Minissan!

[Jesse C.]

Here we go Bonvo! Fresh off the boat from Japan and already carbed! (Course shipping brings it up closer to 1K.)

 

Did they ever sell the carbed ones in the US? (Though the stuff to carb it at VG30.com would do the job too!)

 

Ebay VG30 Carbed

 

 

From what I know, only Saudi Arabia and a few pan pacific countries got the carbed VG. If this one is from Japan, it has a throtle body style unit just like the first ones we got here in the U.S.

[72240z]

Ya like its been said its a vg30i (i = tbi), same one thats in my truck. It's the least hp of any of the vg's but it has one of the better tq output/curves. As much as I like it I wouldn't choose it for a project. Finding top end parts for it is a nightmare since they only used it in 2 models for 3 years.

 

kae is 152@4400

kade is 160@4400

vgi is 167@2800

 

the vgi is good truck motor but with its low hp I think thats it. It's prob is that it has super low comp, I guess to keep it easy and long lasting. When I swapped my block to a z31 W series block with higher comp out of a z there was a very noticeable difference.

 

The vg30s(carbed) only came in the Cedric Y31.

 

On a side note that guy is crazy as well as wrong. I can get a z31 vg30e and trans ecu and harness for 650 lol. 650 for just a vg30i...... :lol:

[510love]

14.8 is lame.......especially in the mini.......shouldve kept the 8k he wasted on the mini and buy a 510 with a sr or ka and he would be in the same time bracket with 3k+ in his pocket.

[72240z]

Well in all fairness he was in no way shape or form building a drag car. I'd bet good money on a real track it could beat quite a few cars that run better in the 1/4.

[MAG58]

Well in all fairness he was in no way shape or form building a drag car. I'd bet good money on a real track it could beat quite a few cars that run better in the 1/4.

 

 

Not so sure about that. RWD Mini's with any sort of horsepower are VERY difficult to control. They tend to be very tail happy and have a bunch of funky tendencies. It probably handles well, but the standard Mini driving technique of "when scared, plant your right foot and point the front wheels in the general direction you want to go" is mostly void. After that they become quite tricky to get around a track and very non forgiving.

[72240z]

That car is no longer a mini, it just looks like one lol. The whole front end is tubed, with a vg, the entire rear end is multilink s13. Completely different animal.

Every light rwd car can get gnarly in turns if it's not dialed in or the driver doesn't know what they are doing. Never the less that is the universal recipe for a good track car.

[MAG58]

That car is no longer a mini, it just looks like one lol. The whole front end is tubed, with a vg, the entire rear end is multilink s13. Completely different animal.

Every light rwd car can get gnarly in turns if it's not dialed in or the driver doesn't know what they are doing. Never the less that is the universal recipe for a good track car.

 

Again, I'm not sure. Not that I don't think that it's good well designed products, but it has an itty bitty teeny weeny wheel base. Those make for good auto-x cars, but scary as shit track cars. Stuff with wheel bases that small get twitchy and on any high speed maneuvering, it's pretty scary. I really hope he nixed the Mini rack, because truth be told it has the turning radius of a truck (circa 1963 CV joints don't exactly flex much).

[72240z]

Given the facts known I stand by what I said lol. Make no sense to argue it though, no one here has driven the car.

[Jesse C.]

I really do not care how much of Drag Machine this car is, my biggest peeve was the Horsepower claim. Maybe with the nitrous shot, but, you can drive it all day on nitrous! They go BOOOM when you do that.

 

As for the short wheelbase, yeah, that can make it handful and that begs the question, was he giving it all the beans or just tickling the pedal when he made the pass. It sounded pretty soft to me. I crewed on a short wheelbase car and it when decently straight in the quarter while hittin the high 7's. Sure it was running an SBC with a 6-71 blower on alcohol, but it was short and wild!

[fastclown]

As the builder of Minissan, I guess one of my enjoyments with is reading posts about it around the world. I would say about 95% is positive and enjoyable to read. I'll try to answer some of the questions that were brought up here.... First off, there was nobody more disappointed than me when I went on the drag strip! Embarrassing is the best description. The day before at the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge was the autocross and I found that my front springs were at least 100lbs shy, but I thought, no big deal this thing will be great at the drags... nope... When I hit 3rd gear it just fell flat, very flat, even with NOS, flat... I was told later that night that the 500 Holley was to big, so when I got home I researched it and found that for what I have it should be a 290cfm, but when I build a 11:1 engine that a 350cfm is almost perfect. So I bought a 350... With the 350 it ran very rich. I made my own jets that sit behind the power valve, still to rich... WTF. I had the mild cams advanced for more torque since these engines are promoted for their torque. But it pulls hard up to 7,000rpm, so what's going on? I figured the long and open intake is probably better for higher RPM's. So I retarded the cams and the fuel mixture is closer to correct. So, in that video, the carb was wrong, the cam timing was off, and I couldn't get a better than 2.2 60ft. time with the current gearing and crappy Sumitomo tires, Oh well, live and learn. I'm not a drag guy, 100% road racing background. Have I taken it back to the drags? Nope, I've been using the car for what it's intended for, promoting my drug prevention campaign in hopes to find someone that cares enough about kids to help get the campaign back on track. No luck in the good ole' USA. Minissan was featured in a book in the UK, maybe they care over there... So for now it's a show car that has won me about 5k and a trip to the SEMA show, then one day it will be an 11:1 track day car, hopefully one day to go to the Ultimate Track Day Challenge, that's when I get to old to be the only one that cares about the kids nationally...

 

Minissan was first being built for the Grassroots Motorsports Challenge. I had it mechanicalal done for about $1,500, then I decided to spend some extra money/hours on it and have it be seen worldwide for my campaign www.worldsfastestclown.com or the short version www.godsavetheclown.com.

 

HP numbers, obviously that includes the NOS, what's the problem? The engine has mild cams, aluminum flywheel, 6 puck clutch, MSD ignition. The combined HP number is a guess but more than doable with NOS and proper tuning.

 

Not a Mini? The history of the Mini shows that in the early '60's big engine swaps started; this is considered a Mini custom, still a steel shelled MIni. I spent probably a couple hundred extra hours on the build to keep as much Mini as possible. Real Mini enthusiasts enjoy finding so much Mini on it.

 

Handling on the street? The easiest way to put it... try to catch me. It squats and launches you forward. I've driven and raced many types of cars and there's nothing like this! It is not tail happy at all unless you turn drastically hard and punch it to the floor, then you get a smokey slide... Yes it has a stock Mini steering rack and you can turn the wheel with 2 fingers, amazing...

 

The sound? At 7,000rpm through a small blow through baffle, even more amazing. It sounds like a Trans Am series V8.

 

The front end is not tubed, it's a Mini front subframe with Mini upper and lower arms and tierods. The cage tubes are for the shocks and to add support to the front of the Mini subframe. The rear subframe and suspension is all 240SX/300ZX.

Wasted 8k, show me yours....

 

Feel free to ask any question...

Mike Guido

[Skib]

Welcome to Ratsun Mike :cool:

 

 

got any more pictures of that rad little beast you care to share ;) (Ratsun looooves pics)

[fisch]

Welcome to Ratsun Mike :cool:

 

 

got any more pictures of that rad little beast you care to share ;) (Ratsun looooves pics)

 

 

Very cool mike! Welcome! I have mad respect for this build!

[fastclown]

The Ebay video pretty much covers the build, but here's some pics...

 

Minissan is really a pile of mixed up parts to keep it cheap/creative.

Yamaha monoshocks, Austin America hubs, MG Metro turbo hubs, Hyundai

rotors, Outlaw calipers, Mini upper and lower arms and adjustable tie rods,

home made sway bar, custom made adapter for the hub to rotor, stock

steering rack with home made steering arms.

 

Art... to me, just friggen beautiful... "Minissan: was water jet cut from SS and polished.

 

Inside the car with the panels an SS heat shields removed. Just like any Mini

it actually leaked oil when it was done. I should have done the rear seal while the

engine was out, DUH! I was able to do the seal through these openings...

The SS heat shields were made from a SS BBQ grill that was being thrown away...