OV9

I've been quietly beavering away in the workshop and now Ken, the blue Mini, has a stablemate, Bruce, the white mini.





Once upon a time, Bruce was an R50 Challenge racecar, but some time in 2020 he was given a 230bhp engine, a fancy 6-speed gearbox, big brakes, 17" wheels etc etc. He was also a very very horrible colour. So the project was basically to put him back in broadly R50 Challenge spec to be eligible for the endurance races we want to do, and make him a bit easier on the eye.


So this £400 car-damaged Cooper kindly donated its 49k engine (and lots and lots of other bits)

I will add that stripping a car in a shipping container is hard. Especially when you put it in nose first and then take all the suspension off!

So the all-singing, all-dancing supercharged race engine was replaced with a standard 135bhp (post-remap) lump.

Some nice bits have been retained - the fancy gearbox and competition clutch, the full Gravity exhaust system (sounds great, but might end up being a bit too heavy), the MSD ignition module and leads.
Although its *basically* a like-for-like swap, the lovely people at BMW saw fit to introduce enough differences to make it a challenge (like all the bloody electrical connectors being *slightly* different). Mating the n/a lump to the 6-speed box had a few unexpectedly interesting bits too (starter doesn't fit, clutch pipes don't reach etc etc).

Elsewhere, the *enormous* big brake kits was removed and replaced with new standard discs and refurbished calipers from the donor (crying shame, but the big brakes require 17" wheels, which weigh twice as much as the Team Dynamics 15s we run). Rear suspension was converted to R56 aluminium trailing arms with custom-made hangers and control arms (both polybushed) and got an upgraded adjustable Whiteline ARB.
And bodywork. Lots and lots and lots of bodywork. I decided to pay a spray guy to come and help me for the actual painting, but OMFG it's been a trial. Planned as a "quick turnaround" 4 day job, it turned into a 5 week marathon (including as full week of post-midnight finishes at the workshop). I honestly never want to see a piece of wet&dry ever again!

First pre-season testing is on Sunday, so we'll see how well it goes...

Like the name; better than Livingstone

And it was probably the Peugeot engineers who chose different connectors for the engine, not BMW.

Jobbo wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 7:19 am And it was probably the Peugeot engineers who chose different connectors for the engine, not BMW.

I know your knowledge on such things is vastly greater than mine, but I think these are all pre-Peugeot-era cars/bits. AFAIK, all the PSA stuff starts in 2006 with the introduction of the R56 - the white car is a mix of late 2004 (body/electrics etc), early 2004 (Chrysler engine and Getrac gearbox) and 2002 bits.

Looks worth the effort. Good luck.

Nefarious wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 7:32 am

Jobbo wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 7:19 am And it was probably the Peugeot engineers who chose different connectors for the engine, not BMW.

I know your knowledge on such things is vastly greater than mine, but I think these are all pre-Peugeot-era cars/bits. AFAIK, all the PSA stuff starts in 2006 with the introduction of the R56 - the white car is a mix of late 2004 (body/electrics etc), early 2004 (Chrysler engine and Getrac gearbox) and 2002 bits.

Yep all that shape is Chrysler shite rather than French shite.

More relisble though!

Go Team StrongBroo!

Have you figured out who is driving what? Can you split a season between drivers?

mik wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 8:15 am Go Team StrongBroo!

Have you figured out who is driving what? Can you split a season between drivers?

Yeah, there are 12 rounds of the Modsports, so we'll all do 4 in each car. Obviously for the endurance stuff we'll all be driving. And I'll be driving the FF as well. It's going to be a busy year!

Oh, and I forgot to mention the other half of the story.

I also bought this:


It's a 2004 Cooper S with a shagged engine (but with a full JCW pack and lots of other tasty bits).

So that will be getting the engine and all the other stuff I stripped off Bruce to make an awesome road car for my landlord at the workshop (deal already done).

That looks amazing, love the colour scheme too.

Where are you pre-season testing this weekend, Knockhill?

What endurance stuff are you doing?

Testing at Knockhill, yeah.

Foz - we'll be back at RoR, and are planning to do the Club24 event at anglesey in August. Looking for a suitable 3rd event, hopefully at a different circuit.

Neil, we were looking at that 24h event but that's a whole different kettle of fish compared to 2 x 6 hr sprints

Foz wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 11:56 am Neil, we were looking at that 24h event but that's a whole different kettle of fish compared to 2 x 6 hr sprints

Oh, I know. Not least in terms of cost

But, ya know, in for a penny and all that...

Nefarious wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 7:32 am

Jobbo wrote: Thu Feb 10, 2022 7:19 am And it was probably the Peugeot engineers who chose different connectors for the engine, not BMW.

I know your knowledge on such things is vastly greater than mine, but I think these are all pre-Peugeot-era cars/bits. AFAIK, all the PSA stuff starts in 2006 with the introduction of the R56 - the white car is a mix of late 2004 (body/electrics etc), early 2004 (Chrysler engine and Getrac gearbox) and 2002 bits.

I cant quite believe I'm typing this...Jobbo was wrong...Lets take a moment to contemplate what this means.

I had thought they were R56 model Minis, in my defence. Which do have Peugeot engines.

So the first shakedown test of the Minis finally arrived yesterday.
The white car was surprisingly good out of the box, considering it's a nut and bolt build. Rear was a bit too loose and straight line pace was a bit off, but both are issues I know about. Unfortunately, one of the heater matrix pipes was sat a bit close to the exhaust manifold and popped after the first session so that was game over. Also a worrying knock from the gearbox on hot idle, but I suspect I may have miscalculated the oil level.
I can feel there's a lot of potential - turn in is great, and there's a lot of grip coming out of the corners. It sounds fantastic and the seating makes it feel like a proper mini-touring car