hello can some one help me work some things out please. ive looked in the build manual and it says there should be 4x locating moulds to fit the front end. mine has two on the main tub with matching recess on the front end but it only has the recesses for the two lower ones (behind spare wheel) on the main tub and on the front end it is just flat with holes drilled in. with the top two done up and the front sat on the subframe it leaves the lower part of the front about an inch from the main tub. ive tried two bonnets on it that i have but they are both a rubbish fit. starting to think ive bought a right lemon after the problems i had with the roof. can some one please look to see if it should have 4 locating moulds please or if the back of the spare wheel is supposed to be totally flat. thanks for your help.

Hi The back of the front tub should look like this (sorry it's upside down!)



and the front of the main tub should look like this



You can see the locating moulds clearly but note that the the top ones on the front tub are female while the bottom ones are male. If any of the male ones have the matching female part missing then the front won't sit properly. If that's the case I don't think that I would remove the male part (ouch ) because these four locating parts are the only points of contact when it's all bolted up although I dare say that you could make up a spacer - alternatively you might have to make recess for it. The gap between the panels should be the same all the way down when it's all sitting properly. There is also provision for adjustment at the front of the front panel to help get the bonnet sitting properly - just use some washers on the fixing bolt between the tub and the front bar of the subframe. Hope this helps.

thank you very much just what i was after. the back of my front part doesnt have the male parts, it is just flat with the bolt holes as if they were never there. the top ones are the same so it looks like i need to try and make some male parts i could use marine ply then cover in resin. the front of main tub is identical.

wow ! RaymondH your Rossa is absolutely beautiful!
its will be great when its finished.


the thing has given me most grief over the years is the cooling system.
once you get it right the rossa is a joy.

Top tips to avoid my hassles:
1. make sure the electric fan works and you have a switch to switch it on manually.
2. fill the water up as per the manual.
3. use an 82 degree thermostat. (88 too high 74 too low)
3. even when you have done this all the little bits of air in the cooling system
will gradually collect at the top (the top being the fat rubber pipe at the thermostat housing)
and after a few runs there will be so much air at that point that you get an air lock.
4. so after a few weeks expect to top the water up but you should only have to do that once or twice

mind you i dont use a metro-style radiator catch-tank . . . .

Why thank you young sir! There's a lot more pics in the project section if you haven't seen them already.

My biggest bugbear apart from the rebuilt engine getting oil everywhere it shouldn't is the brakes. I bult them using a new Mini master cylinder and then discovered that I needed dual circuits for IVA so it had to be done again This time I used a m cyl off a Metro with a servo and I now suspect that I need a servo to lighten the pedal a bit. Mind you, I haven't had it on the road to bed it in yet so it might be ok. Also, I had to make up a compensator for the hand brake and given all the queries about Toffee hand brakes on here I doubt if it will be acceptable. I might fit rear discs anyway....

I always jack up the rear of the car before filling the cooling system and then put the coolant in very slowly so that air can escape and I also have a few holes drilled in the thermostat to help with that. I have a header tank off a Sierra (I think) and have never had any bother. Shouldn't have said that....

Apologies for hijacking your thread baxter

not a problem. great to see your car progressing and hearing other peoples hints and tips.

ah brakes!
its unfortuneate that they need dual circuit for the sva. . . .

mine are single circuit - no servo.
i have 8.4 discs at the front NOT ventilated but they are "dimpled" discs.
early metros had iron dual pot calipers but were not ventilated discs.
these dual pot calipers fit straight onto an 8.4 inch disc and take metro turbo pads..
i was lucky to get new old stock calipers from minispares about four years ago.
what i find is that you have to shove the pedal hard but the car stops.
this was put to the test last summer when a dog ran out and i locked the wheels . .
the dog was fine but it was a brown trouser moment!

i find my iron twin pots are a bit better than standard single pots and that my dimpled discs seem to be a bit better
than plain discs. i run EBC blackstuff pads.

handbrake ? - right - you must use the latest lever arm thingies (that connect the cable to the pads) that they fitted to the last of the 13 inch wheeled classic minis. they have more leverage. get them new off minispares. my rossa had ordinary lever arms when i got her and it took ages to work out why the handbrake was so bad. the other thing i do is keep the cable lubricated throughout its entire length by rubbing oil by hand into the outer cable semi flexible metal guide tube. enough oil seems to get into the inside where its needed. this sounds daft but it worked for me. if you have a laid-up rossa with a seized handbrake try rubbing oil all along the outside of the two handbrake cable guides especially where it bends. then rub some more in after a week or so.

use good quality shoes on the back - i got some nice ebc ones off ebay.
and alloy minifin drums of course . . .


sorry im away off-message here . . . .

More useful stuff I have Metro 4 pots with vented discs and drums with new alloy Minifins, pads/linings are all EBC Blackstuff. I got new handbrake levers from Mini Spares and they only keep the one so I suppose it's the latest one. I thought that the longer the lever arms the better but I was reading something recently that suggested that wasn't the case - it was on another forum but I can't remember which it was The Hi Spec site has hand brake calipers for use with discs and they are available with levers in a wide range of lengths - why? Another thing is that we get so used to the brakes on modern cars that the old right leg needs some re-educating.................I just need to look at the brake pedal on my everyday Mazda and it stands on it's nose. I have a set of 8.4" solid discs/hubs/calipers off a Mini somewhere in the garage and I might be tempted to get some driveshafts and handbrake calipers for them and fit them over the winter - if I can find the cash

My handbrake cables were very dry and stiff when I got the car and I managed to free them up in the way you suggested. The grease (or oil?) nipple half way along was pretty useless but they're fine now. I do find that they are very awkward to fit around the engine to the back plates - they seem too long and not pliable enough and I wonder if it's worth getting some more modern ones with nylon inners and pvc/rubber covered outers made up. Having to make up a compensator has made them even longer. The joys of building a kit car .....

just to seen the advert on ebay that has just been posted in the forsale section, could some one take a look at the photo that shows the outside back part of the front tub and then compare it to the first photo right at the top of this thread. Mine is like the ebay one without the locating parts, does anyone know why some had them and some didnt. Cheers. ®

Looking closely, it seems that the front tub has two indents at the top like mine and they will probably be enough to locate it correctly against the front bulkhead so the lower two will not be so important. However, the lower recesses on the bulkhead will probably need filled in so that the panels can be bolted together tightly. As to why some kits are different - lord knows I have two soft tops (one very good, one very bad) and some of the fittings on them are different although they manage to do the same job. Maybe as production went on and original stocks were used up it was found that some were a wee bit over engineered so cheaper replacements were obtained.