After my wife bid on ebay and won we are now embarking on a trailer build. It is the rear half of a Sprite that some plonker scrapped under the governments ‘brilliant’ scrapage scheme. Yeah, well done Labour!!
Anyway here are a few pics of it from eaby, I dont have any yet because we dont pick it up until the weekend after Bewlwater. It doesn’t come with a roof so I will have to come up with some other ingenious way of making a hard top. Very minimal welding is needed if any so It should be just a case of building not repairing. The plan is to have it deseamed and as smooth & aerodynamic as possible,I might even be fitting a flat panel underneath to try and reduce the drag. Also I will probably be fitting some sort of round sheilding at the front.
I’m already working on building up the subframe for it, we had it, the hubs and backplates sandblasted and I’m in the process of seam welding it now while I learn to weld. It’s good practice.
Ive been tidying up the subframe and started welding the repairs to get rid of the rust etc. See LINK.
I have bought the Plugs for the trailer and car so far. I decided to go with the new 13 pin euro plug instead of the 7 pin brit one as it will give more flexability should I want to wire something elso through to the trailer. Apart from that there isn’t much progress and wont be til I pick up the shell, which I’m really looking forward to!
If you go through the other threads about trailer builds you will find a fair bit of info, you will also find that virtually none are done the same way. Just be careful how much wight you add with streamlining panels etc or you may find it is too heavy to actually use it legally.
Regarding your solid lid, go round a breakers yard with a tape measure and find a suitable doner car for the roof. if you use a Mini roof it will be too narrow and need widening. The other option is to create a frame to support a vinyl cover held on with pop studs.
There are enogh people on here who have built trailers and can give you some solid advice, because we have all made some mistakes and thats the best training you can get
Customcart - Cheers for the advice, I’ve read all the trailer threads on here and have been gathering info from other trailers I have seen. Do you have any advice or tips from your build? Or things you did that you would change now if you did it again?
I have been thinking about the tow bar issue and thought if I use tube steel and plug & seam weld a smaller tube inside 1 end and then slot the 2 pieces together and bolt them, I can remove it for easier storage. With enough of the inner tube inside the other there shouldn’t be any strength issues. Here’s a quick example I mocked up:
I have still got to finish mine, but had an accident and screwed my hand up a while ago, so hopefully i can get it done soon, i was hoping to have it done for the weekend coming but that wont happen now, Maybe by MITP it will be ready.
My drawbar is removable but done differently, the rear of the bar slots into a socket at the rear of the subframe and bolts to the front of the trailer with a welded T section. I did it this way to keep it all rigid, in the past I have done similar to what you are suggesting, but found that after a while, the joint started to wobble and made the bolts loosen occasionaly.
The only thing i would, (will in the future ) change on this one, is to remove the subframe and build a lightweight T section axle and drawbar combined, this will vastly reduce weight and also be fully take down for storage. I will not bother with suspension either as experience has shown me that once the trailer is light enough, running soft tyre pressures is ample considering the maximum legal towing weight for a Mini.
Mine’s going okay, but this weekend has been all partying, and no welding, and today’s not shaping up to be any different.
I’ve got the front almost done on mine, then can spray and mount it before getting onto the roof, which I’m really not looking forward too!
I put a U plate on the sub frame and then 2x holes which you can see and a plate which fits to the towing arm etc so i can remove it for storeage good done
the lock for the lid is in side the trailer so to make it safe
All finished
PS i cut 50mm back from the door shuts/lock hope this helps
> Customcart - Cheers for the advice, I’ve read all the trailer threads on here and have been gathering info from other trailers I have seen. Do you have any advice or tips from your build? Or things you did that you would change now if you did it again?
I have been thinking about the tow bar issue and thought if I use tube steel and plug & seam weld a smaller tube inside 1 end and then slot the 2 pieces together and bolt them, I can remove it for easier storage. With enough of the inner tube inside the other there shouldn’t be any strength issues. Here’s a quick example I mocked up:
i’ve got a tow bar on my very simular i;ve got a tube that bolts on to the subframe and seat base, then the actual tow bar slides inside this tube and is held in by 2 bolt/pins with R clips securing them, then the electrics are hooked up under the rear valance, some pics
Cheers for the pics and ideas guys, it is always a big help seeing how other people have tackled problems and everyone’s solutions are going to be different. It’s a big help, thanks.
When/if you buy the suspension units make sure they come with the right hubs and offsets for the Mini wheels - a lot of them are designed to use wheels with the hub face in the centreline of the wheel.
> macfoot - Do you have a link to them? or know the company name?
Hi Scott if your after trailer parts there is a place in canterbury go along the road past the wincheap estate towards the railway bridge then turn right just before the bridge its oneway its along that road on the left hand side they sell everything for trailers Alan
