Hey guys,

Been slowly working on my Delux and have come to a fork in the road.

My CV joints still need to be replaced but I was wondering, short of changing to dry suspension, what other mods can I include to increase the performance of my current Hyrdo setup?

I read in the Hanes Mini Performance Manaul that you can install a bump stop kit to hydro cars as the first step to decrease leaning in corners and lifting of the front wheels during acceleration. Anyone know anything about this? how much am I looking at?

Secondly the next step is to upgrade to shocks similar to this one on ebay:
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... %3AIT&rd=1

So my questions are:

1) since I need to replace my CV joints anyway, should I look into these mods? has anyone done this before and if so is it worth it??
2) How much am i looking at? $10's? $100's? $1000's??
3) should I just save my money and go dry suspension?

Idealy I'd like good performance and keep the wet suspension setup if possible.

Cheers boys!
1968 Delux

Hey, I've run front shocks (Pedders) on mine for the last 8 years, they do help!

And 3 years ago I fitted competition hydro rear bumpstop kit C-AJJ3313. Cost me $71 at Karcraft. Best thing I ever did for the handling. It turns in better than a dry one!

Don't bother with the front bumpstop kit though. They are way too high, unless you are going rallying.

Dry suspension? Just ripping all the hydro out and fitting cones and shocks won't make much improvement to the handling, it's BS, unless you are going all out with competition parts just for the track. And hydro is much easier to work on. No cone compressors required- just let the fluid out, fix problem, pump back up with homemade hydro pump..

<edit> some dry Minis have problems staying with my hydro around Wakefield Park..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

kev, i've got hydro on my 1100 and i have bump stoppers on the front, should i remove them, i find that i hit them relatively often and it's just annoying. they seem way too high there's only an inch or 2 of hydro suspension cushioning before it hits the bumpstop..

remove em?

If they're the competition ones C-AJJ 4007, I'd remove them and fit the stock pointy ones.

My stock ones are shaved about 5mm too-... now I've got a little -ve camber at front with std lower arms. DON'T RUN WITHOUT THEM- YOU WILL BREAK BALLJOINTS OR WORSE..

Set the height to 2-3 fingers between front tyre and wheelarch (10" wheels).

The rubbers on the comp fronts are the same as comp rears, I modified a pair of stock rear brackets by welding some pins in, fitted the rubbers, then sold 'em.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Fitting front shocks to a hydro is easy. The holes in the guard for the top mount are already there, you just need to bolt it on. You do need to enlargen the hole for the bottom though - on a hydro the hole in the top suspension arm only holds the bump stop, so you need to enlarge it for the shock mounting bolt (or I guess you could run the smaller bolt? But I'd think it would snap or something).

Not really expensive, just the price of shocks (varies depending on if you get standard or uprated - be careful not to over-dampen the suspension though) + brackets off a dry car. A bit of time is all.

Cheers,
Anto.

mate if u are interested i have a hyrdo shoxk kit forsale at the moment, lookin for bout $70 pm me if u are interested

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lookin for another clubby

Or you can do what I did. After buggering up 3 new 3/8" drills trying to drill the ******' top arms on the car, I admitted defeat.
Instead I used a long Grade 12 Unbrako cap head (Allen head) bolt, 8mm dia, and I made a steel bush to reduce the bore of the lower shock bush from 3/8" to 8.0mm.
Been on the car for 8 years or so, done track work, rough roads, yada yada, not bent yet..

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I see, thanks for the replies guys.

Hey Doc, So how easy/hard is it to install the rear bump stop kit? Do i need any special tools other than a regular rachet set? Could a newbie like me do it with a workshop manual and an afternoon to spare??

I'll look into the front shocks...

I have another question, I have seen anti roll bars for the mini, what about those? is there any gain in installing rear or both rear and front roll bars?

thanks
1968 Delux

Hmm you've got me thinking now... maybe I'll try to fit shocks without drilling the arm (which has been the main deterrent so far).

I guess it really depends on your particular suspension setup/needs, but I here a rear anti-sway bar can help on a hydro. But I've heard it is a bad thing to fit to a dry cone (but wasn't told why). I'd fit the progressive bump stops first before considering the sway bar. Especially if like me you enjoy drifting the tail end round corners

If you fit comp rear bumpstops kit, you won't need a rear roll bar.
Basically the car sits on these bumpstops all the time, they are a hollow tapered rubber tube. Anyhow, what they do on corners is increase the spring rate on the outer rear wheel, the same as a roll bar would. But in a straight line they also eliminate most of the power on/off pitching.

To fit, you need a vice, some rubber lube (washing up liquid is fine), and a screwdriver. That's to fit the rubbers to the brackets... full instructions come in kit.

To fit to the car, you need a big Phillips head screwdriver (or preferably an impact driver) to get the one screw off each side. Then you can bolt them on in the same place. If you countersink the new brackets, you can re-use the old csk screws.

You will need to bend the inner wing away a bit with multigrips so it doesn't cut into the rubber.

<EDIT> This kit will also fit dry cars, but you need to move the brake pipes off the top of the arms. Again, instructions are in kit.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Sounds easy enough... I might give it a go... I am after all the gung-ho type I'm sure I will have more questions on this subject later when I come to install the things hehe

On the subject of shocks again, so let me get this straight, you used a 3/8" bolt and fabricated a steel bush to reduce 3/8" to 8mm? I am confused What is the size of the bolt that comes with a shock kit that is supposed to go into the top arm? what is the size of the hole in the top control arm currently?

Can you repeat what you said in alittle more detail? (Major Newbie here!) thanks!

Delux68

<EDIT> also Doc, where did you source your shock brackets and bolts from? Pedders too??

shock brackets and bolts can be bought from any mini wrecker . i doubt pedders will have anything to offer the bolt hole in the upper arm should be 3/8 i think , not `100% sure tho

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lookin for another clubby

Ben, I did NOT use a 3/8" bolt.
The hole in a dry Mini top arm is 3/8", but in a hydro it's 5/16" clearance. Hydro bumpstops (which are on the arm) fit a 5/16" bolt.
So, I used an 8mm hi-tensile `grade 12' Unbrako bolt. It is only .0025" (2-1/2 thou) bigger than a 5/16" one is, and easier to get in the length I needed.

Mini shocks all come with a bush that has a 3/8" hole. I made a thin bush to go inside that bush, but 1mm shorter, so the bolt still grips the main shock bush.
Bush I made is 3/8" OD and 8mm ID.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Ahh i get you, you got a bolt that was smaller and made a bush to go onto it so match the top arm diameter of 5/16"

No Doubt I will have more questions when i come around to doing it. I'll let you know how I go Thanks again

I'm in the process of fitting front shocks to my Mini at the moment. I found that the steel bush from the engine steady bar appears to have the correct ID (5/16), so I machined it down to be the correct length and it appears that it should work to mount the shock to the top suspension arm. The only problem is that the OD is slightly bigger on than the original. As I currently don't have a lathe to play with to make it smaller, would it be a bad thing to trim a little bit of rubber off the inside of the bush for ease of fitting? It would only have to be a little bit - I found that my custom steel bush fitted inside the rubber bush on an old shock, but the rubber was worn. With a BFH it might be convinced to fit inside new rubber unmodified.

Also, can anybody tell me what bolts to use to mount the top bracket to the inner guard?

Cheers,
Anto.