Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2018 i Mini Magazine

Hello and welcome to the March issue of Mini Magazine. As I write, the first show of the almost New Year is just around the corner - Mini Fair 2018. I’m really looking forward to seeing a fantastic selection of Minis on show at the Staffordshire Country Showground. But back to this issue, and as usual we’ve got a wide selection feature cars. Firstly, there’s cover stars, father and son Stuart and Andy Toplass’s MkI, which they’ve transformed from a £17 basket case, to this 1380-powered Tweed Grey stunner. This was one of the highlights of Bingley last year. Elsewhere, we’ve got Ray Money’s stunning Pick-up build. It’s a bit of wolf in sheep’s clothing, as that restored Sandglow paintwork looks standard, but hides many upgrades, including 1293cc power, 1960s…

• The British Motor Museum at Gaydon in Warwickshire, which is home to the world’s largest collection of historic British cars, including many important Classic Minis, has announced its calendar of Mini events for 2018. First up is the one-day National Metro & Mini Show on 3 June 2018, which is dedicated to iconic marques Mini, Metro and MINI (BMW). Next up is the BMC & Leyland Show on 1 July 2018. Described as a real enthusiasts’ show, it celebrates the vehicles produced by BMC, British Leyland, The Rover Group and pre-BMC group. For ticket prices and more details, visit the British Motor Museum website at: www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk.…

Starting in Bromborough on the Wirral, the 180 Minis that took part in the run headed off to Great Orme in Llandudno, via a short break at Rhos-On-Sea. The run then took to the coastal road, which eventually led to the Great Orme in Llandudno. A highlight of this run has to be the Marine Drive toll road up the Orme, which although just a mile long, is twisty enough to make the most of the Classic Mini’s sharp handling, and combines beautiful views from the top down across Snowdonia. Despite the challenging early January weather, the sights were still amazing. After a short stop, the run then headed down the Orme to end on the promenade. With parking on the prom sorted for the Minis, it was time to…

PROJECT PROFILE THE OWNER NAME: Andrew Thomson AGE: 23 OCCUPATION: Mechanic LOCATION: Elgin Moray THE CAR: CAR: Standard 1978 Mini 850 START CONDITION: Non-runner with poor body lot of rust and a few dents CONDITION NOW: Replacement engine is running fine, body all repaired in primer waiting to go for final paint job, all interior to fit TIME TAKEN SO FAR: Seven years since I bought the car and I’ve served my apprenticeship as a mechanic since then, my dad did all the welding now my grandpa is helping me with the mechanical work ESTIMATED TIME OF COMPLETION: Hope to have it on the road this year! Listening to his dad and grandpa reminisce about how they owned Classic Minis when they were younger got Andrew Thomson interested in owning…

Through the 1950s and even after the launch of the Mini Cooper in the 1960s, Cooper competed in the highest levels of motor racing, with rear-engined, single-seat race cars. The Cooper T86 was the last Formula One car built by Cooper and first raced in 1967. Designed by Derrick White to revive Cooper’s race car fortunes, it was available in B- and C-specification versions, which were built to fit different engines. Sadly, in the late ’60s, the F1 game was moving on and this car wasn’t good enough to take the fight to rivals and was the last car the Coopers produced at the Surbiton garage. This is the third and last T86, built in 1968. A special ‘C’ specification car, it was originally fitted with the same 3.0-litre Alfa…

COST From £25 on eBay or Mini forums for a donor gearbox. (Or under a hay bale in a barn...). DIFFICULTY As we wrote in Part One of this rebuild series, the last Mini gearbox rolled off the production line some 17 years ago, and the last Metro (for so long the engine donor of choice) was manufactured 27 years ago, so it is little wonder that they are starting to wear out and replacements are dwindling – and we’re another month on from that… Last month’s epic length tech feature, saw us stripping our barn-find rod-change gearbox down to the major component assemblies and an empty casing. With a couple of surprises along the way (broken connecting rod bolts and the remains of a big-end bearing hinting at why…

To get a nice big bang out of an engine, you want fuel and air to be really well mixed up. You get a far better explosion when the fuel is suspended in the air (oxygen) than if it’s sitting in a puddle at the bottom as you get more surface area on the fuel - the really tiny units of fuel are surrounded by oxygen-rich air. As petroleum comes in liquid form, we need to produce a fine mist of that fuel and mix it with the air - that process is called carburation. Starting with the most basic part of its operation, the SU carburettor (fitted to pre-injection Minis as standard) has a small hole called a ‘jet’. In this hole there is a conical pin called the…

Jonathan’s Classic Mini history stretches back to when he was 17 and got his first as a birthday present from his father, who also loves them. “I have had loads of Classic Minis over the past 25 years — approximately 20 cars.” On top of this beautiful MkIII, Jonathan’s enviable Mini fleet also includes a MkI 1071 Cooper S and one of the first 100 Cooper 997s produced. “The 1071 is a fully restored car, with an original body and only a handful of panels replaced. The 997 is an original car, not restored — but still looks amazing, however I believe the engine now requires some mechanical work this year.” “I have had loads of Classic Minis over the past 25 years — approx. 20 cars” LAST CLASSIC COOPER…

• Amongst all the action at this year’s Autosport International show at the Birmingham NEC, the Snetterton Speed Shop, who restored the last Cooper F1 car, which features on P56 to 62 of this issue, debuted a fabulous new Mini Libre build at the show. Libre – meaning ‘free’ or ‘liberty’ — is the Mini Se7en Club’s modern-day interpretation of the days of Free Formula and Special Saloons in the late-1960s/ early-1970s, where the Mini tuning scene really took off and began to push the boundaries of performance. As such, Libres are fitted with an A-Series bottom end and gearbox, but with a different head which, in this case of the Snetterton Speed Shop, is the Specialist Components 16-valve item, that was originally a BMW KT200 motorbike head. This is…

March 25 Brooklands Mini Day Annual Mini event held at the historic Brooklands Circuit and Museum in Weybridge, Surrey. Highlights include traders, autojumble, test hill, club displays and awards. www.brooklandsmuseum.com May 6 2018 MkI Action Day Superb classic Mini track event, encompassing a social evening on the evening of Saturday May 5, with a full day of track action on the Sunday. A full itinerary, pricing and booking details will be available soon, and there will be a maximum of 60 track places available. The event will be raising funds for Cancer Research UK. mk1-performance-conversions.co.uk May 13 2018 British Mini Day British Mini Club’s first outdoor event of the season, set in the grounds of Himley Hall in Staffordshire. Includes trade and jumble stands, plus concours and show ‘n’ shine.…

Want to make yourself weep? Then pick up an old copy of Mini Magazine from 20-odd years ago and take a look at the classified adverts in the back. Pick-ups for a few hundred quid, 1275 GTs for less than a grand and even 1960s Coopers for about a tenth of what they cost now. It’s enough to make you yearn for a time machine and a big hidden barn to hide them all in... But even by the standards of the time, Stuart and Andy Toplass scored a real bargain with their 1961 Morris Mini-Minor. When they purchased it back in 1994, the father-and-son team from Stoke-on-Trent managed to part with a mere £17. With that in mind they can easily be forgiven for their plans to weld the…

The main story from the Mini 7 Racing Club’s 2016 Mini Miglia Challenge was the absolute domination by a young driver named Shayne Deegan, piloting seven-time champion Peter Baldwin’s car to yet another title. Whilst the 998cc Mini Se7en Cass was booming in numbers, however, the Miglia grid was at times a little sparse. To remedy the situation, a batch of new updates were made ahead of 2017 - removal of complex front anti-rollbars and balljoint spacers, a new mandatory Quaife ATB differential and standardised Ohlins dampers for all. There would also be a new free-formula series named ‘Mini Libre’ to run alongside, to boost the grids. And it seemed to work; with a more level playing field and a handful of fresh faces on the grid, the Miglias enjoyed…

“Running too cold will result in reduced performance on modern unleaded fuels” OVER-COOLING Q I have a 1275 Mini Cooper Mainstream that I have fitted with a new aluminium radiator, but it appears to cool the car too much. I have to cover a third of the radiator cores to reach normal temperature, even on hot summer days. What can I do to resolve this? Gregor A The first question is, did your Mini reach normal temperature with the old radiator fitted? If not, then it could be a temperature sender issue. That dismissed, what about your thermostat? Have you got one fitted? Typically, it doesn’t actually matter if you have too much cooling capacity as the thermostat should regulate the engine temperature. If you don’t have one, then fit…

Nick mentioned in passing that this project would end up costing more than I imagined, and unfortunately for the dwindling piggy bank, he was spot on. I’d thought about keeping Dan Budd’s 2017 graphics on the car while funds were concentrated on the more critical areas. But they were rather bold to say the least, and it’s not really the done thing. Beneath the bold pink vinyls was a tidy gunmetal grey, so I asked Nick if he’d peel the graphics off one Saturday morning in-between jobs. Coarse language followed. Whether the vinyls were very sticky or the paint was very unsticky, the graphics came off and so did all the paint. In reality this was probably down to the car being prepared in a hurry, as most graphics firms…

It might be early January, with the expected cold and wet weather in attendance. But, as usual Autosport International was the place to go in early 2018 for motorsport and performance car fans, with a vast array of stands and live action to keep everyone entertained over the four-day event, for which the Birmingham NEC once again played host. For Classic Mini fans, Mini Se7en Champion Charlie Budd’s car made an appearance on the obp Motorsport stand. Other Classic Minis in attendance included the stunning replica of Richard Longman’s 1978/79 British Touring Car Championship-winning 1275GT, which appeared in the ‘10 iconic race cars from BTCC’s 60-year history’ display. Elsewhere, as revealed in the news pages, the Snetterton Speed Shop had its new Se7en Libre build on display, with its 16-valve…

A FAMILY AFFAIR Name: Jim Lieber Car: 1966 Austin Cooper S Location: Scottsdale, Arizona • My father bought this 1966 Austin Cooper S new in Chicago in 1966 and it served as my parents’ daily driver. It accompanied our family on moves to Bay City, Michigan, then Scottsdale, Arizona. Sadly, my father was diagnosed with cancer in the early 1990s and that, along with financial troubles, forced its sale to an individual in Pennsylvania. Shortly after my father’s death, my brother and I began contacting the buyer in the hope he still had the car. He did, and finally after years of asking, he agreed to sell it back to us in 2013. The Mini was in far worse shape than we expected, so the entire car was disassembled and…

We’ve been around Minis long enough to expect the unexpected, but we have to confess that Ray Money’s Pick-up had us completely fooled. With its original Sandglow hue gleaming, integral steel grille, supplying dealer plaque on the tailgate and its spotless tilt cover, it looks every inch as it would have when it first left Ottons of Verwood in Dorset 28 years ago. But a closer looks reveals a real paradox, for this beautifully renovated Pup is simultaneously one of the best original and best modified examples we’ve ever seen. Confused? Then you best read on... You see, there’s a lot more to this Pick-up than is first apparent. Ray has masterminded a restoration that has brought this former basket case back to factory specification in many ways, yet with…

Over the past 50 years, the Mini Sport name has become inextricably woven into Mini folklore. Ever since Brian and Heather Harper first started the business in 1967, the company has grown out of its premises several times, won all manner of motorsport championships, built some great cars and worked with some legendary personalities. And yet, it’s never strayed from its family roots, the small Lancashire town of Padiham where it all began and, most importantly, the small car that triggered it all off. So it was fitting that nearly 200 people should don the famous red and black for Mini Sport’s golden anniversary gala dinner on 24 November 2017. And here at Mini Magazine, we were both privileged and delighted to score an invite. Taking place at the Fence…

SUPER-SLIM, FLEXI-HEAD RACHET £44.86 You can see the fastener but can’t get a socket or driver bit on to it without dismantling half the engine? Well, Laser Tools has come up with the solution in the form of this new, super-slim flexihead ratchet (part number 6744). One end is a standard 0.25-inch square drive and the other is a 0.25-inch bit driver; both are reversible and lockable. But the big advantage here is the flexihead design, as both heads swivel through a full 180º at the press of the button and lock into the required position. • 01926 815000 • www.lasertools.co.uk CHROME BULLET MIRROR £12.71 (various part numbers – check website for details) After some chrome retro style bullet mirrors? Good news, Mini Sport’s design is fitted with a convex…

The body repairs and respray will transform Neggy, who has suffered many years of being patched up. In fact, if you look closely at the photos you will see that the paint on the front of the car is quite a different shade of red. The bottom of the rear panel under the lights and near the boot hinges is full of filler, the valance isn’t genuine, and whoever replaced the valance didn’t bother to paint it in Flame Red, they just used red oxide paint, just as when the grille is removed the same red oxide is there for all to see! Now that the boot floor has been replaced, the next job will be to repair the rear panel and replace the rear valance. There are two options…

Using barns for storage it’s easy to end up keeping stuff after its sell-by date, so a clear out was long overdue. I had a pile of callipers that I was keeping which date back to when reconditioning them was the only practical solution, and I scrapped them all (150 odd!). I found bits that I’d come across from other folks’ cars (not mine for a change!), which I kept for some sort of morbid curiosity – odd engine components from pistons to sump plugs, and a fine collection of A series idler gears which used to die in a spectacular way (hooray for A+). My old Woody trailer at least got sold, but for not much more than £100, but at least it’s gone to another fruitcake for aged…