Friend's new mini - cool car, appalling ride!
Discussion
Hey guys, one of my friends have just bought a 1993 Mini Tahiti, one of 500. It's a nice little car, with it's wooden dash and charming, if weak-as-piss 1275cc carb engine. It has a few nice touches, like massive leather armchair seats from a Honda Accord, a rather rorty aftermarket exhaust etc. It has a few negatives too; the seats are too big for the car really, the previous owner installed a fuse box to make the heated seat elements work and the wiring is atrocious under the bonnet (though at least he added an upgraded battery to cope with the load from the heated seats) and there is a fair bit of cosmetic rust.
The lad who bought it plans to restore it slowly, fixing the rust, the leaks created by rust, sorting the paint etc, sorting the terrible wiring out under the bonnet, putting the original seats back in, eventually going on to supercharge the engine. I'm not sure of the implications of supercharging a 1275cc carb engine, but the guy is sure it can be done. How easy it this? Give that the lad has limited skills and facilities with regard to restoration, I think it will cost him a ton to restore it. I'm thinking that supercharging it won't be cheap either, with regard to buying the kit, installing it and actually making it work - as I say, I'm not sure how easy it will be to actually supercharge this tiny engine, but I'm sure it's been done.
What really strikes me is the absolutely shocking ride - excuse the pun, when questioned if the car was lowered, the new owner said he did not know, though it does look pretty low, but I'm not totally au fait with classic minis, so it might just be that low naturally, but the owner thought the car was on it's original suspension. I stuck my head into the wheel arch, only to see something I've never seen before; what appears to be an aftermarket shock absorber with no spring at all. I've had cars with coilovers before, which are harsh riding, but I could not see a spring at all under there - has anyone else seen a Mini with a suspension set up like this before? Hitting a pothole felt like it would burst your liver, the shocks looked only to have about 1.5" of travel, so it's no wonder it was a pounding, horrendous ride. Driving on normal roads, the car shakes and vibrates like made, though the typical Mini rawness, and flimsiness of the less than amazingly rigid body might play into that, and when you hit a pothole, jesus christ.
What kind of suspension is this? Thanks for any answers, I'm just trying to gather a bit of info for a new Mini owner, any help is greatly appreciated.
The lad who bought it plans to restore it slowly, fixing the rust, the leaks created by rust, sorting the paint etc, sorting the terrible wiring out under the bonnet, putting the original seats back in, eventually going on to supercharge the engine. I'm not sure of the implications of supercharging a 1275cc carb engine, but the guy is sure it can be done. How easy it this? Give that the lad has limited skills and facilities with regard to restoration, I think it will cost him a ton to restore it. I'm thinking that supercharging it won't be cheap either, with regard to buying the kit, installing it and actually making it work - as I say, I'm not sure how easy it will be to actually supercharge this tiny engine, but I'm sure it's been done.
What really strikes me is the absolutely shocking ride - excuse the pun, when questioned if the car was lowered, the new owner said he did not know, though it does look pretty low, but I'm not totally au fait with classic minis, so it might just be that low naturally, but the owner thought the car was on it's original suspension. I stuck my head into the wheel arch, only to see something I've never seen before; what appears to be an aftermarket shock absorber with no spring at all. I've had cars with coilovers before, which are harsh riding, but I could not see a spring at all under there - has anyone else seen a Mini with a suspension set up like this before? Hitting a pothole felt like it would burst your liver, the shocks looked only to have about 1.5" of travel, so it's no wonder it was a pounding, horrendous ride. Driving on normal roads, the car shakes and vibrates like made, though the typical Mini rawness, and flimsiness of the less than amazingly rigid body might play into that, and when you hit a pothole, jesus christ.
What kind of suspension is this? Thanks for any answers, I'm just trying to gather a bit of info for a new Mini owner, any help is greatly appreciated.
How old are you?
Sounds like a perfectly normal Mini suspension set up, what you can see is the shock absorber, at the front there is a rubber cone vertically located directly behind the shock, you'll see the top bolt for this from above in the engine bay. At the back its a similar setup but the cone is horizontal and built into the rear subframe with a radius arm.
They are pretty stiff normally but if they're really that bad the cones may have collapsed and need replacing. Easy if you know Minis and have the right tools, not easy if you don't.
As for the supercharger, very common these days, usually using the Eaton unit from the BINI. Google VMax Scart in surrey who do the best kit. Should make about 110/120 on a standard setup.
Edited by MiniMan64 on Monday 8th October 21:37
I'm presuming the cones have collapsed then, as the shock absorbers were clearly aftermarket (logos on them, could not read them as they were so dirty) but the ride is terrible. Feels like the car is going to shake itself to bits.
As for the supercharger, I'm not familiar with supercharging Minis, though some of my friends have supercharged their cars. It was not cheap, nor was it something you could really do on your own unless you really knew what you were doing and had the right kit. I accept that Minis are relatively simple mechanically, but it's still not going to be an easy job.
As for my age, I'm not sure how that is relevant. Minis are popular with youngsters these days as they are characterful and cheap to insure, while they don't have any real performance they are more interesting than a Micra. I'm too young to care for Mini nostalgia, but not old enough to need the cheap insurance, I'll take my cars a few years newer and a whole lot faster thanks.
As for the supercharger, I'm not familiar with supercharging Minis, though some of my friends have supercharged their cars. It was not cheap, nor was it something you could really do on your own unless you really knew what you were doing and had the right kit. I accept that Minis are relatively simple mechanically, but it's still not going to be an easy job.
As for my age, I'm not sure how that is relevant. Minis are popular with youngsters these days as they are characterful and cheap to insure, while they don't have any real performance they are more interesting than a Micra. I'm too young to care for Mini nostalgia, but not old enough to need the cheap insurance, I'll take my cars a few years newer and a whole lot faster thanks.
Edited by Mastodon2 on Thursday 3rd January 21:58
http://www.vmaxscart.co.uk/
That is the aforementioned company who are the main leaders in chargering classics, it's a fairly common conversion these days, one I've been dying to carry out myself for some years but never quite got around to.
Apologies if the age comment offended you, wasn't meant that way, was just interested reference your thoughts on modern ride quality versus an older design like a Mini.
If your friend is not even changing his own oil then a Mini's not a bad place to start I guess but I friend with a bit of experience and a Haynes manual would be a good start. Changing cones without any experience can be a right pain in the arse, you need a proper cone remover tool to compress the rubber so the Hi-Lo can be remove from below it and a new cone put in place. The shocks are probably original by the sounds of it and unless they're pissing fluid everywhere their probably okay but not too expensive to replace.
That is the aforementioned company who are the main leaders in chargering classics, it's a fairly common conversion these days, one I've been dying to carry out myself for some years but never quite got around to.
Apologies if the age comment offended you, wasn't meant that way, was just interested reference your thoughts on modern ride quality versus an older design like a Mini.
If your friend is not even changing his own oil then a Mini's not a bad place to start I guess but I friend with a bit of experience and a Haynes manual would be a good start. Changing cones without any experience can be a right pain in the arse, you need a proper cone remover tool to compress the rubber so the Hi-Lo can be remove from below it and a new cone put in place. The shocks are probably original by the sounds of it and unless they're pissing fluid everywhere their probably okay but not too expensive to replace.
Having looked at the shocks they definitely look newer than the car around them and they seem to have a logo on, so I'm pretty sure they are not new.
Thanks for the link to the website with the superchargers, not as expensive as I thought it would be. But I suppose ideally he'd need to take the car to Surrey to get it fitted, rather than buying the kit and trying to get someone local (Newcastle) to fit it. Still, could be a good road trip!
Thanks for all the help so far.
Thanks for the link to the website with the superchargers, not as expensive as I thought it would be. But I suppose ideally he'd need to take the car to Surrey to get it fitted, rather than buying the kit and trying to get someone local (Newcastle) to fit it. Still, could be a good road trip!
Thanks for all the help so far.
annodomini2 said:
Is it sat on the bump stops?
Yellow thing in the pic above (std ones are black).
This car rides like it's sitting on the bump stops :lol:Yellow thing in the pic above (std ones are black).
Had a bit of trouble starting it today, took a few goes to catch. The lad is not au fait with chokes, and neither am I, us being from the fuel injection era and all every old geezer at work has different advice on how to start it on a cold day. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it!
Out of interest, even with perfect choke technique, how reliable are these on freezing cold mornings? We don't work at the sort of place where you can just not turn up to work because the weather is bad / your car won't start etc, so I'm wondering now if he will have to make sure someone bails him out and gives him a lift if the Mini won't play ball.
Mastodon2 said:
annodomini2 said:
Is it sat on the bump stops?
Yellow thing in the pic above (std ones are black).
This car rides like it's sitting on the bump stops :lol:Yellow thing in the pic above (std ones are black).
Had a bit of trouble starting it today, took a few goes to catch. The lad is not au fait with chokes, and neither am I, us being from the fuel injection era and all every old geezer at work has different advice on how to start it on a cold day. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it!
Out of interest, even with perfect choke technique, how reliable are these on freezing cold mornings? We don't work at the sort of place where you can just not turn up to work because the weather is bad / your car won't start etc, so I'm wondering now if he will have to make sure someone bails him out and gives him a lift if the Mini won't play ball.
Mastodon2 said:
As for my age, I'm not sure how that is relevant. Minis are popular with youngsters these days as they are characterful and cheap to insure, while they don't have any real performance they are more interesting than a Micra. I'm too young to care for Mini nostalgia, but not old enough to need the cheap insurance, I'll take my cars a few years newer and a whole faster thanks.
It's relevant inasmuch as those of us with a bit more experience of a wider variety of cars have seen many more variations of suspension components than you young uns. No need to get on the defensive. Pothole said:
Mastodon2 said:
As for my age, I'm not sure how that is relevant. Minis are popular with youngsters these days as they are characterful and cheap to insure, while they don't have any real performance they are more interesting than a Micra. I'm too young to care for Mini nostalgia, but not old enough to need the cheap insurance, I'll take my cars a few years newer and a whole faster thanks.
It's relevant inasmuch as those of us with a bit more experience of a wider variety of cars have seen many more variations of suspension components than you young uns. No need to get on the defensive. But that's all as may be. I sometimes wonder how people think a car works if they can't use a choke? A choke and fuel injection both give a rich F/A ratio, the only difference may be that the choke may take just a little bit of getting used to depending on the car. Even some of the old diesels (Ford using Bosch inline pumps) used to have an excess fuel button on the pump, some had wax stats to advance the pump when cold.
I think there is a lot to be said for all the old tech (junk my wife calls it, though she doesn't call the mini junk when 2.5 tonnes of fuel injected and electronic laden Pajero breaks down).
MCBrowncoat said:
Mastodon2 said:
annodomini2 said:
Is it sat on the bump stops?
Yellow thing in the pic above (std ones are black).
This car rides like it's sitting on the bump stops :lol:Yellow thing in the pic above (std ones are black).
Had a bit of trouble starting it today, took a few goes to catch. The lad is not au fait with chokes, and neither am I, us being from the fuel injection era and all every old geezer at work has different advice on how to start it on a cold day. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it!
Out of interest, even with perfect choke technique, how reliable are these on freezing cold mornings? We don't work at the sort of place where you can just not turn up to work because the weather is bad / your car won't start etc, so I'm wondering now if he will have to make sure someone bails him out and gives him a lift if the Mini won't play ball.
guru_1071 said:
miniman said:
These are the springs
In this picture the front cone is As for the 'piss weak' 1275, it probably needs a good service, de-coke and set-up! I have been followed home in my 998 by a new Mini owner who was impressed enough to come see what mods I was running?! (No more than a full RC40 exhaust and a k&n pancake filter - set up at a local rolling road for a full 42hp!)
Ben Magoo said:
guru_1071 said:
In this picture the front cone is junk perfect! Once they get like this the ride just gets harder and the handling is kart like.
EFA: I ruined my Mini by 'restoring' the suspension, prior to this she would cock the rear wheels at round abouts etc! they are not perfect, they are worn out junk and the handling of the car will suffer greatly as a result.
a mini with working, compliant suapension will out handle a worn out old nag anyday off the week, and a road use mini cocking a rear wheel is indicating that something is amiss, id guess that a car with suspension so tired that its lifting a rear wheel in protest will be understeering at every corner like a 1970s yank car.
try spending a little money having the suspension set up,you will be astounded!
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