This build is not new. The car was actually built 3 years ago. I have been sitting on these pictures since then so I guess the time has come to share with everybody here.

Over the next few weeks, I will try to add a new section per week.

The car has been campaigned successfully in the (Castrol) Canadian Touring Car Championship and has won the T2/Touring class in 2006 and 2007.

The MINI Cooper is now getting into a price point where more enthusiasts can consider a race car build. Hopefully this might assist (and motivate?) some of you.

Please feel free to comment. Constructive criticism is also accepted.:)

Alain L
Octane Motorsports

A wreck was purchased to start with. It looks like this car hit a tree on the driver side A pillar and flipped after. Here is a collection of pictures.

More pics.

...and a few more...

So from this, to that:

more peekchos please

Alain's build here gets really good. He was kind enough to share pictures with me two years ago when I started my Mini. Though our cars are very different, without Alains help I may have not gotten as far. It inspired me to press on.
Thanks Alain. Look forward to folowing this thread. :D

MOAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111!!1!11!one1!1!!

Alain's build here gets really good. He was kind enough to share pictures with me two years ago when I started my Mini. Though our cars are very different, without Alains help I may have not gotten as far. It inspired me to press on.
Thanks Alain. Look forward to folowing this thread. :D

Thanks Greg!

I guess we haven't quite gone to the same extreme as you have! But we also learned a few tricks from you!

vdshenoy & The Fello: There'll be more pics. Just be patient!

OK, we lied. Not quite a week yet. And pictures of a crashed car couldn't be more boring for the "intello" crowd that lurks in here. Yeah right.

So the next step: Picking-up the new shell. The "special package" was picked-up right at BMW Canada Head Office. Worth a picture.

So how many of you would have guessed that the shell came with a "Factory cage"? Mind you - the wrong type. You wouldn't want to race with this one.

Direction to our good friend Wayne Hosaki's shop: Birchmount Collision. Shameless plug but at least with a nice car!

Now that we've arrived at our (intermediate) destination, time to cut the excess wood.

And add caster wheels so we can move this thing around.

Tip #1: Add wood screws to the base frame.

A few close-ups of the interior:

How easy was it to buy a shell from MINI? Can we ask the price?

As easy as checking the part number, ordering and waiting a couple of months for delivery!

Retail has now increased substantially - (Now around $CAN 8k - was cheaper then) Find yourself a good dealer that won't mark it up too much and you can cut that down substantially.

If I can ask, why did you go this route of purchasing a new shell instead of finding a different donor?

If I can ask, why did you go this route of purchasing a new shell instead of finding a different donor?

Unlike today, if you go back 3 years ago, there were very few used MINI available and the ones you could find were worth almost as much as a new one.

I had that thought after I posted. Thanks. Can't wait to see the rest of the pics.

Time for an update. Now that we have the shell, time for some cleaning

First step, removing the noise insulation with a heat gun. Sorry, we didn't keep tab of the weight, but there was enough to fill a plastic grocery bag.

The seam sealer was removed, as much for weight as in anticipation for a seam-welding job.

We experimented with a few different tools. Obviously, only the steel-based wire wheels would do the job.

More cleaning...

As the car would have to be moved to a different shop for welding, we protected the exposed metal with a temporary coat of spray.