Metro modprod hillclimb/sprint VVC/6R4-ish thing...

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Then we let the sandblaster loose on what was left....

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Which left us with rather a lot of metal tea strainers!

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..and a lot of rebuilding of important bits.

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Lots of new panels to be cut out and seam welded into place.

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First of the body panels taped in place to see how this is going to look..and that is approximately the final ride height!

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Roll cage to be fitted next

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Then get rid of the front end sheet metal to make way for a new space frame.

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The MGTF was then separated from it's 1.8 VVC engine, trophy cup spec gearbox and AP racing clutch. The engine was sent off for checking and rebuilding with head ported and gas-flowed. The gearbox was stripped and rebuilt with new steel-caged bearings and new seals. The clutch was in good condition so was re-used. We had intended to remove the VVC mechanisms and fit solid full-race cams but this engine proved to have a EU2 bottom end, which greatly limits valve openings. We finally decided just to re-use the bottom end and just fit a fast road cam. We are hoping for about 185bhp, which should be plenty for the first season.

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The rear wheel arches being tubbed to take 13"x8" alloys and 7.6" wide slicks. The 6R4 did not have any of the original rear wheel arches getting in the way but class regs force us to keep a lot of that metal. More cosmetic work will be done on this area next winter, but this solution will let us get going.

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The original trailing arms, etc., were all junked in favour of a new beam mounted direct to the roll cage with a pair of very long trailing arms to minimise wheelbase alterations in roll/bump/droop. This will help stabilise the back end and gives room for the coilovers and Mini rear hubs. The rear end will not have any brakes fitted to save weight...whilst that might sound crazy, any serious racing devise like this is going to be so nose-heavy and light at the rear that rear brakes will just lock up under heavy braking. Racing Minis very often have the brake lines to the rear blocked off for this very reason.

We are hoping for am all-up weight of about 500kgs and the rear end is so light that one man can pick it up easily.