Hello,new member

[ahdammit]

Hi Guys,thought I'd say hello.
I recently came across your forum and I'm going to purchase a set of plans for a Mark5.
The intention is to build a multi-purpose car for trackdays,hillclimbing and circuit racing,a wide breif,but possible I think,as long as I have no illusions about winning trophies.

Before I get the book and plans,I have a couple of questions about what I intend to do-
I've had a good read around the forum and it's mentioned that bronze welding should be used.I have a good mig welder and planned to do the assembling with it,is there any reason why it would not be suitable?
I'd like to clothe the chassis in a saloon body,fibreglass,and in the shape of my weapon of choice,the Hillman Imp.The notion would be to basically use the Terrapin front and rear suspension but have a larger mid section.Has anyone done this before?
In using the Imp engine/box which hangs to the rear of the car,obviously I'll have to alter the spring rates,but does anyone see any reason why that wouldnt work?

Hopefully I'll have,at the end,a nice wee special saloon of the type I remember from my youth


Any comments and suggestions are most welcome.
John

[MiNiTiCi]

Hi John, Welcome to the forum.
Modern Mig welders are fine for building the chassis.
I think the Terrapin was originally Nickel-Bronze welded as this was the best solution for amateur builders in the sixties and was always going to be stronger than a bad weld.

Your idea of a silhouette bodied saloon based on a MK5 Terrapin is exactly what I am planning - I have already got a Mini fibreglass shell and cage ready to graft on the terrapin suspension.
The car is going to be bike engined (probably a ZX10 which is sitting in the garage).

It will be nice to see an Imp mixing it with all the Mini Zcars....

Doug.

[ahdammit]

Thanks Doug,quick reply!

I dont know about mixing it with Z cars minis,more like a mobile chicane. ;D
A bike engine would be great,a friend of mine has a Stiletto spaceframe with a Fireblade engine in it and it's devilishly quick,but for historic racing,I'll be stuck with the Imp engine.
They're great wee motors,but awfy expensive to tune to race spec,probably due to the rather limited market compared to the A series.
Your ZX 10 silhouette will be an absolute flyer.
Do you have any pics of your project?I'd love to see how it's coming on.

John

edit-oh,I just wanted to say thanks to Richard Walker and yourself Doug for the websites and links,it was wandering through those that brought me here.

[MiNiTiCi]

I'm afraid I have not done much to the Mini shell in the past year....
Still much like in this photo.

Just a wobbly plastic shell on a custom cage.

[ahdammit]

Wow,big arches!
A 4x4 Terrapin? ;D

That looks like a good start,though,Doug.I'll be interested to see how it comes along.

John

[MiNiTiCi]

The arches look big because the car sits a lot lower than a standard road Mini.
the 10" wide slicks fill out the arches nicely.

[ahdammit]

It'll be some machine, properly designed and lightweight chassis with a crazy powerplant! ;DA friend had a ZX10 and to be honest,the thing scared the bejasus out of me.Soooo easy to just wind it on and find yourself at 150+( on a private test track of course),but at a ton,in top,you could drop 3 gears,crack it on and pull a wheelie!

Even with 10" slicks,you'll probably still wheelspin out of tight corners.
They are a hugely impressive powerplant.
Looking forward to seeing this one!

John

edit-just lookig at your picture,something funky about that car? Has the bodyshell had a section removed in the middle,lengthways round below the windows?The body looks "short"?

[divebomber]

I should think you would be referring to the absence of the drivers' door in the photo. He'll get to that. It looks the correct length to me, but I'm a TV/photo type, and can see the forced perspective in it. I think a sketch artist would use the term 'Fore shortening.'

Is the Mk5 the right length for the Mini, or is this an adaption? This is EXACTLY why I want to snag the 2 seater plans while I can, so when the REAL project for it comes along, I'm ready.

[ahdammit]

Hiya Divebomber,
nah,it may well be camera perspective,or those modest arches ;D but the window area compared to the height of the rear quarter panel looks different.
Probably just me.

[MiNiTiCi]

This is the same shell as I have.
This one is a Westfield TRZ Mini.