so big parts............so long...........!!!!!!!!!!

I run very similar numbers on my cars, although I don't autocross them.

front
1/2 degree camber, 2.5 caster left and 3 right to compensate for crowned roads. 1/16 toe out

Rear
1/2 degree camber, 1/16 toe-in

Seems very stable on the road even running 13's

I'm lucky in that I have access to a 1 year old Hunter laser alignment machine (I teach automotive courses at the local college), makes all this much easier!

Great information ... and Andy, don't worry about potential thread hijack. I always find I learn even more when the discussion broadens a bit. 

I also agree it's tough to be competitive outside of a vintage class. keep an eye out for any GoodGuys car club events though. I attended one in Mass last year and the autocross course was extremely tight. Perfect for a mini and great fun surprising many of the high horsepower street rods. Everyone had a blast and depending on the event you may get as many runs as you can handle. I absolutely obliterated my (already worn) 032's but it was worth it. 

Steve thanks again!!


Will try those tweaks for the rear.  Have not been able to autocross as much as I would like to recently (work) but hopefully will get back out there.


On a side note, there is a local club that offers a "vintage" class and it brings out a lot of the older cars.  Stays with the SCCA rules but can only run street tires not "stickies".  


Would like to have seen you in action in the day with your car.




Andy

I would think you are confusing the rear end. Positive camber is telling it not to hook up and the toe is making it hook up. Try 3/4 degree camber at the rear and reduce toe to 1/16 or less. It may reduce body roll and that inner front tire from lifting. I have not seen many shocks that allow separate adjustment of bump and rebound. If in fact you can do that 3/4 hard bump and 1/4 hard rebound at the front. I'm currently working on a front sub frame for an auto crosser. The last year I ran a SCCA national solo 2 season I was 1st SE, 3rd NE and 5th at the nationals in A S/P. Steve (CTR)

Settings are: At the front, 1/16" total toe out, 1-1/2 degrees negative camber, caster adjusted to 3 degrees after lowering mostly to keep from tearing up the tire/fender.  At the rear, fixed camber at 1 degrees positive with 1/8" toe in.

Spax gas-adjust shocks that are adjustable but for both bump and rebound.  Usually set to full firm at the front when autocrossing and 1/4 soft at the rear.  The rear anti-roll bar is adjustable and set "in the middle" as I tried to make it a little more stiff but the car became tail happy.

Very sensitive to tire pressures - seems around 40 psi front and 26- 28 at the rear work best.

If in the rain I go full soft on everything - tire pressures, shock settings.

You are right when I first started autocrossing the courses were 40 seconds to 1 minute now in the 30 second range with a lot of hot shoes out there.


Andy

The clutch type or pawl ones are not fun to drive. The pawl type, none out there I'd expect but locked and unlocked at will and wore quickly. The clutch type need heat to even out and not much of that in 31 sec. What shocks are you running and if adjustable is it bump or rebound you are adjusting? When you say factory what numbers are you at as it sat last time checked? Off set bushes left your front camber number at? Steve (CTR)

Steve thanks for the input.  Not trying to hijack the original thread I assumed a limited slip would help as I have lost traction at the inside front wheel.  Maybe play with suspension settings again and go from there.


Andy

How much do you think a limited slip and gear should cost? What CWP ratio would you like? What do you expect it to do for you? What wheel tire combo did A S/P allow? Sorry for all the questions. I auto crossed from 68 though 88 then Vintage raced till son born 2000. Supported Vintage racers since. Last race car sold and gone from shop. Well there is a fresh shell with cage and all the parts. Visited auto cross recently, 31 sec runs 3 series BMW, Honda 2000, Porsche and cobra kit force 5 MX5 were the fast cars. Steve (CTR)

Edit:  Sorry just wondering about this stuff for awhile. Not sure I'd want a posi a cross pin may be enough. If you got 2 with tires what would Dunlop Slicks soft compound get you?

FWIW it has been a while but while I was actively autocrossing I used the stock supension settings for caster, toe and bought some front offset bushings from our host.  Also using a rear anti-roll bar, lowered the car and corner-weighted with good results.  This kept me in SCCA's "FSP" class.

If you are able, tires made a big difference.  I tried the A-008's initially and sprung for A-032's with slightly lighter wheels and took 2 seconds off!

Still struggling though as where the "classic" Mini falls in the rulebook makes it a challenge - still a blast to drive though.

Now if I can just come up with the $$$ to get a limited slip....


Andy

I have been collecting equip. to correctly measure and adjust mini suspension setting for years. Having scales with ramps to allow getting on and off without jacking. Dunlop toe gauge as well as Dunlop Castor/Camber King Pin gauges with turn tables. Castor camber and toe at front, toe and camber at the rear as there is no castor back there. Corner weights with driver and 1/2 tank fuel would be in order. I don't know which Hi Los you are using. Be aware when getting low the threaded rod can bottom against the nut in the center of the Comp. rubber springs raising the corner as you lower. If you find yourself needing to shorten the threaded part I have several sets which I have removed from race cars which have been shortened already. If using the lower pinch weld I measure at the forward edge of door and just as it turns up at rear wheel. I set cars 3/4 inch higher at the rear to help with weight transfer under accel. 

I notice you did not mention adjustable lower arms. 
C-AJJ 3360 is a nice set and are easy to adjust on car. Camber in the front is a important tuning aid. Since getting my Dunlop castor /camber gauge I have taken to measuring castor on any car that comes in with adjustable tie rods. I have yet to find a car with the same castor on both sides. I know some people run different on high crown roads. I would not expect 3 to 4 degrees diff. I also know people use the adjustable tie rods to push the wheels back to clear fenders. 

Due to loading and camber thrust it is best to roll back and forth and bounce a little after each change.

I bring a car in set it up and take all measurements as is and record. Take the car out and run it hard then see if the measurements are repeatable. Every adjustment affects all the others to some degree. I have an order to set up and follow it each time. Once where I think I want it, out for another hard run and back to see if it's where I left it. 

We all know once set up and testing begins only one change at a time. Once a change is made all other measurements are checked and restored if the desired change has moved them. If the driver is not around I find a friend about correct height and weight give them a news paper and cup of coffee and go to work on corner weights. I like to balance across the front and let the rear take car of the difference.
My next autocross car will have a right hand tank only and me on the left. With the battery and tank on that side it should help.

Tens are easier to work with and more forgiving, with 12s and 13s you need to get it all right to get full reward for your efforts. I'm working on a late car with 12s. Once I had it where I thought it would work it was very unstable at speed, the slightest steering input would change lanes at 70 mph. It was clear the push was gone. I removed a little camber at the front ( which helped ) then added a little to the rear ( again a little help ) followed by adding toe in at rear. It's stable at speed and very happy to turn and rotates nicely.

Getting this car sorted required two days of adjusting and testing with three of us on it. Well two working and one just sitting. Steve (CTR) 

Thanks for the great input!  I'm off to the garage to start tweaking but more guidance is always welcome if anyone else wants to chime in. 

 That's a big order, but you seem to have a reasonable grasp of what you are doing, so here is my 2-hour contribution, hoping it will help others as well. 
  To adjust rear camber, you need to raise or lower the outboard end of the swing arm pivot point.  Measure what camber is now, then jack up the rear and loosen the big nut, so you can make an adjustment.  I forget how long the pivot shaft is; lets say 10 inches.  A one degree change equals .017" per inch of shaft length, so over a 10" pivot length, you would raise the outboard end by .170" to increase negative camber by 1 degree.  There is no Caster on a swing arm type rear suspension(non steerable); caster is the side view "king pin" inclination angle (on the front swivel hubs, in the case of a Mini), when the car is sitting at ride height on a level surface.  Luckily, it so happens that on Mini hubs(uprights), a line passing through the 2 caliper mounting holes is exactly parallel to the "king-pin" axis, so you can use a cheap pendulum protractor held against those bolt heads (if you use allen heads which have round heads), The car needs to be sitting on the tires while checking the angle and pointed straight ahead.  If you have trouble getting the protractor on the caliper bolts, make an extension out of a flat piece of metal or wood that has parallel edges.  if the wheels/tires are in the way, measure the distance from the floor up to the bottom of the lower ball joint stud, then make a little stand from a scrap piece of metal the same length and remove the wheel, sitting the car back down on the spacer stand, thus simulating ride height.
  For finding steering rack center,  rig a pointer off the dash or door jam that points to a spot on the steering wheel.  then turn the wheel to full lock in both directions, placing pieces of tape on the steering wheel rim at the full lock positions. (it helps to have the front wheels off the ground).  then center the steering wheel half way in between the tape marks. now check where the front wheels are pointing.  if the rack is centered the wheels should be pointing straight ahead.  if not, make sure the rack's tie rod ends are screwed onto the rods the same number of turns on both sides.  If they are, then  loosen the rack u-bolts and slide the rack in the appropriate direction to center it according to your marks on the steering wheel.  It is not real critical to have the rack perfectly centered; if it is off a bit, you will just have a little more steering to one side than the other.  Once you are happy with the position, you can re-index the steering wheel on the steering shaft spline to get the spokes centered.
   You should have toe-out in the front and zero to slightly toe-in on the rear, for most applications.  I find it easiest to use the sidewall bulge,(high point), to measure to.  I use a home made caliper, made from a 1 x 2 stick, 5 or 6 foot long that sits on the floor, with a couple short 9 inch sticks, C-clamped to the sides of the horizontal stick, so they stick up at a little less than 90 degrees.  this makes a simple caliper that can be set against the outer sidewall of each tire;  it is very accurate.   Set the ends of the vertical sticks against the sidewalls in the front,(roll the car to a position that the sticks don't hit any raised tire lettering); tighten the clamps so they can't move, then transfer the caliper behind the tires and check that there is a gap, (which indicates toe-out). Again, 17 thousandths per inch = one degree....34 thou is 2 degrees; 8 thou is 1/2 degree, etc.  Measure across the tire to the sidewall high points..... this will be about 14 inches for 10 inch tires.  so if you had a gap of 1/16", with a tire checking diameter of 14 inches, that would equal .0044 per inch, or about 1/4 degree total toe out or 1/8 degree per side.  
  I run about double that in front, on my car, but with less power, you can get away with less toe-out. the amount will also greatly depend on how much compliance you have in your suspension and steering.  In the rear, most guys like some toe-in, but a little toe out will help the car turn-in on the slower Autocross corners, where under steer is more problematic.  on the track, rear toe-out can be unnerving, making the car feel loose.
  For castor, I have not figured that out yet, I think most guys run stock specs, around 3 to 4 degrees, but some run as much as 7+. Just keep in mind that increasing castor increases the jacking effect, which raises(loads) the inside front corner and lowers,(unloads) the outside front corner,(opposite of what you would like);  the more steering offset you have,(like offset wheels), the worse it gets.
  I can't comment on Sway bars(anti-roll bars) for the standard weight distribution of A series powered cars, as my car is very nose heavy with the B-series Honda, so requires a different setup. I use a fairly stiff bar in the rear and a very stiff one in front.  Most track guys seem to run A-series Minis with only a light rear bar or none at all.  I can say that optimum set-ups for Autocross will be quite different than Track setups.
Hope this helps.

    

Thanks Dan,
I'm going to adjust further based on your suggestions. 

Still hoping someone can help answer questions 2 & 3 ...

I'm trying to set up the suspension on my '62 mini to improve handling for track days/autocross and have a few questions about string alignment, camber, caster setting, etc:

The car:
62 Mini with 10x5 Yoko 008 tires
urethane bushings
Spax adjustable shocks (older ... adjusted to most firm setting)
new competition rubber cones with hi los
adjustable rear camber brackets (camber only, not caster)
and adjustable front tie rods
no rear sway bar (yet)

Goal
Want to create a baseline setup for a car that will be used for track days, autocross and around town misbehaving.  I've participated in plenty of autocross events, but I'm still a track day novice, so hoping to achieve a setup that doesn't just plow around the corners, but also gives some warning before swapping ends at speed.


Steps completed
- I've read Calver's setup article and various posts on the forum so I know the basic order of adjustment, etc.
- I've used linoleum tiles and laser to ensure car is level.
- Ride height is currently level at about 7 3/4" from ground to side seam.
-
- Can't use the "string around the tires" method because of interference from wheel arches, but I've measured carefully and have string on jack stands running parallel to the car.  (took a while, but it's set up)
- Hi Lo's have been adjusted to ensure car is as level side-to-side as possible. Also essentially level front-to-back (at present).

Questions
1) Should car be set up "empty" or should I simulate my weight in the drivers seat by adding a dead body or perhaps something slightly less smelly?

2) The car has this style of adjustable rear camber brackets .   Are they adjusted with car on the ground, or in the air ... I assume I just loosen the large nut, but mine seem frozen in place. Advice?

3) I know I should center the steering rack before adjusting front toe, but I can't see the spot for the centering pin when I remove the rubber plug on the passenger floor. It has a recent (MkIII) rack.  Am I looking in the wrong place?  Is there some other way of ensuring rack is centered?

4) And finally, what's appropriate toe for front/rear?   Remember, I'm using tape measure and running 10" wheels.  Should measurement be made from edge of wheel, center of tire, or somewhere else?

Any and all advice/recommended settings are appreciated!