Im doing my final year at school this year and have been working on my project for Design and Technology. Thought I might post it up here to see what
you guys think and get some feedback.
My brother is into minis and he bought this mini to get the engine out of. It had a 1340cc twin SU but unfortunatly the body was full of rust. He
stripped it down and I decided to make a bed out of it for my project. I cut the front off it and my friend is making a BBQ out of that.
Thats what I've done so far, still got alot to do before its due date on Sep 1st.
Simon
looking good
nice idea
but how are you going to get that into the house????
I have enough trouble trying not to knock a hole in the walls, when i am just moving my normal bed through the door ways .
The bed is detachable from the body of the mini and then the mini can be turned on its site. It is really light as it only the ass end of it so two
people can lift it no worries.
Simon
ok
Maybe you could make some money selling the beds and BBQs
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noice to know minis are useful for something. ha ha ha
Just kidding, they are rustbuckets though
Dont let TheMiniMan hear you say that lol
Maybe I can find uses for my brothers other two minis while he isnt watching
Simon
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Did some more work on it today. Cut out the window sills on both sides and bogged up the holes. Will sand back the bog tommorow to leave a nice smooth
surface *fingers crossed* Also cleaned up rear of car with trusty angle
grinder. Never knew how much rust converter stunk until I used it for first time today as well.
Made up a rear shelf where I will be able to fit two 4inch speakers. Plan is to have Flat screen TV on parcel shelf with fullysick wicked doof doof
sound system in boot and maybe even an Xbox 360 or PS3. Still got to finish rear legs and paint before I'm up to that part though.
Simon
Whilst you're mucking around on it, maybe use it as the opportunity to learn to weld as well. Then you won't have to use so much bog and spend extra
time waiting for it to cure because it's too thick.
Looks like a great project. Maybe use the fuel filler as a stubbie holder?
Really wish I had time to but unfortunately its due September 1st and I don't have the time to get things fixed that I might stuff up. Good idea
about stubbie holder, will see what I can do.
Anyone else got suggestions?
Simon
Well since I had time to kill since I didn't go to Valla, I did some work on the bed. Did a really shit paint job on the bed frame on which I blame
my hangover. Anyone got any ideas on how I could mount the wheels to the legs?
Simon
Not long to go
hey bud thats pretty sweet.. im doing DT at the moment.. sept im making a TV thing.. its pretty different.. gunna look good i think.
speaking of beds.. made my gf a real nice cast iron one during the hols.. ill post some pics..
keep it up.
Hey Tricky, what are you doing with the door handles (interior & exterior) & the window winder handles? i`m keen on them if you`re thinking of selling them :-)
I asked my brother for you cause it was his mini. He needs all the door handles but you can have the window winders. $5 sound good to you?
Simon
What sort of tv thing? Sounds interesting. Post up some pics.
Simon
for the wheels, when they are attatched to the bed, do u want them to be rolling..?
I had an idea.
I am not familiar with mini's design of hubs, hub carriers and drive shafts.... but...
The hub itself, not the hub carrier, will/should have the wheel stud pattern on it for the wheels to mount too. its USUALLY bolted tight to the drive
shaft via a BIG axle nut and thread on the drive shaft itself... This bolt which fastens the hub with the wheels stud pattern obviously stops it from
moving in and out.
Maybe if you could remove the hub, you could fasten it up to the bed via the same guage bolts. HOWEVER! although you may use the same bolt thread size
where the axle nut feeds on, there may be some free play between the hub and the bolt, as the driveshafts are usually machined to have like a cog/mesh
pattern to turn the hub around (and hence turn the wheel that is bolted to the hub). So u may have to fill the free play space up with maybe a larger
bolt and nut, or use the stock bolt and nut size, but fill the gap with some piping on top of the bolt...
so in short...
remove the hub and work out a way to bolt it on! IF u bolt it on, then u can bolt ur wheels on, but i am not sure if u will be able to move it very
well though. if you want ur wheels to move, go to a bearings store (we got one here called beenleigh bearings /autopro, and get a 'sealed' bearing
with an OD the same as the inside of the hub, so it fits snugly inside the hole of the hub.
Then with the bolt, its got to be the right size to fit in the ID of the bearing.
The bearings i'm talking about are the same as those used on skate boards or on those aluminum skooter wheels, but bigger to fit of course.
but goodluck buddy
if the bed legs can't fit far enough into the wheel wheels, u might ahve to look at bolting the hubs to the body somewhere.
but it will ahve to be somewhere strong enough to tke all the weight of the bed, the mini, and the person on it... (like don't pick any soft body
metal and what not)
and then u could do away with the bed leg all together! and mount the bed itself to the mini rear just like the bed was mounted to the bed leg.
Geebuz u can tell i'm keen on this bed buisness... been thinking abotu it for the last 30 mins... bed sounds good, i'm off for a sleep.
Get me drift?
Wow, you certainly did put a lot of thought into that!
The subframes have been removed from the mini, so there is no hub, no suspension......nothing in there. Took it all out cause it was way to heavy to
lift and manouvre with it in. Don't need the wheels to turn, more aesthetic. Already have the legs bolted onto the car body. Have had suggestions of
welding a plate to the leg and either weling 4 bolts to that plate or drilling holes and putting bolts through. Not sure what I'm going to do yet.
May even just sit the wheels there, seeing as it tucks in under the guard and doesnt move anyway (Biggest reason is im lazy ). Also doesnt help that I don't have a welder and I've never welded
before.
Dug up some pics for ya.
Thanks for taking the time to think of somthing
haha well once i have the time to see if my memory card is fixable.. (put my phone through the dyer by accident haha) then ill post some pics of my TV
thing.. its weird though and pretty hard to understand but interesting in design..
was orginally aiming for top designs but its not that good unfortunatly..
Yeh I'm just hoping I pass. I still gotta do a shit load of folio
work.
Simon
pssst. chris dont tell anyone, but minis are front wheel drive. no drive shafts on that end. Theres not a lot there in mini rear ends. Just put the entire thing back in, if thats what is wanted.
Yeh confused me a bit when he started talking bout driveshafts hehe
Simon
You can tell i neva owned one :P would luv one though.
i'm sure u will figure something out buddy. the 4 bolt idea would do it, but u might need to bolt it to a flat plate first, then onto the bed leg or
sumfin
Well I fitted a CD player to the parcel shelf yesturday. Found an old 12v convertor under the house, so all running sweet now. Only wired it up for
testing so still gotta redo that today. Will be working on the boot today as well.
Simon
simon, i like the project it's looking good, the only problem is it's a single bed, a queen is far better when your entertaining guests.
btw, please use earmuffs when you are using the grinder, you will regret it in later life if you don't.
Yeh so I get told everytime.
My dad is an audiologist so theres no getting away from the constant nagging.
Simon
Well made up the board for the boot today. Still needs carpet.
Still looking for sheets, dooner and pillow cases in red and black. Anybody got any in Double?
Also need suggestions for number plate. Will get a sticker made up.
Simon
SHAGN- WGN