Some of you are probably familiar with my wife's Mini which we named Queso because it's yellow and it used to be covered in the menu for a Mexican restaurant.
Allow me to introduce you to Guac.
No, Guac isn't some factory prototype aerodynamic study with a raked windshield. Rather, Guac has the somewhat unusual distinction of being a running, driving and stopping car that has succeeded in a completing a barrel roll.
Guac clearly was on her way to being a track car. She's got a 4-point cage welded in, MSD plug wires (and I think coils), a gigantic Setrab oil cooler and some nifty drop in plastic door windows.
I paid the princely sum of $675 for Guac as she sits with no steering wheel. I bought a wheel adapter from the PO in order to be able to turn the wheels getting it on and off the trailer but we'll see if that $50 ends up in the budget.
I'm still dreaming up what the final product is going to be but one thing is for certain... it's going to be very, very light.
Diggity!
I saw the original FB list when it was up. I don't remember much other that it was clearly rolled, stripped a little and now up for sale.
Nice score. Rolled cars have a successful history at the Challenge. I had an amazing time with Roll-ovalon in 2020.
In reply to Stampie :
I'd still like it to resemble a Mini once all is said and done.
In reply to maschinenbau :
Oh yeah. I would be lying to you if I said I didn't have images of Roll-ovalon in my head when I came across the listing. Question is, will this drivetrain end up in a Lotus once Guac is retired? I guess only time will tell.
Some baseline beauty shots of the young lady. Check out the wrinkle in the floor!
Man...$675 seems like a bargain! Nice score!!
I found a guy selling a roll bar kit for a Fox body in Toledo and we agreed on $160. I got the sage advice to weigh everything first and then weigh what goes on the car for budget purposes. I'm guessing it will be less than half the overall weight but time will tell. I'm also pretty sure the steering wheel that used to be on the black Miata we've run forever is still hanging in the race trailer so that will probably be the wheel at very little budget impact.
I've had to reel myself in because I'm so excited about Guac and what she will become. The other day I did the first concept sketch of where the project is headed. It's not my best work and I have the bad habit of sketching in pen but it gets the point across. There will be iterations to come.
Oh! One of the guys that races with us occasionally recently bought a set of race scales. Once I have a chance to grab them from him we'll get a quick baseline to see just how successful her diet is in the end. I'm having a really hard time not taking parts off before then.
I have most of a cooper s supercharger sitting here that i gave $100 for. Its the m45, intercooler, and some of the duct. Dunno if its any good....
So these (not wrecked of course) seem like reasonable deals when they come along. A non-S model with a manual seems fun but I am afraid of the BMWness of it. Is that a valid concern or just overblown internet BS?
Sorry for the hijack. I think that drawing looks awesome!
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Ooooo that's tempting. These things with the supercharger scream is so awesome.
In reply to singleslammer :
I don't really have any experience with this generation. I owned an R57 for a while and I never trusted it but that was a different power plant. I'd think finding one with low options that has been maintained would be a good time.
I grabbed the scales from my friend this morning.
I'm a bit surprised by the weight, to be honest. I thought it would be closer to 2,000. The goal weight I had in mind was 1,500... not sure there's 660lbs to take out of this thing.
The friend with the scales also gave me a tiny old Momo steering wheel. I've been looking over the last couple weeks at wheels and I'd say $50 would be in the realm of possibility. That puts budget at $775 with the car, wheel and adapter.
I took probably 10-15lbs of weatherstripping and broken trim pieces out of it this afternoon but I'm going to stand strong and not weigh it again until it's "done".
I'm picking up the Fox Body cage kit sometime tomorrow.
In reply to singleslammer :
These cars used a Rover-sourced 5-speed manual that is apparently "crap". The blower cars got a 6-speed from Getrag that is "not crap". You can research these aspects from there.
Seeing a chance of building the Mini version of this;
Cool project!
I probably have lots of usable stuff, you should come shop in my emporium.
Patrick said:
I probably have lots of usable stuff, you should come shop in my emporium.
I'm way over due for a visit.
pres589 (djronnebaum) said:
In reply to singleslammer :
These cars used a Rover-sourced 5-speed manual that is apparently "crap". The blower cars got a 6-speed from Getrag that is "not crap". You can research these aspects from there.
Depends on which model year this is. The '05-06 cars changed to a Gettag box and dropped the crappy Midlands box.
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
That's good information, thanks.
maybe not worth the weight with the roll bar...
but I can't help seeing the back 'undamaged' half of the roof dropped down onto the top of the rear steel and welded on as a 'cheapo' tonneau cover / rear structural stiffener. Especially after that Renault got posted.
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
There's already a 4 point roll bar in place and the floor is so buckled already that I'd like to put door bars in it especially considering how much I'm planning to cut out of it.
It's got the pano roof but I have been dreaming up tonneau ideas...
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
It's an '03.
Door bars are going to work. Where they land is a raised section of the floor. I'll just bash it flat so I can weld the plates in.
I also think it's necessary to mount the rearview mirror like this so it's a true British roadster.
There are going to be many feet of unused wiring. I'll have to talk with Pete about what he's learned in his dealings with the wiring harness in Colin.
Guac continues to lose weight. She's now light enough that the back end is way up in the air. Although I'm shooting for extreme weight loss, I'm wondering if we may need to put some ballast in the rear. Time will tell.
From my first glance under the car, I really didn't think the fancy exhaust was banged up too bad. Turns out, it is.
I guess I need to look at NHRA rules about where the exhaust exits but I'm thinking I'll hack some of this bent-ness into a turndown under the car for weight and simplicity. It sounds awesome with the rear section removed.
Guac also now has a shift knob! It's the stock knob from my R56 I had years ago. No idea what I should put for budget. I damaged the plastic clips for the shift boot removing it. I can't imagine I'd ever be able to sell it. $5?
A friend of mine picked up a cool set of 15x7 wheels for me this weekend that will end up being $40 per corner. They should fit... really excited to try them out.
When crawling under the car to unbolt the exhaust, I noticed that what I believe to be the vent line for the fuel system got damaged in the wreck. I need to investigate this further but if I'm right, that's pretty lucky.
AxeHealey said:
Although I'm shooting for extreme weight loss, I'm wondering if we may need to put some ballast in the rear. Time will tell.
for whatever reason, my brain keeps reading this as:
"I'm wondering if we may need to [cut the springs] in the rear"
I have a catback off the cooper i got the supercharger from....
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
Hah! The plan is the cheapest set of coilovers I can find but I'm not sure even that will allow for enough adjustment.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
I'm seeing the bright side as weight savings. Shot in the dark but any chance you also have a bigger-than-stock rear sway bar from that car?
In reply to AxeHealey :
I'd have to go over to Steve's and see if there's anything under it that might be useful. That's assuming he hasn't crushed it yet
