Chapter 9 - Some More Shopping.....
While I was busy shopping and buying parts in the UK (I wasnt in the UK, the parts were in the UK!), I decided that if I was going to send some parts back, I may as well send a heap of parts back. This should save me considerable amount of bucks by repacking it all together, and then shipping it as one complete item.
Sound idea. So, now that the front suspension components had been tied down and the rear as well, I took a closer look at the wheel geometry as a whole. On El Gato, the rear swingarms had been packed out quite a bit with shims, to get the tracking straight. After measuring the tracking with a long straight-edge, I realised that the tracking was anything but straight. To fix the problem, I needed a set of rear tracking brackets.
Now, there are a heap of rear tracking brackets out there. I chose a set from Minispares for the following reasons:
1. They were tracking and camber brackets in one
2. They were black, so they wouldn't be noticed under the car
3. Ease of on-car adjustment
4. The price was good
So, I parted with AUD$102.12 (including duty, GST and freight) and put the suckers in the crate along with the rest of the stuff.
Here is what they look like:
Just having your rear wheels out of track by 1 degree is like carrying an extra 20kg of dead weight in the boot!! I wanted the alignment to be absolutely spot on - zero deviation. Also, while doing track days, I can easily with a spanner, dial any camber adjustment I want. Typically, I would run 3.5-4.0 on the front, and 2.0-2.5 on the rears. V8 supercars run 6.0-7.0 degrees.
I also decided to buy a quickrack steering rack. These are available here in Australia, and I priced one from Karcraft for $260.00 plus freight from Sydney to Brisbane. I checked out the prices in the UK, I shelled out AUD$179.40 (including duty, GST and freight) from the good people at Minispares, and they sent it along to the freight forwarder with the rear brackets. The quickrack will reduce steering lock to lock from 2.8 turns (standard mini) down to 2.2 turns. This may not sound like a lot, but when you are belting round a corner and the rear steps out, you want the shortest reaction time possible to put it on opposite lock. It may mean the difference between a filthy power slide and backing it into a wall.
Here is a pic of the rack, it looks the same as the standard rack:
But BE WARNED!! There are people out there I am sure that will sell a rack, any rack and claim that it is a quicrack. There is an easy way to identify if it is, or isnt. This label reads K022RH. The K stands for the mini model, K-series (Austin, Morris, Leyland - not Rover) and the 022 stands for 2.2 turns lock to lock. The RH stands for right hand drive (Australia). Do not buy a rack unless it has this factory label, and especially if it isnt RH drive, it just wont fit.
Now that the steering and suspension was all out of the way, it was time to turn my attention to the item I thought would make the clubman really stand out from the crowd. A body kit. I had been in consultation with Zeemax and Custom Autofashion for a while, getting the good oil on there respective kits (they are identical BTW, and each claim the other stole the design!!). I eventually went for the Zeemax kit, even though it was some 200 pounds (yes pounds!) dearer. I had talked to Les ?? at the Mini Muster and he said he thought the Zeemax kit was good quality.
I bought the whole bodykit, front spoiler, rear spoiler, four flares and two side skirts (8 pieces in all) for AUD$1,440. Add in duty, freight and GST, the whole shebang came to AUD$1,810. I must admit though, when it arrived home, I was deeply disappointed with the fit, finish and quality of the kit. It was, in a word - crap!! The kit was out of alignment, diidnt fit well, was too much fibreglass and resin in some areas and not enough in others, and, it had a crack in the front spoiler.
Here is the front spoiler during test fitting:
Three-quarter shot:
Side on showing the flare (this is the good side BTW)...
And finally the rear:
Even before I had bought the Zeemax kit, I knew I was going to modify it in some major way. Since the above pics were taken of it, I have cut out a huge area for the front intercooler, and will modify it further to incorporate a pair of 100mm driving lights, and cold-air induction on either side (passenger side for 4EFTE, drivers side for B16/D16 Honda). The bottom brake duct inlets will remain. The rear spoiler likewise will be modified to fit one reversing light and one fog light incorporated into it, and the shape will be a bit more modern.
Once I have modified them, I will pull a mould off them and make others on order. So, if any of you are thinking of buying a bodykit in the near future, please let me know. It will be a damn site cheaper and better quality than Zeemax!!
Well that concluded the shopping spree in the UK - substantial savings were made and parts not available here in Oz obtained! Oops, one more thing to get whilst I'm shopping in the UK - special brake lines for the Metro's. Since metro's are common in the UK, getting the braided brake lines was a piece of the proverbial. Huddersfield came to the rescue with a set from HEL (who make brake lines for Ferrari and Maserati I later found out!!). I forked out AUD$74.75 for a complete set. They threw them into the box with the coilovers, and sent them off to the freight forwarders.
The brake lines:
Next in Chapter 10 - We go shopping for wheels and tyres and other bits in Oz (why should the UK get all my cash??)
