Project Cliff - The Cherry Red Thirty by stretch tech

4 minute(s) of a 220 minute read

Thanks for the positive MINI vibes guys  

I'll be honest, even though i'm not a massive lover of new cars, i've had a soft spot for the R55 clubbies since they were launched back in 07.

i wanted a post 11 plate model as these have the revised engine (184bhp rather than 171bhp previously) and they have black trim as standard rather than silver which can look cheap imo.

Talking about BINI hate, i was surprised (and secretly pleased) to see so many MINIs at Stanford - i suppose the early first gen's (R52/3) are coming up to 15 years old now so are technically a classic in their own right.

As for the colour, i like most of the MINI palette but ice blue has always been a favourite as i love grey-ish colours 

As for the arches, yes they are wider and my wheels will be too narrow but i am going to makes some spacers up - i'll know exactly what i need when i fit the arches this weekend but i'm guestimating 3/8" front and 1/2" at the back (to bring the front and rear track width together as the fronts are a little wider atm). 

I am now preparing for a lecture on the extra stress on the wheel bearings blah blah blah but the increase in wear will be negligible for the mileage he'll do.

10-6-2015

Afternoon Ladies and Gents

Time for a quick update, I've got cliff ready for paint just waiting for the rain to let up so i can get down the paint shop ! fingers crossed for Thursday as it's supposed to be dry.

the body is all prepared now - I've spent the best part of 12 hours getting everything sorted !

good news is that the car is still nice and solid   bad news is that the same doesn't go for the back bumper

gave it a goo going over with a screw driver and sand paper and it looked much worse than it really is (sorry for the poor pic)

i'll give it another blast over then fill the seam with auto-lube as to stop any nasties coming up - it'll be hidden by the bumper so no one will ever notice, even me and my picky eye  

things look much brighter for the wings/arches and sills

everything is nice and flat and feathered in so it was time to test the arches but i changed my mind on the W&P's - they are just the complete wrong shape for the car ! no joke, the arch was way too tall like it had been squashed from either end   so i had a week or so away from the car to mull things over and i have decided to re-fit some new rover special arches but with a P strip arch to body rubber seal and use some black rubber sill finishers as the plastic ones were for ever falling off in the sun  when they expanded !

i'm using some Ø3.9mm x 3/8th's A2 stainless button head self tappers to fix the arches to the body as i'm not a fan of pop rivets...these have a Ø7.5mm head so they won't nic the paint like the first time   i also ordered the next size up Ø4.2mm x 3/8th's incase some of the holes were too big but so far the 3.9's have worked a treat

i also plan to keep the arches natural finish black although i may go over them with a rattle can hammerite or stone chip if all the little scratches and imperfections bug me.... Before i get shot down for not putting them back to standard body colour, i feel that with the black P chanel and rubber sill trim the red spats will look odd. the black plastic look works on my clubby (where the inspiration came from) and i think it'll look better this way. Plus there is no worries about damaging the paint when final fit comes.

Hey, if it doesn't look right i can always get them colour coded anyway.

I will admit there is another reason why no go for the W&P's, my suspension is a little low and widening the track won't go so well, here's the cause of my concern

and those are tyres that are pretty near min tread depth   So you can see there's no scope to go wider really and the W&P's would make the car look over arched which is my biggest pet hate in the mini scene

So there we are up to date after many an hour sanding, filing and thinking (in that order)

Next step os get it up the paint shop and take out the side repeaters, rear quarter windows  and headlamps.

until then, the arches will stay on so that they can stretch and will help them comply when being fitted for the last time, hopefully !

Sorry guys, i was cleaning the garage out and couldn't help myself  

1-31-2016

Evening all,

After attending Bingley Hall today, i reallied that i completely forgot to update this back in October last year...

Any who, things worked out rather well after a sketchy late night rush to reassemble Cliff enough to drive him home from the body shop in the pitch black one night after work... no headlights  

I have to say, i'm really pleased with how it turned out. I was really unsure how well the P strips would take to the body after being super glued to the arches but it has worked a treat  

(ignore the grease weeping out the top of the sill strip, hadn't finished pressing it all out before i took this...)

Sorry for the poo pics, need a new phone as i'm still rocking an iPhone 4 (not even a 4S !)

It's even helped fill the gaps between the body where the pattern front wings aren't quite the right shape

Right then guys and gals, that is pretty much it for now that the paint work should hold up for the next few years at least.

As for the turbo motor build, it's still in the pipe line but i'd rather wait until this plucky 1030cc starts to give before i build up the tasty little 1.2 turbo - besides, i've got the Clubby S to stem my boost cravings for now.

And i have another few tricks up my sleeve yet to come but that's a project for another time...

To be continued  

4-3-2016

Evening all.

went to a local meet today at Middleton Hall with a mate with a camera, here's the result...

Paint still buffs up good after 4 years on the road.

In other news, had the MOT last week, front track rod ends and wheel bearings are a little loose (although that is probably down to my driving style   ) but other than that still looks like the day he was rebuilt