Hi,
Im looking into getting rid of the rear subframe for my starlet build. Ive had a few discussions and done a bit of thinking about it.
The first method i thought of was trailing arms with coilovers. But itd take some designing, then a lot of testing to get it road legal. Which i dont have the ability to do yet. Ive tried fea and computer simulations and im rubbish.

The second method i was told about was pulling the suspension off another car. Ive been told that excels are a good base, and all you do is shorten the arms and attach it to the shell. Which doesnt seem to be hard (famous last words i know) But this could be an issue with what id like to do in the future. I want to make it awd after ive had my fun in fwd mode. I looked at a few corollas, and i thought why not get the rear suspension off one of them and run it without the diff in, so the suspension is mounted off a cradle.

Something like that with the diff mounted in the cradle and the whole lot as an unboltable component. But with outboard coilovers and not machined from billet.
What are peoples thoughts?

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Simplify and add lightness

It would be nice. I'd love to do an AWD Mini....One Day

I like the SuperFastMini's (Mini Tec) rear end (set up for Honda CRV AWD)





http://superfastminis.com/AWD_CRV_KIT.htm

But as with anything we want to do, it all comes down to the Engineer.

Cheers,

Dicko

PM Dave rosethal

I had a discussion with him about a rear end conversion........ It sounded so easy, well for Dave anyway...

I am sure he will chime in

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When I get home I will post some pics of the one that I am building for my car.
I am running 13"x 7" wheels with 7" discs on the back.
The pics that Dicko put up the new subframe is very similar except the center is only a single frame and the corrola bottom arms are only about 4" apart on the pivots.
The trailing arm fit into a bracket just forward and below the standard mounting points for the std subframe.
The rear part has a rectangular frame as this clears the new fuel tank/spare wheel that is going in.
The corrolla has coil over struts but they are too high so I have swapped them with some off the front of a diahatsu and set them up with full adjustment. The original shocker mount in mudguard is cut out and lifted about 2" to take the top of the strut.
None of the suspension arms need to be cut and they all have adjustment on them and the mounting brackets have different position mounts.
Doing a rough comparrision with weight of full rear mini end and the new rear end the weight saving is about half and you have discs.

I will also post pics of the front subframe camber adjuster on the top arm with the 9 1/2" discs and drive shafts/CV joints/ drive flanges off a nissan fitted into the mini hubs with taper roller brgs.
The only difference is I am running 4 1/2" PCD wheels with 1/2" studs.
The drive shafts are cut down VW passat [hollow] and fitted into honda ATB diff. The splines are 26mm and I dont think a mini engine will break these.

PS those blokes who asked about the civic diff do a search on Quaiff web site and down load the drawings for the cooper s and the civic diff Piss easy to fit with a few little mods.

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Research is the difference between speculation and investment. Anyone who copys some one else will always be second
www.minisprintgt.com

I have spoken to David in the past, it was a hue eye opener just realizing how much stuff is out there.
The Honda powered awd mini is a far better idea than the picture I had. Don't know why I didn't think of posting that picture.
And sorry I've just realized how vague my first post was.
Pretty much the aim is to have a cradle at the back that can be easily modified to suit a rear diff once I sort out different gearboxes and transfer cases (although with spools front and rear it'd be interesting). And also so the engineer has already signed off on it.
I was having another think about it today in an exam (it's amazing what you can think of under pressure). A swap to larger pcd would be very easy while I'm modifying it all and putting new suspension in the back. I'm tempted to uprade to bigger brakes off another car front and rear, the only issue is fitting under 13s. But then again it would be very simple to make a semi-spaceframe. But that would be a bit more difficult to get engineered.
I'm happy to hear any input.
Sorry for the rambling, I get bored easily on trains.

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Simplify and add lightness

Look at the cradle out of a Gti-r pulsar. Once you seen one up close you will want one. If for nothing else that they just look the part.

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But he's thriving and striving and hugging the turns.

I cant believe i didnt think of it before. Ive even got the gti-r build on 16vminiclub as a favourite.
And theyre dirt cheap on ebay. I think its a winner.
Any ideas on getting a nissan gearbox to mount to the 4efte? Then i could just run the nissan driveline when i go 4wd.

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Simplify and add lightness

what about rigging up some push rods and torsion bars to keep it all in the subframe and maintaining boot space?

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

I reckon the rear of an AWD EA81 Subaru Leone wagon or Brumby ute would work well. Trailing arms, torsion springs with adjustable height with a simple turn of the screw (under rear seat in car) and has a diff and axles. Only the shocks stick upwards so boot space could be retained.


[Edit: see link for pics: http://offroadingsubarus.com/83sedan_4wd.html ]

Get the softer torsion bars from the 2wd sedan and Uncle Bob!

I used to have a 2WD Leone from 1981 and replaced the springs with those from a wagon. Easy!.

M