Hi Randy! Hey, congratulations on winning "Best of Show" @ MM's open house. How's MMW going? Too bad about our friend breaking down.  I'd be curious to know what happened. We have a similar build. Yep, I made it home safe and sound. Good fun! 

Michael: Nice to have chatted with you at the open house Sat. The other fellow that we spoke with and had similar dyno numbers to your car dropped by at the autocross/funkana at MMW. today. Said on the way back to San Fran. his car broke down on I-80 and he slept in his car overnight on the edge of the freeway until he could get the car hauled home. Glad your Mini made it home. Randy

Im still thinking of how i can install a toyota 1.8 liter engine with auto transmission in the back of my mini,  i need a low rev automatic trans to do long trips.  My toyota cruises 70mph at 2600 rpm only.  If i can manage to put its engine on my mini it will be perfect. I dunno why in 58 years of mini existence, no one has ever done it.  
I did alll the measuring and it sure fits, the only problem are the bracketries and mounting points.  But hellya i'll do it i dont care.

Like it! I did all my poor riding slammed mini stuff back when I was 16/17 now I'm building my boy racer car with a bit more built in comfort! As for 60mph not sure what diff you have but that engine should cruise along all day at 4,000 rpm without hurting it?  

Lesson being, setting the car up depends upon how one is going to use it. The very few of us that use a Mini as a daily driver and/or make long distance runs (members of the North American Classic Mini Brigade) tend to pay more attention to a practical car build rather than one the looks cool when parked.

Glad you and your car survived the heat.

Great review, Great humour

Big AL

Rosebud and I did a 1100 mile road trip from Santa Barbara to Nevada City over the weekend to attend MM’s Nevada City Adventure. I thought I’d let my forum friends know how Rosebud did on the dyno and what it’s like to drive a Classic Mini a thousand miles from sea level to 2500’ elevation and back again.

 

Rosebud is loud and harsh. For that, I am to blame. That’s what I wanted and that’s how I build her. But it doesn’t make for a pleasant highway cruiser. Earplugs take care of the noise but the Delta springs and minimalist Newton bucket seats took their toll on my back and neck—never mind that I have a spinal fusion and a bunch of screws in my neck. I may have to visit my surgeon and have the screws re-torqued. I was looking forward to driving the curvy and steep Hwy 41 (the road that James Dean was on when he and his Porsche Spyder plowed into a farm truck), but it was not meant to be. A highway sign cautioned that there was an accident ahead and to expect long delays.

 

Since it was still before noon and the ambient temperature was already 111° and climbing, I chose to take an alternate route. A couple of weeks ago I was on this very forum complaining that Rosebud runs a little too cool; that I rarely saw water temps above 175° Someone please shoot me if I ever again complain about low water temps. During the heat of the day I watched the temp gauge climb and level off at 220°! At least I think it leveled off. Since the gauge tops out at 220° it might have gone even higher. I watched the temp gauge more closely then I did the speedo, my concern rising with every degree. Next came Hwy 5, a two-lane, truck and tractor infested highway-to-hell if there ever was one. The trucks travel at 70 mph and the cars do 80+ while I limited Rosebud to 60. Also, the right lane stretching for 100s of miles was ether under repair or in need of repair. The humps in the road that I’d never noticed in the family car were perfectly out-of-sync for Rosebud’s suspension and wheelbase. My eyeballs stopped jumping only yesterday. 

 

We finally made it to Nevada City w/o bursting a radiator hose or losing any coolant for that matter. Soon it was Rosebud’s turn on the dyno. Although I cringed to hear my motor sustain 6500 RPM for what seemed like hours (it was actually more like 5 secs), I was pleased with the numbers: 72.6 HP and 72.3 ft lbs. of torque at the wheel. The torque came on @ 3500 RPM. Sweet! So, it wasn’t just my imagination that this thing pulls like a tractor. 

 

I had a good time visiting with the other Mini-heads and I had a nice conversation with Jamal. The tri-tip BBQ was excellent, although I dropped about 20 bucks at the shaved ice stand. After a couple of hours I headed down the mountain and ducked in at a nearby Marriott. Once I cooled off in the pool and reflected on the trip, I guess it wasn’t so unpleasant after all. Rosebud come through much better than I did. After 1100 miles she didn’t use a drop of oil or water and did it all at 37.5 miles per gallon. Not bad at all…

Dyno video