My wife kills her car, just after placing an order for a BINI (BMW MINI) and needs a temporary replacement.
I was already thinking about building a kit and due due to a over crowded garage decide I want one based on a Small Donor.
While searching the Internet I found a site that lists kit-cars by their donor and found the freestyle based on a mini.
I liked the freestyle at first sight and so to did by wife(which was important as she would need to approve this to reduce the amount of complaining that I knew would come as the build progresses.
After much searching and various phone calls / email to other previous companies that built the Freestyle I found that it is made by Dave Smart of Funbuggies (although his website is out of date..., and he doesn't respond to email in a timely fashion, he does like to talk and a phone call is the best way to get hold of him)
Straight away I searched for a Donor car and bought a G reg Mini (1989) off ebay within 24 hours. Now I just need to wait for the BINI to arrive so I can get my hands on it.....
I go to the Mini Show at Stoneleigh, and meet Dave (I stumbled across him in there I didn't know he would be there). I picked up a price list and found out more about what parts I needed and as I was at a mini show I then went in search of the parts. (Later on I end up buying more parts and discarding some of these...) There are problems with being too eager.
I put in the order for the Freestyle at the Kit Car show at Stoneleigh. Unfortunately my timing is such that the Funbuggies waiting list time is longer due to staff driving round Europe in their buggies for two weeks as they head of to the IMM in Spain.
The Wifes BINI arrives and I get my hands on the old mini just as it MOT runs out. Within 2 weeks it is striped and cleaned, and my wife even paints the engine for me :)
I happened to be working in Bristol, and I take the parts that need to be exchanged down to Dave at his workshop. (Steering column inner, brake and clutch pedals, rear drum back covers.)
I get my hands on my kit, after the Newark Show 19th, and get to work on painting the chassis and panels, this takes the best part of two weeks, (weekend work only) and I start to wish I had it powder coated, but after drilling many hole and completing the build I'm glad I didn't as I had to reshape various panels (due to the minor changes I decided to do) and had to re-paint scratches / edges which I couldn't have done if it was coated.
Many thanks to the people who run the Newark show for the above photo.
As my car is one of the first to have the new style pedal box / bracket I find I can't use the mini clutch master cylinders, and start to look for alternatives, I get a good bargain on a clutch master cylinder for £5 at the Newark show (This packed in after the SVA passed and I ended up buying another from Trident Racing at Silverstone..)
I also buy two slightly damaged chairs and a new set of runners.
Start looking for other bits I need (exhaust, battery, petrol tank), and I'm still waiting for my brake kit to arrive and I popped into Dave at 23:00 on the way to visit my parents (he always seems to be available). I needed to pick up some of the bits he didn't have ready / forgot to bring to show as I couldn't wait for them to be sent up to me.
I collected the rear engine cover, the Nurf Bar, the handbrake brackets (drum end) and after painting these start assembling everything together, but still waiting on the brake pipe kit and also the handbrake brackets subframe mount...
I commission a local fabricator to build me a petrol tank cost £40
I find a company selling rod based senders (TekTanks) and buy a sender for my new tank as I intend to use the original Instrument Panel
I order an extended speedo cable from speedy cables
Handbrake brackets arrive and are fitted
Nose and wheel arches arrive direct from the company Dave uses, the colour is spot on.
I get new wheels (Ultralite 175x50) from Mini Sport
The brake kit finally arrives and I start to fit only to find they don't quite reach due to the master cylinder I'm using. Using a Type 3 Brake cylinder requires different union connections anyway so I buy a brake flaring tool and make up two extensions.
I managed to damage my indicator stalk, and go to a local scrap yard to get a replacement, I get one from an old Peugeot 306 and find I can remove a large chuck of the wiring loom as it doesn't need the dim – dip relay anymore.
I visit Donnington show and catch up with Dave and have a beer. I think you get automatic membership of the “Freestyle Formation Drinking Team” with every kit you buy...
I do nothing lost interest because of the weather other than start the engine with the help of my brother-in-law who was over from Poland and was staying with us.
I bleed the brakes and after having passed 6 liters through the system and still not having sufficient pressure I realise I have the front calipers on the wrong sides with the bleed nipples at the top.. Big mistake, I swap the over and all is well again.
I re-wire the car again as I decide it need re-painting and strip everything off, I add some connector blocks to my new loom to make this easier to do in the future
I snap a few bolts by over tightening on the rear hubs and front cycle wing mounts, and order some new bolts
I book my SVA test and now have a deadline to work to, the date is the 27th March.
I do final fit, and then take it for a spin, only to find that I've got a problem with the self centering of the steering, I try all sorts but nothing works so I decide to find out more about suspension setup and read that castor may help.... I buy a pair of adjustable bottom arms and adjustable tie rods for the front and fit them, but it is still limited self centering.
I buy loads of rubber U channel and loads of other edging material (Car Builders Solutions) and cover up all those sharp edges.
I go for the SVA
A miserable start to the day with the weather, but I drive my 30 miles to the test center (had to stop after 6 Miles to adjust the timing as I couldn't make it up a hill ....)
I arrive on time 08:00 (just) and I'm grated by a nice examiner called Steve. Time seemed to fly by with me doing all the driving and controlling of the vehicle and Steve just observing and making notes (felt like my driving test all over again)
The first thing he said is that the steering wasn't protected enough as there is no collapsible component in the upper column. And I know it had failed.. He then went about doing the rest of his checks a full list follows.....
Rocker Switches on N/S Dash are
contactable and not padded or radius to a curvature of 2.5 mm (this
could be resolved by putting them behind the steering wheel, but I
just power filed off the edges a bit more.... I hope this does the
trick for the re-test)
Headlight aim incorrect (they let me
fix that there and then)
Front Chassis edges, Top Front
wishbones, front brake calipers, Front wind support brackets, front
brake hoses, mirror support brackets, headlamp support brackets rear
shock absorber upper mounts, edges on rear subframe and holes in rear
subframe and the edges at the rear on the side panels are all
contactable with a 100mm sphere and are not padded or radius to a
curvature of at least 2.5mm.
The steering wheel and top
column are not of an approved type and have no energy absorbing
features.... (I am a little disappointed that the original "G
Reg" mini steering wheel wasn't up to the job )
The
vehicle shows no sign of self centering
Rear axle tie bars
have no locking nuts, (bought some fixed this one...)
Handbrake
cable mountings (Drum End) are not of a sufficient strength and flex
when brake is applied.
Handbrake effort only 14.13% needs to
be above 18% (This was due to having the levering arms from each drum
on the wrong side, and the flexing brackets,.
During the test I sat in the car while It went up in the air,he checked below while I operated the brakes, he told me there was little movement on one side and that the rear brackets for the handbrake cable were flexing a lot. He lowered the car and allowed my brother in law (he had come in another car full of spares, just in case....) to jump in so he could show me what the problem look like.
Post SVA I do some mods to get it through the re-test.
I
have now made all the front sharp bits non contactable by using a Dog
Restraint extension from Halfords, converted into a front bumper, and
it looks OK too...)
The rear part of the side panels I put rubber on and the subframe I put some U-channel and a big sheet of rubber that I riveted in place to stop them from getting to it.....
I cover up the sharp edges and add a front bumper.
I adjusted the tracking to remove the wheel fouling the tie rod problem and added lock nuts to the rear wheel track rods.
I strengthened the rear brackets for the hand brake too.
This was my most expensive fault at the SVA, I searched around and in the end I got a collapsible BOS and a hurricane steering wheel from PL Minis for £70, this comes with a cover for the centre and a push button for the horn. I decided to replace the button with a center from the original mini steering wheel. I'm happy to have a slightly smaller steering wheel now though...
Self Centering Steering took me the longest time to improve, still not sure if it is sufficient, I was told by the SVA examiner that I should be able to improve this with a little toe out and by deflating the tires a little. I couldn't get any toe out because the wheels would rub on the tie rods, so I had to put 11mm spaces and longer studs on the front hubs. (Note I also have adjustable lower arms and tie rods, the lower arms I have cut about 7mm from each threaded end to allow them to give me less negative camber) I've now got about 1.5mm of toe out on both wheels and I've extended the tie rods to give me more caster. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one......
Handbrake brackets were modified at the drum end, I welded a metal plate along the edge closes to the wheel this is now solid and doesn't flex!!!
Just waiting for the day to arrive.... And trying to improve the steering self centering problem. I striped done the steering column and re-assembled it a few times, changing the spacers I was using to try to better align the SC outer and inner, I also deflated the tires at the front to 10psi and added about 1mm of toe out to each wheel. I also ordered some 11 mm spacers for the front wheels as the toe out mod was bringing the wheels closer to the tie rods again.
I also try to tune the engine a bit better, I fix an annoyances with the dizzy where some previous owner had rotated the bottom part through 180 degrees which caused the HT leads to be very tight.
20th April has arrived, and I set of to the test center again, this time it is raining... But the journey is quicker and I arrive 45 Mins early. I go and pay the retest fee and the examiner (Steve ) goes in search of the failure ticket.
The test gets underway, he walks around and checks the various parts, and comments on how my Dog must now be unhappy as I stole his guard.... (I didn't think it was that obvious as to its former use...) He ticks of the the changes and then get me to drive onto the ramps again and lifts me up in the air, I operate the brakes, and he is still concerned about the movement on one side, but says that is won't fail if it actually stops the car....
I then drive forward (after being lowered) to the rollers and drop the rear end on them, he then checks the foot brake to make sure I haven't altered it and then the hand brake, and this time it passes.
As the door at the other end of the hanger is being cleaned I then have to reverse back out of the rollers, across the ramp and out of the front to test the self centering part.
I put the car on full lock drop it into 1st gear and hit the accelerator, this time it straighten up very quickly and I have to slam on the brakes before I knock over another examiner who is walking over to have a look....
Steve disappears for a few mins and comes back with a printed report of the brake efficiency saying that is is all OK :) and then he goes to fill out the MAC. I'm relieved and very happy.
Journey home,
On the way back I stop at a Little Chief to celebrate, but I turned of the engine to soon after fast driving and I sprang a leak.. Water was dripping from my radiator as the pressure built up. I realise that with the two engine covers there is little air flow so I now have something new to look at. But at least is is now certified.
First thing Friday 21st I went to the DVLA office with my paperwork and hand it all over, The Inspector is on holiday today, and so they leave a note for her to contact me regarding me getting my car inspected.
I had a call on the Monday morning and arranged to take my car in at Lunch time (towed it behind my Clio)
They said it could be 3 days before my paperwork was processed, but I cot a call just after 9:00 on the Tuesday saying it was ready.
I phoned my wife and she went and picked up my new registration details and got me some number plates made up so by the time I got home from work I just had to put them on the car and take it for a spin.
When my V5C arrived there were many mistakes on it... The chassis number was wrong they had put a Z instead of a 2, the Date of first registration was back in 1989 and they couldn't be bothered to put in the model as a Freestyle. I wrote to them to get these resolved, and a month later I received the new V5C but the registration date was still incorrect.... I spoke to the woman who had done the changes and she apologizes as she had changed the wrong field... Apparently there are 4 different places where the data is stored, So I'm now waiting for the correct version to arrive...