Welcome to FrankenMini Racing

The following is a blog by Paul Monaghan aka paulmon to highlight work in preparing a 1967 tube frame Mini Countryman (aka Estate) for SOLO2 competition in Ontario, Canada. Look here for more information on the car, you can check out my upcoming event list and don't forget the Photo Gallery. For additional information contact me.

Well as promised here are some thoughts on yesterday's autocross.

First and foremost, I had a blast and the car ran like a champ. Are there issues? Sure, some things need to be sorted, and that's what yesterday was all about.

1) The brakes need to be sorted. The pads had NO bite. Current pads are suspected to be in the wrong heat range. It wasn't getting any better with each run so it's not so much a question of bedding them in as just using the wrong pads. I'm going to try another set of pads more autocross specific and see how they work. Pads I'm using are for a much heavier car so we'll see. I'm also going to bleed the brakes again to be 100% sure there isn't any air trapped in the system.

2) The backend was stepping out a little too easily, it was a little loose. Thoughts as this point, mostly lack of heat in the tires. The ambient temp was around 17C, the course was pretty straight and fast which didn't help get heat in the tires. I'm also playing with tire pressures. This is more difficult, previous cars I've had have been heavier ~2700lbs, FrankenMini is 1400lbs. I can't just ask someone what pressures they use. I started at 36 PSI and in discussions with Paul from Breadbox Racing I dropped it down to 26 PSI. Since I wasn't pushing the car it's hard to tell how much of a difference it made.

Aside from above the car worked well. My times were right near the bottom of the timesheets, which was expected. I was around 6-7 seconds off the pace. That said I was being VERY kind to the car, shifting at 5500 RPM a far cry from my 7200 RPM red line. I'm going to change the rev limiter down to 7000 and make a point of bouncing off of it next time out.

Saturday I'll be going over the car, changing the pads, bleeding the brakes and generally giving it the once over ahead of the next event on the 26th. I won't be changing anything with the suspension until then. I'll see how I do then...

First autocross went off today and I accomplished exactly what I was going out for. To learn about this car. I'll post a full update tomorrow. Here are some video's to hold you over.

After 2 years of work the car is ready. I spent yesterday cleaning him from top to bottom making sure there were no metal filings, loose weld wire, or anything else loose in the car. You wouldn't believe what I found! I also installed the roll cage padding. The cleaning took the better part of 2 hours. I'm picking the car up Friday afternoon and brining him home. The body still isn't painted but I'm not going to worry about that until later, I've got the paint, just need to find the time to give him a good sand and then get the paint done. The passenger seat and harness' still aren't installed, I'll try and get those installed before Saturday, if not, no biggie.

The first autox (aka solo2) event is at Bronte Go Station in Oakville on May 5. This is the Push it to the Limit series put on by the MSOC (Mazda Sportscar Owners Club). Since I've only got around 5 minutes of seat time in the car thus far I've got some pretty simple goals, more seat time. I don't expect to be very fast at all. FrankenMini is considerably different to drive than my previous car, a slightly modified 2002 JCW Cooper S. My video camera mount is installed. After every run everything I can think about that run will be dictated to the camera from the driver's seat. This way I can review my thoughts on handling and overall car feel after the event.

FrankenMini's First Event
Push it to the Limit Autocross Series
When: Saturday May 5th, 2007
Time: ~9am (Registration is from 7:30am-8:00am)
Where: Bronte Go Station
Address: 104 Wyecroft Rd., Oakville, ON
Map:Click here for a map.