mx5 powered mini clubman estate

[digler]

a few years ago i said that i'd love to build a mini estate, but it would be either a fwd vw 1.8 20v turbo, or a mazda mx5 powered rwd estate.
The thing that has put me off in the past is the price of even a rotten mini estate! most being about a grand for a complete but rotten car.
But when a friend of my brothers put some pictures on facebook of some bits he was selling, things started to fall into place.
They had bought the clubman estate years ago with the intention of restoring it and putting a bigger motor in, but they just didn't get round to doing it. Time to sell up!!

I have bought it for the same money they had paid for it, £300!!!! sure it's not a complete car but it's got all i need to get started.








so thats the mini, now i need a mazda mx5 to use for the bits i need. i could have got all the parts i needed as i needed them, but it would be cheaper to buy a full car, so thats what ive done.
£700 with a couple of months t&t 74.000miles aircon, power steering 1.8 motor and an LSD!!






What i'm hoping to do is fit the whole floor from the mx5 into the mini, but i don't want to cut it down and make it shorter or narrower.
my plan is to get the floor in and then all the bits will go back on, engine, gearbox diff, wiring and all the brakes and steering.

at the moment i'm not sure if i want to keep it a clubman or put a round nose on.

[monsterz4]

Jan 27, 2013 8:55:48 GMT digler said:

hello

More needed then that after the title you've used! Spill the beans.....

[digler]

finally got my new project into my garage yesterday, and boy have i got some work to do!!! plenty of measuring going on to start with before i start cutting anything!!
not got a lot of room to do it all in though, didn't realise how much bigger an estate was over a standard mini.

[digler]

got started with cutting some of the rot out, there's a good bit more than it first looked like, but that always the case, but it had a lot of bodge repairs in the past!! using fibreglass!!!
anyway i got the front end off.

[digler]

got a bit more cutting done, after i got the car i did feel a bit guilty about cut the floor out, because it didn't look too bad, but after having a better look underneath i don't feel so bad!!!!



there are a few pictures missing









ive welded some box section into the sills, to brace the shell and to give me something better to weld the new floor too.

[digler]

i spent all week making a frame to mount the clubman shell to so i could lift it up,

its only gonna be up there for a little while but i have no room to put it out of the way.









just fits in!!









i start on the mx5 today, cutting all the body off, can't wait till i have the two bits in the garage so i can see whats to do

[digler]

[digler]

been getting on with cutting up the mx5, hell its a tough old nut!! solid though, no rust on it anywhere!!

[digler]

last bit of the mazda body came off today,

[digler]

got body sat onto floor, apart from how far back the steering wheel is it looks ok,
i'm going to move the steering, gear stick and pedals forward anyway so it should be fine.






i have cut down the sides of the front windscreen and stretch the shell by about 2" each side.





you can see that the clubman bonnet covers the radiator, and i can move the radiator back by about 2", so i can fit a round nose on and exstend it by 100mm and it'll all fit under.
i think with it been an estate you'll not notice the longer front end as much, and with the bigger wheels on.

[digler]

ive boxed off the sill on one side, and tidyed up any bits that i'd cut.
now i'm just on with repairing the door post, because if i leave it till the shell on it'll be a right pain!!
also i sorted how i'm going the weld the shell onto the floor,

[digler]

ive repaired the door piller but ive also welded an 8" long bit of 1" box section into the piller, that links into the box section in the sills.







then i boxed it in to the sill box section



then ive done the same on the back, 9" lenth of 1" box section linked to the sill.






i put my old round nose bonnet on to see how much i'd need to make it longer if i went with a round nose.



but i think i'm going with the clubman front

[owen]

Gonna be awsome tool when its finished..will be
Keeping an eye on this one

[Fossilfish]

:oMan you have skill!

May I be cheeky and ask if you still have a few bits of body from the MX was after front mud flaps

Will bookmark this for sure!

[owen]

Whats the plans for the escort in the garage.

[mk2polobloke]

Blimey, you've had a busy morning!
This is the sort of build I like, an excellent choice of modern running gear with a nice old classis body.
I hope you do keep the Clubman front, you don't see many and I really think they look good especially in estate guise.
Keep up the good work mate.

[MK2VR6]

Wow, that distracted me from my Sunday morning joblist!
Will be interesting to see how you sort the logistics of the steering wheel, and nose length. One million out of 10 for bravery though. As for the Mx5, I wonder if people will be chopping up ropey old S2000's in 15 years time, and slotting them into Mx5's, which are by now, thin on the ground? Can't get over just how cheap they are at the mo.

[Seth]

That looks like its coming on very well The mini body is much closer in dimensions than I'd have thought it'd be.

Are you intending to keep much of the MX5 dash or do you want it to be more 'Mini' inside?

[omega]

i don't like roof chops but this build is crying out for one

[stew316i]

wow very nice , seemed a shame to chop up a nice looking mx5 but its looking like a good build so far .