Cars

Mini Rebuild

Step 53 - Details

The time is quickly approaching when the Mini goes to the bodyshop. The things that must be done before bodywork (drilling holes, welding, etc.) have been pushed to the top of the list. The rest will have to wait until later. Here's what I've accomplished in the past couple of weeks:

This is the center switch panel. I laid out the various items I want to locate there and of course the holes were too big. I found some washers to help fill the gap....

...then prepped the holes....

...and welded the washer in place and ground everything flat.

From left to right: headlight on/off switch, heater fan speed switch, front/rear brake bias knob, Pro-Shift wet/dry shift mode selector switch, and power mode for the transfer box oil cooler pump. The pump is normally off while the ignition is on. If the oil temperature rises above 180F then it will automatically turn on and pump oil through the oil cooler. If the temperature falls below 180F or the ignition is cut, the pump will switch off. For trackdays I can flip this switch and kill the car's ignition. The pump can continue to run directly off the battery until the temperature drops below 180F.

And here is the panel mounted.

The next item up is my heater. I purchased a small aftermarket heater but wanted a way to block heater water from circulating through it during the summer. I finally found this nice AN8 ball-valve.

I then had my favorite welder carefully weld some AN fittings on to the heater core ends.

I also had him weld another AN bung onto the pipe running between the radiator outlet and water pump inlet. This gives me a convenient place to route heater water back into the system.

I used the two steel support tubes running underneath the dash to support the heater. As usual space is at a premium, with the heater wedged between the accelerator pedal on the left and the ECU tray on the right.

Another small item I attended to was installing two more buttons on my steering wheel. Besides the red horn button I now have a flash-to-pass button on the righthand spoke and a latching switch for the high-beams.

I spent some time on the airbox as its placement will determine where I will have room to mount the last remaining items in the engine bay.

The fiberglass airbox was part of the MinieXvo kit and was designed around the 1999-2001 R1 engines, which were carbureted. Since I'm using a 2003 fuel-injected model and I have added the Pro-Shift solenoid, my airbox requires modifications. Here you can see where I've trimmed clearance holes. These will be covered over with more fiberglass soon.

Here is the air filter and its approximate location within the airbox.

You can also see where I've tentatively marked locations around the rim of the airbox for installing Dzus fasteners to secure the lid.

With the airbox installed I was able to find and mark locations on the upper firewall for the voltage regulator and Pro-Shift auto-blip mechanism.

With so little room in the engine bay, I decided to mount the Hella horns in a slightly unconventional place - behind the front license plate. They will be almost completely concealed yet easily heard. Time will tell if this was a good choice.

After more deliberation I found that the remote bonnet latch I purchased was not necessary. With some slight modifications, this one that came with my car should work fine. I cleaned it thoroughly and primered it. Sadly, this is one of only a small handful of parts that came with my car that I will end up using.

These are the quick-release electrical connectors I purchased for the car. I'm holding off on building the wiring harness until I do a bit more design work, but I do need to drill holes in the body and mount them before the car goes to paint.

Here you can see the main connector facing upwards. This location puts it right above the ECU tray. You can also see the small connector in the inner wing. This will route wires to one of the headlights.

And finally, I mounted my gear indicator on the upper dash.

Continue to Rebuild Step 54

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