Innehållsförteckning för April 2018 från Mini Magazine

April signifies spring, and like the change in season, Mini Magazine is bringing the heat to you in the form of three different, but equally impressive, feature cars. Ever look at ‘before and after’ restoration pics and disbelieve it’s the same Mini? Well, when I saw the unrestored pic of Ben Bourdaire’s Crayford, with its drop top body bursting and consumed by undergrowth, I had to wonder how, why and if. Turns out Ben was looking for the worst Classic Mini project for his Mini restoration business Department 75 and he succeeded. The result was well worth the effort and now spring is here, there’s plenty of time to get that convertible roof down. Next up is Richard Allen’s Britax Touring Car-look MkI build. If that yellow and black paint…

PURPLE PRINCESS Name: Darrell-Marie Nichol Car: 1980 Mini Location: Wellington, New Zealand • I had a yellow 1980 Mini for about four years, but whenever we went to a Mini meet, my husband was always given a hard time about building me a purple one! Anyway, he came across a yellow 1980 Mini, which looked exactly the same as mine but had a better motor, with a genuine 80,000km. He bought it, and 10 months of blood, sweat and tears later, here it is. Inside, the seats have been replaced and the rear seat reupholstered to match, it has tinted windows, plus Sportpack arches and wheels, and a shiny new exhaust tip! The colour is Amaranth Purple, with a platinum silver roof and bonnet stripes. The idea was to make…

There are Minis and there are Minis. Originally the Mini was designed to provide cheap transport in austere times, but through its success it became much more. For many 17-year-olds, Minis brought freedom and independence on the road in a humble 850, City E or Mayfair. Other variants provided practical family transport in a Traveller, Countryman or a Clubman Estate, while small businesses carried their goods in vans and Pick-Ups. Soon after production began, the motorsport fraternity spotted the potential to put the Mini’s agility to good use on the track, and in 1961, just two years after the first Mini appeared, Sir John Whitmore embarrassed bigger and much more powerful opposition such as the Jaguar MkII by winning the British Touring Car Championship in an 848cc Mini! It’s also…

The Brooklands Mini show usually signals the start of spring and the better weather, although previous years have seen snow and torrential rain on the day! To be held this year on 25 March at, as the name would suggest, the Brooklands Museum. This annual event is actually held on the site of the remains of the iconic banked Brooklands Circuit. All types of Mini are invited, with displays from Mini Owners’ Clubs from all over the country, so expect displays in all areas of the Museum site. Subject to the weather, there will be the chance to take your Mini up Brooklands’ very steep Test Hill, which is always popular with owners. Elsewhere, around the Brooklands site, there will be a variety of trade stands offering Mini parts, spares…

VAPOR BLOCK FUEL LINE SLEEVE £POA Suffered hot starting issues with your Classic Mini due to vapour lock? Well, new from manufacturer DEI, is this solution, the Vapor Block fuel line sleeve for cars with carburettors. This sleeve has been designed to greatly reduce heat in the fuel line, thus keeping the fuel cooler and below evaporation point. It’s easily installed thanks to a split design and adhesive flap so there is no need to disconnect the fuel line – simply wrap the Vapor Block around line, remove the adhesive release liner, and press the adhesive back flap into place. Part number 010669. • 001 800 264 9472 • www.designengineering.com TWIN-POINT PRINTED CIRCUIT BOARD £61.22 Problems with the instruments of your twin-point injection Mini? Well, you’ll be pleased to know…

At what point is something too far gone? It wasn’t all that long ago that Minis were hastily scrapped for seemingly minor issues, but as their rarity has increased, so have our tolerance levels and determination. Nowadays restorers can really push the boundaries of what is deemed viable to repair, but even the most hardy and strong willed would’ve probably left this one festering in the undergrowth. Sure, it was a genuine and extremely rare 1966 MkI Mini Crayford convertible, but one that had literally fallen apart at the seams, with unfeasible levels of decay and more shrubbery inside than metalwork. Forget a welder, this one needed a scythe and weed killer before you could even see what was left of the floorpan. “When I went to move it, it…

In our opinion there’s no better start to the 2018 show season – Mini Fair was back at the Staffordshire County Showground on the 28th January. This event is always well-attended by Mini fans so it was no surprise to see a long queue forming outside over half an hour before the event had even opened, and the car park was full of Classic Minis! It is not really a surprise, as Mini Fair is the place where fans catch up after the long winter break, see the new Mini builds on show, buy that useful part and hopefully walk away with the prize Mini in the British Mini Club raffle. Mini Fair is perfect to get hold of that Mini part, as the British Mini Club always manage to…

PROJECT PROFILE THE OWNERS NAME: Stephen Cullen (grey van), Keith Rogerson (green van) AGE: Keith is 42; Stephen is old enough to know better, but young enough to have fun OCCUPATION: Stephen is a builder; Keith is self-employed LOCATION: Glasgow THE CARS: CARS: 1979 Mini van (green); 1981 Mini van (grey) START CONDITION: Green van: an unfinished project, required doors skinned, floor repairs and all old parts removed as in poor condition. Grey van: a bare Shell full of rubbish, with no front. CONDITION NOW: Green van: all new or very good second-hand suspension fitted, fully undersealed, engine bay painted black, engine fitted and running, doors done and prepped for paint. Grey van: all the old tar sound-deadening has been removed, new heritage front panels and subframes fitted. Parts gathered…

The modified car scene has changed beyond recognition in recent years, and not necessarily for the better. With vast option lists available, cars are now customised at the dealer, and going beyond that seems to revolve around throwing huge sums of money at big wheels and air suspension. We’ve no issue with that, but it all seems to be at odds with Chris Denn’s superb modified Mini. The 25-year-old car designer hasn’t financed this build with a bottomless pit of credit cards, nor has he toed the line when it comes to the usual Mini customisation routes. Instead, this build has evolved from Chris’ very first car into a unique and brilliantly thought-out creation that brings together a diverse range of influences in one awesome, self-built package. And if it…

COST Vapour blasting costs depend on how long it takes and how dirty the casing is. Alpha Classic Motorcycles 01278 238090 Bearings as required from suppliers – Mini Spares, Mini Sport, Mini Mail, etc. DIFFICULTY In part three of rebuilding a rod-change gearbox we will be cleaning the components, inspecting them for wear and damage, measuring a few important tolerances, and generally checking to ensure suitability for reuse. The best laid plans of mice and men, as the saying goes… In part one it was mentioned that sometimes you may need to strip more than one gearbox to make a good one up, and lo, it has come to pass that that is exactly what has happened. Vapour cleaning the straw-filled bargain £25 barn find gearbox has turned up a…

“The third [ignition switch] position is where the fun starts; the starting position” Let’s cover the majority of Mini’s production first, the pre-ECU era. If your Mini was built in the ’60s then there is a very good chance that it’s ‘positive earth’. This is where the positive of the battery is connected to the bodyshell rather than the modern standard of the negative. It was common in the 1970s to convert cars from positive to negative earth so it’s always worth checking - never assume. Your ignition switch actually has four positions including ‘off’. If you have an electric fan connected through a thermostat, I’d recommend that you wire this in to run even when the key is removed, allowing the water in the radiator to be cooled. The…

Richard Allen has always been a Mini fan with his history stretching right the way back to his first, a black Mini 1000. “Registered SDH147R, it ran but that was about it, I bought it while at college doing the YTS. I picked it up in the afternoon and got followed home by a mate as none of the electrics worked! I then set to it with a Haynes manual, and an hour later everything worked. I think it was £400,” he recalls. This was the Mini Richard learnt on, and engine rebuilds aplenty followed! “I’d already decided to rebuild it as a bitsa and I wanted it Britax style” This 1000, a rally lookalike, and many more Minis have come and gone. On top of the 16v Clubman, that…

There’s a popular phrase you’ll hear bounded around the racing fraternity - “Motorsport is only as expensive as you make it,” which on the face of it, sounds almost sensible. Buy secondhand parts, work your way up, do as much DIY as you can from home. There’s the ‘one life live it’ rationality lurking behind every budding racer, which is surely far better spent on an adrenaline rush than stickering-up an old Land Rover. But you may be thinking that all Minis are becoming expensive, let alone a race-prepared car with all the extras that involves. Don’t forget the safety gear, tools, transport, race entry fees, a competitive engine... So where should you start in this daunting journey from road to track? Well, as it happens I’m currently going through…

“Using a smaller choke sized twin setup for the same engine power output will produce better drivability” TWIN CARBS Q I have been considering fitting twin carbs to my Mini. I really like the idea of being able to lift the bonnet up and show them off, but was wondering if I will get any power gain and will they leave me with problems more than a standard carb? I currently have a 998 fitted with a Stage 1 tuning kit. Callum Simpson A Throwing more carbs at an engine isn’t going to make one iota of difference to maximum power output unless the engine was drastically under-carbed to start with, in which case a bigger single carb would have the same effect. You’ve not said which carb you have…

Besides the IMM itself, one of the highlights of last year’s Irish weekend for me, was the chance to get back behind the wheel of a Classic Mini. The first time since my much-loved 1990 Rover Mini Cooper RSP with a Cooper S conversion. I loved that car and one of the highlights was taking it on the Italian Job charity run with my mate James Holland. So I jumped at the chance to get behind the wheel of Mini’s own 2000 Tahiti Blue Cooper, with its cool, full-length Webasto sunroof. First thing I do before I get going in this left-hander, is marvel at how I did 2,000 miles to Italy in mine. I’m not as comfortable that’s certain, I’m probably bigger than I was 16 years back and…