The Register

The E-Newsletter of The Mini Register

July 2009

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Mini in the Park

It is not long now before Mini in the Park at Santa Pod and preparations are going well for the Mini Register 40/50 Autosolo.

There will be three sessions during the day in the main arena, 9:30 to 11:00, 12:00 to 14:00 and 15:00 to 16:30.

Each of these sessions will start with a demonstration autotest by the quickest Mini drivers in the BTRDA Autotest Championship.

After the demonstration autotest, we will lay out an Autosolo course for members of the public to drive in their Minis, so if you have wondered what it would be like to take part in this car friendly but exciting sport, bring your Mini along and enter. There will be three awards for the fastest Classic Mini, Fastest BMW Mini and fastest Mini based kit car.

The autosolo is being run as an officially approved event and as the Mini Register is not an MSA recognised club, Warwickshire Drivers will be running the event. Warwickshire Drivers have many years experience organising one of the rounds of the BTRDA Autotest Championship and more recently have also been running a round of the BTRDA Newcomers Autosolo Challenge.

If you would like to lend a hand, all assistance would be appreciated.

New Members

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

Paul Reek, Durham, County Durham, UK

1959 Austin Seven in Blue

Paul's '59 is called Usif and is awaiting restoration. It was last on the road in 1982 and although quite complete and original it does need some work to bring it back to its former glory.

Members update

Paul Le Roy, Wellington, New Zealand

Paul and Rachel have now settled in new Zealand after their move from South Africa and have joined the very active Mini scene in the form of MOWOG (Minis of Wellington Owners group). Although nothing like the collection of Minis they had in Johannesburg, they have started as they mean to go on and bought a MINI which has now been upgraded to a Clubman.

Paul says "The Clubman is very different - it is almost unrelated to the earlier car. I never realised that it would be such a change. There is much more useable power and the handling is vastly improved. The extra space is also very well laid out. The extra legroom is good and the boot can accommodate much more.

We have not used it on a long trip yet but I think it will be magic. It is also more economical having a 6th gear and with our low limits this is great. I would have liked an S but the speed fines.......!! We can only do 50km in the cities and 100 on the open road."

On their travels to Pasir Puteh in Malaysia, Awie spotted another poor Mini in need of rescuing, interestingly it looks like it has been fitted with wind-up windows at some time in the past, but unlike the usual channel being added along the leading edge to form a quarterlight, there is an extra channel towards the back of the frame.

Alun Owen, Liverpool, UK

After 40 years of being the club's Mini cynic, Alun has finally succumbed and joined the Mini fold with the acquisition of a 2007 MINI Cooper S. His natural F**d bias made him an ideal counter to our over enthusiasm for Minis, but this latest move must cast doubt on his suitability.

Mini 50 celebrations in Portugal

Many thanks to David Susca and Andre Jacinto for these details and photos of what looks like a great party in the town of Gouveia in the Serra da Estrella of Portugal on the weekend of the 3rd of July.

The official opening was on the Friday with some competitions arranged for the Saturday; the morning featured a slalom open to any Mini

Followed by a tour of Gouveia in the afternoon

On the Sunday day, there was a Mini parade in the morning, and in the afternoon there was a bigger slalom competition, open to any car.

Some important facts:

There were 305 Minis on this event, and some rare Minis (rare in Portugal) were present: 1 Wolseley Hornet, 1 Riley Elf, 2 Mini pick-up, 1 Panel Van, 1 Mini Sport (another Portuguese-only version, with just 46 units made), and 5 Mini Mokes. The oldest Mini of Portugal, dated 29th August 1959, was present too.

Mini 50 celebrations in South Africa

The Mini Owners Club of Southern Africa are organising 50th Birthday party for the Mini at the Zwartkops racetrack in Pretoria on Sunday 23rd August.

The all day party will feature

•       Minis (Classic and New)on show
•       Best-dressed (Mini period) Competition
•       Mini Time Line (Minis from ‘59 to 2009)
•       Mini Parade Lap (With Africa-record attempt)
•       Mini Gymkhana and Skidpan
•       Restaurant, Mini models, books, memorabilia, Mini parts, accessories, professional portrait/photos (of Minis) and lots more

And in New Zealand

There is a big party being organised in Nelson on the South Island by Mini Club Nelson and it will take the full week from 23rd to the 30th August. Check out their web site at http://www.mini50th.co.nz.

MINI Wheel bolts

Isn't it strange how one thing leads to another?, what started as a simple (although expensive) job of replacing the two front tyres on Kato (our MINI Cooper S) led to a hunt for new wheel bolts.

With the new run-flats fitted, the key for the locking wheel bolt sheared, the tyre fitter then tried to remove  the bolt with a special tool that looks like a socket but has an internal thread that grips the bolt (apparently all tyre fitters carry these as so many people lose their key). At this point the wheel bolt itself sheared and it did so flush with hub flange.

Then it got interesting, Alun Owen had mentioned in passing a few weeks ago that you had to get special wheel bolts if you want to fit the early (R53) wheels on the later (R56) car because the seat angle is different and the early bolts will not fit. The finish on the original BMW wheel bolts was very poor and they started to rust very early on, so I ordered a new set from The ZoomRoom (they have a shop on Ebay). They were surprised that I knew that the wheel bolts were not interchangeable, apparently there is no published information to this effect from BMW.

Workshop - wiring

It is amazing how many people will tackle anything mechanical on their Mini, others are equally comfortable with bodywork, but mention the electrics and that is an entirely different matter.

There is however just cause for such fear, it is not without cause that the phase "Lucas - Prince of Darkness" is so appropriate. Even the newest Mini is now 9 years old and unless it has spent all that time in the comfort of a garage it is almost certain to have experienced some unexpected behaviour.

It is not just the Mini, all cars with the BMC genes in their DNA suffer the same problems.

The main problem is the quality of the contacts and the single most common problem is a bad earth. The Mini, like most cars, uses the bodyshell as part of the circuits; on early Minis (with a dynamo), the positive connector of the battery is connected to the shell for a positive earth system. When the alternator was introduced, the earth lead was switched to the negative terminal - hence "negative earth". The problem with this arrangement is that the connections to the 'shell corrode resulting in poor or no electrical contact.

If the engine is very sluggish when turning over on the starter, undo the bolt holding the earth cable to the boot floor and give it, and the shell, a good clean. Do the same to the cable between the bulkhead and the engine. This engine earth cable can also present another problem, the standard cable is braided and may look OK from the outside but be corroded in the centre, if it feels at all crunchy, replace it.

The other main earth problem is far more visible, the rear lamp units rely on an electrical contact between the body of the lamp and the bodyshell, this contact is made by the fastening nuts. When the inevitable corrosion sets in and the contact is lost, the bulb's circuit is completed though another bulb in the unit to an earth somewhere else in the system, this is why you will see for example the brake lights flash in sympathy with the indicator.

If faulty earth connectors are the main cause of problems, corrosion of the bullet connectors in the loom is the next. And the worst of these is that bunch of connectors conveniently located just behind the grill where they get a hammering from the spray and salt and anything else thrown up at the front of the car. This group of connectors link the headlight units to the loom, so if your way ahead requires more guesswork that eyesight, pull the bullets out of their sleeve and give them a good clean.

So the general message is that if things stop working as they should, before imagining the worst, go round the various connections and make sure they are in good condition - then imagine the worst.

Events

7th-9th August - UK - IMM and Mini 50 Show, Crofton Park, Longbridge. See http://imm2009.com/imm/ for more details.

16th August - UK - Mini in the Park, Santa Pod, near Northampton - Join us on the Mini Register stand. See http://www.miniinthepark.co.uk/ for more details.

23rd to the 30th of August - New Zealand - The Mini's 50th birthday will be celebrated in style in Nelson, more details can be found at http://www.mini50th.co.nz/.

13th September - USA - The Brisbane Marina British car Day - Between San Francisco and the airport at Sierra Point, this year the event will be a one day free event with a back to basics show at the yatch club followed by a Bay to Breakers tour to Cameron's Pub

16th-18th October - USA - EURO Festival at BMW Zentrum, BMW Manufacturing Corp. Greer (Spartanburg), SC - (registration and maybe driving events on Friday, Show on Saturday, tours, rallye and driving events on Sunday) - All European cars welcome, but this year Morgan is “Featured Marque”, and Mini is “Honorary Marque” – the more Minis the merrier!! - www.euroautofestival.com

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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