Rear Beam Adjustment

[Dewsnap Mk1]

Hi,
Please excuse the inexperience when it comes to my question, my knowledge of Midas' is weak compared to that of Minis.

Im trying to organize the rebuild of my dads mk1 for next easter, but as I want this to be a surprise, aswell as life being highly stressed for us atm, I cannot ask him many questions.
I have found a source for a set of new avo lowered coil overs, but would like to ask is there any ways or parts availible so that I can adjust the rear geometry on the rear beam?

On my Mini I have fitted adjustable camber brackets, when following my Dad, the rear has lots of positive camber, which looks plain stupid, aswell as hindering performance. AFAIK the rear beam is standard, but as im lowering the rear alot, I need to sort out the the camber of the wheels, are there any ways without chopping the beam, as I dont have a clue of where to get a replacement beam from?

Sorry for the questions, even though ive lived with the Midas all my life, im still learning..... lol

Cheers
Sam

[Stuart]

First I wonder how good the rear beam still is? they have a nasty habit of rusting out on the bit hidden up against the heelboard.
If the beam is still solid the only way to adjust it will be to enlarge the outer pivot hole and then weld a washer on once you've set it up how you want. Or you could copy the style used on Mini adjustable beams.

[DavidL]

It might be worth your while checking the condition of the radius arm bushes, if you haven't already done so. My Bronze used to eat those on a regular basis.

[Dewsnap Mk1]

We're now thinking of either getting a Mini beam, or cutting down a Mini subframe to use as a beam, so that the tried and tested camber brackets can be used. Will also mean that it'll be a straight swap, rather than fabricating bits on the old frame

[Alan D.]

We're now thinking of either getting a Mini beam, or cutting down a Mini subframe to use as a beam, so that the tried and tested camber brackets can be used. Will also mean that it'll be a straight swap, rather than fabricating bits on the old frame

The Midas is narrower than the Mini at the rear. So in my opinion a Mini rear beam or subframe will not fit without extensive alteration. We've just done an adjustable rear beam for Aitchi's Mini:
http://www.16vminiclub.com/forums/showt ... 11&page=26

The same beam be will eventually be available for Midas Mk 1's & 2's, being of tubular construction it is very easy to alter the width.

Yesterday we were drawing up a simular design for the Mk3.

Stuart has forgotten about Bronzenuts dodge of reversing the radius arms, that I'm lead to belive gives you instant negative camber.

The other thing to bear in mind if you are wanting the ultimate handling Midas, is that the heelboard ( were the beam axle attaches too.) is not square to the front subframe, so the wheelbase is shorter on one side! So you really need to do some clever measurments and possibly pack off the rear beam, to bring everything square again.

Alan

[DavidL]

The other thing to bear in mind if you are wanting the ultimate handling Midas, is that the heelboard ( were the beam axle attaches too.) is not square to the front subframe, so the wheelbase is shorter on one side! So you really need to do some clever measurments and possibly pack off the rear beam, to bring everything square again.

Alan

You learn something every day! How much is the difference between the two sides?

[Alan D.]

I'm not certain, but I think it is in the region of 12 mm. Lots of Mini's are the same due to poor fabrication, In fact Aitchi is going to redo his heelboard.

Alan

[Dewsnap Mk1]

The more I look at the Midas, the more obvious the narrower than 'normal' rear track is. Was there a particular reason for this?

Ideally Id like a fully adjustable frame, so whilst the height is lowered, the camber / toe can be set precisely too, would there be any implications for going to a standard mini rear track, apart from the modification to the frame / healboard?

Currently, the rear is over arched, obvious when following my Dad, and I reckon there is some room for poke with the wheels, this may be a solution?

Thanks Again

Sam

[Stuart]

I doubt the narrow rear was by choice, I think it's just the way it came out, a real shame it wasn't a little wider.
If you did go with a Mini width rear subframe I'm almost certain the wheels would protrude from the wheel-arches.

[MrBounce]

[quote="Alan D]
Stuart has forgotten about Bronzenuts dodge of reversing the radius arms, that I'm lead to belive gives you instant negative camber.Alan[/quote]

My Mk1 had the radius arms reversed when I took them off the other week. Plus my brackets have a slot cut into them to presumably allow some form of toe-in/toe-out adjustment. However, the camber cannot be changed.