My custom Dune Buggy MINI. here it is.

[orangetheripper]

i posted here a LONG time ago saying i was going to get this done, and here i am almost a year later and the project is (almost) complete. its different, but what do you think?

to do it i used custom leda coilovers that were made 2.5" longer than stock, hypercoil springs that were stock length (so basically i just raised the springs 2.5" higher than normal). then i used madness pro camber plates for the front, and i had to replace both sets of rear control arms (H-sport). the tires are bf goodrich AT 28" (215/75/15). im still waiting on some 20mm spacers to fix some minor rubbing in the wheel well, but i already had to do TONS of wheel well work, grinding down a bunch of the plastic and metal both in the front and back.

the last step besides the spacers is to add a rear tire rack (swivel style attached to the body near the brake light).

the ground clearance is about 10" and i cant do too major of off-roading yet bc of the rubbing, but it handles pretty nice from what ive tested.

[RallyMINI]

THAT IS THE MOST F-NG BEAUTIFUL THING I HAVE SEEN THIS MONTH!

Color me entirely impressed! I was thinking about doing something similar to a WRX but lost interest after getting my MCS...

I'll raise a glass to that fine work!

Nice. Wow. Damn. I want one...

RMout

[mini-chik]

Holy Cr@p!

That is too cool!!!

[4wheeldrift]

I'm sure yours is the only Mini similarly equipped. What was your inspiration?

[stillthewhizz]

Fair play to you buddy. I think that looks really really cool. I'm surprised because I was ready to slate it!

Is it still 2WD? What's the ride and handling like? Do those massive tyres rub?

[dansmini]

I'll be damned...I thought you were just pulling our legs with your posts oh so long ago about making an off-road MINI, and I know you took many a lump on here for the suggestion. But, I guess you showed everybody. Nice work.

[charlief1975]

http://www.mini2.com/forum/attachmen...chmentid=50272


Very slick.

[orangetheripper]

thanks guys.

my inspiration? i saw an old beetle someone jacked up and i thought it looked really cool, and i always did like offroading in my bros jeep... so i thought i could go 2 routes w/my car... either mod the heck out of the car and have it be "fast", but without an S itll never be as fast as it couldve been, or i could go this route, try something not many people have done, where i can actually do *some* offroading and have it look cool (in my opinion).

stillthewhizz, its still 2WD... i might try to make it 4WD later, but thatll be a whole lot of cash, and i already spent all mine on just this stuff. ill probably get a limited slip differential first to help with some more traction. the handling is great, barely changed from stock (w/normal driving) as far as i can tell. acceleration is a TAD slower in 2nd, but hardly noticeable... i should get better Highway gas mileage at least. the wheels DID rub, more than i thought they would... i had to get a metal grinder and grind/saw away about 80% of the plastic wheel well lining, and then i had to cut away some of the metal and other plastic inside too... and im waiting on some spacers to eliminate the last bit of rubbing when i turn the wheel all the way.

[JoeDentist]

Is that a standard Mini roof rack you modified? How did you wire the light bar? I'm working on a removeable one right now.

[orangetheripper]

yeah, its just the standard roof rack... the rack itself isnt modified at all. all i did was take an L shaped piece of metal that i got from home depot and drilled some holes to fit the lights. the bar slides on and off by using bolts, nuts and washers to secure it. ie the bolt head is under the roof rack slider thing, followed by a washer, then i have a washer on the other side of the rack and then a nut to tighten the 2 washers around the rack. its basically like the same system any accessory uses to fit onto that rack. the wires go down along inside of the rack, but i havent gotten a chance to actually wire them into the interior yet... so they dont actually work haha. theyre just there to look cool right now until i can get them wired up.

[Cape Cod MINI]

Man!, that's cool
I would let that lead the conga line up Mt. Washington next year.
Where are you located?

[bonz]

WOW, the new Herbie!!
Cool very cool.
Talk about being original !!

[JoeDentist]

With regard to the light bar wiring, there are a lot of kits available that are wireless remote control switches for auxiliary lights. With a system like that you only need one power wire from the bar. No switch wires. A little key chain remote turns them on and off. I plan on using a single power cable with a quick disconnect on the bar, and a cigarette lighter plug on the other end. When I want to run the light bar, I snake it down through the front of the sunroof opening and plug it in the power outlet. Then the wireless remote switches them on and off. You can buy the wireless kits for under $20 on EBAY, and the quick disconnect and cigarette lighter plug are pretty cheap. I figure under $40 to wire the whole thing up.

[Restyle]

Love the Mods, especially the Roof Light Bar.
I think we`re gonna see a lot of people spec this option in future because of the great look you`ve managed to give it
Cant wait for the pics of it on the beach

[grnmene]

Nucking futs! I love it.... Who said the new Mini would never be an off-road rally car?

I want to do the same thing with the driving lights - I've been trying to find a roof rack that I saw on NAM, but apparently it was custom (it also had a spare up there). I guess I'll have to warm up the welder and make one.

Fine piece of work!

Let us know how you solve the 'rubbing' problem.