Innehållsförteckning för February 2019 från Mini Magazine

Happy New Year and welcome to the first issue of Mini Magazine in 2019, a significant year as our favourite car celebrates its 60th birthday. Let’s start our celebrations with an issue that’s full to the brim of special cars. First up is Jake Fell’s ’86 saloon, which despite its perfectly retro Speedwell Blue paintwork, is hiding Vauxhall power under that removable bonnet. More clever, is that with the period engine colours, it’s not easy to see what the fuss is all about. The result is a reliable 100bhp, which with another engine Jake's planning to fit, could jump to 140bhp! Next up is Mark Burnett’s, beautiful Mini-based Ogle SX1000 racer. One of just 69 Ogles built during its all too short manufacture, this build took a lot of work…

The big difference between Santa Pod and Mini In The Park’s new home at Mallory Park, is the fact that Mallory is a race track and therefore there is the opportunity to get your Mini out for action with some proper track time, whether it’s standard or a highly-modified car. A 15-minute session will cost just £25 and if you get booked in now, the first 100 sessions sold will be at the special early bird price of just £20! No helmet? No problem, as they will be available for hire on the day, plus you can even bring a passenger for just £10. There will be novice sessions for first timers, too. Tickets are now on sale, including day entry and camping. All the details are on the website…

• It is the start of a new year and the British Motor Museum has been quick to release the dates of its Mini-related shows that will be held at the Museum itself. The first is this year’s BMC & Leyland Show, on Sunday 7 July. Which, as usual, is a celebration of all the vehicles produced by BMC, British Leyland and the Rover Group. The second is the Metro and Mini Show 2019, which will be held on Sunday 4 August. This show is all about celebrating two iconic British super-minis, but on top of this, we are promised a celebration of 60 years of the Classic Mini. For ticket prices and more details about the events call 01926 649649 or visit the British Motor Museum website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk.…

Competing over 10 stages of smooth asphalt, our Mini crews got off to a strong start with ties for final positions. One of the crews in joint position to conquer MC2, Jim Brindle/Jacqueline Parkinson ended their campaign for the win after Stage 2, having lost a valve mid-stage. It was an unfortunate event for Andy Walkingshaw/Ryan Taylor, after months of hard work prepping his Mini to get back out, the crew were forced to retire after Stage 8 with a blown head gasket. Peter Ellerby/Victoria Swallow finished the rally - the first finish of the season for Peter after several spells of bad luck, but the team was delighted with third MC2 and seventh overall. Louise Thomas/Heidi Woodcock had another consistent rally,finishing fifth MC4 and 11th overall, resulting in the…

The Mini has seen it all. Since the Morris Mini Minor became news in 1959 it has lived through the Cold War and experienced global warming. The world watched as a man walked on the moon and a woman ran the country, the Mini was there. The Berlin wall fell and house prices rose and still the Mini lived on. Throughout six decades of headlines there has been an ever-changing sound-track. In 1959 Johnny and the Hurricanes sang about the ‘Red River Rock’ and the Sam Cooke sang about the ‘Blue Moon’. In 1969 Elvis Presley was ‘In the Ghetto’ and Eric Clapton was at the ‘Crossroads’. In 1979 Squeeze went ‘Up the Junction’ and Madness went ‘One Step Beyond’. The Mini heard it all. The diverse music scene inspired…

Although there’s plenty of crossover between road and competition A-Series components, distinct differences remain, in terms of specification, performance and costs. Fitting a high-lift camshaft to a standard 998 does not make it a race-tuned engine, and nor would a fire-breathing 130bhp monster suit a daily driver! So where is the boundary between road and race, how far should you go with the modifications on the road? Staying with the original five-port setup, let’s start up top with the cylinder head… CYLINDER HEAD The A-Series’ cylinder head casting is inherently restrictive, and so before the Mini was even launched, tuners began to tinker. With a little combustion chamber modification to open up the shrouded standard valves, then careful enlargement of the ports, flow can be improved considerably. Install larger diameter…

Things have really moved on with the pup this month. The last remaining panels arrived including load floor, quarter panels, rear posts inner wheel arches and quarter panel stiffeners. With disc cutters and an air saw at the ready, I made light work of removing the rust bucket rear end! Unpicking the last parts of the load floor to rear bulkhead took some more time. I was trying not to replace it, most of it was fine apart from a few knocks and dents from its working life and 50% of the lower section about one inch up had rotted away with the load floor. With panels fabricated and welded into the bulkhead as required I was ready to panel up the whole rear section. First up the load bed…

I was lucky enough to have my first Classic Mini finished in time to drive it to and from school. I remember even then that my Cooper replica, even with Classic Mini still on sale, still looked small against my mates’ more modern first cars! Still, even with its insurance-friendly 1000cc engine, I impressed them with its sharp handling. Jake Fell, the owner of this retro-looking, Vauxhall-powered saloon was the same: “The first Mini I ever went in belonged to a school friend. I’m 27 now and that was when we were 18. It was a ’93 Sprite and completely standard when he got it, but he did some upgrades over time. The seats he’d put in his car are now actually in this Mini!” The second Mini he went…

• Christmas might have come and gone for another year, but if you’re still looking for a gift for the little or big Classic Mini fan in your life, how about this Lego Speed Champions rally set? On sale now, Classic Mini fans are going to be all over the Lego model of the 1967 Classic Mini Cooper, but the set also comes bang up-to-date, with a Lego model of the latest MINI John Cooper Works buggy, which is taking part in the Dakar Rally.We will hopefully have a review of this kit in due course. For more info or to buy, get over to https://shop.lego.com.…

• New details have been released about 2019 historic rally run to Monte Carlo, which will start in Clydebank, Scotland on 30 January 2019. It is the second time the town has hosted this prestigious event and is the only British start point among six European cities. The event, staged by the Automobile Club de Monaco, sees a range of classic cars make the 1500-mile trip to the South of France. Around 80 cars will travel three separate categories and follow the same route to Monte Carlo but will not compete in any test stages, the goal simply being to finish after checking in at a series of control points on the way. Once again the event will feature the popular Monte Heritage Runs alongside, too.…

It was a lucky coincidence that I was given a 1977 1000 in bits as my first car, but it was inevitably going to be a Mini anyway. Mark Burnett, owner of this awesome Ogle SX1000 was the same, he’d been into cars from an early age reading all the car magazines, including his dad’s discarded issues of Motorsport. He eventually gravitated towards the Classic Mini because of his dad’s business, SU Carburettors, and being neighbours with Janspeed, and a 1989 British Racing Green Special edition soon followed. “I bought Mini magazines with my pocket money and still have them squirrelled away - I’m pretty sure I have every copy of Mini Magazine up until the digital age,” Mark explains. Mark tells me that first Mini was used and abused…

When the Ogle was launched in 1962, there was no doubt that designer David Ogle didn’t have a Spartan racer in mind. It was actually the poshest Mini of the time, with a high quality of workmanship and chosen materials. “A diminutive, high-class Grand Tourer for two,” wrote The Autocar, which was first to test drive one. But the miniature GT did have very sporty looks, and although it was slightly heavier than the standard Mini Cooper, it came in a much more streamlined shape, 6.5-inches lower than a Mini and with improved drag, which made sense to those in racing circles. The 997 Cooper-based car tested by The Autocar topped 99mph, where the standard 997 Cooper came in at 88mph, at the time. And then there were several racing…

Tyres are amazing. Contacting the road with an area less than a piece of A4 paper, they move you and your Mini around the road, accelerating braking and cornering. Everything about a tyre can affect the handling of a car. The width, profile (height of the tyre), compound and even the internal construction. The wrong tyre in the wrong conditions can leave you feeling like you are driving on ice, but with the right tyre driving on ice can feel like you are on a motorway. “The wrong tyre in the wrong conditions can leave you feeling like you are driving on ice” Each tyre has a set of standard markings which describe the size. For modern tyres this is in the format WWW/PPRDD where WWW is the width of…

Ah, 2019 – a year of celebrations! I found the few pics I had from 1984 when I did the Mini 25 Celebration at Donington. I was selling parts and we were doing convertible conversions on new Minis so I enquired as to the cost of a stall from Austin Rover who was organising it. A stall was going to be £126, where a normal trade stall at Mini shows then was around £30 – result, no traders took it up. At the last minute, I took the gamble that it would be poorly attended and bingo, we were the only trade stall! It was all fairly Mickey Mouse compared with today’s shows and displays but that was how it was then. We managed to cut the roof off a…

• The British Mini Club’s essential winter Mini show is back for its 20th year at Bingley Hall, set within the Staffordshire Country Showground, on 27 January 2019. Sponsored by Footman James Insurance, this is one of the most well established shows on the calendar and has something for all enthusiasts. As well as a wide selection of traders and displays, there will also be the Premier Concours Final, a Minis for sale area, plus a Mini spares area for those rare parts. To book advance tickets, visit: www.britishminiclub.co.uk.Check out our show preview on P72.…

On 17 April 1966, the Mini 7 Club organised its first ever Formula Mini Se7en race at Brands Hatch, which was won by Bob Fox. Fast forward to 2019 and the Mini will be celebrating its 60th birthday and the Mini Se7en Racing Club will join the celebrations with one of our most exciting race calendars ever. Kicking off the expanded 15-round National championship will be a visit to Croft, on 13-14 April. Rounds 3 and 4, on 18-19 May will be at Thruxton, supporting the British Touring cars, with over 30,000 spectators expected on each day, and with our Sunday races being aired live, or “as live” on ITV4, as part of their coverage. For Rounds 5 and 6 on the weekend of 15-16 June, we will be racing…

In November 2018, the Mini Cooper Register (MCR) – Newcastle and Durham Region – staged its 11th running of the Northumberland Borders Rally. Sponsored by YB Racing and part of the HRCR Premier Rally championship, it was held in the picturesque Northumberland and County Durham countryside. The event is comprised of both a Clubman status 12-car rally – the Borders Rally – and a separate competition for novices – the Tynedale rally. The Borders Rally is run to navigational rally rules, which is based on navigation skills rather than speed and is limited to no more than 12 vehicles in the event. In the UK, these 12-car rallies are governed by Motorsport UK, and those competing on the Borders Rally need a competition licence. Trying to make an event that…

Chris Chapman has always been interested in Minis, and after taking a break from motorcycles, he thought he’d buy one himself and get involved in the scene. Chris finally took the plunge to buy his first Mini (the orange one you can see in the pictures, which he still owns!), however at the time he didn’t know some of the common issues and ended up buying a bit of a lemon really. Sadly, below that shiny paint, there was rust under the over sills, plus gearbox and engine issues, which led to a full rebuild and partly how this Clubman project began. Despite these issues, Chris was still hooked! A few years down the line, and Chris now has two Mini projects on the go, and has made some great…

Classic Minis, they are a family thing. There’s nearly always a family member that has owned one, or even just has a story about this iconic little car — even almost 60 years on. Chloe’s love of Minis comes from her dad: “He has always had a burning passion for them and has passed that passion to both myself and my brother,” Chloe explains. In fact, Minis have been in her family for as long as she can remember, with her mum using their Mini Cooper as a daily for years, doing school runs and even going to the stable yard! So with all these Classic Mini influences, it’s no surprise she ended up with one as her first car. “My dad restored my first car, which was a C-reg…

ENGINE MOUNTS I’ve had my Mini Clubman’s 998 engine rebuilt by a local specialist, with new rings and a crank regrind. It’s looking great, but for some reason I can’t get it to fit back in the subframe. I’ve decided to renew all the mounts and bushings, and am using the engine mounts with the captive nuts, but they just won’t line up properly. Any ideas? Andy A The problem is highly likely to be your choice of engine mounts. The idea is that these mounts have two captive nuts fitted, saving you a real faff with getting the nuts and bolts in. These used to be good, but in many cases the threaded nut is now a rivet nut type affair instead of the original welded-on nuts. The problem…

As enthusiastic amateurs, my friend Alec and I have had our fair share of trials. At every stage of Neggy’s restoration it’s been a case of two steps forward, one step back. When we started the project I originally envisaged a couple of patches that might need welding here and there, then off to a professional body shop to have Neggy painted. Eighteen months on, my budget reduced severely and with far more rust found than expected, my dreams of a show-winning professional respray have diminished. Enter plan B – a much more realistic option – to paint it ourselves! The aim was to get a half decent, moderately shiny and protected body. Then I could have fun driving with the car, and not worry too much about it getting…