A panel join

Looking at all the hard work that has gone into the mini I decided that the line between the A panel and the scuttle is out of place. I had already put some thought into removing the panels many months ago.

Earlier in the year I had removed all the welded studs and replaced all the fixings with bolts to enable both the a panels and scuttle to be lifted off in on go. It will be bulky but will ultimately look better and will go with the scuttle vent theme of making the whole panel look like it was pressed and formed

Here is the panel just welded up, it will need flatting out and smoothing but considering its very thin metal it welded very nicely!

More roof grp

Today the car took almost a step back even though it is a positive move forward, the roof skin that was made previously was popped out of the mould, this will need a little work not to mention bonding on to the car again but it is all in hand.

With the grp roof skin made the metal could be removed leaving just a small bonding lip all the way round the edge.

 

fiberglass roof day

Using the previously made roof mould it was time to make the roof skin.
Firstly the mould was waxed to ensure that the roof would release, once done the gel coat was added, done in black

The gel coat was then left to cure
 

With the gel coat cured 2layers of 450g chop strand matt was added and then followed with a single layer of tissue

 While the gel coat was curing time was spent removing any left over bungs, screws etc, also the vents have been blended in

Work started on the scuttle / a panel to remove the join between the two panels

Due to the car being a 2002 shell the front structure members we welded on to add extra strength 

Wiring loom hell

My trial and tribulations continue and leave me sitting out side in the -3 frost on a cold slab with a soldering iron in one hand and solder in the other I set about cutting 2 wiring looms to make 1 good loom with all the functions that I wanted.

My issue as I go along is 1 loom is the original and melted at the front from the fire and the latter which is off a 2004 plate facelift so in some cases the loom has more or less features depending which way you go... Confused? I have been although I am nearly there now!

This is the initial pile on the floor of the 2 wiring looms

As you can see a large pile of wires, I knew before I started to cut anything I was going to have to lay out everything as it would be in the car. Once laid out I could then start to find out what features I wanted and others I did not. The principal from there was easy, remove or add wires...

From the back of the car I had to break the loom as it was for a hatch back and I don't really have that any more. I first freed the wires out of the loom and then set them up in sets, heated window, brake light, tail lights, and removed the wiper motor loom. I had already got the wires for the convertible boot which come out in another place, this meant moving wires round to have the lock loom in a different place to normal and then removing several wires for the bottom lock as it works differently.

Once the rear was sorted I set about adding the wires which had been chopped when the loom was removed, such as fuel pump wires etc. All abs sensors wires where removed and will be un-coded from the ECU once I have my system up and running. The 2 pre tensioners will disabled by using a 3.9ohm resistor soldered in line.

The front of the loom is still an on going project as currently there is a deviance with fans which changed between the 2 looms and I have 8 extra wires the other side for items I wont install, they will need to be removed once I an 100% happy I know what they do (probably - heated washers, washer bottle level sensor and ...)

Here is the huge pile of wires, enough to drive you mad and they are all really sticky under the adhesive wrap - "not nice"

Blower alignment

I have decided that I would love to get this car done and at mini united in the South of France this year so will have to get my finger out and really push this.
I spent a day at mini mats stripping a mini for the wiring loom as mine was damaged however I know I will need to revisit the loom to add the extra features I want. I had to remove so many items but I really want to thank Mat for his help as this build would be very difficult without him and sourcing parts would have been costly if all brought new ~ thank you Mat, I appreciate your help.

Again in the theme of making my life difficult I managed to get hold of a cooper water pump, which fitted where the alternator used to be, sadly this meant finding a new home for the alternator. The alternator had 15mm removed from the lug to drop the height so it does not stick out so much. I still need to make a lower support for the unit but I am not to worried as it will be easy to make.
I decided to bring the blower further out from the block as early supercharger conversions I have done, I put the blower too close to the block which caused a few issues. This position does fowl on the radiator but I consider that a minor issue which will be easy to fix. I have left more than enough room around the sensors and water pipes.
I will need to revisit the water pump as the current belt wrap would meant the back non grooved side would be driving the belt.

I sat around with my TIG welder and started to make up some simple brackets to start mocking out how the blower will be held, the blower will be held at the nose, rear and also the outlet flange so there will be 4 fixing points.

All the aux devices fitted

 Flange bracket which would be welded onto the outlet plate of the blower

 Modified alternator brought in closer to the sump, the bottom side will need a bracket making. The sheet of metal represents the level of the sump and is showing that there will be lots of clearance so the car can be slammed.

While thinking about the engine and the fixings I have been adding resin to the carbon parts I am currently making. Decided I hate carbon skinning but the results make it worth it.