Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2018 i Mini Magazine

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: just when you think you’ve seen everything Classic Mini, someone moves the game on! Well, that’s what I think of this month’s cover star and what Ollie Scull has done with his Mini. It's basically Ollie’s dream car made into a reality, you can't miss it with the Candy Orange paint, Zeemax body kit and that massive Vortex rear wing. Fitting a Honda VTEC engine is difficult at the best of times, so the fact he got it under the standard Mini nose is impressive. More impressive is the amount of engineering Ollie’s done to turbocharge it — the result being over 300bhp and that fairly substantial Garret turbocharger hanging out the grille! What’s more he isn’t finished yet, with an…

Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams got his nickname from a journalist after his outstanding win at the 1964 Welsh International Rally. In his article, the journalist asked who this Welsh Whizz was, and the name stuck, despite the fact Barrie wasn’t Welsh! His drive on the 64 Welsh was the first international rally win for the Mini Cooper S and the start of his professional motorsport career. He followed this up by becoming the first British driver to complete the Swedish Winter Rally with co-driver John Devonport. Born in 1938 in rural Hertfordshire, Barrie cut his teeth driving tractors and farm machinery which seemed to have a constant attraction to the ditches and hedgerows around his home. A career in motorsport was always on the agenda and at the tender age of…

Numbers for this year’s Gold Cup were down at 26, as Elliot Stafford, who was booked in for his first race in his newly-built Mini didn’t appear. The rules for the non-FIA-spec cars have given advantage to some cars, particularly Hillman Imps, so there is a good mix of large and small cars at the front, particularly with regards to class wins. Over the last 30 years, Imps have been champions nine times, Cortinas and Anglias seven and Minis just twice. The large general entry meant a practice and two races are all on one day to allow room for cars competing earlier in the weekend to vacate. Practice turned out to be assisted by the weather, as it rained briefly which made the track extra slippery early morning and…

THE WORKS Name: Steve Mather Car: 1984 1000 Location: Manchester • Steve’s Mini started out with a 1275 engine from a MG Metro, however it sadly gave up, so he found a low mileage 998cc, which he tells us has been a great little engine and has a Stage 1 kit on. It has even been to Belgium and back three-times with no problems! The car was a Works lookalike for a while, but after putting on a few new panels and a lot work by Mark Hartley of the Walkden Classic Mini Owners Club, Steve decided on a colour change, and it now looks like a Britax Touring Car, although Steve admits it’s not an exact replica. All the work took place outside over an 18-month period, and Steve…

First things first. Despite the badging, and general appearance, this feature car is not a Mini Moke. Neither is it a Cub, Jimini or Navajo. It is in fact an AEM Scout. The Scout story is a tad convoluted. It was launched by Import/Export of Spalding, Lincolnshire, with production spanning 1983-1985. Then, between 1987 and 1988, Scouts were manufactured in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, by AEM (Automotive Engineering & Manufacturing). And finally, between 1990 and 1991, they were produced by the Sun Motor Company, based in Solihull. It’s difficult to ascertain just how many Scouts were made in total, but it’s thought to be quite a few. AEM is reputed to have made 200, which were offered as fully-assembled cars, or as a part-assembled knock down units to be completed…

When a friend of mine informed me that two of my friends had opened a bar on the Croatian coast and had proposed we pay them a visit, I accepted straight away. Depending on traffic, the trip would last four to five hours. But we are not fans of the highway, instead preferring roads that give you the feeling of exploration with each passing corner; roads with a story to tell. So a decision was made to go for it, but with a longer route in mind. With the ignition key inserted my Classic Rover Mini burst into life with soundwaves pounding through the tip of the aftermarket exhaust system, the noise bouncing from the garage walls and making its way into neighbouring houses. “It’s okay,” I said to myself,…

“As cars got faster, a new solution was required which could handle more heat” Brakes are the enemy of speed, right? Wrong – without brakes you can’t get the correct entry speed into corners. They are vital to a fast lap and of course, stopping at a crossing for pedestrians on the road. Cars’ braking systems originally derived from horse-drawn carts with wooden blocks which pushed on wheels or leather straps pulled around axles. When you compare these to the latest Formula 1 components they still work on the same principle of using friction to convert the kinetic (motion) energy into heat. Back to those school lessons where we were taught that energy cannot be created or destroyed, just converted. As cars got faster, a new solution was required which…

“Jason wanted a reliable car with a ‘60s influence and mild road manners” By the time Jason Barr turned 12 he knew he wanted to drive a Mini. His cousin, Mark, provided the inspiration, as bit-by-bit he transformed his Mini from a complete rust bucket banger into a road-going vehicle of dreams. So thorough was the transformation that over a decade later the car is still on the road. The seed had been sewn. Jason’s first Mini, registered PIJ 8530, was a 998-engined 1985 saloon in Gunmetal Grey. We all remember our first Mini and how we made it our own and Jason is no different. Before long the 12-inch Minilites were replaced by 13-inch deep dish versions, in went a custom-made interior and out went the 998cc engine to…

The weekend of the 31 August/1 September saw nine Mini crews make the journey overseas to Belgium to compete in the Conxion Omloop van vlaanderen Tour of Flanders for the fifth and sixth rounds of the HRCR Mini Sport Cup. Competing over the course of two days and 17 exhilarating stages, the Mini crews were truly tested, and Belgium certainly did not go easy on them! Chosen this year as an alternative to the Manx Rally, the Tour of Flanders was well received by all of the crews that entered. Mini Sport-sponsored Clive King/Anton Bird enjoyed a rather revealing recce, where some unfortunate road book mistakes were brought to light — thankfully having corrected these issues in their notes, the team set off with a confident start for the beginning…

Formed a year ago, H-Town Classic & Dub Club is a Hitchin-based club designed to unite fans of classic vehicles through regular meetings in and around Hitchin, Hertfordshire. To celebrate their first birthday, the club took over historic Hitchin Town Centre between 6-10pm, and I went along to see what all the fuss was about! It might have been a cold Monday night in late September, but the square was filled to bursting with a variety of interesting classic and modern cars. In fact, there were so many cars present, that some owners (like me) were forced to leave them in adjoining streets! Although an impressive variety of different Volkswagen models mostly made up the vehicles on show, with prizes for the best awarded, there were still plenty of other…

“Considering how rare the Designer limited edition is, everything is going to remain standard” Catriona Bryson grew up with her parents competing in rallies so has been into cars from a very young age, in fact she now competes in rallies too! She had always liked Minis, but only got properly into them when her uncle bought two of them. One as a road car and the other which he used to rally. Catriona tried to buy the road car from her uncle before her dad bought her this one – when she was just 13 years old! At the time, her dad was starting up ‘Tween Driving Days’ for 12- and 13-year-olds to learn to drive, before going into the J1000 Championship at 14. These events were held at…

My first accident, in my Mini 1000, was after the car had only been on the road for just over a month! Thankfully I was okay, but typically the accident happened just before Christmas, leaving me with the conundrum of whether I should buy my family presents, or pay to fix my previously perfect bodywork! Ollie was thankfully okay too, and luckily the rear ending of his Mini – this one – came at a point when he’d realised he could do just about anything to Issigonis’s finest. So rather than getting too downbeat, he used this accident as the perfect excuse to turn this car into the Mini of his dreams. Ollie describes himself as a “born and bred Mini fan”. He was brought up around them, with friends…

This year’s Mini Festival had highs and lows. The trade stand area seems to be getting smaller every year, and with a second-hand parts trader and car dealers, I thought there wasn’t much to see this year. Another disappointment was the missing pre-’66 racers, as in my opinion, this is the best Mini racing at Brands Hatch. Still, the other Mini racing series did provide spectators with some spectacular racing. Saturday morning was qualifying time for all the series, with the racing starting with the ‘All Comers Race’. Another low? Kind of. Some beautifully-prepared Minis were entered in this race, including Chris Slade’s Mini Quattro, although he sadly had to withdraw his entry shortly before the event, leaving a mixed field of Minis and MINIs to take part. Nevertheless, other…

“SPi issues can be caused by a number of things. One major culprit is the vacuum system” RICH SPI Q I have a 1994 Mini Cooper injection. It’s in good condition and has covered only 39,000 miles. However, it has failed the MoT test on emissions, and sometimes backfires and stalls at junctions. This is only a recent thing as it ran fine until a few weeks ago. It’s a totally standard car apart from a cat-back RC40 exhaust, which has been fitted since I bought it. Have you any idea what to check on first? Gary A Failing the MoT test on emissions suggests there is an over-fuelling issue. The most common cause of this is the coolant temperature sensor going faulty. This is the one that screws into…

Saturday’s Miglia race started off with a bang on the opening lap – literally – when a coming together down Paddock Hill continued up to Druids, leaving several cars out of the running. On the restart, it was Nick Padmore who opened up a gap, including a new lap record, from Aaron Smith and Lee Deegan, with series leader Dave Drew settling for a damage-limitation eighth place behind rivals Rupert Deeth, Alfie Brown, Colin Peacock and Kane Astin. A record-breaking Mini Libre entry saw David Franks secure the class victory, with a good battle for second between newcomer Rob Davis and Ian Fraser, once Steve Baker had dropped out. With rain having dampened the track, the opening Se7en encounter saw differing tyre choices. Spencer Wanstall finally broke his Se7en duck…

The year 2000 was poignant for the Classic Mini, as after 41 years and five million produced, the unthinkable happened — production stopped at the Longbridge plant. The new BMW MINI was waiting in the wings, but still seven months away when production finished and we thought Rover’s future was safe, with the 75 taking over — little did we know! However, the death knell was already sounded six-months earlier with the launch of the renamed Mini Classic range in April. The range started with the Se7en, which was basically the same as the 1.3i model it replaced with a retro makeover, the main differences being the colour-coded dashboard and the seats, which were given two-tone interior trim mimicking the iconic original. Buyers who went for Old English White also…

The originals were the yoke type where a rubber-wrapped cross was lightly U-bolted between the diff output and the end of the driveshaft. Squidge and play in the rubber allowed the required flex and also absorbed some torque effects during gear changes and on/off power delivery. While this flex provided a slightly smoother drive, the couplings were somewhat limited in their ability to cope with increased power when the Cooper Ss were introduced. Early 1070S cars had the rubber couplings, but they were soon changed for the Hardy-Spicer universal joint which continued on the performance models into the ’70s and on automatics into the ’80s. For many years Hardy-Spicers were the driveshaft of choice when it came to competition or spirited use, but fitting them required special diff side covers…

UPRATED OIL PRESSURE SWITCH £22.28 A sudden loss of oil pressure can destroy an engine in seconds, and the standard 7lb oil pressure switch fitted to Classic Minis often gives the warning too late to save the engine. Mini Spares has come up with a solution in the form of a new uprated 20lb oil pressure switch, which activates the warning light when the oil pressure drops to 20lbs, giving the driver precious extra seconds to shut down the engine. Part number HPS1. 01707 607700 www.minispares.com MkI SLIDING WINDOW CONVERSION £69.99 or £239.99 Newly-founded company, Classic Mini Conversion Panels, has designed and manufactured a conversion kit for owners of later Minis to fit MkI-style sliding windows. The panel might appear simple, but we are told it has been precision-engineered in…

So I’ve got the historic racer back together and managed to run it in on the road for 30 minutes without drama. I even had some specially-scrubbed tyres from Matt Roach, which look the standard shape and finish, but I gave them a haircut to give them the right profile. So, with all looking good I set off to Oulton Park for the Gold Cup. I got one of those scrutineers who wants to tell you everything that’s wrong on the car, but obligingly he let me through on the proviso that I get the brake lights working (rusty fuse). I did and the practice was then set for 8.30am. Dampness on the track from overnight, dew and five minutes of rain – just what Mini drivers look for to…

A handful of us at the Mini 7 Racing Club wanted to make an annual visit to the Mini Action Day at Castle Combe. I hadn’t planned to take the car, but we’d managed to gather one of every type of race Mini apart from a Se7en S-Class, so why not! The S-Class engines aren’t anywhere near as stressed as full race-spec. They run a standard cylinder head and crankshaft, power topping out at 6,500-7,000rpm, so you can enjoy a track day between race meetings without wearing the thing out too much. By comparison, most Mini Miglia engines come apart for a check every other round; 10 hours running is full rebuild time. We ended up with six race Minis on the stand, a competition to win tickets for the…