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Mini questions

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J

J. Christian

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Hi there- not normally a poster in this section, but I have a few questions. First: what does it take to convert a Mini to left-hand-drive? I see a lot of them on the internet imported from the UK, but I don't think that I would like to drive on the right(hand) side of the car. Second- how would a 6'7" guy like me fit into one of these things. I know they are a lot roomier than they seem, but how much roomier?
 
There are Right-to-LHD conversion kits available, but....RHD really doesn't take much getting used to. RHD is only a problem when you come to toll booth....and occasionally when you want to see to pass another car.

With the older stock seats, you might have a headroom problem, but with lower aftermarket seats, no sweat. You'll probably want to drop the steering column too, but you can get a lowering bracket kit that's easy to install yourself.

We've got a club member (he's 6'6") with this setup, and he fits the car fine.
 
conversion is exteemly simple have done it many times myself to race cars for anti clockwise tracks. all yo have to buy is the appropriate steering rack ,and everthing else just transfers from one side to the other. can be done in a day by the average mech.from memory ,cause its been awhile, you will have to make up a new lines from relocated clutch and brake master cyl's,and thats all.hope that helps cheers john
 
I agree with Xracer. It really doesn't matter Rh/Lh drive. The car's sooo small that it doesn't matter which seat you sit in.
 
Well speaking from a new mini owners perspective, I kinda like being right hand drive. It gives you a different look at the road and your surroundings.
driving.gif
 
Just driving a Mini gives one a new perspective!
 
There's more to a right-hand-drive to left-hand-drve conversion than just a lhd steering rack. My Mini was imported from England. It was rhd and the builder in England converted to lhd, but didn't do everything that is necessary to make it correct for lhd.
Yes, one can drive it in rhd form and get used to it, but it is nice to be able to jump from one's normal car to the Mini without having to worry how to see around the car you're passing in addition to just trying to be seen and not be hit in the Mini.
To convert from rhd to lhd you need to change: 1. Steering rack - rhd to lhd - and move the steering column over. 2. Brake and clutch master cylinders from right side to left side. 3. Add new hydraulic lines from the brake and clutch master cylinders (now on the left side) to the brake proportioning valve and the slave cylinder. 4. Blank off the holes on the right side where the master cylinders were. 5. Locate and replace the clutch, brake, and accelerator pedal assemblies from rhd to lhd. (The pedals mount in different ways from rhd to lhd. The geometry of the pedal assemblies are different. A rhd pedal assembly mounted in the lhd position places the brake pedal almost directly above the accelerator pedal - not good when you are trying to stop and your foot keeps hitting the gas pedal. 6. Replace the the turn indicator and windshield wiper switches. Depending on the year of your Mini the rhd setup may have the turn indicator switch on the right side of the steering wheel and the wiper switch on the left. Its annoying to hit what you think is the turn indicator and then watch the wipers scrape across a dry windshield. 7. Move the windshield wiper motor assembly from the left side to the right side to get the wipers to sweep from right to left to clear the area in front of the drivers field-of-view. 8. Replace the wiper arms to bend in the correct lhd direction. 9. Move the instrument cluster from the right side to the left side and the related wiring. 10. Replace the speedometer cable with a shorter one as the rhd cable is about a foot to long now. 11. You may want to replace the carpet so the wear pad is on the left, under the driver's feet instead of the passenger's feet. 12. Replace the headlamps with the correctly patterned lamps for lhd.
I may have left something out, but that covers most of the rhd to lhd conversion.
I am 6'1" and I needed to add the seat extensions that are available to make the leg room better. A 6'7" guy would probably need longer extensions made. I didn't care for the steering column lowering bracket. It moved the steering wheel too close to my lap and made me feel cramped.
 
Funny, when I drive my Mini, I worry about the other guy getting hit, because everyone is looking at my Mini.

From the list above, I'm glad I never tried to convert a car from RHD to LHD. Having both kinds, I can truly say that the only annoyance to me is walking up to the wrong side of the car to drive it away.
 
Hi
Just stripped one and I think there's a fair bit of work involved.
More to the point; Idrive on both sides of the pond and actually learned in 'Jolly Old' I find that the side is very important when changing over. I think I would have trouble with R hand drive here and L hand drive there. It may not just being closer to the centre 'though that's important when overtaking even in a Mini. It's the whole mind set of being in the right car for the conditions- I think one way for left and the other for right
Hotdoc
 
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