Progress so far

We collected the chassis from Dave Smart in July 2006. First job was to find a suitable donor Mini and get it stripped. We found the donor quite quickly but it seemed to take ages to get it stripped down and de-grease all the parts we needed for the Freestyle. We decided to completely strip and re-build the engine and refurbish all of the hubs and suspension components etc.

The Mini front sub-frame complete with engine, gearbox, and suspension simply bolts to the back of the freestyle chasis. By Christmas 2006 we had got a rolling chasis and had managed to get the engine running after doing some temporary wiring and plumbing.




Over the last couple of weeks we have fabricated the fuel tanks. We reckon that each tank will hold just over 20 litres of fuel. The tanks are connected by a large pipe that will allow fuel to flow into the second tank once the first is full. The breather pipes on top will allow the air to escape as the tanks fill up.



There is an outlet pipe at the back of each tank that will go to a T piece and then on to the fuel pump so both tanks will gravity feed the fuel pump at the same time.



We have re-used the original mini fuel level sender.

My Dad works in a factory and has access to lots of nice machinery so cutting the steel sheet and tack welding the 2 tanks was done on a Saturday morning at the factory. We had the tanks welded up by one of the fabricators and then pressure tested them to find any leaks.