Front end ideas...

[vrooom]

while looking for metro in scrappies. i came acoss this idea.

The mini wings/front valance bolted on with bolts instead of welding. have to make holes on the top of "inner wing" to attach the wings. bit like removeable front ends. like those in modren car, with removeable front panels etc.

what you think? it can be done or is it bad idea?

jay

[alextgreen]

Full removable front ends are quite common on Minis. Good quality subframe bracing is required but these make access to the engine area very very easy.

[Cooperman]

I've considered this in the past, but the problem is at the rear of the wing where it is normally welded to the 'A'-post. You would need a row of smallish bolts all the way down the seam, obviously no seam strip could be fitted, and this would look awful. The bolt pitches would also need to be very close, not more than about 1.25" at a guess.
Remember, as has been posted before, a Mini is a true monocoque body in which the static and dynamic loads are carried by all the bodyshell panels. I never really know how the necessary reinforcement can be calculated and fabricated to replicate the removed or modified structure. It's not just a matter of strengthening the sub-frame mountings, the welded body shell is a one-piece structure. I doubt anyone now has the stress calculations to which the structure was originally designed (in 1958!).
Why would anyone want to bolt the wings and front panel on anyway? They are so easy to weld in place and so strong when welded. Modern MIG welding has seen to that.
I never like anything except a proper welded front end and as that is where any impact likely to give me a severe headache (or worse) usually takes place I wouldn't take any chances. Alec Issigonis was a clever old geezer and what he designed was probably the optimum.

[alextgreen]

That summed it up rather nicely.

I didn't want to post this yesterday as I couldn't find the pictures in my backups, and as luck would have it I can't find them today either.

Crash 1: OEM steel fronted Mini hits a wall at 30 odd MPH, wings, bonnet, front panel, A panels, scuttle all wrecked, car instantly looks toast. I am told occupants were fine.

Crash 2: Fibreglass flip fronted Mini, I don't know the impact speed or what health the occupants were in afterwards, but the engine was about 6" from the passenger seat. The front had simply snapped its mountings and paid a visit to the windscreen.

Minis are small, fundamentally vulernable cars (they do actually crash fairly well for their size). I wouldn't want to engineer out any of the strength in the shell.

[Cooperman1]

I had a BIG accident on the Pirelli Classic Marathon when we had a head-on with a rather large Fiat Truck whilst hurrying down from a mountain pass in N. Italy several years ago. It should be noted that I was navigating in my own 1275 Cooper 'S' at the time, so I can genuinely claim it was not my fault!
The scuttle panel in front of the screen buckled slightly, the clutch cover and the clutch diaphragm were damaged, the wings were folded back a bit and the sub-frame was bent. Lots of other damage in front (spotlights, oil cooler, dizzy, front panel, etc.).However, the doors still opened, the floor did not distort, the steering column didn't move back and we were completely unhurt. The 4-point full harness worked well. The damage was progressive from the very front backwards to the 'A'-post, even though it only had a rear cage.
I would not have liked to have had any sort of 'flip-front' and I think if we had it would have been serious. The car was back on the road after being re-jigged, 5 weeks later. By the way, it's not the one I rally in now.