K turbo Watsons frame

geachy87 · 24-11-2014, 04:15 PM

Decided I better start a build thread for this thing,

I decided back in 2010 that I wanted a mini, one came up for sale in town which saved me a trek as I live miles away from anywhere.
Had a quick squint at it, didnt look too bad rust wise from what I could see, although this soon turned into a full on weldathon with almost every panel below the windows being replaced.

Here is the car the day I bought it, around August 2010

geachy87 · 24-11-2014, 04:22 PM

At first I was going to just patch it up and get it through an mot so I could get use out of it and have a bit of a rolling resto, but a mate of mine said I'd be better doing it right and just stripping it and replacing what ever panels it needs.
So this happened

geachy87 · 24-11-2014, 04:24 PM

geachy87 · 24-11-2014, 04:41 PM

All in the cars had two quarter panels, a half rear panel, two half floors, both sills, both doorsteps, complete boot floor, both inner rear arches, a full heel board, repairs to the flitch panels etc etc. I'd have been better off getting another shell but I had gone that far on this one I had to keep going. Still got to fit a scuttle and repai both doors which I'm going to fit aluminium skins to to save a bit of weight.

I made the mistake of buying it a month after the birth of our first child, so the mini fund has shrunk quite a bit. Then the biggest mistake of all was when I stumbled across this forum! Haha, as soon as I started looking into all the different engine conversions on here I knew I had to do it, which obviously meant more money.

So the plan is 1800vvc in a Watsons frame, abs St front, metro gta 5 spokes, Kirkey seats, cage etc. going for a bit of a race car for the road type thing which will probably see a bit of track action as well.

So I bought the Watsons kit, then blindly bought an engine on eBay which turned out to have a cracked head, so I got a reconditioned head for it and rebuilt it with new piston rings, big end shells, gaskets etc

geachy87 · 24-11-2014, 04:48 PM

Then fitted it to the mini

I've got the body harness plug off an mgf and the engine plug off my mini so I'm wiring the two up so that it's as plug and play as possible so that it's easy to convert back to a series in the future

That's pretty much as me up to date, it's going to be a slow build but I'm going to see it through to the end and try and keep this updated as much as possible

Cheers
Iain

richie08 · 24-11-2014, 06:05 PM

Wow Iain, that's quite a big build, looking forward to following it

geachy87 · 24-11-2014, 10:48 PM

Cheers Richie, it's a lot been a lot more work than I had planned for but at least I know it'll be solid for a good few years now. Can't wait to get the engine fired up to get the motivation back again, need to get Christmas out the way first though before I start spending on it again, doesn't help that it's the birds birthday on the 14th December aswell!

windymiller · 24-11-2014, 10:53 PM

Fair play, thats a lot of work! Keep it up

geachy87 · 22-01-2015, 03:03 PM

Not done much on this for a while, got my engine loom all sorted out and connected up, currently waiting on a timing belt kit and ecu set to arrive in the post. Hopefully have a first start video some time next week if all goes well. I'll upload more photos of progress as soon as I've done anything photo worthy

ardonfast · 22-01-2015, 03:30 PM

glad your back,, your early panel repairs more than make up for it,, good luck ,

geachy87 · 22-01-2015, 04:24 PM

Cheers Shaun, can't wait to properly get stuck back into it, I'm hoping that hearing the engine start will bring back the enthusiasm

theminihut · 23-01-2015, 11:39 PM

THIS IS A LOVELY QUALITY build so far this.

geachy87 · 24-01-2015, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theminihut

THIS IS A LOVELY QUALITY build so far this.

Thank you, hopefully I can keep it up!
I see you have decided to keep Steve Austin, good decision

geachy87 · 02-02-2015, 05:28 PM

So this happened today, obviously still haven't got the engine steady fitted yet, hence the mega rocking the engines doing, but pretty chuffed!
Motivation has came back quite a bit.
Just need to solve the slight problem of having to open the throttle slightly to get it to start, idles perfectly after that though with throttle in normal position.

Cheers,
Iain

Oz · 02-02-2015, 06:22 PM

Does it have an IACV ? If so it might be stuck and neeed a clean ?

24-11-2014, 04:15 PM	#1
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	K turbo Watsons frame Decided I better start a build thread for this thing, I decided back in 2010 that I wanted a mini, one came up for sale in town which saved me a trek as I live miles away from anywhere. Had a quick squint at it, didnt look too bad rust wise from what I could see, although this soon turned into a full on weldathon with almost every panel below the windows being replaced. Here is the car the day I bought it, around August 2010 Last edited by geachy87; 26-07-2017 at 04:41 PM.

24-11-2014, 04:22 PM	#2
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	At first I was going to just patch it up and get it through an mot so I could get use out of it and have a bit of a rolling resto, but a mate of mine said I'd be better doing it right and just stripping it and replacing what ever panels it needs. So this happened Last edited by geachy87; 11-07-2017 at 05:17 PM.

24-11-2014, 04:24 PM	#3
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	Last edited by geachy87; 11-07-2017 at 05:18 PM.

24-11-2014, 04:41 PM	#4
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	All in the cars had two quarter panels, a half rear panel, two half floors, both sills, both doorsteps, complete boot floor, both inner rear arches, a full heel board, repairs to the flitch panels etc etc. I'd have been better off getting another shell but I had gone that far on this one I had to keep going. Still got to fit a scuttle and repai both doors which I'm going to fit aluminium skins to to save a bit of weight. I made the mistake of buying it a month after the birth of our first child, so the mini fund has shrunk quite a bit. Then the biggest mistake of all was when I stumbled across this forum! Haha, as soon as I started looking into all the different engine conversions on here I knew I had to do it, which obviously meant more money. So the plan is 1800vvc in a Watsons frame, abs St front, metro gta 5 spokes, Kirkey seats, cage etc. going for a bit of a race car for the road type thing which will probably see a bit of track action as well. So I bought the Watsons kit, then blindly bought an engine on eBay which turned out to have a cracked head, so I got a reconditioned head for it and rebuilt it with new piston rings, big end shells, gaskets etc Last edited by geachy87; 11-07-2017 at 05:19 PM.

24-11-2014, 04:48 PM	#5
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	Then fitted it to the mini I've got the body harness plug off an mgf and the engine plug off my mini so I'm wiring the two up so that it's as plug and play as possible so that it's easy to convert back to a series in the future That's pretty much as me up to date, it's going to be a slow build but I'm going to see it through to the end and try and keep this updated as much as possible Cheers Iain Last edited by geachy87; 11-07-2017 at 05:20 PM.

24-11-2014, 06:05 PM	#6
richie08 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ayrshire, Scotland Posts: 788 Subframe: Other CC: 1396 Make: Rover ECU: Rover mems	Wow Iain, that's quite a big build, looking forward to following it

24-11-2014, 10:48 PM	#7
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	Cheers Richie, it's a lot been a lot more work than I had planned for but at least I know it'll be solid for a good few years now. Can't wait to get the engine fired up to get the motivation back again, need to get Christmas out the way first though before I start spending on it again, doesn't help that it's the birds birthday on the 14th December aswell!

24-11-2014, 10:53 PM	#8
windymiller Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Anglesey Posts: 616 Subframe: Home Made CC: 1800 Make: Rover ECU: Standard	Fair play, thats a lot of work! Keep it up __________________ Re-build with Rover 1.8 vvc: http://www.16vminiclub.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=35598

22-01-2015, 03:03 PM	#9
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	Not done much on this for a while, got my engine loom all sorted out and connected up, currently waiting on a timing belt kit and ecu set to arrive in the post. Hopefully have a first start video some time next week if all goes well. I'll upload more photos of progress as soon as I've done anything photo worthy

22-01-2015, 03:30 PM	#10
ardonfast Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: dunkeswell airfeald devon Posts: 7,804 Subframe: AMT CC: 2000 Make: Vauxhall ECU: dizzy/webers	glad your back,, your early panel repairs more than make up for it,, good luck , __________________ "yuck ,more like a 3 r2" http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=tb261HwQNDQ SAY WHAT YOU BELEVE,,BELEVE WHAT YOU LIKE, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=3JhaTwP7uuk

22-01-2015, 04:24 PM	#11
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	Cheers Shaun, can't wait to properly get stuck back into it, I'm hoping that hearing the engine start will bring back the enthusiasm

23-01-2015, 11:39 PM	#12
theminihut Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: London. Posts: 172 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.6 Make: Rover ECU: Tuned by Z&F TUNING	THIS IS A LOVELY QUALITY build so far this. __________________ "Steve Austin, the 6million hour build" MOT, March 15th 2013!!!

02-02-2015, 05:28 PM	#14
geachy87 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Campbeltown, Scotland Posts: 441 Subframe: Watson CC: 1.8t Make: Rover ECU: Kmaps	So this happened today, obviously still haven't got the engine steady fitted yet, hence the mega rocking the engines doing, but pretty chuffed! Motivation has came back quite a bit. Just need to solve the slight problem of having to open the throttle slightly to get it to start, idles perfectly after that though with throttle in normal position. Cheers, Iain

02-02-2015, 06:22 PM	#15
Oz Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Jersey, Channel Islands Posts: 4,185 Subframe: Other CC: 1595 Make: Honda ECU: DTA	Does it have an IACV ? If so it might be stuck and neeed a clean ? __________________ New subframe fitting has begun - slowly Build Thread - Standard Round Nose with K series subframe build begun

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