Update by Tim Suddard to the
Austin Mini Cooper S project car
Jan 2, 2014
We assembled our subframe, did some powder coating, and installed the rest of our front suspension on our Mini Cooper S.
Our front subframe looked like new after powder coating.
We installed new wheel bearings and ball joints from Mini Mania.
We rebuilt the calipers and installed new brake pads.
After attaching our displacer units, it was time to mount it and move on with the engine.
All of our ancillaries were rebuilt, so it was time to assemble the front subframe on our Mini Cooper S. Our goal was to do this completely so that we could then pop the engine and transmission back in, put fuel into the carburetors, and run the engine. More on that later.
We got our subframe straightened out and powder coated, plus powder coated any parts that didn’t have critical tolerances. (Powder coating changes those tolerances and will need to be scraped back off. Removing powder coating is a difficult process and should be avoided, when possible.) What was not powder coated was painted with Eastwood Chassis Black or Cadmium Paint system.
Our rebuilt displacers were installed, then the rest of the front suspension was carefully reassembled with the use of an old factory shop manual. We installed new wheel bearings and ball joints from Mini Mania. We also rebuilt the calipers, installed EBC brake pads and new tie rod ends. The final step was to clean, inspect and rebuild the steering rack, to make sure we’d set the preload correctly.
It was an itsy bitsy, teeny-weeny rally-winning project Mini. Subscribe to Classic Motorsports and get them in your mailbox.
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