Chapter 8 - Shopping Time
Now that the engine bay has progressed to the point where all that remains to do to it is to pull everything out again, strip it and repaint it, its now time to get some other area of the car up and running.
I am pretty fortunate in that my wife comes from the UK, and her father still lives in the UK. Dave, my father-in-law, is also a mechanic, so thats handy. He was also an MOT inspector before be retired, also handy.
So a quick phonecall to the UK and the deal was struck. If I bought some stuff over in the UK, I could send it all to Dave who would repackage it, and send it to me. This should save some $$$.
The first thing was to buy some brakes. Now I am a big (huge) fan of having a decent set of anchors on a car - any car. Especially a car that has got a bit of performance behind it (like El Gato will have!). A really good set of anchors for the Mini is the ubiquitous Metro 4-pots. Believe it or not, they are a very good brake set-up when used with vented discs (they are also manufactured by AP Racing!). So, I bought a set of Metro brakes from eBay UK for the princely sum of 22 pounds, yep thats right AUD$52, complete with brand new Greenstuff racing sintered metal pads and Metro drive flanges. OK - sent to Dave.
Next on the shopping list was a set of rotors - of the ventilated type. There were heaps of options from the likes of Minisport, Minispares etc. But I found a set of brand new rotors, on eBay UK for 20 pounds (AUD$47.00). I sent these to Dave to get shipped back to Australia. Funnily, he rang one night to say the the guy who sent the calipers had thrown in a set of Metro hubs with the deal - "send it all" I said!
So, Dave forwarded all the brake stuff, and it cost me 55 pounds (AUD$130) in freight. So, for the total figure of AUD$229.00 I had the brakes taken care of (except the braided brake lines - more on this later).
Now, El Gato came standard with drums all round. So, I needed to source a set of disc brake hubs. I could have used the set of Metro items, but apparently this causes all sorts of problems in terms of steering geometry (excessive Ackerman angles and positive camber). So I was on the hunt for a set of Mini hubs. After searching high and low, I found a set for sale on the forum. He wanted a Mini steering wheel, column and ignition key and lock assembly. Straight swap - no worries!!
Here is a shot of the calipers and rotors as they were delivered:
I then spent $70 on a new set of CV joints off eBay, so I could put the whole lot together. After getting the calipers sand-blasted, I repainted them in Septone Metallic Blue hammertone paint, then whacked them on the car. The result.....
Next on the list was to upgrade the suspension. If I am a big fan of good brakes, I am an even bigger fan of great suspension. The standard Mini rubber suspension (or hydrolastic if a 'wet' setup) wasnt bad in its day - but it shows its age against more modern setups. Of course one can install Hi-Lo's to give a modicum of adjustability, but only in ride height. What we really want is a suspension setup whereby we can adjust ride height, spring poundages, have a choice between progressive and linear spring rates, adjustable compression, rebound and damping in shock absorbers etc. For this, aftermarket coil-overs is the only way to go.
After doing heaps and heaps of research and asking even more questions, I decided to purchase a set of GAZ coilovers. I had a choice of GAZ, Spax or Protech. I chose a full set of GAZ from the nice people at Huddersfield Mini Spares for the following reasons:
1. Same price as Spax
2. Bigger choice of spring poundages and rates
3. More adjustment settings for compression and rebound
4. Shock body zinc coated for long life.
5. Standard 50mm coil spring width
I ordered the Gaz front and rear coilover set, but with custom spring poundages for El Gato. After working out the total weight of the car, and the unsprung weight of each corner, I changed the fronts to a slightly stiffer spring rate (same as Mini Miglia!), with linear rate springs, while at the rear I went the standard Miglia spring weight, but with progressive rate springs, with extra travel (the rear-end of a Mini is the hardest to set up and get right!). I decided not to screw around with the valving, as the GAZ's come with a huge adjustment range anyway.
Check out these little beauties:
And because the GAZ use a standard 50mm spring, I can choose from about 100 different spring rates, lengths and poundages from manufacturers such as Tein, and Eibach. So, racetrack tuning, here we come.
Next on the shopping list was a new dash. I saw the good work that Brad did on installing the Starlet dash in his Mini, and it did look good. And a lot of people spend a lot of dough and time buying Smith gauges etc. I wanted something a little bit different. Since El Gato was going to be a nine tenths track car, I wanted a display that looked the part, but was easy to use and read. The choice came down to a few different types, but I chose a digital display. In this type of display are many recognisable brands like Stack and Motec, but I chose the DigiDash Lite from ETB Instruments. The reasons:
1. Fully programmable display
2. Two totally different types of display (large format and small format)
3. Slightly larger than the Motec and Stack, and easier to read
4. Heaps cheaper than either the Stack or the Motec
5. Comes with all the senders and software included
6. Option for data logging
Here is one awesome display:
I could talk up this dash for ages, but to read up on what it can do (which is a lot!!), here is the link:
http://www.etbinstruments.com/
We are not quite finished yet. As mentioned earlier, El Gato was going to be a track car built for the road! I had Migla springs and dampers, so why not go the whole hog and install Group A suspension components. I called up the Engineer -
Tricky - "Gary, are you adverse to me putiing on spherical bearing suspension components?"
Gary - "No, not at all. As a matter of a fact, I totally endorse the move. But it will make it ride just that little bit harsher, but with heaps more feedback through the suspension".
Tricky - "Duly noted. Thanks"
And so, I decided to purchase the best Group A, spherical bearing (rose-jointed) suspension components I could find. And where else, but in the UK. Huddersfield supplied the Group A, on car adjustable lower control arms. Check these out:
The front tie rods I purchased from Minisport. They are also Group A, spherical bearing, fully on car adjustable. They are the nicest and strongest I have ever seen:
Now, thats racing suspension.........
Next time in Chapter 9 - "Why send a box of stuff back from the UK, when you can send a crate!"
