The Register

The E-Newsletter of The Mini Register

May 2007

Editorial

It has been a bit of a competition between the garage and the keyboard, and so far the garage appears to be winning, hence the delay in this issue of The Register. The garage time has however been productive and the Freestyle is coming on well.

A final twist to our trip to New Zealand was a note from Russ Swift a couple of days before we left to say that he would be in Auckland for the launch of the Mk II MINI. As it happens that was the day we were back in Auckland to catch the plane, so we were able to see a bit more of the behind the scenes action as Russ and Chris prepared for the show. A street next to the Viaduct Harbour was closed and Russ put the new MINI through his precision driving and two wheeled routine.

It is Mini in the Park decision time again, this year the show has moved to the Santa Pod dragstrip which is between, Northampton, Bedford, Milton Keynes and Wellingborough. The event will take place on 19th August and The Mini Register will again have a club stand, if you would like to put your Mini on the stand and get close to the action, let us know as soon as possible, places will be allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

New Members

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

Martin Harrison, Wasaga Beach, Ontario, Canada

Martin's '03 Cooper S in dark silver has the clever name of ESCARGOES, and just to make sure it lives up to the name, it is fitted with a 15% pulley on the supercharger, Webb HDI intake and Borla Race exhaust. Supporting a set of 18 inch Mini wheels are Spax RXL coilovers, rear H-Sport adjustable A arms, and front and rear sway bar links. Holding that lot together are a front and rear tower braces

Kevin Sweeney, Hamilton, Waikato, New Zealand

Kevin races his Mini Miglia in the New Zealand Super Mini Challenge, it is fitted with a 1380 engine running a twin choke side draft carb. Kevin built and prepared the car and now through his association with WinTech, there are two replicas of his car contesting the series as well.

Benjamin and David Isaac, Boston, Lincolnshire, UK

At 17, Ben is desperate to get his motoring off to a good start and is planning to strip, rebuild and modify a green 1970 Mini 1000. The modification will be constrained by the potential insurance premium. Any suggestions for a young driver friendly insurance company would be most appreciated.

Tracey Bird & Andrew Evans, Newark. Notts, UK

Tracey owns an silver 03 MINI One called Minime, as she says "I always wanted one. it's brillant!!"

Trevor Neville, Craigavon, Northern Ireland

Trevor keeps a brace of Minis in his fleet, a 1984 Mini 25 which is now blue and a red and black 1992 Mini Sprite

Krystien Jackson, Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia

"Morrison" is a blue 1963 Morris Van, (like the name) and Krystien describes the mods as "tasteful ones"

John & Andrew Withall, Kangarilla, South Australia

John has a white 1969 Mini K 1000 and a 1968  Model: Cooper S 1275 in Burgandy Red with a white roof. Here is John's introduction;

"I am the second owner of my Mini K. It is in original (unrestored) tidy condition. Specifications: 1098cc engine, 4-speed synchromesh gearbox. 50bhp, 60 lb/ft torque. Hydrolastic suspension, wind-up/quarter-vent windows. Remote gear-change (as per Cooper) and key operated starter. The Mini-K is unique to Australia.

My Cooper-S is 1275. At present it is stripped to the body-shell, painted in undercoat grey waiting on completion of the restoration back to BMC Special-burgundy body with BMC Snow-white roof. Specifications: 1275cc engine, 4-speed synchromesh gearbox. 75bhp, 80lb/ft @ 3000rpm torque. This car is also standard with Hydrolastic suspension, wind-up/quarter-vent windows. Remote gear-change and key operated starter.

My first mini was back in 1969 when I bought a new Mini Deluxe. The Mini Deluxe was much the same in respect to the body, suspension, remote gear-change etc but it ran the 998cc motor (38bhp, 52lb/ft @ 2700rpm). Since my children have grown into adulthood, I am now able to abandon the need for larger family vehicles, preferring the agility, personality, etc of my Minis.

Fortunately this is a passion also shared by two of my sons. My son Andrew is employed at MiniSport here in Adelaide, South Australia and is invaluable with the correct procedures, tuning, major and minor repairs, etc. Andrew is highly motivated in bringing the Cooper-S to showroom (unmodified) condition"

Frances & Ron Wohler, Lancing, West Sussex, UK

Frances' Mini is a 1984 Mayfair called Maisie Kutter and although yellow now, it started out as blue. Here is Frances' introduction:

"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 a new engine and gearbox were sourced, the engine was 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...."

Mark Nicholas & Madeleine Wheeler, Richmond, Surrey, UK

Mark and Madeleine have a Mini from each end of the production range, the newer one is a Nightfire red 1993 Mayfair called Lucille that is fitted with a MiniSpeed stage 1 kit. The other - Mavis - is a white 1968 Riley Elf that is standard and has only 17,000 genuine miles on the clock.

Simon Palin, Blackpool, Lancashire, UK

There is usually a story behind the names people give their cars, we can only guess at the naming of Simon's blue 1985 Mayfair which answers to "How much"

Tony Gould, Lichfield, Staffordshire, UK

Tony's Mini started life as a 1990 Cooper, following a 2 year rebuild which included the fitting of new wings, A panels, sills, rear subframe,inner sills,front wheel bulkheads and a full 2k re-spray, it is now BRG with a white roof and is fitted with a 1380 stage 3 MED engine, MG Metro vented discs and calipers, hi lo suspension, gas spax, 1.5 negative camber arms, new ultralite wheels and full leather interior.

Ashley Gosling, Ipswich, Suffolk, UK

Ashley reckons that he is also known as "Monkey Boy", he has a red 1985 Mayfair called Ruby, it is currently under restoration and the body has been smoothed not de-seamed. Ashley hopes to get it back on the road soon.

Matt Punter, Lakefield,  Ontario, Canada

Matt describes the year of his Mini as 1959-69, which tends to suggest that several donors contributed to the silver Estate. The name of "Monster Mini" gives a bit more of a clue for this is a Mini Estate that someone has made in to a 4x4 pick-up. Matt says " I am 26 years old and I have always loved the Mini cars but when I saw a 4x4 mini pick-up I had to have it."

Paolo De Nardo,  Roma, Italia

Paolo has a 1995 British Open Classic in its British Racing Green finish

Stuart and Lucy Unsworth, Warrington, Lancs, UK

The two Minis in the Unsworth household represent potential, they are a maroon 1991 City E called Mia and a white 1980 Clubman that is at present just a shell, the end goal is for it to be a Type R conversion taking a max of 3 Years to complete.

Stuart's introduction is: "The 2 Mini's I have at the moment are both off the road, my first task is to repair the Mini City E. What’s required - well basically replace the front end and the sills and then get it through its MOT, once this is done I'll sell my Golf and use this as my run around as I head feet first into the full restoration and modification of my Clubman Type R conversion over the next few years."

Charmian and John McLeish, Wells, Somerset, UK

Charmian's introduction is:

"My first Mini I had years ago, second hand and a bit tatty but I loved it, then it was stolen and reversed into a concrete post. Although I got it back it leaked like a sieve and I didn't have the money then to do it up so it had to go.

Now after many years of sensible cars I had a hankering after another Mini (maybe mid life crisis who knows). I live in Somerset and drove to Hull to buy her it was love at first sight a Red 1999 Mini Cooper called Ruby by her previous owners, who have looked after her well. I have only had her 6 days so I am getting used to the driving experience again, but I intend to have some fun this summer taking her to shows etc, my husband thinks I'm mad but he secretly wishes he had one!!!!"

John (better known as Jack) Clegg, Milton Keynes, Bucks, UK

The 3 JCs - John Cooper, John Cooper inspired Mini and Jack Clegg

Jack's introduction is: "I'm now a retired (and very private) person. My first car was a 1931 Austin 7 (3 years older than I), so I was automatically in love with the Mini (particularly in its Austin 7 form) when it re-appeared in 1959, which co-incided with the birth of my eldest son in August. I've had a series of Minis: 2 vans, a 1275 GT, and from 1991 to the present day, a 1990 Limited Edition Mini-Cooper S."

Stephen Brown, London, UK

Fred is a Flame red 1995 Mini Sprite sitting on a set of Minilite alloys. Stephen says "Fred... wow what a character. Great fun touring London together for the last 6 months. Good Stuff"

Andrew, Jodie and Sophie Wise, Ballarat, Australia

Betty is a beautifully restored original condition 1978 Australian made Mini clubman. There are some more great photos of Betty at http://www.alphaville.com.au

David Geeson, Taunton, Somerset, UK

David has just got his red 1984 Mini Mayfair which has been fitted with a 1300cc engine although it will need to attention to get it through its MOT

Sarah Brown & Mark  Lewis, Bridlington, East Yorkshire, UK

Here is an example of just how much pleasure a Mini can bring - in this case a Tahiti Blue 1995 Cooper 1.3i called Growler. Sarah explains why:

"Hi we Just bought the Mini for my fiance to play with. He's a real mini addict and seeing as I drive his Peugeot when he works away its only fair he got a new toy/project. (He's had 3 coopers before.) It puts a huge smile on his face :-) The mini has 103 000 miles on it but its in fair nick for all that. It has a whopping great twin exhaust that sounds so good the kids say it's better than a Scooby! Hence the name Growler. Mark plans to fix it up and run it until he can save for a new engine and total rebuild. The kids love it too he's Mr popular for now. Sarah & Mark"

Please contact us, the email address you gave us does not work

Jeremy Sleeman, Ross on Wye, Herefordshire, UK

Jeremy has the best of both worlds, a Mini to drive and a Mini to work on; Chester is a 1983 Mayfair in Zircon blue which has a set of alloy wheels and all the grey bits have been replaced with chrome. Jeremy has been involved with Minis all his working life, first as an apprentice and then a mechanic with a Leyland dealer, and is putting his considerable expertise with Minis to good effect on his Brooklands green 1979 95 Van.

Jeremy has also enjoyed the sporting character of Minis having autotested and classic trialled them.

Simon, Bev and Samantha Gaskin, Lancaster, Lancs, UK

Gerty, a green 1994 Mini Cooper 1.3i, is the first Mini that Simon, Bev and Samantha have owned for over 20 years. They had forgotten how much fun it is to drive one. They say "the problem now is that it is like having a baby on the drive so we keep it wrapped up and cosy, not letting it out when it is wet."

Is this you ?

If this is familiar please get in touch we don't have your name, address of email "Its a 1977 austin mini. Tartan Red with a black roof. Body work has been completely restored, all steel panels and the engine has been completely rebuilt. Early cooper head and kent camshaft, high-low suspensions all around and 10 inch mag. wheels."

Members update

David Noone's track day Mini is coming along, he has sent in these pics of some of the trick bits on the car

Johan Kruger from Johannesburg now has the engine installed in his Mini and has sent these pics

The valves were machined locally from stainless steel by the company that gas flowed the head

Auto Gearbox help

Glyn Ellis has a 1970 Clubman fitted with an auto engine but the car is not feeling too good. There is a problem with the 'box that has the symptoms of a slipping clutch. Does anyone have any experience of these gearboxes as Glyn would welcome some advice.

Mini for sale

Black Mini 30 wanted

Phil Lomas is looking for a black Mini 30 to replace his similar car, he rounded a bend be confronted by a lorry on his side of the road and had to swerve to miss it. He hit the kerb which spun the car across the road and through a hedge. Thankfully Phil is okay but his Mini 30 is written off.

Stolen Mini In San Diego 

Richard Feibusch has passed this on in case anyone can help

From Megan Spangler of the San Diego Mini Club: "hope the club is doing well, not so for me. my 1973 Austalian Mini was stolen from the parking lot at Cuyamaca College 2-6-07 during the evening.

Its white with red racing stripes down the middle, black and grey interior, bored over 1275 with a single 1 & 3/4 mik on it. Header with custom pipe back with glass pac done at Hansens Muff. Adjustable spax shocks, sway bars adjustable front links, S front discs, the list goes on.

MINI Clubman spy shot

From Richard Feibusch:

2008 MINI Clubman caught totally nude!

While pro spy photographers play cops and robbers with testers just to get a better shot of a camouflaged car others are so lucky that not only are they in the right place, at the right time and with the right equipment (camera) but they also find the car just like its mama gave birth to it; totally undisguised! That's the case with Llorenç Soler who found the upcoming MINI Clubman that's basically a more practical and roomier 2008 MINI -thanks to the extended wheelbase.

Soler found the Clubman lying around in the parking of a company that makes components for car-interiors in Valls Spain (near Tarragona)! A detailed check of the images reveals the 'Cooper S' tag on the side air-vent and most importantly, the suicide-door on the passenger's but not on the driver's side. According to MINI the Clubman will go on sale in Europe before the end of 2007 which means early 2008 for the States. Via: Motorpasion , Source: Flickr

Lewes British Motorshow, Delaware

Entries ranged from a rare bright red 1948 Triumph 2000 Roadster to a 1979 MG Midget, recently featured on the cover of "The Octagon" the MG owners magazine. Spectators got to see a not-too-common 1962 Austin-Healey 3000 Mk II Tri-Carb, a custom original silver-painted 1971 Jaguar XJ6 Coupe and a 1950 Riley Drophead. MGBs, TD's, Jaguars, TRs and an Aston-Martin added to the field. Award winners paraded behind a police escort to the downtown district where the mayor handed out congratulations and trophies before a curbside throng.

Awards for Premier Class, a category for previous first place winners went to a classic two-tone 1966 Morgan 4/4 and the popular vote Best of Show was a 1934 Rolls Royce Phantom II once owned by British Royalty.

Ron Jernigan

Tech Tip - Rocker cover gasket

There can be nothing worse than building and installing a nice clean shinny engine only to have oil run down the back from a gap in the rocker cover gasket. I have used the trick of smearing the gasket with grease to hold it in place which in general works, but not always. Last time, I used clear silicon to stick the gasket to the rocker cover. After 300 miles, the cover was removed and the gasket was still in place but was easily removed.

Specialist Components Cylinder Head

When it comes to tuning the A Series, the cylinder head comes in for its fair share of attention; if its chambers and ports are not being re-shaped and polished, the head as a whole is replaced.

A theme dating back to the sixties is to replace the 5 ports of the original with an 8 port cross-flow configuration. From the Weslake with its 4 Amal motorcycle carbs through to the more recent KAD and Jack Knight items with Alpha fuel injection they all benefit from improved gas flow and therefore more bhp. The cross-flow heads also benefit in that the camshaft (or rather camshafts) can be moved over the valves, which allows more liberties to be taken with the profile, by splitting the lobes of the single cam across the two cams, the angle of the valves can also be changed to beneficial effect. All this leads to significant performance improvements but it takes a lot of R & D, so when a ready-made head comes along that has benefited from the development budget of a large motor manufacturer, and by coincidence has the chambers in the correct place, it is not surprising that someone somewhere would graft it on to the A Series.

The head in question is from the BMW K Series motorbike engine and we first heard of a chap in Florida who had performed the surgery as a one-off, now Specialist Components in the UK have done all the hard work and are offering the conversion as either a kit of parts for you to source your own head or the complete service.

The K100, K1100 or K1200 heads can be used and these can be picked up for between £250 and £400, these come complete with camshafts, throttle bodies and fuel injection. To get the head to fit your block (1275) you will need the Specialist Components' conversion kit that includes:

1x Build Guide Book
1x Top Engine Conversion Kit
1x Bottom Cover and Seals
2x Alloy Vernier Top Pulleys
1x Lower Pulley Kit (Jackshaft and Crank)
1x Belt and Tensioner Kit
1x Copper Head Gasket (Thickness needs to be specified)
1x Block Drilling Template

Some machining work is required on the block with existing holes for waterways and head studs closed and new holes added as per the drilling template.

At this point the head and block are joined in a gas and water tight way and the camshafts will rotate as required, there remains, the fueling, sparks and exhaust to deal with.

Again Specialist Components have this covered, they recommend using the fuel injection that comes with the head along with a mappable ECU to co-ordinate fuel and spark - for which you will need a trigger wheel that they can supply. They can also supply a full flow stainless exhaust manifold to route the spent gasses away. The conversion kit costs £665, the exhaust manifold £250 and the trigger wheel £102.50 with another £80 for the ancillaries kit.

The K series heads come in both 8 and 16 valve form, if the converted engine is based on a standard 1275cc block you  can expect at least 105+bhp from an 8v item and 120+ from the 16v. Obviously your motor will need a sufficiently strong and balanced bottom end to cope with the load.

If you don't fancy handling the conversion work yourselves, you can supply you own block and SC can do the rest for between £4500 for and 8V and £6000 for a 16V.

Specialist Components have used a clubman fronted estate as the development hack and the unit fits without any bodywork attention, as the head is taller and wider than the standard A Series unit, a bit of attention is required to the roundnose bonnet.

There is some footage of the conversion on YouTube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=974kBWoZfhs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBToBq6Oejo

Many thanks to Mark Harrision for the details.

Mk 1 Rear brake valve

Ron Jernigan from Delaware is looking for a brake pressure regulator valve for the rear of his 1966 Cooper S. So far I have stripped three of these units, all of which have pitting I the bores. So now I too am looking for a valve for my '66 S.

Freestyle build

The Funbuggies Freestyle is designed for off-roading, with the Mini engine at the back it gets good traction and with large diameter wheels, it has go anywhere capabilities in spades. However mine will only visit the rough stuff by accident as its intended purpose is autotesting. With that in mind the chassis arrived without the roofbars - not only reduces weight but also lowers the centre of gravity - and is being subject to a number of modifications to make it more suitable. Mini Register member Duncan Wild's Freestyle is proving very competitive, challenging for outright honours in national championship events, and a number of the modifications I am making have been inspired by his car.

At present the car is undergoing a "dirty build" with the mechanicals from the lightweight saloon exactly as they were removed. When all the components have been located and the necessary brackets welded in place, they will all be removed again, reconditioned and then refitted to the re-painted chassis. But first, to make life easier in the garage, a pair or trolleys were fabricated, one that will support the engine and box in the sub-frame, the other that will support the front of the chassis, with the subframe bolted in the back of the chassis, the two trollies make it easy to work on the chassis and move it about as required.

The first area is the suspension; the standard car has a clever rocker arm arrangement for the front suspension that uses Mini rear shock absorbers with a set of coil springs, while the rear uses the standard cones with Mini front shock absorbers. In order to be able to adjust the ride height and run the car lower than normal, the standard shocks and springs are being replaced by adjustable GAZ coil-over units, these are being supplemented by adjustable lower arms and tie rods.

Next up is the brakes, with all the weight at the rear, a pedalbox with a balance bar is being fabricated to enable adjustment to the front to rear pressures.

A plywood mock-up was made first to trial the fit and position of the pedals and then the dimensions transferred to some 6mm aluminium.

 The output from the master cylinder for the rear brakes will be routed via a Tee piece to the input of two more master cylinders; one for each rear wheel. A pair of fiddle brake levers will then operate these cylinders, allowing individual rear wheels to be locked to assist with tight turns.

As with the pedal box, scrap timber was used to mock up some brackets for the seat. In autotesting, with forward and rearward spin turns, the G forces can be quite high and being securely held in the seat is important to enable maximum control. A kart seat is being used, these are normally attached directly to the kart frame and need to be braced to replace the support, more 6mm aluminium sheet was bent to shape

And with the height and position of the seat worked out with the aid of the timber brackets, a pair of cross members were welded into the chassis and a pair of brackets fabricated to take the seat runners.

Events

9th-10th June - Evesham, UK - Evesham Festival 2007. The event will be held in Crown Meadow and in addition to cars, there will be historic boats and hot air balloons.

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.

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