1985 mini cooper

[joakwin]

I put my 37 chevy truck build on hold more then a year ago because I had left hip surgery, and its been on hold longer then I wanted

I built a 72 ford f250 for some local guy to get some extra money to stick into the 37, and then I ended up using it to go to Hawaii for 2 weeks

and then one of my neighbors called the HOA on my mini, saying it wasn't being drove and looked like a broke down car in my driveway

the clutch on the mini was to stiff for my hips to handle, and so I had to move the mini into the garage, 2 car garage with two cars that don't drive
the mini and the 37

so last june I won a 1995 Honda del sol, for witch I call a Honda del slow
anyways
I got the car at auction for $275

and drove the car for 2 months to make sure everything was good

and the only reason as to why I got it was because I wanted to turn my mini into a automatic

my mini had a d16z6 with a close ratio 5 speed lsd manual gearbox,
itb's, pnp head, bigger valves in the head, bigger cam, bored 1/2mm, arp bolts for everything, it was making 175hp
not a lot of power but its also in a 1500lb car

mini by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr
heres how my car looked before I took it apart

 

[joakwin]

donor car
cluster said it had 202k miles on it

Untitled by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

d16z6 auto by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

d16z6 automatic

valve cover off by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr
under the valve cover, no way this motor had 202k miles

so I got one of those online vin decoders and it said the dealer replaced the engine at 180k miles

22k miles on this motor, sweet deal for me, I got lucky

I ended up replacing the water pump and timing belt anyways

 

[joakwin]

itb mini by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

pulling the hot rod motor out

mini apart by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

 

[joakwin]

253241_10150203810671684_2663240_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

history on the car

this is how I got the car back in March 2009

mini uk 2 by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

 

[joakwin]

mini uk by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

the biggest problem I had back then was the car was not sealed, every time it rained, water would get inside

47252_427637581683_8079928_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

the car started life out as a 998 automatic
and then went to a 1275 automatic
and then a d16z6 manual
and then d16z6 automatic

 

[joakwin]

10628796_10152901818581684_3057559597750512358_o by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr


google maps picture of my car on jack stands

I replaced or beat on every panel on this car to get it to have clean metal
this car had more rust and body filler on cardboard then you can think of, kind of crazy to think about it

210475_10150180547421684_3397706_o by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

ones all the metal work was done, I started to put sound mat in it

 

[joakwin]

251601_10150206434961684_2195424_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr
I got those fiberglass doors on sale

it was awesome until I started to daily drive and the fiberglass doors suck
for round sounds and whatnot

 

[joakwin]

59811_435754431683_2978626_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

built this hood for another mini, but used my car to test fit
have to do side jobs to get extra money to buy parts


553241_10150737499471684_1604064689_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

I ended up building a roll cage for the car because my wife said its not safe for the kids to be in the mini

 

[joakwin]

rear suspension by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

rear suspension I put under the car

mini paint by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

I painted the shell sept 13, my 1st paint job

 

[joakwin]

mini primer by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

189220_10151189779036684_713274740_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

part of the prep for paint time frame

 

[joakwin]

new rear billet hubs


427443_10150668016311684_2006410463_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

brakes by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

brake parts to stop

the d16z6 manual gearbox drivetrain

mini tbi motor by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

 

[joakwin]

cluster by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

summit racing gauge cluster I went with

1240416_10152396293996684_9079162251777447405_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

installing the trunk lid after painting it

 

[joakwin]

10334347_10152459092606684_7476624578417917662_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

putting front clip parts together before installing it on the car


10527266_10152575670101684_2688900935148984433_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

wiring harness to run the d16z6 motor

 

[joakwin]

1609776_10152162820371684_1983473281_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

9.5 inch brake rotor upgrade

1508594_10152163998741684_1335339096_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr


10347711_10152591386026684_6631659227306993498_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr
junkyard dizzy clean up

 

[joakwin]

10488062_10152581718876684_7170115976004603420_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

alt mount

 

[joakwin]

1920199_10152890140256684_7108210817339916232_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

car with no motor in it waiting to come to the states

10849939_10152899620556684_277697852649739310_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

on the tow truck headed to the port

 

[joakwin]

10885123_10153011711491684_9045785861005695480_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

on the tow truck leaving the port



the drivetrain when it was in the UK, I drove this for a little bit

10599234_10152623352836684_6603496774960283231_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

 

[joakwin]

1902952_10153403541486684_606990297249357897_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr
left hand drive mini, and our Honda pilot

10426123_10153074838836684_1776858923177349949_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

lhd mini and my older brothers 55 chevy

the lhd mini was in my parents back yard for 8 years, and I came home and re-wired it and got it running and drove it back to Tucson

10985243_10153074842611684_2752534005757247117_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

the 55 has a 427 in it with a doug nash 5 speed and a ford 9 inch

 

[joakwin]

11149289_10153200901276684_3806953509523075028_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr


lhd mini in front of my new house

11209532_10153308009696684_7685302526544640574_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

d16z6 motor in the crate I made for it

11289014_10153288004846684_2733428598125978735_o by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

11391680_10153371033801684_5214084655546772597_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

old suspension, before I went to qa1 coil overs

 

[joakwin]

11753684_10153467582491684_8729581518915342814_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

interior pic, homemade mdf dash, Nissan micra seats and seat belts and Austin metro floor mats, vp Austin steering wheel

11796404_10153476065106684_876432924045251008_n by joaquinn lopez, on Flickr

Nissan micra shifter cover and park brake cover