Indholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2016 i Mini Magazine

There's barely been time for us to catch our breath this month, with shows every weekend and some decent weather to boot. We've had a brilliant time attending the IMM, the London to Brighton Run, The Thistle Run and the National Metro and Mini Show, thoroughly enjoying the lot. Read all about them from page 26. With precious little time to work on our Mini projects, we've decided to take a look at the dedicated Mini owners that seem to be out in the garage morning, noon and night. Three of our feature cars have been built at home by a mixture of seasoned DIYers and keen amateurs, helping to keep costs down to a manageable level. Take our seven-port cover car for instance. By doing all the work at…

• Edinburgh and Lothian’s Mini Club staged its annual classic car show on June 4, which took place at Neilson Park, Haddington, as part of the Haddington Fun Day. It was a beautiful day, and the public really responded as they arrived en masse to see the cars and take part in the festivities. The ELMOC cars were joined by Minis from New MINI Scotland and The Mini Clan, as well by other classic cars including a lovely Mustang, a Herbie replica and two DeLoreans. The Mini of the Show was won by Dave Pearson for his stunning 1977 Mini Pickup, while Best Dressed Car was won by Lynsey Stobie for her CARS-inspired eyes, which tied nicely in with the town parade theme of the Movies. Next year’s event will…

Saturday May 28 saw an impressive 15 Minis take part in the third round of the HRCR Mintex ‘Old Stager’ Mini Sport Mini Challenge; the EMCOS Red Dragon IT Stages at Down Ampney in Gloucestershire. Glorious sunshine and 65 Miles of concrete runways greeted the drivers at this event, comprising of eight stages with several splits and chicanes. After a hard-fought battle all day, only seven seconds separated the first three Minis home. Adrian Kermode and Maurice Beckett dealt with the chicanes with ease to take top honours and 21st overall, with Clive King and Anton Bird only five seconds behind in their Mini Sport-backed Cooper S in 22nd. Andrew O’Hanlon and Ryan Taylor ran King and Bird close, but had to settle for third and 23rd overall. Behind, Shane…

After the excesses and enjoyment of the IMM in Belgium, anyone who expected the London and Surrey Mini Owners Club’s annual London to Brighton Run to be a quiet affair would be pleasantly surprised. With this year’s allocation of tickets sold in a little over three hours to people all over the world, demand for the 31st run was higher than ever. And despite the looming threat of bad weather, the finishing point at Madeira Drive remained warm and dry. Crystal Palace may have been gripped with FA Cup fever, but though that would end in disappointment, good vibes were plentiful over in Crystal Palace Park on the Saturday evening. You never get much sleep, but there’s plenty of enthusiasm and adrenaline to keep you going as the run gets…

June 23-26 North Yorkshire Mini Adventure Drive your Mini around the North Yorkshire Moors. Includes camping from Thursday to Monday, plus a charity raffle, treasure hunt, entertainment and much more. www.northyorkshireminis.co.uk June 25-26 Mini & VW Bus show British Mini Club bring two iconic vehicles together at DK Rugby Club, West Midlands. Highlights include a Late night bar with live band. Check out ‘Mini & VW Bus’ on Facebook. www.britishminiclub.co.uk June 30 - July 3 Balkanska Minijada Mini Club Serbia’s annual flagship event taking place at Silver Lake, a popular tourist resort by the River Danube in eastern Serbia. www.miniclubserbia.rs July 3 Retro Fundraising Mini and classic car run to raise funds for Martock Charity Shop in Somerset, helping disabled children. Includes camping, entertainment,and more.. www.retrofundraising.co.uk July 10 Mini World…

“Two cars are set to become one, thanks to the purchase of this rare wheelchair-accessible Minivan...” PROJECT PROFILE THE OWNER NAME: Robin Middleton AGE: 37 OCCUPATION: Bodyshop owner LOCATION: Stowmarket, Suffolk THE CAR: CAR: 1979 wheelchair accessible Minivan START CONDITION: Rusty wreck CONDITION NOW: Mainly stripped for renovation TIME TAKEN SO FAR: Work starts now! ESTIMATED TIME OF COMPLETION: Summer 2017 There's no doubt that families play a big role in the Mini community. Enthusiasm for the car often gets passed on from a parent or relative, and it's commonplace to see two or even three generations of the same family at shows. Things are just the same for Robin Middleton, who owns Cooper Sport 500 number 27, and has recently restored car number 26 for his mother-in-law. Together with…

The world of automotive restoration and maintenance is a broad and multi-faceted one, encompassing countless approaches, styles, viewpoints and contentious issues. Everyone’s got an angle, and there will always be a whole bunch of people on the other side of the fence, hurling opinions and abuse over the top. If you plot ‘matching-numbers concours entrant’ at one end of your scale and ‘Trigger’s Broom rebuild’ at the other, you’ll find a whole wilderness of opportunities in between. The car you’re looking at here is bobbing about between these two axis points, although it’s more closely aligned with the former than the latter. Sure, it’s not 100 per cent as it came from the factory, and that may fall foul of your snootier concours judges. It’s pretty damn close though, and…

If there was one source of bother on the journey to and from this year’s IMM that stood out above all others, it was the amount of Minis that suffered from overheating. And with summer now here, there’s no time like the present to ensure your Mini can cope. No one likes to be stranded with a boiled Mini at the best of times, but throw in hotter temperatures and increased traffic, and there’s a greater risk of it happening. Overheating can cause all sorts of costly engine damage, including head gasket failure and even warping of the cylinder head and/or engine block. When kept in good condition and of the right specification to deal with your engine, the Mini’s cooling system is reliable. However, it’s prone to neglect, and…

KEITH CALVER Keith has been Mini Magazine’s tech expert since we launched in 1996. Keith’s Mini CV speaks for itself: he joined the motorsport scene as a Miglia competitor in 1978, before a five–year stint at the Mini Spares Centre (London) in the early ’80s. Now independent, Keith builds race engines for numerous disciplines. His 1275 GT race car and sharing his vast amount of Mini knowledge are also main focuses. “The more you do yourself, the less it will cost to achieve the desired refurbishment...” Having looked at the work and costs involved in a basic bottom end rebuild last month, now it’s time to consider the cylinder head. As with the short block, this chiefly concerns the basic cost of refurbishing what you have to largely the same…

“Every fastener has been done up to shear and back a flat..." All the space I created to work on the 'lemon' Mini City after a shuffle around disappeared almost over night. There is now most of a two-and-a-quarter litre Land Rover diesel engine I offered to rebuild for one of my best mates, and an MGB race engine for a new customer clogging it up. Consequently I have side-stepped work on the lemon for the time being. It would help if the weather was somewhat more consistent. Whatever happened to working on cars outside in the balmy sunshine? Back on the Clubby Estate then. Removing the front hub assemblies revealed more issues. To start with, every fastener has been done up to shear and back a flat. Worse, the…

The beauty of a Mini project is that it can follow an infinite number of paths. Among them you’ve got your comfy long-distance cruisers, your retro-look ‘60s throwbacks and even your balls-out, forced-induction monsters doing their thing in a frenzied rush of torque-steering madness. But seldom have all these elements been combined in just one car. OK, so the boost isn’t quite so wild on this one, but Peter Jennings’ modified Cooper still leaves a tick in all the boxes. With a couple of show ‘n’ shine trophies thrown in for good measure, it’s all a far cry from the rust bucket Peter and his wife Alison bought nearly four years ago. With some careful searching, DIY work and plenty of help from friends, the Cooper has been totally transformed…

• The second annual Mini World Live is fast approaching, with plenty to keep the crowds entertained at Rockingham Motor Speedway in Northamptonshire on July 10. The show will feature all the usual static attractions, including a concours competition, a retail village, magazine feature cars and club displays, plus the chance to win our Italian Mini City and the Great Mini Bake-off, where budding bakers can win £150. On the circuit, you can take your Mini on one or more of the 20-minute track sessions, and there will also be a chance to test your reactions on the quarter-mile sprint. AC Dodd and Andy Davies of ML Motorsport will be organising a Mini engine diagnostic bay too, and there will be great deals on magazine subscriptions and the chance to…

Rounds five and six of the Dunlop Mini Se7en and Miglia challenges took place at Cadwell Park on May 14-15, with plenty of thrilling action on the scenic 2.2-mile Lincolnshire circuit. In Saturday’s Miglia encounter, Shayne Deegan was able capitalise on his rivals being delayed or going off, enabling him to pull out a clear lead by the end of the ten lap race. Behind, Aaron Smith and Bill Sollis completed the podium finishers. In the Se7ens, Ashley Davies avoided a big crash at the foot of The Mountain to collect his third victory of the season, with Charlie Budd and Graeme Davis also in the top three when the safety car concluded proceedings after nine laps. A glorious Sunday morning greeted round six, and thanks to a near perfect…

The Mini Clan outdid itself again this year with its 17th annual Thistle Run. The club put the weather order in early too, with runners were treated to glorious sunshine along the route from the Falkirk Wheel to Anstruther. Of the four different routes that are on annual rotation, this is one of the favourites, winding through country lanes and ‘toons’ en route to the seaside. Anstruther is a charming fishing village in the East Neuk of Fife, and is the largest in a string of pretty, old-fashioned fishing villages along this stretch of Fife coastline. With shops, tea rooms, ice cream parlours and one of the best fish and chip shops in the UK, it really is a lovely backdrop for a static show. Of the 238 entrants, there…

Loud and proud As you may remember, I won the Loudest Exhaust Competition at the IMM in Kent in 2014. I had a great time at this year’s IMM in Belgium, and the hosts were great. I entered the exhaust contest again, but this time in my other Mini called Enzo – a red 1275 SPi Automatic. I didn’t expect to win this time as there was a lot of competition, even a track car, but I won with 103.11db. I didn’t manage to beat old record 128.7db in my green Mini called Sanka, but I was still very happy with the win and my fellow Colchester Mini Club members were cheering me on all the way! Harry Barham Excellent! We look forward to seeing you at the next IMM.…

Name: Ray Cartwright Car: Mini Pick-up Location: Lincolnshire • After seeing a nice Pick-up at a show in 2014, I bought what was described as ‘an easy renovation project’ from a garage near Stoke. It looked rot-free, and was to a large extent, but it did have some rust around the roof. It had been filled and given a quick flash over with primer and likewise at the rear, where we found some previous accident damage. My local specialist Colin Davis got to work, cutting the front end off, fixing a bend in the floor pan and away we went again. Colin wasn’t keen for me to fit the later grille and some of the other non-standard bits, but I always knew it could be returned to near standard if…

Few sounds beat the remix of twin Webers over straight-cut drops. It matters not that your ears are bleeding and Doris from next door thinks you’ve broken the car again, because it’s all part of the appeal, and those who really know their classics will love it. Brothers-in-law Darren Goring and Chris Hewitt had their twin-cam Wolseley Hornet in the magazine very recently, but it was actually this achingly cool MkI we’d originally been up north to photograph. With twin Webers poking out the front of a bulging bonnet, fat split-rims and Britax Cooper stripes, this early MkI demands attention. It sounds ace, looks mean and goes like an angry terrier. The more you look, the more decades of Mini you spot in the styling. There’s an early ‘60s front…

“THE FIRST SEASON ATTRACTED A STRONG FIELD OF 29 CARS...” British Leyland faced turbulent times, serious financial woes and crippling workers’ strikes at Longbridge, but a year on from the 1975 Government nationalisation, the British car giant continued to invest in publicity. Mini sales were still holding up and its planned successor, the world-beating AD088 Mini Metro, would soon see-off increased competition from overseas rivals. Well, that was the plan anyway... In the meantime BL agreed a new publicity deal with the Mini 7 Racing Club from 1976 in a bid to promote its contemporary Mini range. It followed the tried-and-tested ‘Win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ thinking, except this time the Mini was guaranteed to win whatever happened on track. As period adverts proclaimed, why bother “trudging round the…

TURBO MANIFOLD Q I’ve bought a supercharged Mini with the Eaton M45 supercharger conversion, but I’m not happy with the fuel consumption, and would like to swap it for a turbocharger instead. The engine has been modified to bring the compression down, with special dished pistons fitted when it was built by the previous owner. My question is, can I fit a turbo without cutting the bulkhead? I know the Metro turbo unit needs one, but I don’t want to cut into my shell. I’ve done a search online and found people talking about Mirage Motorsport manifolds, but the company doesn’t seem to trade anymore. Are there any alternatives? Alex Moncur A Forced induction isn’t my thing really. But I have had occasion to look at various supercharger and turbo…

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and in hindsight it probably wasn't a great idea to buy a ropey Mini to get on the road in time for the summer when I have zero time to actually work on it. Nevertheless I'm in pretty deep with my Japanese-spec Mayfair now, and thanks to Ryan Cowley, decent progress is being made. I say Mayfair, but I still don't know if it's a Japanese-spec Classic 35 edition or not. So far nobody has been able to confirm or deny its heritage, but there's more pressing issues to worry about anyway. You may recall from last month's issue that the doorskins, rear valance, rear hinge panel and a large chunk of the boot floor all needed replacing. However, the stripdown also revealed a few…

The final attendance figures have been announced following the 2016 International Mini Meeting in Belgium last month. The event proved to be one of the most popular overseas IMMs ever, with 3165 weekend visitors, 1100 day visitors on the Saturday and a further 1000 on the Sunday. More than 2600 Minis were present on the site near Lommel in the north of the country, with another 500 examples in the parking area opposite. There were 260 registered clubs, and a further 120 unregistered groups. These impressive numbers are testament to incredible efforts of organisers Jan, Ann, Danny, Kris and the rest of Mini Fun Club Belgium, as well as their friends and families. After all their hard work Ann was understandably a little tearful ahead of the traditional IMM key…

• Like to name your Mini? Over half the world’s Minis have boys’ names, according to the world’s first ever Mini Census. The survey, carried out by the organisers of Mini World Live, which takes place at Rockingham on July 10, received responses from as far afield as Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Malta and the USA. Among the boy Minis, the most popular names are Marvin, Tommy (Cooper) and Jack. Girl Minis tend to follow a more alliterative tone, with Minnie (perhaps unsurprisingly), Mollie and Millie being the three most favoured names. The results show that in total, 51 per cent of the world’s Mini population is male and 35 per cent are female. The remaining 14 per cent of Minis are genderless. Some of the more unusual names…

• Mini Cooper fans could enjoy a trip around the old John Cooper Works premises in East Preston, thanks to a special gathering on May 21 organised by former Cooper Garages Service Advisor Chris Dawson. The Mini showroom closed in 2006 and is now Hares Garage, but Chris had organised a special display of Cooper memorabilia inside, as well as a tour of Mike Cooper’s old office and the workshop where the cars were built and serviced. The Minis then made the short trip to the previous Cooper Garages in Ferring, which is now a café and provided a great opportunity for something to eat and drink. The café also had some old photographs that were left behind in the garage when it closed for people to see. A bigger…

The Mighty and Super Mighty Minis also journeyed to a sunny Cadwell Park on May 14-15. Numbers were depleted due to the championship permit only being issued the day before the race, but that didn’t spoil the fun for the drivers that took part. Both races took place on Sunday, with combined Mighty and Super Mighty grids. Pole man Ade Tuckley led the Supers away from Alex Comis, with Comis getting past on the start/finish straight after Tuckley made an error through Barn. The pair continued their breakaway battle, but Comis was able to hold on to take the victory ahead of Tuckley and Steve Maxted. Maniflow Works driver Stuart Coombes was the lead Mighty Mini, ahead of Sam Tomlinson and the colourful racer of Greg Jenkins. In race two,…

The 38-year history of the International Mini Meeting has seen it head as far west as Ireland, as far south as Spain, north to Scandinavia and as far east as Lithuania, but until now, never Belgium. That all changed back in 2014 though, when Mini Fun Club Belgium was awarded the privilege of hosting the 2016 event. And on May 12-16, two years of anticipation and hard work came to fruition in fine style. The location was Kristalpark, an industrial park and popular festival location near the small town of Lommel in the north of Belgium. Thanks in part to its easy access to other European counties and close proximity to the UK, this was the biggest overseas IMM for many years. An impressive 3127 weekend tickets were sold, with…

There hasn’t been a dedicated Mini show at Gaydon for several years now, and by the organisers’ own admission the final event at the Warwickshire venue had been rather flat. Since then the Heritage Motor Centre has been refurbished and rebranded as the British Motor Museum, and it’s a similar tale for its new Mini event. Rather than repeat the old format, it’s been given a new slant, with Metros invited along for the ride too. The show is the brainchild of Tracey Lippett and Mark Jukes, who were inspired by the idea of a combined Metro and Mini show when they saw 80 Metros at the Gaydon Spring Classic event last year. The idea quickly gained support from fellow Metro and Mini fan Tanya Field, as well as Events…

Name: Paul PhillipsCar: Clubman EstateLocation: Torquay • I have owned my Clubby Estate since October 2014, and 18 months ago it underwent a full exterior restoration. When I first got the car it had a 1293cc engine fitted, but it was a little tired with slight piston slap, so in December last year I decided to take it back off the road and complete a full running gear restoration. Everything was removed, stripped, cleaned, repainted and all the bushes replaced. I sent the engine off to Peter Crewes and Mike of Ratt Racing who over-bored and completely rebuilt it to 1310cc. It drives brilliantly now. Exterior-wise, the car remains quite similar to standard, but it now features Mini Special Exacton alloys with contrasting grey centres. Send ‘Your Minis’ pictures to…

Name: Pedro Galo Model: 1975 1275 GT Location: Portugal • Hello, I’m Pedro and here’s my 1975 1275 GT. It’s worn the same numberplate from new, meaning it’s an original Portuguese model, not a UK import. In 2000 my dad restored the car, making plenty of repairs to the body and respraying it from white to red, but earlier this year we changed the colour again to Ferrari Rosso red. Inside my dad also made a few changes in 2000, with Cobra Classic bucket seats and extra chrome, while the wheels have been changed for 10-inch alloys. It always lived in the garage, but once I turned 18 it became far more of a show car, heading off down country roads and turning heads. It’s a great Mini to own…

“I soon ended up with a bare shell and a scrapyard outside the garage...” There are some folk that will buy something, use it merrily and not give two hoots how it works just so long as it does. The average user does not care which electronic parts a machine consists of, or how it’s put together. On the flip side, you’ve got the people that think nothing of dismantling all and sundry, simply because they want to understand how it all operates. Stephen Marr is definitely in the latter camp, and his rebuilt 1985 Mini Mayfair is all the better for his keen DIY approach. Stephen’s Mini is a classic case of a quick tidy-up escalating into a full-on restoration. The welding and paint were left to the professionals,…

DELTA DASH £1140 The DeltaDash 7.0 from Specialist Components is a feature-packed digital dash unit with a seven-inch high-resolution display in a billet aluminium housing. If you need a dash display with fast processing and a huge range of inputs, this one does it all. There’s a digital speedometer, odometer, tacho, fuel gauge, temperature and pressure readings, warning lamps – even a G-meter. It does away with every other gauge and warning lamp in the car, for a clutter-free interior. • 01953 859785 • www.specialist-components.co.uk D1 SPLIT-RIM From £660 set Another cool new split-rim alloy wheel from Specialist Components is the D1 design. SC’s new wheel range comes in two sizes, 6x10-inch in ET-2 offset and 7x10-inch in ET-14. Front wing modifications will most likely be required, as will arch…

After plenty of anticipation and hard work I finally made it out for my first Mighty Minis race in two years on May 14-15, but things didn't exactly go to plan. I should have known the weekend was doomed when I managed to run out of diesel in my race van on the way to the petrol station! With that little drama sorted, I got on the road to Cadwell Park at around lunchtime. The Mightys had late qualifying on Saturday and two races on the Sunday, so that saved the need for an overnight stop on Friday or a stupidly early start on Saturday. After unloading the Mini and catching up with my fellow drivers it was time to sign on and head out for qualifying, and that's where…