Originally Posted by beaner

turboMINI: it is indeed welded in. nothing like spending $$$ to decrease the value of your car. it will be a track only car eventually, so i don't mind doing this now. no way another set of tires will fit. i have three sets of track wheels/tires anyway, so a trailer is required. for now, i just put them in my buddies trailer w/ his MINI. my own trailer is in the works. i know that i'll feel more comfortable at speed w/ the cage, seats, harnesses and hans. i am also looking forward to seeing how the added chassis stiffness will effect the handling.

Originally Posted by TurboMini

Spending $$$ to decrease value?? I am VERY familiar with the concept.

preaching to the choir here!

I know that it adds a little bit of weight that can't easily be removed, but the "sportlink" and the hitch are both convenient ways to haul stuff around. I think that for both of these systems (or at least one of them) there is a metal tray system attachment thing. from the pics I've seen, it looks as though you'd be able to put an extra set of wheels on there. Just a thought. I'll try and find some links for you.

i've checked them out, but i can't bring my mind to grasp the concept of a trailer behind a MINI. i'd rather pull up w/ the MINI in a trailer, ready to go, behind a diesel F250.

What kind of harness are you running? When I was in the process of converting the car to track only I was using the Corbeu harnesses with the retractor option. It made them SO much easier to deal with on the street. Worked just like the OEM belts; I could lean forward w/o having to loosen anything, BUT if I were to have gotten into an impact of some kind it would have locked up. Then when you go to the track, there was a **** on the side that would totally lock it up.

i bought schroth 6-pt harnesses. SFI16.5, hans-specific for the driver and profi 2 for the passenger side. i looked at harnesses w/ inertial reels, but decided that i could live w/ the pia belts on the street for a while.

And just to add some more stiffness (poor grammar) All of the convertibles came with two little braces in the engine bay. I've heard a lot of good things about them and they are relatively inexpensive. Plus if you have an 05/06, I think that holes are already there...

i authored the thread about these on NAM. a lady w/ a cabrio was doing here first track event w/ the group with which i run. i spotted them after her first session when her bonnet was up. her name is brandy, and in our group, we refer to them as "brandy braces". i don't know how much they help, but they can't hurt, they are light weight and they are cheap. i don't know why everyone who tracks their MINI wouldn't get them. i also have the M7 USS. i love it, but i will be replacing it w/ a texas speedwerks x-brace as the USS won't be compatible w/ the exhaust that i will be installing.

I'm going to stop blabbing now, but the progress looks great!!