The Register

The E-Newsletter of The Mini Register

November 2007

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New Members

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

Louise and Samantha Astbury, Moreton, Wirral, UK

The Mini bug appears to have bitten the Astbury family, first there was Nev's rally Mini, now Louise has her own, a purple 1981 Mini HL which thanks to the colour is called Ribena. The body has been de-seamed and fitted with a full Monaco body kit which covers a set of alloys that in turn cover a set of vented discs and 4 pot calipers. Beneath the fibreglass bonnet the engine is fitted with a 286 cam and stage 3 head that exhales through a twin central exhaust.

Helen and John Mayers, Macclesfield, Cheshire, UK

 "This is the second Mini I have had, the first one was made in 1970, since then I've had a Rover Metro 1.4 . I wanted another Mini, so a few weeks ago, I purchased a Black 1993 Mini Rio with 12600 miles on the clock, with everything original."

Brian, Christina and Joshua Streitberger, Preston, Australia

The Streitberger Mini is an original 1964 997 Cooper in Cherry red & Smoke grey

Adam Upton, Windsor, Berkshire, UK

Adam calls his Gold and Green 1986  Mayfair Rusty and his introduction explains why

"I brought it for £200 on ebay and its got a bit of work to do on it. sub-frames fine just the usual holes here and there. It doesn't run at this time but hope it will soon (help would be cool)"

Anthony and Nicholas Bodger, Beaminster, Dorset, UK

Anthony has been a Mini enthusiast for many years and has just bought a Yak to accompany his red and black Mini 25.

The Yak was made in 1972 but has never been registered, this is a bit of a coincidence as in the last edition of The Register, we welcomed new member Craig Scarborough who had just bought a Yak kit that had never been built.

Anthony would welcome any information that would help to get it registered.

Cec Kelaher, Brisbane  Queensland, Australia

Cec calls his 1965 850 sedan "The Brick", it is currently in grey primer as Cec has started his rebuild with the shell. He is currently assembling a 1275 A-Plus that has been bored to 1330 and will sport a 45 Weber. He has a "heap of gear from UK" including a Zeemax kit and 13/7 Minilites.

Gary Diamond, Pontypridd, Wales, UK

Gary's 1990 Mini Checkmate is now orange, the rear lights are now round and a set of Sportspack arches cover a set of alloy wheels. On the inside Gary has a set of bucket seats

"I'm Gary, I'm 17, I have worked for 2 years on my Mini. When I bought it from a family friend for a hundred pounds it was a good shell with the usual little bits of rust so I stripped it down and rebuilt it, had it sprayed and gradually accumulated the parts I needed like hi-los and bucket seats and had the alloy wheels for Christmas"

Chris and Alexandra Wilbraham, Kilburn, Derbyshire, UK

Chris has a 1972 Morris Mini 1000 in surf blue with a white roof called Rachel, it is fitted with a 1275cc engine with twin carbs and a stainless exhaust. The interior is fully trimmed in leather and features a Jaguar dash. On the outside a set of alloys are bolted to a set of Cooper S discs.

"I acquired my Mini in 1993 when I was 17. I haven't had to really do much to the car as its always been kept in a garage and was in great condition when I brought it. I don't really drive her much as I run a tool hire company and it isn't up to the rigours of day to day driving with my job. Its more of a weekend toy, its still the best car I've ever driven and as many of you know I can't stop smiling when ever I'm out and about in her, she seems to have the same effect on the public to."

Mark Wedge, Frome, Somerset, UK

Mark owns a black Mini 30 ( 1989 of course) that has a 1275cc engine

Keith Downes, Treharris, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, UK

Keith's Mini started as a Mini Minor, it has since been re-shelled into a Mk 3 shell and fitted with a Mk 5 interior, the performance side has been addressed with a 1275cc engine and a set of disc brakes

Jonathan Scott, Ferntree Gully  Victoria, Australia

Jon's car is Mini powered but is the form of a Nota Fang, this is a Mini based kit from the 70's, in fact Jon's was made in 1971. The car looks very smart in its  blue and aluminium finish. Jon uses the car for hillclimbs and sprints and with 125bhp in just 450 Kgs, it is a lot of fun.

That power comes from a 1293cc A+ power unit with 1.6 / 1 rockers, 12 / 1 compression ratio, balanced bottom end, lightened flywheel( 3.2kg), fast road cam, electronic dizzy and a worked head with large ports with std valves.

Hennie Steyn, Middelburg, South Africa

Hennie is a Mini fan - that is the classic Mini, he is none too keen on the later incarnation. He owns a red 1971 Mini 1100 which he names "Naughty by nature". He uses Mazda 73mm pistons with an 81.3mm stock and a compression ratio of 11.1. A 629 cam orchestrates the breathing between a 40 DCOE side draught Weber and a big bore exhaust, the bit in the middle is a self modified cylinder head. Drive is through a Clubman gearbox running a 3.76 diff.

Ruth Barr, Ballymena, Antrim, Northern Ireland, UK

Ruth joins us with the second Mini Thirty of the month, although this time a  Pearlescent Cherry Red example, called Jimmy, that is  "bog standard, just the way he should be" except for a Maniflow exhaust and a carbon fibre dash.

"Jimmy had two old lady owners who kept a little log book of everything that was done to him, then he was bought by a young man, then brought over to NI. I bought Jimmy with no front end on him in March 2007. Since then with a lot of help from others he now has a new front end, replacing the wings, front panel, two A panels, scuttle panel, drivers sill, and rear valance. He also got treated to a full respray and I am currently working at rebuilding him. He has been on SORN since 2005 but I intend to get him though MOT asap and restore him to his former glory and show him off by driving him. He has such a reliable and steady wee engine which always starts on the button. I just can't wait to get him on the road again!!!!"

Ant Mulvana, Hull, East Yorkshire, UK

"I'm Ant, I'm 16 and I have a '89 Rover Mini Flame, which got caught up in some floods so it required a fair bit of cleaning up, I have got rid of some rust which revealed several holes, I got the Mini from a Dad's mate for free ! :D and when the Mini's sorted, I hope to pass my test on my 17th and drive the Mini for years to come!"

Roy and David Higginson, Preston, Lancs, UK

Roy and David are autotesters, Roy and I competed on the same events back in the 80's, both in Mini saloons. These days Roy is using this Autotest Special that he built from a 1993 car.

"The Engine is 1380cc with Omega pistons, a MED autotest head with 1.5 roller rockers, HT cam and duplex vernier timing chain. ARP bolts hold it all together. I got Ken Irwin in Ireland to sort me out a 2 speed box and install a MED 4 pin diff. The body work is cut down to the classic autotest special style with aluminium side panels and rear arch cover. A fibre glass front replaces all the steel panels. The fuel tank was purchased from Owens Fabrications in Wales and sits neatly in place of the wiper motor assembly. The steering is aided by the use of a EPS from a Corsa ( it does save sore shoulder muscles). The battery is mounted under the wing and the car has GB alloys all round.

Frank Ware, Newport, Wales, UK

Frank owns a black 2004 MINI Cabrio

Joel Suarez, Muntinlupa City, Philippines

Joel is the first Mini enthusiast from the Philippines that we have had the pleasure to welcome to the Mini Register, he owns a 1992 Mini 1000 fitted with a Stage 1 tuning kit. The car has been resprayed in BRG and the body given a Mini Cooper look.

Joel has recently acquired the Mini which is still being restored and modified. The origin and year is uncertain, it is an original LHD model fitted with manual transmission and a 998cc engine

Malcolm & Maureen Monckton,  Basingstoke, Hants, UK

Pristine is the word that come immediately to mind when looking at Malcolm and Maureen's Mini, it is a white 1992 Mini City E that has been fitted with alloy wheels and a Cooper Sport LE interior. The bumpers, grill, door mirrors and spot lights are all chromed. A chequered roof and bonnet stripes, both in black, add to the detail. The interior features a walnut dash and  door cappings and to perk up the performance, a Stage 1 kit has been fitted to the engine.

"I bought my Mini in September 2003 with 27000 miles on the clock. One little old lady owner who had the doors reskined, new A panels,and new outer sills. Since then each year I have added to the modifications listed, my next mods are new suspension, hi-lo's, and possibly a Webasto sun roof. I use my Mini throughout the summer visiting all the classic car shows in our area. This year I got to park in the Mini Cooper area at Beaulieu Mini Cooper day, I intend to keep this Mini and possibly get another Mini cooper to play around with."

Michelle & Robert  Bean, Bognor Regis, West Sussex, UK

There is a strong Union Jack theme to Michelle and Robert's Mini, it is a 1984 Mini 25, still in silver. It has Union jack decals on the roof and bonnet stripes. The door cards also feature Union Jacks although these will be replaced with the originals.

Gordon Platelle, Cape Town, South Africa

Gordon has recently bought a Mini, as far as he can tell it was made in the 70's and is an 1100 Special and is currently yellow with a black roof and bonnet stripes. Repairs to floor pan, clutch, battery box and left front fender are mandatory. The rest will follow in time.

We asked Ryno Verster if he could shed some light and armed with the chassis and engine numbers. Ryno has identified the car as a Round-nose 1098 cc Mini Deluxe model and probably a Special Edition. There was no distinction in the chassis numbers between the standard Deluxe and the Special Edition, however Ryno has identified that the chassis number of Gordon's Mini is between two Special Edition models. "The Mini LTD first appeared in the motoring journals’ price lists in August 1979 and for the last time in February 1980. Gordon’s car is therefore a late 1979 but could even be a 1980 model."

Eddie Connor, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK

Eddie has a red 1974 Mini Clubman Estate called Cristine, the car is totally original and is undergoing a total rebuild at moment.

STOP PRESS As we were just about to send off this edition of The Register, we were very pleased to receive three more new members

David Smith, East London, South Africa

David has a 1972 Mini Clubman that he bought a year ago, he is busy refurbishing it and although he has another engine for it, he is having difficulty locating spares.

Stephen Bomford, Abingdon, Oxon, UK

Stephen's black and white 2002 MINI Cooper is his first Mini and he is looking forward to driving a great car.

John and Joyce Gitins, Welshpool, Wales, UK

John and Joyce have a Grantura Yak which they have owned since 1975.

"Help required to locate VIN No plate. I have contact with people associated with Grantura Plastics, they no longer have their records but told me about 150 Yaks were built and that a brass plate was fastened onto the glass fibre body or steel tubular chassis somewhere. Registered in Shropshire as AUX 55 L to a Mr A Smith of Lebotwood Telford. "

Members update

Hi,  I am Back! Yes me of "Didi" fame. After going to the Charlbury, Oxfordshire meet some years ago and suffering 2 heart attacks + cardiac arrest + broken leg. I am now a proud owner again of a 1993 "Italian Job" Mini. Fully occupied with overcoming the efforts of a "Boy racer"?  Looks are everything, Don't worry about the smoke or that the 7" wheels are tearing up the bodywork!   Anyway Nice to be back. For those that remember I was "in" at the start at Morris Motors 1956 The Birth of Mini! Look forward to seeing you all soon.

Ivor Fisher, Oxford, UK

Thanks for the Mini Memories

Ryno Verster is an expert on the Mini's produced in South Africa and is also historian for the Mini Owners Club of Southern Africa.

Ryno has just published his second book on the subject, it is a 255 page hard cover book called “Thanks for the Mini Memories – A South African Mini Story”.

It covers the Mini’s history in South Africa from the first fully assembled prototype, for tooling purposes, that arrived in September 1959. Through the first locally assembled Austin 850 that was completed on 21 December 1959 to October 1983 when the last classic Mini rolled off the assembly line at the Elsies River plant.

This book is the end result of more than four years’ research. Days on end were spent in the National Library, scanning all motoring journals published in South Africa since 1959. More than 60 former Mini racing drivers were located, visited and their scrap books, newspaper cuttings and Mini memorabilia borrowed and documented electronically. These racing drivers were located in Cape Town, along the Garden Route, in East London, Durban, Pietermaritzburg, Johannesburg, Pretoria and one was located in Qatar and another in Belgium. This turned out to be a very good source of tracing Mini history in South Africa. Yet the real breakthrough came when the author located and befriended Ralph Clarke who was the Engineering Manager at the BMC/Leyland Blackheath plant since 1955, until his retirement. The valuable information and pictures that he made available, enabled the author to take this Mini Story to another level.

The book consists of 15 chapters and 9 appendices and the South African Mini Story is also pictorially told by 122 black and white and 108 colour pictures. Not to disrupt the flow of the story by prices and market share statistics, production figures, NAAMSA sales figures, local content time line, technical specifications etc. These were included as appendices for reference purposes. Some unique Mini Memorabilia was also included in these appendices. The original official homologation papers of the Royal Automobile Club for the Austin 7 and Morris Mini-Minor (dated 17 September 1959), the Austin and Morris Cooper and the Austin and Morris 1071 cc Cooper ‘S’ models are part of the appendices.

The 15 chapters are mainly dedicated to the different Mini models. The story line for each chapter is different and even includes Mini Memories that were made by two South African Wolseley 1000 Minis in America. Due to the Mini’s exceptional performance on South African racetracks, an overview of the particular model’s performance in racing and the race records of the most successful drivers in that particular model, are also included.

A copy of the book can be obtained directly from Ryno for 275 Rand plus postage, we will be happy to pass on any enquiries

Where is it now (Australia)?

Just a quick question. I am trying to tack down a car.  Its the ex Paul Gulson rotary mini.. I don't know whether you remember it, but it was a sports sedan which competed in the division one sports sedan series of the 80's (I think the 80's) against the likes of Jim Richards Sidchrome Mustang, Allan Moffats Colone Capri and Alan Grices Chev Corvair, and trust me when I say it held its own, it was a real giant killer.

Anyway, I have spoken to Paul Gulson and he said that the car is in Victoria. Do you remember the car or who owns it now.  I have attached a photo of it.

And lastly, do you know if an 1100S block has the additional head stud the coopers have.

Thanks

Glen Bennett

Mini Workshop - Front hub ball joints

Replacing the ball joints on the front hub is probably my least favourite job on the Mini, which should be enough motivation to ensure that they are properly greased, however they do wear and when they do, the job has to be done or the car will fail its MOT test.

To check for wear, jack the front wheel clear of the ground and gripping the top and bottom of the tyre, try pushing and pulling (it is easier if a helper looks at the ball joint from under the front. There is a degree of adjustment possible in the ball joint; shims are used to space the cup away from the pin and you may find that some of the existing shims can be removed to tighten up the joint.

If not, or if the pin is pitted through lack of maintenance in the past, then a new ball joint kit will be required.

Interestingly, the original official Mini workshop manual describes a procedure that involves assembling the joint dry and without the tab washer so that the gap between the hub can be measured with a feeler gauge, 35 thou for the thickness of the tab washer is subtracted along with an extra 3 thou and then shims selected to fill what's left, with this lot assembled, the joint should have just the correct amount of movement.

The Haynes manual on the other hand says "Using a trial and error process, remove the retaining nut, take out a shim and then refit the nut and re-check the movement....."

I can understand the Haynes route as despite trying the official way on a couple of occasions, it usually ends with trial and error.

This sequence of pictures shows the steps required

Mini Workshop - When the lights go out

With the nights drawing in as we head for winter in the UK, Vince (Karen's ex Mini 25) chose this time for the headlights to fail. This is not an uncommon problem with the Mini as the connectors for the front lights are just behind the grill and right in line for any rain and road dirt thrown at the front of the car. Given that the bullet connector is anything but waterproof, it is no surprise that they cause a problem from time to time.

Luckily the problem is easy to fix; a bunch of connectors is located just below the centre of the bonnet slam panel. There is a connector each for the headlight dip, headlight main, side lights, left and right front indicators. Taking one connector at a time, the bullets should be removed from their sleeves - don't pull the wires, that just tends to pull the wire out of the bullet, rather than the bullet out of the sleeve. It is better to use a screwdriver blade to expand the sleeve from the other side.

With the oxide cleaned off the bullets, new sleeves should be used to return the lights to working order.

Whilst this was going on up front, Mark climbed under the rear to check out the exhaust mountings

And just in time, the square rubber block mounting at the front of the rear sub-frame had split nearly all the way across, so new item was fitted along with new rubber bobbins at the back.

 MINI Clubman - Launch Preview

The Mini Register were very pleased to be invited down to the MINI factory in Oxford for the preview of the MINI Clubman launch.

Emma Lowndes, MINI Marketing Manager, opened proceedings before handing over to Dirk Muller Schols. Dirk, from the Design studio in Munich is one of the designers of the Clubman, and after pulling the covers from a white Clubman on stage, he gave us an insight into the design process and thinking that led to the introduction of the Clubman.

There were, as expected, plenty of references to links between the classic range and the new model, which raised the question of why the name Clubman was used instead of Countryman; Dirk explained that when BMW bought Rover, they bought the rights to the name Clubman but not for Countryman which is now owned by another company. Interestingly there were no examples of the slab-fronted classic amongst the collection of original Minis on display.

One of the key features of the Clubman is it's doors, not just the extra side door, but also the rear doors, split down the centre to mimic the original. To arrive at the final configuration, 3 cars were built, one with a tailgate hinged at the top, one with the rear door split horizontally and the third with the eventual configuration.

The rear features a full width brake light across the top of the doors. There is a sliding toneau to cover the load area, the floor which folds back to reveal a storage area below, these folding sections do not look too substantial and care may be required when carrying heavier items.

The rear doors feature an interesting hinge arrangement that swings the doors out wider than normal so that they don't hinder the load area, as a consequence of this, the doors overlap the rear lights which are fixed to the body and poke out through holes in the doors.

Probably the most controversial aspect of the Clubman from the UK, Japanese, Australian, New Zealand, etc market point of view is the fact that the extra door is on the right, depositing the rear passengers onto the road rather than the pavement(sidewalk). Dirk explained that this is because the fuel tank is on the left hand side and would have to be moved towards the back for an extra door to be fitted on that side, such a move would put the tank into the crash zone for the American regulations which would therefore mean adding more reinforcements and there more weight behind the rear wheels, which would have done the handling no favours at all.

After Dirk's talk, we were let loose on three additional Clubmans and every feature was well and truly examined. The extra side door makes access to the rear seats much easier, it is even possible to squeeze in without moving the driver's seat forward. Once in the additional legroom is obvious.

An unusual feature of the roof is two longitudinal ridges that run down either side, these are a clever device to raise the section for the additional strength required by the increase in length without raising the actual roof. A roofrack option will be available.

For our added entertainment, a number of classic Minis were on display, these included a Wildgoose camper, a Mk I saloon and Countryman and

Natasha Caine's Bullion "Art Car" Mini

To round of the day, we were given a tour of the factory, with its impressive collection of robots. Although the Clubman is made on the same line as the hatchback and convertible, an extensive upgrade to the paint was made prior to the introduction of the new range.

Many thanks MINI - it was a most enjoyable day.

 MINI R codes

As has been long documented, the internal code for the classic Mini was ADO15, this was the design project number with ADO standing for Austin Design Office. But what about its successor, the MINI ?, these are assigned an R code (Rover ?)

What happened to R51 and R54 I wonder

Freestyle build

Its always nice to reach the stage in a project when clean new or reconditioned components are bolted in place.

Over the last month, the front of the Freestyle has progressed, with the pedal box, steering and front suspension all in place, just waiting for the new centre mounting for the coil-over shocks.

The hubs were stripped, cleaned and re-built and in the process the flanges were found to be worn where they press against the inner race of the bearings. This has probably happened in the past when the hub nut has not been as tight as it should be, allowing the inner race to spin on the driveshaft. I am sure this can happen when used taper washers are used beneath the hub nut.

The standard Freestyle has roofbars that extend from the front bulkhead to the roll bar, for autotesting, there is no need for that extra weight pushing the centre of gravity upwards, so they have been removed. As the bonnet normally attaches to these, an alternative method of fixing was required. A U shaped piece of the treadplate has been pop-riveted in place which will not only support the bonnet but also provides a useful mounting point for the three remote reservoirs for the brake and clutch master cylinders.

Before the brakes can be plumbed in, the location of the master cylinders for the fiddle brakes needs to be established, so the next task will be to fabricate some brackets to hold the cylinders and levers, I had been toying with idea of making the levers such that you push to operate rather than pull, on the basis that pulling on the levers tends to pull you out of the seat. However such an action is counter intuitive and so the levers will probably be pulled.

Events

Sunday 25 November - Mini Owners Club of South Africa - Annual Prettiest Mini Event. The event will be held at the VVC clubhouse.

Sunday 25th November - The Mini Car Club of Auckland will be attending the Waiuku Flying 50 - sounds like a great day with a classic car street pursuit, classic car displays, vintage aircraft formation flying and fireworks.

Sunday 13th January - The excellent Wirral Minis Llandudno run along the North Wales coast, book early it is very popular.

Sunday 27th January - British Mini Fair, Bingley Hall, Stafford

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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