114: Project Binky — Stuffing a GT-Four Driveline Into a Classic Mini.

If you’ve spent any time on YouTube, you’re probably already aware of this episode’s guest and the various projects his channel is involved in — most famously “Project Binky”, a classic Mini running a Toyota Celica GT-Four engine and AWD driveline.

Richard Brunning from Bad Obsession Motorsport joins us to down a few cups of tea, talk motorsport, and run through the ins and outs of neverending project cars, the business of operating a popular automotive YouTube channel, and much more.

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Richard, like many guests of this podcast, has his father to blame for his motorsport obsession. Some of his earliest memories involve hanging out in old sheds while his Dad restored vintage vehicles, tickling up RC cars to get the edge in racing, and days spent on the couch watching Formula 1.

This early focus on all things automotive drove Richard towards a life that revolved around motorsport, first starting out in kart racing, before moving on to Caterhams, formula cars, and even some Formula Mazda racing in the States. In this episode, Richard spends time talking us through these different forms of motorsport, and discusses how each type of vehicle could be set up, tweaked, and modified within the rules in order to gain more speed.

Eventually, Richard’s good friend and eventual partner in crime, Nik Blackhurst, enticed Richard back to the UK to help him go rallying, and it was at this point, way back in 1992, that Bad Obsession Motorsport began.

Fast forward a good few years, and Richard and Nick were fed up with the car modification TV shows like Pimp My Ride, Monster Garage, and their contemporaries that were on offer at the time — none of them actually showed why and how any of the work was done. This got the pair thinking that they might be able to do better, and with that goal in mind, the Bad Obsession Motorsport YouTube channel was founded.

It took a couple of years, but Richard and Nick’s channel began picking up steam, not in small part thanks to “Project Binky”, a Toyota Celica GT-4 powered and driven classic Mini. Richard dives deep into this build, answering our burning questions — chiefly ‘Why’? But also “What’s taking so long”?

This in-depth discussion around the challenges of fitting so much engine and driveline into such a small package is a great look into what it takes to complete a complicated project to a high standard. Lastly, we also spare some time time to touch on the joys of motorsport wiring, ultra-budget racing in the City Car Cup, and making a living out of building cars on YouTube.

Follow Bad Obsession Motorsport here:
IG: @badobsessionmsp
FB: Bad Obsession Motorsport
YT: Bad Obsession Motorsport
WWW: badobsessionmotorsport.co.uk

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Timestamps:
4:04 How did you develop an interest in cars?
7:00 Did you learn anything from racing RC cars that could transfer to driving a go-kart?
8:10 How was your experience driving karts?
17:46 What is it about karts that makes it such a good learning platform for racing?
22:53 What is a cost-effective way to get into racing?
25:26 What other motorsports have you been involved in?
32:49 Transition from racing to Bad Obsession Motorsport
36:23 Automotive skill set before starting Bad Obsession Motorsport?
40:20 What were you thinking when you decided to start a YouTub