Introducing Colin - a Mini-ature WRX

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

More hmmm.

Strut tops.

I got some free PT Cruiser ones, but I don't like the bearing arrangement or the spring seat arrangement.

I got some free CR-V ones, which are nice but have absolutely no tolerance for angle change.

I got some free Kia something or other ones, which look a lot like SA/FB mounts with a ball bearing that the strut rotates on, and the spring hat is almost perfect for the springs I want to use.

Problem:

The angle difference is huge.  I do not see the rubber lasting very long before it tears apart.  I also see it binding and possibly breaking the top of the strut off, not that this can ever happen Nonack.  

Rebuilding the tower looks like a complete exercise in suck.

So, I am thinking we need something with a bearing in it, what they used to call a pillow ball mount.  After conferring with Evan, we have a plan forward.

 

You're already putting an awd Subaru engine into a Mini, just go full crazy and build a cantilever front suspension with inboard coilovers. I can't wait to see this thing turn a wheel, I was recently offered a free but very broken Mini and I'm reading this thread wondering whether a V6 will fit between the rear strut towers, thereby creating a hack job Renault Sport Clio..

Oh, the original Plan with the GTI involved that.  The original original Plan, with a longitudinally mounted supercharged 3800 and a pair of turbos, connected to a 4T65 with its final drive modded to be 1:1 to output to both ends.

With this car, the underhood space is so cramped that making room for an air filter will be problematic.  I have some ideas for that but the engine has to be back in first, and the cooling systems plumbed.  Linkage suspension and arms, besides being rather heavy because of the increased loads they put on things, takes up a lot of space that we don't have   Also, it won't handle like an Impreza, and handling like an Impreza is at the top of the list, because they are SO choice.  If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend it.

Since pragmatism and being flexible is also high on the list, I checked my PayPal balance and it was negative, so this happened:

The rear frame width is 37" or so.  FWIW

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

The angle difference is huge.  I do not see the rubber lasting very long before it tears apart.  I also see it binding and possibly breaking the top of the strut off, not that this can ever happen Nonack.  

That's not what took mine out, but it would definitely be something to avoid.  My top mounts are these: Gartrac Top Mounts

Bigass spherical bearing with a lot of rubber around it so the bearing doesn't get rattled to death, they're nice- the one at the top of that snapped 40mm insert survived just fine.

I was picturing the strut tube itself binding and bending, which also happened to a friend of mine who bought a stage rally 1st gen RX-7 and destroyed the B36 struts while practicing jumps over some gravel ramps.  But point made.

Those Gartrac mounts look perfect in design.  Also they look way too tall and way too wide.  The Mini strut towers practically graze the hood as it is, and we need the top of the strut shaft to be as high up as possible.  Also, to get the strut tops where they need to be in order to have even zero camber, will need to use either 2.5" ID springs or, my original plan, 5" OD springs and a little air hammer work for clearance.

It isn't called a Mini for no reason

The numbers are way in the back, but the geometry differences between R53 and Subaru are amazing.  The R53 ball joints are two inches closer together, while the strut tops are six inches further apart.  MASSIVE steering inclination difference between the two chassis.  A lot of that is Subaru's famous zero scrub radius steering, the rest is Chrysler or whoever designed the chassis trying to cram a suspension next to a largish 4 cylinder engine and transmission under a low hoodline.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Notch the hood to clear the strut towers...

because rally car.

In reply to Recon1342 :

But it's not a rally car   Evan looked into it, it won't be legal for ARA for probably a whole lot of reasons but one of the big ones is that the transmission will be electronically controlled, and that is expressly against the rules.

Also the wallet is spongy and bruised, and I'm dreading the cost of a SCCA Rallysprint legal rollcage (because Evan wants to do rallysprints, and I like the idea too, so let's do it) which is still far, far cheaper than a stage rally roll cage, which probably costs $5k in materials alone, let alone what Adam would want for his artistry in fabrication.

44 hours after ordering.

The logistics in this country is insanely good.

I have been waiting a week for a week for a freight delivery of a heating boiler that's been sitting in a warehouse in Chicago- one town over-so I can't say I feel the same way about the logistics in our country, but I'm glad things are working out for you! This project is awesome and I'm glad to see you keeping the momentum going. 

Was at NEOhio's RallyCross today, because I gots to.  John England's scathingly quick R53 was kind enough to shed its right front fender liner so I could take some reference photos.

I had forgotten how tight the spring height is.  Urgh.   Mind you, his car is heavily lowered.  Also on 185/65-15 front tires.

I am thinking that coilovers will be mandatory because there will be no way to fit a large diameter spring, and small diameter springs do not have much travel.  Which is why R50/53 have such an intensely weird SIA.

Hmmmmm.

Hmm.

Need more.

Hmm.

And then the migraine hit.

After I could see well enough to trust working with power tools, and mostly figured out how to keep the Morse taper in the drill press from coming apart, things are taking shape.  This idea four or so.

The Johnny Joints that I acquired are an inch wide, and I need to put them in a 1x2 tube... on the wrong axis.

Still do not have the mental capacity to do the kind of math I need to do for the next step.  So, I pretended to be a machinist.

I won't fool anyone.  The Pretender, I am not.

 1 1/8" hole on top, 1" hole on bottom, some zappy zap, and ball joint tapers are done.

Lots of second thoughts..

This is the part where I wish I paid more attention in drafting class.  I know what I want to do but not sure how to do it.

Coming together...

Side two in progress.

I don't quite trust welds, so I figure the 3/4 spud on the inside adds a little bit.  Plus it made the assembly process a ton easier.

Popped the bushing in side one for now.

I bought an RX-3 a while back.  It had been sitting at Evan's ever since, waiting for the round tuits to arrive.  The A pillar rust worried me, because sedan glass is so hard to find that even people in Australia and New Zealand, where these cars are still somewhat common (in a vintage car sense) cannot find good windshields or other glass.  If the windshield broke while removing it to fix the rust, the car would be totalled.

Evan needs the room for yard project reasons, and well, if I hadn't done anything with it by now, I probably won't ever.  So a while back I contacted a certain Columbus based rotary enthusiast to see if he wanted it.  I know he shipped large ungainly parts all over the world so he would be far better equipped to deal with those hassles.  Today I got a text, would he be able to get the car today?

So the car and its drivetrain were unburied from the depts of Opel and Volvo paraphernalia, he picked up the car, I showed him Colin, we talked a while.  He has a new Cayman, it's pretty rad.  I didn't ask if it was as rad as his four rotor FD.

Before the car left my life, I had to try.

Son of a bitch, it fits perfect.

Moving on to Colin, the control arms were drilled to the same center to forward bushing distance as WRX, the ball joint taper stubs were welded in place.

Then I stared at the strut tops a while.  Realized that I could mount the strut mounts backwards and get a ton more negative camber. 

Had to trim a little off of the strut top, do a little air hammer work to the inside of the tower, and then get all Sawzall-y for clearance.  But this is the way forward, with a little reinforcement.

I would add a strap/wrap on the end of the arms around the uniballs on the control arms as a belt and suspenders kind of deal. It is really common on offroad trucks as you don't really have enough weld area to hold them in place otherwise. 

The other thing you should look at is adding a TON of reinforcement to the strut tower tops. Stock they would mushroom and with the extra material removed you might be worse off than stock.

Sean

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Now I have to contact said rotary enthusiast and find out whether that RX3 needs to come home with me on Wednesday..

In reply to smokeysevin :

I had given that some thought, which would also require dealing appropriately with the grease fitting.  But I had rallycrossed hard on things like butt welded 5/8" tube in the Watts link and had no issues there.  I think the rock crawlers have issues because they do things like use 4 bar linkages, which put enormous stresses on the links when side loaded because of the trig involved.  These arms will not see loads anywhere near that.

It bolts into a thin stamping of a subframe after all.

To be honest I am more worried about the ball joint socket.

Left side is shaped different, had to change bolt pattern.  Tower clearancing in progress 

Master of Puppets is on the radio, can't make noise for nine minutes

Not entirely thrilled with how acute the angle is, but it is that or connect the arm further down the control arm and/or hang the rear mount way out.

I don't like leaving things unsupported if I can help it.

That was the last thing I needed to do before I could unbolt those Mini subframe spuds and finish making the compression link mount.

Now how the hell am I gonna do that.  

Thought I got pics of the finished product, guess not. 1/4" plate, notched where it gets bent, trimmed to angle down to the stubs, welded in place, notches welded in.

I got those chunks about 16-17 years ago from a friend's neighbor when I 3-linked my '85 RX-7.  They had the center holes in them already, I think they were wall reinforcements for some sort of medical equipment (neighbor did hospital building work).  I have used them for all sorts of things over the years, these are my last four.

Finished products are also trimmed to the same angle as the top plate.  Hole in back is left open so the inevitable mud packing can get washed through.

Next was control arms.  Some trimming, a lot of measuring to make both sides the same, and boom. Arms.

Repurposed my rear strut tower negative jig thing to make end straps.  Done.

Next up, attaching something to the steering.