Ah but were you conceived in a minivan?
thats what we want to know

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Inconspicuously Conspicuous
Appreciation without Depreciation
forever chasing clearer skies...

You`re pretty right MiniMad,,,they are heavier in srd trim & that`s not such a bad thing, the extra wheel base length gives you stability at speed & a much more neutral handling package

i braced all my race vans up with full cage & rear wheel arch braces etc, so it was a pretty stiff package

My road van still holds the lap record at Echo valley hillclimb in the 0-1600 class

Vans are the go!!!!!!!!!!!!

& i believe that i was pretty dam close to being conceived in a van & i was dam near born in the same van too, mad rush to the hospital in the van at 1.30 am,,, just made it in time


My dad did heaps & heaps of rallys including the "Dusk to Dawn" rallys in that very same van , i have some really early pics here , i`ll try to get them posted, funny stuff really

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

Cool, i'd love a van really..it was my first choice, but ended up with a sedan when the van fell through ...i love my mini though

It is quite twitchy on the limit, easy enough to control though..

Post up more pics of the super van!

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

some guy in Toowoomba has a video of my speedway van about 8feet in the air on a big diagonal after a huige shunt at Echo Valley raceway,,,HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!

if you can picture us at about 70mph through this blind, up hill ,off camber (control tower corner---racing counter clockwise if you know the track) & biff into outside bank & launch into the air on a massive angle, nearly end-o-ing, after 8 feet of air under the lowest part of the car & landing front left wheel first & sliding to a stop on the inside armco fence, then an old holden EH rolled over the top of my roof, AWSOME!!!

hopped out , totally un hurt, but the car was shorter by 2" on the left side

yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!,,,,that was one fun race from rear of grid ,filled with 28 cars , right through to 2nd place every race till that bingle in the 5th race

wish i could find that footage again, he did say he`d try to send it to me, but i never got it...dam!!!!!!!!!!

ah well...

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

LIGHTER!!!

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

the vans are listed in the genuine BMC (red) workshop manual as approx 18kgs heavier than a dry suspension mini saloon

But approx 47.5kgs lighter than the hydro models

but,,,i don`t totally believe any of those figures anyway,,,i`ve weighed heaps of mnis & the figures i got were way off those listed (far more in fact,,, i`m thinking that they`re listed as dry weights), the vans "ARE" heavier than the dry suspended sedans tho.

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

yup, lighter than hydro, heavier than dry

that hydro crap is very heavy

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Expert in training

does anyone have pics of the full cage in a van and these tower braces you speak of

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Expert in training

In this pic, you can see the roll cage, obviously, but you can also see the braces mounted across/between the rear wheel arches.

I also braced the rear door opening, to help stop the "twisty-ness" which leads to them cracking body around there.

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

hey Matt is that roll cage one of your secret exhaust pipe cages? Hmmm nice and light!!!
Just jokes matey

hee hee,,,no joke, yes it was mate

no point sticking heaps of weight in there hey?

& on single leading drummys too,,,brakes only slow you down anyway

well,,,the truth be known,,, i really couldn`t see me enjoying smashing a decent set of "S" disc assys into the concreat wall , wouldn`t be a pretty picture & if i really needed to slow down then i`d just chuck an "Exit stage left" in there

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

i have a mini van. i find if i take sharp corners to fast i will loose the back end. i always recon that was becuase there wasnt enough weight in the back end. does this ever really happen in the sedan and should i just slow down.

Are you running different tire's front to rear?

I'd say it's your driving style, try and be more smooth, not lift of throttle mid corner and 'thowing' the car in..

My sedan is a bit tail happy, but easy enough to get the hang off...it'll just step out of line and a bit of opposite lock and it hooks up and your on your way..they're all different though..

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Starlet Conversion:
http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=15484

thanks for that, it doesnt happen often

Back off and the tail will start to move out, you can actually steer on the throttle. Toe settings on the rear wheels will affect how it turns in and what happens when it does. Not many people think the rear wheel alignment is important but it is as important as the front and at the point of turn in it is more important.

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Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.