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Will a roundfront end fit onto a clubman?
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Author:  madarsemini [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 9:05 am ]
Post subject:  Will a roundfront end fit onto a clubman?
Me and a couple of my mates are just wondering if it is possible to remove the clubman front end and replace it with a roundfront end. Not the fibreglass type.
Author:  drmini in aust [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 9:50 am ]
Post subject: 
Yes it is, I've seen it but not done it. `That place' at Brookvale has done them before.

Bonnet hinges are a PITA, position is different- the ones I saw had bonnet pins front & back instead, & it lifted off. :wink:
Author:  madarsemini [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 10:49 am ]
Post subject: 
thanks for letting us know that dr mini, it may have saved us alot of bullshite when or if we came around to it. cheers :lol:
Author:  meeni [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 4:58 pm ]
Post subject: 
hi

yes a roundnose front will fit on a clubby. a friend of ours has done it to his 1380 flip front and it looks great. its just a case of finding a decent front as some fiberglass ones can be really bad :roll:

cheers

sean
Author:  bnicho [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:28 pm ]
Post subject: 
As the Doc says, it can be done and has been done by a mate of mine.

Just a tip - a late UK Mini (eg: Rover Cooper) has the same bonnet hinge spacing as an Oz clubby. So when you fit roundfront panels, you just use the Rover bonnet and it bolts up ! A lot easier than removing and rewelding the hinges.

But if you are going to do this conversion, you are likely to have more problems with the inner guards than the bonnet. They are completely different to a clubby from the bulkhead forward, so they must be changed...

Then you will find your radiator does not fit anymore, as the rad is spaced closer to the engine on a roundnose. You need the roundnose rad brackets - top and bottom. (The rad shroud is the same). Finally, if your clubby has the type of radiator (76 on ?) where the heater hose goes over the top of the inner guard and connects to metal pipe coming up from the bottom tank, you will need a roundnose radiator and thermostat housing. Otherwise you will put a dent in you bonnet on the metal hose! 8)
Author:  drmini in aust [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:35 pm ]
Post subject: 
bnicho wrote:
But if you are going to do this conversion, you are likely to have more problems with the inner guards than the bonnet. They are completely different to a clubby from the bulkhead forward, so they must be changed...



Is this hard to do, do you just cut the lot out and fit the roundy ones in, or do you marry one to the other somehow?

And can you buy the inner panels anyway? Karcraft list a LH one for 1990> for $338, but no others.. :?
Author:  bnicho [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 9:25 pm ]
Post subject: 
Never actually done it myself, but it looks hard!

Pop the bonnets of a Clubby next to a roundie and you will see what I mean. The top part of the inner guard curves in completely different ways, especially aroundwhere they meet the scuttle panel. You could probably cut'n'shut the inner guards if you had a roundie to steal sections from.

My mate actually unpicked the whole front end along the factory seams of both a (badly rear ended) 850 and a Clubby, then welded the 850 front onto the Clubby. A bastard of a job to get it all lined up apparently. Swears he'll never do it again! :(
Author:  aaron [ Sun Oct 03, 2004 10:16 pm ]
Post subject: 
You will also need to get it engineered. The "bandits" won't even do a conversion anymore as they didn't engineer any of there converstions and got caught.
Author:  bnicho [ Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:57 am ]
Post subject: 
Not sure whether you would have to get it engineered. My mate sure didn't have to for reg in Vic. It was basically considered a front end repair. 8)
Author:  aaron [ Mon Oct 04, 2004 8:41 pm ]
Post subject: 
That mechanic may have called it a front end repair but i bet the insuarnce comapny would call it a Serious modification. Instant lack of insurance until you get an engineers certificate. I know that over the years that alot of things have been done without an engineers certificate to mini's, but that was then and this is now, insuarance companies WILL NOT pay out for a car that was not what it should have been when insured. Imagine you hitting someone and them dieing. Your Green slip insuance won't pay out and you would be absolutley stuffed. For those who say that you don't need and engineers cert for some of the mods that have been thrown around in here, be careful what you say as your comments on here will make you liable in a court case. Food for thought.

Cheers
Aaron
Author:  bnicho [ Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:32 pm ]
Post subject: 
I hear what you are saying. In today's litigious society it pays to be safe.

Insurance for this car (now sold and last seen in NSW) was through Shannons with the modified front end (among other things) specified. The front end change was considered legal without an engineer's certificate by the Vic Roads inspectors.

Different states have different rules I guess! Half the time I don't think the authorities themselves or the insurance companies know what is legal. Every time I ask VicRoads a question, I get a different answer!

For example (now I'm getting off topic):

At the moment I'm trying to get a written decision from VicRoads on whether a 30+ year old LHD car that has been legally registered in the Northen Territory for the last 28 years requires an engineer approval to be fully registered in Vic. Now, they can tell me that if it was a 1969 to 1974 made LHD imported now, it would require an engineer's approval. They can also tell me if it was converted to RHD years ago and came from NT, it would not require approval. But it seems in Vic there are no laws that cover a LHD car coming from another state which did not need to be approved back when it arrived. Maybe nobody else has done it? So VicRoads have put me in the "too hard" basket... :(
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