The Register

The E-Newsletter of The Mini Register

February 2007

Editorial

The Register is a bit late this month, we have ventured across the equator again and are enjoying the hospitality of New Zealand, this is a country that really likes its cars, Minis included.In the time we have been here, two cities have hosted car events with the full support of the council and crowds of people lining the streets. The support from the public was tremendous and the local traders were also very happy. As you will see later in this edition, the town of Lewes in Delaware, USA has a similar enlightened approach. It amazes me that more towns and cities don't appreciate the potential, after all the stars of the show are provided free.

New Members

We would like to extend a very warm welcome to The Mini Register to:

Towne and Cindy Comee, San Antonio, Texas, USA

Not one but two Austin Cooper S in the Comee family stable, Towne and Cindy have one from 1964 and one from 1966. The '64 car is Old English White / British Racing Green called Wallace and is a replica of a Works Rally Car in all but color. The '66 Mini is also Old English White but this time with light blue, it is known as Gromit and is a dual purpose street and race car designed to terrorize the Japanese street "racers"

Towne is a longtime enthusiast and lover of Little British Cars and has raced since he was 17. The two Minis have to compete for affection with a MkI Bugeye Sprite and a MkII Sprite.

Thomas Sherwood, Witney, Oxon, UK

Thomas' white 1995 Sprite is in for a shock, at present it is in standard form but is soon to get a 1310 Minispeed engine along with all the usual suspension bits and 13x7 gold minilites

Abi Betts and Mitchell Bailey, Mansfield, Notts, UK

Abi and Mitchell have transformed Abi's Almond Green 1997 1275 MPI Cooper, BAM, it features chrome arches and sills, Wipac driving lamps, Angel eye headlamps, black and silver number plates, target roof decal and badges, chrome wipers, chrome wing mirrors, chrome interior furnishings, matching green carpets, K & N induction kit, silver bonnet stripes and pin stripes, but it wasn't always like that - As Abi explains

"I bought my Mini from a woman who ran it with NO engine oil or coolant in it! Was completely standard and in a bit of a state before I nursed her back to health! Now she dines on the finest Castrol engine oil and super unleaded fuel, and she purrs!!! Me and my boyfriend have done all the work ourselves and have learnt how to do things as we went along. Went on the London to Brighton 2006, and she decided to break down on the way there! We think it was nerves on her part, but we got there in the end! She has also just been on the (October Issue) I LOVE MINI page of MiniWorld magazine."

Bill Riley, Llano, USA

We have no car details for Bill

Harry Woodthorpe, Welling, Kent, UK

Harry is just thirteen years old and is about to start his second Mini project with his Dad. It is a Mini that has been sitting in a garage for about 9 years, the owner bought it for a project some time ago, semi stripped it down and mis-layed the number plates and the log book. He has the chassis number and bill of sale and would like to know the best way of getting the registration of this car.

Our advice it to try the BMHIT at Gaydon and the DVLA at Swansea, does anyone have any ideas?

Simon Palin, Blackpool, Lancashire, UK

Simon owns a blue 1985 Mini Mayfair which at the moment is un-modified

Mark Nicholas and Madeleine Wheeler, Richmond, Surrey, UK

Mark and Madeleine have a balanced collection of Minis, one early and one later. Lucille is a 1993 Mayfair in Nightfire Red and has been fitted with a Stage 1 kit by Minispeed. The earlier Mini is a white 1968 Riley Elf called Mavis which is absolutely standard and has only done 17,000 miles.

Frances and Ron Wohler, Lancing, West Sussex, UK

Frances' Mini is a 1984 Mayfair called Maisie Kutter -

"I used to have a 1959 mini years ago and my husband decided to buy a Mini auto for a present. He has nearly completely restored it. lots of work with loads and loads of welding and new panels, he bought it as running and drivable which it did neither, so new engine and gearbox was sourced, engines changed to the new gearbox so it kept its original engine. I wanted a colour in your face so I chose Yellow, have to change the blue interior, much to my husband disgust but he's a nice bloke really. Hopefully be driving her in a month...."

Members update

Noddy Crouch, Pickering, N. Yorkshire, UK

I first got Moy 1 back in late 2005 and thought "Great, it'll do great when it's been checked out and done nicely!" Well that was before I kept finding one problem after another so I decided to strip it right down to it's shell and get that sorted out first then build up from there. that was early 2006 and it's not much changed since it got stripped down due to sorting out the finance. So only a month ago I bought Moy 2 from Sarah and Robert Jackson, which had been hit in the back by some teenagers in a Nova. She's now been straightened out and is just about to get MOTed after a few other checks. It's great to be back behind the wheel and hope to see more Mini lovers out there.

Moy1

Moy2

Ron Jernigan

Mike, the 'S' is coming along slowly, I took the engine to have it looked at and there was only bad news. The block was cracked in 2 places, and the head also had cracks in it. I was trying to get the car done for the show, but it doesn't look like it will happen. I am not sure what I want to do, I have some 998's and an 1100, but I would like to put in a 1275. The car is not a concourse car, but I would like it to be somewhat original. I hope yours is coming along better than mine. I do have most of the interior finished.

I am looking for some hard to find parts over here in the states. The brake regulator valve for the rear sub frame isn't any good, and I can't get a rebuild kit over here. A new valve is about $200. If I had that I could at least have it on it's wheels. Here are some pics of it's current state. Sometimes I wish I lived over there

Attila Csorba, Nottingham, UK

Just a few lines to give you an update on my Money Pit, The shell is 100% complete now and off to paint shop in Feb. Hopefully I will have it back by March and get it ready for some shows, Its had a 110% restoration, and then some, by Surf Blue garage in Nottingham

Here are a few snaps of the shell

Pukekohe Races

After mastering the pronunciation of the name and finding our way to the track, the rest of the day was a pure pleasure. Pukekohe is a forty minute drive south of Auckland, New Zealand and features a motor racing circuit around the outside of a horse racing track.

Minis were represented in 3 of the 7 series racing on the day, no surprise for one series as it was the Koken Super Mini Challenge. There was also a Mk 1 S in the Pre-65 Series and rotary engined Mini in the OSCA Super Saloons. It was no accident that we found ourselves in that part of the world, back in the UK we had watched a really exciting Mini race on cable TV, the venue was Pukekohe and the race was the Super Mini Challenge Handicap race - more of which later.

The cars in the Koken Super Mini Challenge must comply with the rules for one of four classes, to make life easier for the spectator, each class is identified a different colour strip on the rear side windows

The Mini Seven and Miglia class rules are different to those used in the UK, the Sevens were originally 850s but now run 998s, Miglia and Super both run 1380 power plants, however the cam in the Miglia is limited to 400thou whereas the faster Super class can run 500thou lift. The Super cars can also run a limited slip diff.

For all three, the suspensions may be adjustable but must use the original rubber cones.

The Open class is for those Minis that don't fit into the other three classes, it was introduced as an easy entry for people who wanted to race their Minis without having to spend on compliance modifications.

There were three races for the Minis, in the first, the grid was organised based on qualifying time, so the fastest (i.e. the Supers) were at the front, for race 2, the grid was divided into classes with a drivers position within the class based on their qualifying time, in this case, the Sevens were at the front with the faster cars working their way through the field.

The last race was the handicap race, the series organiser does an excellent job of calculating a handicap for each driver, the cars are then set off at intervals with the slowest first and the fastest last. This makes for a very exciting race with the idea being that if the handicap was perfect and every driver drove consistently, then the entire field would cross the finishing line at the same time. In practice, lap by lap, you could watch the faster cars working their way through the field with numerous situations with 4 abreast down the straight and 3 abreast round the bends. As the chequered flag fell, 4 tenths of a second spanned the first 3 cars.

Glenda Eden is campaigning this smart orange Mini Seven in her first year of racing, after problems with her first engine, she bought last years championship motor and is very pleased with her progress, she finished 2nd in class in the handicap race.

It was the camera in Kevin Sweeney's Mini during the televised race and his web site address clearly visible on the dash that led us to Pukekohe in the first place. Kevin drives a Miglia that he built and prepares himself, son David normally drives an identical car but is taking a season off with the latest addition to his family.

Kevin is also involved with two other Miglias in the series, this time professionally, he works for the Waikato Institute of Technology (Wintec) and their motorsport technicians course is based on the two cars, the students have built the Minis as copies of Kevins, this has involved a range of different skills from machining to engine building. The course also includes the setting up of the cars and attending the race meetings.

Their work load was increased at the end of the handicap race, team driver Darren Toy left the track and hit the wall backwards at high speed.

Fastest of the Miglias was Adam Dobbs, his beautifully prepared Mini was very quick to the extent that it looked to the spectator that he was part of the Super class. The very tidy front end however was not quite so pristeen at the end of the day, as he collected a spinning Mini which pushed the radiator back over the engine.

This is the Mazda rotary engined Mini from the OSCA Super Saloon class, the engine is mounted transversely and drives through the front wheels, a massive turbo adds to the horsepower which is vital as this car plays with the big boys, the race winner being a 5.8 litre Chevrolet Camero based monster.

MOCSA update

Frank van der Meer, who has been doing a sterling job on the MOCSA newsletter, is handing over the reins to Bobbie Hookins and Johan van der Merwe. Many thanks Frank for keeping us informed and all the best to Bobbie and Johan.

MOCSA will be involved with Angela's Picnic, this years show will also include the South African National concourse. On the three classes, the Tops Only and D'Elegance will be judged on the day, however the premier class - D'Etat will be judged on the previous day in a garage with a lift!

Cooper Sport 500 Certificates

The Cooper Sport 500 register can now supply officially numbered certificates for genuine 500's. See www.coopersport500register.co.uk for more details

Dirty cars

Jon Barber sent us this photo of the work of artist Scott Wade, his canvas is dirty rear car windows.

De Joux

 This very smart Mini derivative is owned by Peter Hartshorne who is a member of Mini Club Auckland, he has used his considerable skills as a boat builder to improve what was already a very attractive car.

 The De Joux is a New Zealand kit car that was introduced by Ferris de Joux in the late 60's, it is a fibreglass body that is bonded to the floorpan and front bulkhead of a Mini. The moulds changed hands over the years but are now once again owned by Ferris de Joux and in 2002, faced with a Mini who's shell was loosing the battle with the tin worm, Peter was able to buy a new shell and start the transformation.

With the conversion completed, the mandatory inspection was performed but the officials were none too pleased with the original roll cage, so Peter cut the roof off to extract the old one and fit a new approved item. In the process of doing so, he raised the roof line by 40mm which improves the proportions of the car. The increase in height is not the only change to the original, Peter has not only added a frame to the door windows but has also changed the shape of the doors. The roof extension meant that a new windscreen was required so the sides of a Saab 900 screen were cut to fit and it is bonded in place rather than the usual rubber mounting.

After a short while on the road, Peter decided that more changes were required and he fabricated the tailgate to replace the fixed rear screen. At the same time the wheel arches were flared, an air dam was added to the front and the rear lights were recessed.

These are just some of the changes that Peter has crafted, there are numerous details that together make this a very attractive scaled down Gran Turismo.

Personalised MINI ad

I am not too sure how well that idea would go down in the UK, with strong rumours (and as the government are denying it, they are probably true) of the introduction of road charging. This will involve the compulsory fitting of little black boxes to every vehicle that do the same job as these key fobs.

British Mini Fair - Bingley Hall

Another excellent show from the British Mini Club, it gets bigger every year.

Derek's Minis, well known for their existing Mini Limo, have gone a step further with this super-stretched Mini

Plenty of imagination as usual on the club stands

This customised Mini was in the National mags but is even more impressive up close, the flames are 3D

Amazing creation from Z-Cars but with a turbocharged Honda Vtec in the spaceframe, it is difficult to see the Mini link - got loads of attention all the same.

This is a BMW motorcycle cylinder head on the A-series block, a kit of parts is being developed by those clever people at Specialist Components, more details next month.

 Delaware car show

Mike, I wanted to inform you of a great car show in the States. It is in Lewes, Delaware on May 5 2007. We are an all British car show, and this years feature mark is the classic Mini! Lewes is the first town in Delaware, and is in the county of Sussex. Do all these names look familiar? They were all named after places across the pond! We have a great show with appx. 100 cars per year. Although I won't have my '66 Austin Cooper S done I will be there to help out in any way. I invite all the classic Mini owners to attend. There aren't many Minis in Delaware so we need the neighboring states to help out as much as possible.

The show is located in downtown Lewes, DE. and is just walking distance from some great shopping and minutes from the beach. There is plenty of things to do while at the show. It is a popular vote show, and the emphasis is on having fun and meeting other British car owners.

The event is from 11:am to 3pm with a parade through downtown Lewes to follow.

For more information please e-mail me at: ronjern @ bellatlantic.net

Ron Jernigan

That's it, please let us know what is going on in your part of the world.

Keep in touch

Mike Bennett
theregister@miniregister.co.uk

The opinions expressed in The Register are those of the members and not necessarily those of The Mini Register.

When transmitted as an e-mail, this newsletter is sent to registered members of The Mini Register. If you receive such an e-mail when not a Mini Register member and if you would like to stop further editions being sent, the please reply with "stop" in the subject.