| Nick Mossop & MAC#1 in MiniWorld October 2007 |
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| Monday, 10 September 2007 | |
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We were really pleased for Nick Mossop, a veteran MAC#1 Builder, when we heard that his latest project, (following on from his superb Type 7R built in 2003), a Kawasaki-engined Mini, that the MAC#1 Team helped him to create, was to be featured in the October edition of MiniWorld Magazine.
What MiniWorld said about Nick's Mini: WRITER'S OPINION - Andy Butler With his background of tinkering with all sorts of mechanical stuff and building kitcars, it's not surprising that Nick has made a good job of his bike-motor conversion. The fit of all the internal panelling is fantastic, the quality of the mechanical work is top-notch and the whole car is a really well thought-out conversion. I'm looking forward to meeting up with Nick in some less soggy weather to go for a proper blast. Donington sounds good, eh, Nick? EXTRACTS FROM THE ARTICLE: "We are used to people double-taking when we're following some of the car that we photograph for MiniWorld. Obviously the Minis mus be very special, otherwise we wouldn't be taking the pictures and watching the rubbernecking is always pretty funny. But even we weren't ready for the sight of Nick Mossop's Kawasaki-engined Mini pulling out of a rain-washed junction with both rear tyres spinning, the back end stepping out and other drivers wondering what the heck was going on! But while the idea of a rear-drive, bike engine Mini is nothing new to most of us, Nick's car has one outstanding unique feature - the engine is still under the bonnet. He has been a serial car tweaker for a long time now, doing everything from routine maintenance to building kit cars and this mad melding of Mini and Kawasaki is the latest product of long hours spent in his small garage. Well, both inside and outside the garage, actually, as the work space is tiny and a lot of the jobs have to be done once dry weather has arrived, out on the driveway... ...Having built a MAC#1 Motorsports [Type ??R] kitcar, Nick reckoned he could fit one of their rear subframes into his Mini and use that to support a Sierra diff and driveshaft assembly. All he had to do was have the subframe made to fit into the Mini's dimensions and then he'd be on the way... Once solid, a large amount of the Mini's rear end steelwork was removed to allow the MAC#1 subframe to fit onto the original rear subframe mounts and the new rollcage. The new subframe was built 200mm narrower than usual, and shortened Sierra driveshafts join the siff to the refurbished hubs. While at the MAC#1 workshop, the engine was test-fitted and solid engine mounts made up to align the gearbox output shaft with the centreline of the vehicle so that a propshaft could be used to join it to the rear diff. A framework of 20mm box-section tubing was built up to allow a thin skin of aluminium sheet to cover the propshaft's path, and the framing and sheeting were extended to box in the whole of the back end using lighter-weight 30mm angle-section aluminium for the framework. The twin fuel tanks are also hidden under this panelling... " 
You can download the entire article from MiniWorld here: |
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 06 December 2007 ) |
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