditched your battery box...

 

Tony,
The battery box is gone. It's hard to really see it that picture as the sheet metal that was riveted over the hole is still black undercoat.
I don't have your email. I'm on a new computer and I lost alot of that info. PM it to me and I'll send you a biggy.

 

I just love following along with this thread.

 

PM sent! Thanks Greg.

I see what you mean now about the battery box. Look forward to the larger photo. Take care.

 

Hi Onasled,
so what are the basics of this car? Are you running a MINI engine? If not what sort of engine changes are you up to. And what do you personally think the limits of the engine are....?
Im so glad someone has the courage to totally push the limits of what those BMW techs had in mind when designing this car.

edit: I only ask as I have pushed my S to what I think are its limits at 227hp on a track based engine. Im now at the point of backing off on the extreme parts to make it reliable for at least a good 2 hour track stint. No gaps apart from a fuel re-fill......I bust belts every couple hundred miles atm.

 

Marvin,
As of now I will be running a modified factory motor. Just bolt on parts for now, all M7 stuff. Head, pulleys, IC, AGS, throttle body, etc. I will be running a Superspint header with a custom built race exhaust system. I hope to get 260 at the crank with this, but time will only tell. As for next year I hope to have modifications to get me into the 300s.
Not sure where you are measuring your HP, at the crank or the wheels? 227 is by no way a limit on either so you should have been fine. Blowing belts as often as you say sounds more to me like you may have a pulley alignment problem, or maybe you are running a 19% SC pulley. I've lost only one belt and that was due to a poor installation of a crank pulley by myself.

 

Greg, you might want to chat about your list of products (above) with Peter . Just some new info...

I have an idea as to how you plan to accomplish 300+, and if I'm right, that would be sweet...

 

...I think I can crop GTO front and rear links into that photo...wouldn't that be nice

 

Just want to thank the many that have recently sent me encouraging notes.
I know how anxious you all are to see us get out on the track, nobody more so then myself wants this to happen right now. But, this of course is taking more time then we had planned, mostly due to the continuing upgrading of the original plan. Yes, the first plan was to get a cage in and go racing, but as you see it's become much more then that.
I just don't like the idea of "hey, we can do that later, lets just get it out on the track...". The last thing I want to do is rush the car on the track and have something go wrong, or even worse, be slow...
Now, that's what's the deal with the car. As for myself, I am as rusty as could be, being it's been almost a year since I was last behind the wheel of this car, let alone anything smaller then my Suburban.. Even if I had the fastest car on the track I can't even begin to think about shortening my lap times by 7 seconds at LRP.. That's about what I would need to do to be competitive.
Anyway, just want to update all who have been following this project with something other then a photo of the car.
Thanks for the continuing support. It helps keep me going as sometimes I just want to walk away and go sailing ...
Again, thanks to Peter and M7 for their continuing support. They have been outstanding.

 

Yow! I Just looked at some old results from BMWCCA club racing at Lime Rock... they're running some quick laps.

What's you Lime Rock target lap time?

 

Go Speed Grego Go

 

High 1:05. I feel OK with that being that my car was never really sorted out nor set up for that track. I really think I can get the new car down in the :58 range with some practice. ...

 

Greg, totally behind ya!!! Do it right my friend....

 

WOW, I just found this thread. I guess I haven't been paying enough attention. Awesome thread and it's been fun getting caught up. Good luck Greg, and I hope you can make it out to our new track here at Miller here in Utah sometime when it's finished. Can't wait to see what she'll look like and perform when done.

-Matt

 

Quick question for you, Greg. Are you developing a new rear wing for the car? BMWCCA rules state that the rear wing can't be higher than the roofline of the car, so that even throws out the stock piece. Any thoughts?

-Brad

 

Mabye something under the car? I've seen a couple pretty good set-ups...

 

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