The Register

The E-Newsletter of The Mini Register

March 2008

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

Kevin Walshe, Birmingham, West Midlands, UK

Big apologies to Kevin, not sure how but I failed to include his details in The Register when he joined. Kevin has a very special Mini, not only is it a Mini 25 in very good condition (rare in itself), but it is registered on an A plate and Kevin has been told that this is the only one in existence. All other examples of this birthday special were registered on B plates.

"This is an A reg pre production car, I'm told it's the only one in existence on an A plate. I bought the car from a friend who 10 months ago bought it from the second owner (the first being the factory Austin Rover) he was the chief quality manager at Austin Rover who ran the car for 3 years then parked it up in his garage for nearly 20 years. When the factory owned the car they used it on test for about 10 months before selling to the quality manager. With the car came extensive history going back to BEFORE the car was built. All documents, build sheets, test papers, production cards,  memos, invoices etc etc, came with the Mini. It has covered just 30,000 miles from new and is in great original condition."

Neil & Derek Lynds, Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada

Neil and Derek have owned their 1977 Mini 1000 for 12 years, painted blue with a white roof, they have rebuilt just about everything on "Mr Bean".

The inside is original but under the bonnet, the engine has been bored 30 thou and a mild cam has been fitted. A set of Rostyle wheels have also been fitted.

Nigel Sharon and Lucy Lockett, Wigan, Lancashire, UK

Nigel and Lucy have a red and white 1993 Cooper which they call Derek.

"Standard Cooper bought a couple of weeks ago after 10+ Mini less years. Grin factor of 100%. Also just bought a Mayfair project but more about that one later."

Verne Gelvin-Lane, Olive Branch, Mississippi, USA

Verne has not only specified exactly what he wants on his new MINI S but he has also chosen the name Dexter and got the plates to match, and all this before the car has arrived from the dealer. When it arrives, it will be in Dark Silver with a black roof and black bonnet stripes

"I am new to the world of Mini. I know that the new MINIS are not considered to be "real" Minis, but to me, this is the start of a beautiful adventure. I told my husband I see a vintage Mini in our future!"

Clementine Hambly, Wisbech, Cambs, UK

Clementine is not too sure of the origin of her Mini (Molly), it probably started as a 1992 Mayfair.

Since then it has been treated to a  new body shell and body kit, leather interior, tinted (blacked out)windows and a 1295cc engine from a H-reg Cooper fitted with an air induction kit

"...... hopefully one day I will be able to say it is modified in a good way...

Molly is my pride and joy... she has been abused by former owners (a red bull can to ground the ignition coil) but I am aiming to restore her to her former glory. She is a bit of a work in progress (no handbrake) but I love her all the same...so do try to be forgiving if you ever see her out and about."

Christina, Robert and Andrew Huggins, Bronkhorspruit, Gauteng, South Africa

The Huggins family have an interesting Mini, although they live in South Africa, which manufactured their own Minis locally, their Mini started life in Tel-Aviv, Isreal.

It is a 1976 Austin Mini in Burgandy red

"No modification just found her under a tree, she is left hand drive first bough in Tel-Aviv Israel. She is in need of lots of love and care and a complete interior overhaul. The engine is running sound and only needs minor body work. I will be trying to find parts i.e. door handles, indicators steering column unit etc. if anyone can help please contact."

Peter and Janet Ziedrich, Healdsburg, California, USA

Given the twisty roads that Peter took us on for the recent REME run, it is interesting that the mods to his MINI have been in the performance area with the suspension and brake mods to come later. The Pure Silver/black 2003 Cooper S has received just about every performance modification possible, hence the name "rapid1"

Janet on the other hand has concentrated on the aesthetics, her Indi Blue/white 2003 Cooper has been treated to a checkered roof, checkered rear view mirror covers, exhaust, air intake and various chrome trimmings

It was the presence of the two MINIs in the family that led Peter and Janet to form the Redwood Empire Mini Enthusiasts in Healdsburg, CA, which has developed into a very impressive club 

Andrew Cooper, Perth, Western Australia

There is a fair amount of debate these days on the relative merits of Clubman versus Round-nose Minis, to avoid any bias, Andrew has one of each, a 1965 Morris Mini Deluxe that he is restoring and a yellow 1977 Leyland Clubman called Button

Rob Cernohlavek, Sacramento, California, USA

Rob takes a similar stance but in this case it is the Classic Mini vs BMW MINI debate that he spans. His 1964 Austin Mini "BamBam" is black with a white roof and has a very impressive spec list:

1275 A+ EFI single port engine/HF44 SU Carb conversion with K&N cone filter, Lucas ignition coil, High output alternator, Yellow distributor, Sracer plug wires, Sracer Front sway bar, JCG Front Cooper S discs, Sracer Bumpstops, Sracer Hi-Los, Gaz adjustable shocks, Sracer race springs(red in front, blue in the back), Sracer powder coated rocker cover, Sracer titanium rocker bolts, Minator Anthracite 10x5" alloys with Yoko A008's, JCG Cooper S head, Sracer stainless straight pipe, DTM center exit dual exhaust, Sracer adjustable rear camber, Sracer rear sway, Wipac Halogen Headlamps

"I am a member of the Redwood Empire Mini Enthusiasts based in Northern California. I was pulled into Minis when I test drove one in 2005. By early 2006 I had a custom ordered Hyper Blue Convertible MCS shipped across the pond for my motoring enjoyment. Shortly thereafter my wife spontaneously traded in our Honda Pilot for her own 2006 British Racing Green Convertible. Not 9 mo's later (hmmm) the matched pair were joined by a smaller addition - a 1964 Austin Mini LHD (German) named BamBam which is now my project car. Along the way we also acquired a large SUV and being a family of 4 with only 2 drivers will soon be trading it and my original convertible for a new Mini Clubman. I think that will do us for the time being, but I always say that... "

Derek Goodman, Hockley, Essex, UK

Derek has a blue 2005 Cooper-S

Tim Day, Sudbury, Suffolk, UK

Tim's 1979 Mini Van is white at the moment and is fitted with 10" cosmic wheels painted graphite and metal flaked covered by a set of wheel arches. A pair of Cobra classic bucket seats provide the comfort and the go is courtesy of a 1275 spi engine running a single SU carb

"My van is a '79 van and is in very good condition structurally, it will soon be treated to a full revamp and probably a respray and proper rust proofing! I have many ideas for it but money and my other projects are slowing it down a tad! "

Nick Becker, Walnut Creek, California, USA

Nick's Mini is a 1967 Mini 1000 in green that is fitted with a set of Cooper S Brakes.

"I am President of the San Francisco Chapter of the Mini Owners of America. I've owned this Mini for about five years and it is my daily driver. I've owned several other Minis in the past and have been involved with Minis since 1973 when my brother bought his first racing Mini. I've raced Minis in the past. I've also owned many other British sports cars. I was Chairman of Mini Meet West in 2005 and have generally been involved with Minis, British cars, racing and their clubs and events all of my adult life."

Tom Jones, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, UK

We don't have any Mini details for Tom.

George Flinton and Anthony Hoggarth, Malton, North Yorks, UK

George and Anthony's 1968 Cooper S is in the classic Tartan Red, the car is in standard form and is known as "Cirel"

Tech Questions

Could I pick your brain for a second (or three)? I've got 'old-style' oil filter housing on my Mini and I'm sick and tired of messing around trying to seat the cup housing on the seal.

Is there something on the UK market to convert to the spin-on type filter? If so, do you think it'd work on my SA model (I remember you commenting on the placement of the oil filter on my Mk3 when you were down here ... right before your wife branded you an anorak!)?

Ryan Bubear, Cape Town, South Africa

You have an English block, according to Ryno Verters book, it may well have been a rough casting sent over from England and then machined locally at Blackheath.

It is very easy to switch to the canister type filter, I have done it myself a number of times. Your filter bolts to an aluminum casting that is held to the block with 2 studs about 4 inches long, I can't remember the size of the studs, but the thread that goes into the block is UNC. The casting for the spin-on canister needs a pair of shorter bolts - about 1 inch, may be 1 1/4inch long.

From what I can remember, the tube with the banjo joint that runs from the top left of the block to the filter housing will swap straight over, there is a steel adapter with two male threads that joins the pipe to the housing.

Hope you can help me, I have a 1965 round nose 850 ground up resto , it has been deseamed, sand blasted and primed. Engine, brakes etc all up graded, it will wear a Zeemax body kit and 13-7 Minilites.

My question is how much is removed from the lip of the fenders. Also I have seen in  one of your English Mini mags an exhaust outlet pipe that spelt Mini, would you know who sells them?

Regards Cec Kelaher, Brisbane, Australia

I am afraid I have had no experience of fitting a Zeemax kit, can anyone help Cec?

Hi. Does anyone know how to remove the front door handles from a Morris Mini 1968

Julie Sunley, Australia

It is possible that the Australian built Minis had a different arrangement because the Australian factory introduced their own design of door with an extra quarter-light window on the earlier models.

If your Mini is the same as the Mk I, the lock is visible on the inside face of the door, it is held on with 3 cross-head screws - to remove the handle from this design, there is a flat-head screw in the middle of the lock, this holds the door handle to the lock, the boss around the door handle is held on to the outer door skin by two small nuts, these are fiddly to get at.

If your lock is the same as the later Minis with the internal door hinges, then there is a bit more involved, you will need to wind the window right up and remove the internal door trim, at this point you may be able to get at the cross-head screw that hold the front of the door handle to the outer skin, the rear screw passes through the door flange. It is a while since I have done this, and you may also have to disconnect the link rod from the internal door handle to the lock and possibly the lock as well.

Cape Town Breakfast Run

After displaying serious Mini-Run withdrawal symptoms for some time, we finally organised a Breakfast Run down here in Cape Town for Sunday, February 24. An alarming amount of people I contacted had either sold their Mini(s) or their pride-and-joys were scattered in bits around the garage!

The weather predictions didn't promise great things in the build-up but somehow we were blessed with a sunny day, and incredibly the infamous South-easter stayed well away.

Although only eight Minis turned up on the day, we still had a wide variety to drool over. From South African-specific examples like the GTS, HLE and Mk3 to a funky black Pickup, a tastefully-restored Countryman and others, all we really needed was a Moke or two to complete the puzzle!

The group set off on Sunday morning from Kirstenhof, taking the Main Road through Fish Hoek, past Simon's Town and eventually around Cape Point (which has recently suffered serious fire damage). We ended up at the Cape Farm House restaurant for a relaxed breakfast before a few of us zipped through Scarborough (the South African version, that is!) and to Misty Cliffs for a quick photoshoot.

Hopefully, this event will prove to be a catalyst for more regular meetings.

Ryan Bubear, Cape Town, South Africa

REME Mount Tamelpais and Cheese Factory Run

6 weeks ago, in January, we were stood on top of a very large rock, surrounded by Minis and looking out to sea. Well we are doing it again but this time we are over 6000 miles to the west, the rock is Mount Tamelpais in Marin County, just north of San Francisco rather than the Great Orme on the North Wales coast and the sea in the Pacific Ocean rather than the Irish Sea. However the atmosphere is the same, we are amongst a group of friendly Mini enthusiasts. The Redwood Empire Mini Enthusiasts have kindly invited us to join them on one of their regular Mini runs that use some amazing roads in fantastic scenery. It is a testament to how welcoming and friendly the members of REME are; they even let us join in when we turned up in a VW Beetle provided by the evil hire car company.

We did not get off to the best of starts, the meeting place was the Safeway supermarket at Mill Valley, a few miles north of the Golden Gates bridge, unfortunately there were two in Mill Valley and we chose the wrong one, luckily two Minis were there as well and thanks to the organisation that goes into these events, Randy and Tami were soon able to contact the rest and we were able to join the group of nearly 40 MINIS at the correct start.

Although REME cater for classic Minis and new MINIs, today's run consists only of the later cars including two Clubmans; a Cooper and a Cooper S

Our second glitch happened when we followed the wrong Mini along the Freeway and missed the turn off, again thanks to the excellent roadbook compiled for the run, we were able to regain the route and catch the group at the first stop; on top of Mount Tamelpais. The views from up here are fantastic with San Francisco and the Bay to the south and the Pacific to the West.

After a short beak, we set off back down the mountain and along the Marin County coast before heading in land again to the Cheese Factory for lunch.

The members if REME had traveled from a wide area around the Bay and it was good to see how members who had not previously met soon introduced themselves and started chatting, we were made equally welcome and it is a good reflection of the open, friendly nature of the club.

Talk inevitably included the Minis and the modifications made to them, and these were extensive. Of the 40 cars present, no two looked the same, and even those with an apparently standard looking exterior revealed a host of goodies when the bonnet was lifted

After lunch, we looped back to the coast and crossed from Marin to Sanoma County before the finish at Petaluma

Cracking day Gromit!

Mini Reshell

Part 4 of Rich Wignall's article on the re-shelling of a Mini

A few more hours work, and the engine is ready to start, which this one did with no problem, I decided to fit a bigger capacity alternator, than the original Lucas 15 ACR, due to the extra lights on this car. I found one from an Escort diesel, which is identical to those fitted to Minis in the early to mid 90’s apart from the position of the end casing, which has to be turned 1/3 of a turn to line up the lower mounting lug with the adjuster. Quite easy to do and well worth it as the alternator was donated to the project by one of my friends. I went 'retro' with the main engine earthing lead, I connected it from the clutch housing to the front panel subframe mounting bolt, instead of running it along the upper engine stabiliser, where there is a greater chance of it coming loose.

Just visible beneath the ignition coil is the all important pipe which feeds the oil pressure gauge, it is very important to keep this clear of any moving parts, and in the case of this type, which is plastic, well away from the exhaust manifold. I usually do this by attaching it to the wiring loom on the inner wing, with cable ties, or securing it to the inner wing with 'P' clips.

The addition of the Cooper 'S' grille, lamp bar and lamps, makes it look more like the Rally car it was once intended to be, when using a mixture of spot & fog lamps, the fogs must always go at the outer ends of the bar, to comply with the lighting regulations, and must be wired, via a switch with warning light, to the sidelight circuit.

A set of stainless wheel arch covers makes the Mini look quite distinctive and helps cover those 6Jx10 alloys. Just visible beneath the bumper are the twin DTM exhausts, I've often had my doubts about them but they look good and were on the original car.

As this car has a beautifully made lightweight fibreglass bonnet, a pair of leather straps add to the 'period' appearance, when using screws & nuts through fibreglass, it is best to use flat washers beneath the nuts inside the bonnet.

I had to make some small alloy brackets to fit the trim along the front of the bonnet; grille ends and new indicators make the front look a lot tidier.

With everything working in the engine department, it's time to tackle the rest of the interior. The owner always complained about the sorry state of the 'cardboard' parcel shelf liner, which had got wet, so I found some light alloy sheet, (which had originally been destined to become the race style dashboard in my own Mini) and cut it to fit into the parcel shelf. I attached it with small screws & nuts, and bonded it to stop vibration. Once this is done, it can be covered in any type of carpet type material or pvc.

With the parcel shelf done, the full width dash is fitted; these are generally secured with brackets, which clamp behind top and bottom dash rails, with wing nuts

Sound deadening & carpets are all quite straightforward to install, unfortunately the original car had new carpets with blue trim, red might have looked better, but these were in much too nice a condition to waste. The brake & fuel pipes can bee seen on the seat mounting cross member, near the hand brake. The battery cable runs along the off side inner sill and is barely noticeable.

The objectives of Autotesting

The aim of autotesting is to drive a car around a set of markers/bollards, adhering to a set route in as short time as possible. The competitor with the lowest penalty is the winner. The route is defined with a map, and involves competitors using both forwards and reverse gears. They are required to stop astride lines. Park in 'garages' and perform spin turns, and penalties are given for striking markers, or not performing the manoeuvres correctly. An example of a test diagram is given below.

When done to perfection, the car almost glides around the tests, stopping only for fractions of a second, and dramatically changing direction from forwards to reverse whilst on the move. These driving skills were used to make the 'Montego in the Car Park' advertisement and autotesting is the basis of Russ Swift’s MG Display team, Russ himself being a former autotest champion

Production Car Autotesting

This is only for standard saloon cars (open top cars must run hood up). Cars must be taxed and have a valid MOT if appropriate. Each test must be designed so that a competitor must not have to engage reverse gear more than four times (ignoring 'shunts' to correct a mistake). One passenger must be carried and they may assist in giving directions to the driver. In very special cases a driver may be as young as 14 years. If the driver holds a full RTA licence the passenger must be 14 years of age or over.

AutoSolo

These are for taxed & tested cars and are all forwards. Driver only in the car, competitors are split into three groups, one group drives, one group marshals & one group has a rest. One score from each run at the test can be dropped to allow for those 'little' mistakes. This sport came from the USA and is now becoming a great way to start motorsport

Thanks to Steve Johnson for this article, Steve is very much involved in organising and competing in autotests and autosolo in the UK North West, if you would like more details, check out www.anwcc.org and www.sd34msg.org.uk

GRX 311D update

Tony Arnold tells us the ex-Works Mini GRX 311D is up for sale, it has been living in the Midlands where it is being restored to its Circuit of Ireland specification

YouTube clips

Following on from last month's clips, Nick Darkin has sent in this link

It shows a Mini autotesting although we are not sure where. Make sure you watch to the end.

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

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