Dazecoop – Blog of David Cooper – Photography, Videography, Drifting & modifying cars

Its been a week or more since my last update and I’m in desperate need to update this place again, so this post calls for a “Mini” related post.

Progress with my Mini as it stands at the moment is going well, as you know from my previous posts my rear subframe is now in and rear wheels are re-attached – all is good on the back end.

I removed the front subframe a few weeks back, stripped it and sent it off to get powder coated white, just like the rear subframe. It was returned back to me within a few days and the progress of re-fitting all the suspension components was taking place.

Upper arms were high on my priority to get refurbed. They seem to end up being one of the things on a Mini which gets highly neglected, at least by me in the past, with little attention to their condition. If you don’t already know, the upper arm connect the top of the front hub to the front subframe. They are also what maintains the ride height since the rubber doughnut and knuckle joint sit on top. So you see, quite important I think.

Anyway, with an order from Minispares again, the parts arrived and were fitted in little time – making sure I got the upper arms around the correct way!!

Also, earlier this month, I treated myself a little bit – Christmas is approaching and I’ve already done all of my shopping and presents for people (I hope…) My Birthday was also on the 11th and with the help of a nice month’s pay, I got myself a brake-upgrade from the legendary Mini tuning company, KAD. Renowned as “the best” in terms of most things Mini!

Sweet, eh?

So, what’s left to get the front subframe on? Well I’ve refurbished my front hubs in the mean time, with new ball joints and bearings throughout, so they’re good to go. The upper arms have all new bearings and shafts with new knuckle joints as I’ve said, which are also fitted. To fit the front subframe, the steering rack must be already fitted, and since I’m replacing my steering rack, I’ve had to order a new one before re-fitting the front subframe.

A QuickRack was the order of the day, and I ordered this yesterday from Moss Europe (the only people who seemed to have any left in stock). A good company too, they seem, will report back when the rack arrives, hopefully today. After the rack is here, and fitted, the front subframe can then be bolted back up to the body.

Hubs, tie bars, bottom arms and drive shafts can be assembled in-situ, along with my new discs and calipers from KAD. Wheels pop on the front and I can drop her back down on 4 wheels! – The first time in over a year!!

More updates soon!…

At long last, my rear subframe on my Mini is now fully assembled and ready for fitment. Its been delayed on a number of things which has been bugging for a while, but last night my girlfriend and me finally managed to get the subby all together.

First of all, last week my order from the nice blokes at KAD came which included a super-sexy internal gear linkage kit (photos coming soon!) and a pair of rear camber and tracking brackets which support the outer-side of the radius arms. Without them, I can’t really assemble much!

The main problem we had when trying to assemble this is the fact that the radius arm just didn’t sit correctly – when trying to fit the camber bracket the bolt holes did not line up, no matter what order or what we did. If you’re reading this and this is a job you’re going to undertake anytime soon, then you’ll notice you must fit a rubber o-ring over each end of the radius arm, along with a large thick washer to prevent dust getting into the radius arm shaft.

However, these little buggers of rubbers caused all my nightmares. At last I figured out that the radius arm wasn’t being pushed down as far as it needed to be because of these o-ring rubbers, so instead of trying to attach the rubbers onto each end of the radius arm first, I instead fitted the rubbers onto the outside of the washer, then fitted the o-ring & washer onto the end of the arm. That’ll be it then!

Anyway, without further ado, some photos!

And a quick photo of my current working environment!