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 Mini Marcos Restoration in California (currently 1,425 views) |
| Robin_Gilmour |
| Posted on: May 25th, 2015, 18:51:47 |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hello Forum:
I finished my garage build a few months ago. Gee only took 11 years to complete.. 
So my youngest son and I started the removal of the mid engine Honda motorcycle engine and subframe.
The car was unusable in this set-up.
Toooooooo llllloooouuuddddd....
Danger Danger no rear vision with me sitting on the wrong side for us roads.
The fire wall made rear vision only possible thru tiny windows and tiny mirrors....
Massive oil leak from the Honda.
Last the chain broke while driving about 75 mph on the freeway could have been a very bad scene.
Anyway it's out and being sold to a local guy to build a race mini.
I need to start gathering parts now.
Need to repair the hole in the back of the chassis.
Has anyone used metal as reinforcements to the shell?
I would like to add a roll bar and incorporate the mounts into reinforcing the chassis and
suspension pick up points.
What do people think of the minitec rear subframes?
Not very traditional but very cool looking.
I have heard they work well.
A traditional subframe would add reinforcement to the back of the chassis.
Anyway I will post a few photos.
I hope it's ok to ask lots of silly questions.
I would like to have the car ready to drive by October 2015....
Loftly goal for a guy that took two years to build a garage.
Best Regards
Robin
San Diego,California |
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| mike brown |
| Posted on: May 25th, 2015, 19:04:58 |
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Big Member
Location: Southampton
Posts: 374
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I would rebuild with fibreglass you can normally persuade a boat builder to assist if it's not your forte.
A lot of mini Marcos have rear beam set up so you can get away with a fare bit of change at the rear as the beam only needs strength across the front mounts (rear upright section of the floor pan) and the damper mounts (inner wheel arches).
Mike |
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Reply: 1 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
Posted on: May 25th, 2015, 21:07:00
 Attachment: dsc01966.jpg - 140.16 KB (1146 views) |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hi here's some pictures of the hole.
regards
Robin |
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Reply: 2 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
Posted on: May 25th, 2015, 21:19:13
Attachment: dsc01955.jpg - 136.86 KB (1153 views) |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hello
One idea was to make a form from the underside that spans across the flat floor.
I think i would make it flat as forming a battery box and wheel well might exceed my FG skillls.
I thought about building a tower brace with tabs for the shock tops and
also plates for the roll bar to kick too.
I also thought about attached steel or aluminum z-bars that went the full width of the opening at say
10" on center. i would attach with small bolts and then glass them it. this would make this area super strong.
I also thought about glassing it flat and then cover the back with a 1/8" aluminum plate in the shape of the flat area.
this might be a much.
I am worried as the unibody is dependent on the entire structure being rigid. the twisting forces of the suspension will find the weakest areas and start to crack.....
Anyway I will practice on fenders holes and start making up the form for the bottom.
Robin |
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Reply: 3 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
| Posted on: May 25th, 2015, 21:36:56 |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hi:
Its funny how so much of the original build is back to front now.
Cooling lines ran from the front to the back.
Electrical / battery was in the front now needs to move to the back
Fuel lines ran from tank to engine two feet away.
hydraulic clutch ran from front to back.
Shifter linkage went to back of honda trans in the middle of the car.
Oh well it's all coming out so I just need get on with it.
My youngest son loves to tear things out....
Good job for him.
Robin |
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Reply: 4 - 18 |
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| mike brown |
| Posted on: May 26th, 2015, 06:03:24 |
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Big Member
Location: Southampton
Posts: 374
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A flat former (mould) would work fine if your worried about strength add layers or add foam ribs (check they don't melt with resin) and glass over them. Whilst the battery box and spare wheel well add strength in the way of shape foam ribs would work well. A tower brace is never going to be a bad thing.
Nice car by the way.
Mike |
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Reply: 5 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
Posted on: May 26th, 2015, 14:10:29
Attachment: dsc01959.jpg - 137.60 KB (1149 views) |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hi Mike:
Thanks I always liked the mini marcos and was pretty lucky to find one on this side of the pond.
I should have bought one in Uk or maybe France and had it shipped over but did not really know how to go about that.
Anyway I went down this path and it should be a pretty nice car when i am finished.
Besides projects like this will keep me out of trouble and oh yah money....
Well here's the frame out.
Robin |
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Reply: 6 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
| Posted on: May 26th, 2015, 14:22:20 |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hi:
Just to ask. I know the subframe and engine has some value.
A real z-cars frame is expensive.
Any idea what it might be worth?
I have all the parts to put it into someone's regular mini.
Robin |
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Reply: 7 - 18 |
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| Brian |
| Posted on: May 26th, 2015, 18:41:57 |
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Big Member
Location: San Mateo, CA, USA
Posts: 329
Reputation: 0 (tot: ) |
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Hi Robin,
Nice to see another CA MM owner! I'm up in the SF bay area, though the fiancee's family is down in SD (Rancho Bernardo), and we visit sometimes.
I'll PM my contact info in case you want to get in touch.
As for the rear mini subframe vs beam setup, it would seem like the standard subframe would work around any structural issues created by the big hole in the floor? It looks like all four standard subframe attachment points are intact. Though the damper attachment points are going to need some work.
As for metal reinforcements under the fiberglass, I believe all the cars have that in some form or other. My MK6 had metal plates moulded into the door hinge areas, the front crossmember, the seat belt mounting spots, and a few others.
I've been having some fiberglass work done at a local corvette restoration place, and he stiffened up my hood with some balsa wood glassed in. |
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Reply: 8 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
| Posted on: May 26th, 2015, 21:28:26 |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hello Brian:
Thanks for posting. Nice to hear there's another Mini Marcos around.
How did you get yours?
What color and specs?
There is a vintage race mini marcos in San Diego. Green came over from France
There's mine.
You have one in San Francisco.
There a red x-rally mini marcos that vintage races, not sure where the owner lives.
Hmm any more out here?
Yes wood would be keeping in the spirit of Marcos Engineering.
I thought about making marine plywood panels and glassing them in.
I would like to add a roll bar during the rebuild so it would need some attachment points.
Any other fun rides in your garage?
Robin |
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Reply: 9 - 18 |
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| Brian |
| Posted on: May 26th, 2015, 23:04:38 |
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Big Member
Location: San Mateo, CA, USA
Posts: 329
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A few posts back in the forums, there's a build thread for mine: http://minimarcos.org.uk/cgi-bin/forum/Blah.pl?b=MM,m=1358207043.
Mine is turquoise, a new shell made up by the heritage garage, in 2013. I had the car almost on the road at the end of 2013, with about 6 very busy months working on the project, then I got stalled for over a year when my van with all my tools, etc got stolen. I'm just getting back in the groove now.
As for other stuff in the garage, nothing Mini-related at the moment. I have a couple of '65 corvairs that I race in the 24 hours of lemons -- one with a stock drivetrain, one with a buick 215 (aka rover v8) in the back seat. I drive a big 4x4 ford e350 cargo van, which i use for camping, road trips, and also hauling my car stuff around. Future projects include a '74 Kelmark GT, fiberglass kit car, which needs a LOT of work, and will likely end up with a corvair or buick 215 powering it.
As for other cars in the area -- there's a white one in the northeast somewhere, bob polack http://www.britishracecar.com/bobpolak-minimarcos.htm, he had it restored at mincomp down in Los Angeles some years back. And recently someone showed me some photos of a blue one being worked on at a shop in oregon, jet motors. https://www.facebook.com/jetmo.....913/843055325750191/ |
Last modified May 26th, 2015, 23:05:49 by Brian |
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Reply: 10 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
| Posted on: May 27th, 2015, 22:19:01 |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hi:
Bob Polack is selling his. I saw it on Racecars.com
I sent a message and it sounds like he sold it already.
I am sorta glad I would have done something silly like buy it with 401K money or something.
I have a car buying problem, really need therapy for it.....
There is or was a Mini Midas (Orange)up in Oregon it was bouncing around back east and I believe it
is in Oregon now. It was kinda cool.
I am getting a rear subframe on Friday so i can start filling the hole in the back.
I am going to Fiberglass Depot (not kidding real name) to get glass and resin. I ended up with a two
pretty good size boxes of matt and cloth from a friend that gave up repairing his boat. These guys sell kevlar and carbon also.....
I got into British cars kind of late. I was a German car (Audi's and VW's) until like 2001. I bought a 1974 T** 2500M project car at a Church Auction. I really liked the simplicity and the style of it. Not fast but good handling car for it's day.
Anyway since then i have been hooked.
Regards |
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Reply: 11 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
| Posted on: May 27th, 2015, 22:22:13 |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hi Brian:
I just looked at your car.
Wow super nice looking.
I would be embarrassed to park mine next to yours
Regards
Robin |
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Reply: 12 - 18 |
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| Brian |
| Posted on: May 27th, 2015, 23:49:22 |
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Big Member
Location: San Mateo, CA, USA
Posts: 329
Reputation: 0 (tot: ) |
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For fiberglass supplies, not necessarily the best or cheapest, but I found that Tap Plastics has a lot of stores, and actually has a pretty good selection of the needed supplies -- gloves, small mixing cups, stirring sticks, measuring syringes, etc. I found those things elsewhere cheaper, but also found myself running to the store on saturdays for last minute stuff I missed. West marine, also a lot of stores in the state, had some fiberglass supplies, but a lot more expensive and smaller selection. But their employees were often helpful with advice, and they had longer hours than tap plastics.
I imagine that San Diego has a lot of boating going on, so you'll probably have a lot of good fiberglass resources.
As for car buying problems, the fiancee has put a strict limit that I can not own more cars than we have parking spaces for. I already have a corvair and the kelmark parked up at my parents' country property, and I have 1 in the garage, 2 on the street at home (in addition to her car). Soon, I'll have my motorcycle back in service, making the parking situation slightly worse. |
Last modified May 27th, 2015, 23:54:29 by Brian |
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Reply: 13 - 18 |
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| Robin_Gilmour |
| Posted on: May 28th, 2015, 12:34:50 |
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Baby Member
Posts: 17
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Hi Brian:
I am a Building Contractor so this is a real problem.
I have a yard and a storage yard.
Hmmm I have 15 cars, in my defense well sort of I have a used car dealers license which
means the cars were "inventory".
I made a deal with my wife were I split the profit on car sales. This made owning the cars a bit easier marriage wise.
Also it allowed me to only pay dmv for the license and two dealer plates with insurance that covered any car I drove.
Hmmm smog issues went away also.
I have sold several and have a few getting ready to sell. The inventory will go down by 5 cars.....
Funny you have a Kelmark I almost got one years ago as a track day car.
I like Puma's also.
I always liked the last year Corvair Monza's.
How about Manta and Montages....
There was a brand new Kelmark body for sale up in Lancaster CA that is.....
I have been watching Wheeler Dealer and Ed China inspired me to do projects I never thought I had the skills to do.
A few months ago I rolled my Yellow T** 2500M into the garage and went and fixed all the little things needed done.
I had a list of over 45 items like remove wheels and polish them properly.
Replace consol upholstery, replace worn carpet, add T-stat to cooling fans
Anyway the car is pretty nice now. I take it to gatherings and people say nice things
The Mini Marcos has been out of service for over a year.
I hope to have it back on the road by the end of the summer, maybe quicker.
My son wants to help and he makes the process more fun.
I may also sub out a few things to move the project along faster.
After the Mini Marcos I want to:
Change out engine and trans from the yellow 2500M for the Blue one...
Then it's hot rod pinto engine and t5 trans for the Blue 1973 T** track day car.
I found a 310 hp pinto race engine out of a Prolite Race Truck, the TR6 water pump engine is just to heavy
and even hot rodded it's only 155 hps.
Then its time to get my 1973 Ginetta G15 back on the road. It overheated and in the process of repairs
the list of repairs grew to much. I want to do a basic restoration so it's safe and presentable. Maybe someday
it will get a body restoration but no time soon.
Anyway I ramble
Robin |
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