Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2018 i Mini Magazine

Hard to believe, but by the time you read this, the 2018 show season will be starting to draw to a close, sadly. There are still a couple of events through September, but as an almost final hurrah of this season, we have a full report about Mini In The Park on page 27. Despite the unbelievable summer giving up on us for the event, it was a great show for Mini fans and owners. Any Mini has to be pretty special to get a full feature in Mini Magazine, so you'll all be wondering how our cover car, Simon Hepburn’s MkI has made it into the magazine an impressive three times! How? Why? Well, Simon’s early turbo’d Mini has been through some serious changes. First it was freshly restored…

Time is flying, and with the 2018 Mini show season almost at an end, the British Mini Club has been quick to confirm the dates of some of its events for 2019. The 2019 Mini Show season starts like this year did, with Mini Fair 2019 on 27 January. Held again at Bingley Hall in the Staffordshire County Showground, the British Mini Club promises this will be the perfect start to celebrate the Mini’s 60th year. Expect over 100 trade and autojumble stands, a Pride of Ownership display, Premier Concours finals, and club stands. This is a great event to find those parts to finish winter Mini projects! Next up will be British Mini Day, on 12 May – the first outdoor event of the show season, held again at…

Like the idea of a Classic Mini, but worried about how the practicalities of classic car ownership will work for you? Well, we reckon signing up for The British Motor Museum’s Classic Virgins Experience Day, will be right up your street. Basically an introduction to the world of classic car ownership, this workshop will also give you a basic understanding of car maintenance. The day starts with a session offering expert guidance on the practicalities of classic car ownership, including club membership, rallies and social activities, facilities you will need to care for your car, finance, insurance, and what to look out for when choosing your classic car. Then, a practical session in the state-of-the-art restoration workshop covering the basics of classic car maintenance follows, from filter changes and brake…

Even uncharacteristically wet weather couldn’t spoil the best show on the Mini calendar… After one of the driest summers on record, you could be forgiven for thinking that Santa Pod and Mini In The Park were set for another scorcher! But sadly it wasn’t to be, and despite me watching the forecast and praying for change, Sunday 12 August was uncharacteristically wet — all day! The writing was on the wall the night before, when I got rained off when trying to clean my MINI and had to admit defeat. Still, on the positive side, when I left my home in Herts early on Sunday, to make the trip to Bedfordshire, it wasn’t raining. But as the sun crept up, there was no doubt it was decidedly grey and windy!…

Peter’s first Mini was a white 1989 Mary Quant Designer edition, bought for £100 to learn to drive in when he was 18. He spent another £100 getting it through an MoT then, while he was at uni, his mum overheated the engine, warped the head, and it ended up being sold to a scrap yard for just £10. It was only then that Peter realised how much he liked Minis and he bought another - a 1979 Pageant Blue 850 Super Deluxe. It was given a 998 engine transplant due to a cracked subframe and he drove it every day for three-years until its reliability got on his nerves. Although he’s always regretted selling it. Then a 1969 MkIII came from a friend. Peter started to learn how to…

Like Twiggy demonstrated in the 1989 Mini 30 advert, you always remember your first Mini. And that’s certainly the case for Tim, the owner of this MkII Cooper S. And the couple of Minis he owned after his first just made him want another one. Although not as smart or rare as the Cooper S, Tim still fondly remembers the 1973 Mini 1000, given to him by my parents for his 18th birthday in 1984. He explains: “It was immense fun despite being the rather uncool colour of Harvest Gold. I did the usual teenage modifications of fitting a big bore Peco exhaust, Wood & Picket nudge bars and a whiplash aerial. It’s cringing to think about that now!” After about a year Tim changed his Mini for a 1975…

Barring a two year gap, the Minicross Driver’s Association (MDA) has travelled to the historic Valkenswaard rallycross circuit annually since 1988. Six cars entered this event this year for the June event; a stark contrast to the 30 cars which used to enter in the first few years, but despite not looking many, they had lots of fun out on the dusty track over the weekend. Saturday saw some practice runs and the first heat of the event. Jordine Wadge experienced her first ever Minicross race in Heat 1, and with a time of 3:44 she came in a very respectable sixth place. Getting steady lap times was the aim, and Richard Wakeling, even with all his experience (having driven the Valkenswaard track since the late-1960s), couldn’t keep up with…

“The factory deemed to fit the clevis pin retaining split pin at the back of the casing, making access awkward” SOLID CLUTCH Q I have a Mini Mayfair with a rebuilt 1310 engine. Everything seemed well with the MoT test this week, but after driving the car around the drive the clutch pedal is now impossible to press. The clutch was working 10 seconds before, but I tried to press the clutch and the pedal had gone solid. It’s a Verto clutch we know the hydraulic system is fine as we have tested this. It’s the arm with two nuts that won’t move - it will move outwards and is not seized but when it gets to the 6.5mm it is rock solid. Any ideas of what it might be?…

bars, not the overall length as the replacement tie bars may have different length threads on them and therefore differ in length even if the suspension geometry is the same. There are a couple of different ways of mounting tie bars on to the front of the front subframe. The factory units use a threaded end with rubber either side. This allows a little movement at the subframe end which is needed as it also acts as a bearing for when the wheel moves up and down. There are alternatives to rubber, including stiffer bushes. These stiffer bushes are okay, and may be a solution if you find that the tie rod is moving too much under braking for example, however these firmer bushes can permanently deform and I’ve seen…

Jill Gilmore developed her love for Minis when she was a teenager. Her father, Noel, owned a series of Minis, firstly as family transport then later, just for fun. “My father saved up the money to buy a new saloon in the ’60s. That was his first Mini. This car was crashed and written off but there were other Minis which came later,” Jill says. “When I was growing up, the family car was a 1979 Clubman Estate. It went on to be a high mileage car but my dad, who was a self-taught hobby mechanic, was able to keep it going with a replacement engine which he changed himself,” continues Jill. It was during these formative years that Jill picked up the skills and knowledge required to live a…

After successful events in Portugal at the IMM, Norfolk for the Moke Club National and Luxembourg for the International Mini Moke Meet, the next Mini Moke Club weekend event will be in Wales. Also planned for this year, on 29 September, the club will join the world-famous Blackpool Illuminations, covering their Mokes with lights, signs and decorations to take part in a Moking Fun Run along the route. 20 October is the date for The Mini Moke Club AGM, which this year takes place at Kegworth Hotel in Derby. All aspects of the Club will be discussed and committee posts are all open to re-election. Only Club members may vote, but nonmembers are welcome to attend and join on the day. Finally, on 8 December, there’s The Mini Moke Club’s…

Adrenaline rushes are easily achieved in a Mini; simply attempt a daring single-carriageway overtake with a truck coming in the opposite direction and wheezy 850 under your bonnet. Alternatively, find a ridiculous engine to shoe-horn up front and see how that pans out. Paul Colbran has a history of bolting large engines into small cars, some more successfully than others. And with its 5.5-inch roof chop, his latest creation has to be the smallest and most eye-catching yet. Once the initial confusion subsides, passersby soon notice that the original A-Series has been replaced with something a whole lot more sinister. The project started around 15 years ago after Paul sold his home-built Vauxhall Astra with a 6.0-litre Chevy small block driving the rear wheels. Actually, there were two projects in…

After a successful debut last year, the Under the Mini Moon event was transformed into a full-on weekender for its 2019 outing on 3-5 August. Organised by Gary and Sarah Taylor, the event raised funds for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which provides life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Open to Minis and derivatives of all types, the event began on the Friday with an opening party for campers, followed on Saturday by ‘Cruise Day’. The Minis headed out to the picturesque Quantock Hills, returning via Burnham-on-Sea for a parade along the High Street ahead of more entertainment that evening. The main show day was reserved for Sunday, with a good turnout of Minis converging on the West Huntspill show field near Bridgwater. Traders joined a host of Mini clubs, with…

TIME Allow four hours COST Gasket and oil seal from £2 each DIFFICULTY Minis are renowned for ‘marking their spot’ with drops of oil, but even the smallest leaks can get out of hand quickly. A main culprit is the standard timing cover, which can be prone to leaks between its mounting flange and the engine front plate, and via the crank pulley to cover oil seal. Or, in many cases, both! When an old steel cover is tightened up, the flange can distort, making it difficult to achieve an oil-tight seal to the engine front plate without use of a quality gasket sealer. Putting an already damaged cover on will accelerate the issue, as will using incorrect bolts as they are of different lengths depending on their position. It’s…

Unfortunately, we did find some more rot. One of the captive nuts for the subframe mounting panel was too far gone to be reused, so a cheap repair panel was bought. However, when we removed the old section, more rust was revealed inside the box section. So this has been fabricated and a rear quarter repair made. My father always used to say “buy cheap, buy twice” – wise words indeed! Unfortunately, as funds have been a little tight, I bought a pattern version of both the subframe mounting panel and the rear valance. First up was a trial fit of the valance with the original rear panel and new boot floor in place. With mole grips in hand, it took three of us pushing and pulling to try to…

With one final push, the build came together in a couple of weeks, engine in and ready to run. It was an exciting day as Paul Thompson and I had been working on it at weekends and every spare evening to get it to that point. Paul helped with a custom bracket for the MED-supplied Setrab oil cooler – said to reduce oil temps by up to 10-degrees over the budget types. So we fuelled up with Shell’s finest and tested the pump. A few fixed leaks later, wiring sussed out on the external Lumenition ignition box, and we had fuel and spark. Paul set the static timing, I pushed the button and it fired straight away – great success! From there was a blur of suspension setup, corner weighting,…

The Championship is now at the halfway point and, as always, the Military Ranges took their first victims early on, with Round 3 champs Ian Clare/Antony Elkes struck down with a broken drive shaft in Stage 3, resulting in a tow back to the service area. Ian and Ant’s team worked frantically to fix the issue in such a tight time slot to get the lads back out ready for Stage 4, but ultimately fate was against them, as the duo suffered a failed differential, ending their event. Lying in second from the off, Team Mini Sport’s John and Martin Cressey were forced into early retirement from the rally at the end of Stage 3, with a broken bottom pulley. Despite the team’s best efforts, time between Stages was not…

RARE COOPER Name: Gaynor Sampson Car: 2001 Cooper Sport 500 Location: Northampton • This Cooper was originally owned by Gaynor’s mum, who had always owned Minis and in 2001 decided to bite the bullet and chop in her beloved 1997 Tahiti Cooper Sport for her last chance to own a new Cooper Sport, before the remaining stock had been sold. She used it as her daily for 15 years and refused to part with it when her mobility became a problem. Just before she passed away, in May 2016, she told Gaynor to sell it but the whole family agreed that it should, instead, remain a part of the family. Around six-months later, the Cooper Sport 500 register confirmed that this car was 419/500 of the Cooper Sports 500s —…

It is rare for a Mini to be featured once, let alone three times in Mini Magazine. But that’s what happened with this car! One of our recent ‘Maddest Mini’ contenders, we reckon Simon Hepburn’s third instalment of his lightweight, drag MkI, is definitely the best, and we’re assured the fastest! Looking back at the history of this car, Simon’s been into Minis for as long as he can remember. “I picked up this 1964 Austin MkI Mini in 2007 for £150, so not bad really. It was a rot box, as you would expect, but I set to it, and got it back on the road.” The first time it featured in this magazine, it boasted Weber-fed 1380 power. “Everyone loved it and they couldn’t understand why I was…

Diversity is always a big part of the Retro Rides Gathering, but amongst the eclectic mix of various makes and models, you’ll always see Minis making a decent impact. This year’s event proved to be no exception, with plenty of great examples joining the fun at the historic Shelsley Walsh Hillclimb in Worcestershire on 17-19 August. The main event took place on the Sunday, with the Run What Ya Brung hillclimb up the famous Shelsley Hill joined by traders, food stalls, invited guest cars, over 80 club stands and a special retro parking area. As a general rule the show area caters for pre-’95 cars, but all classic Minis are fair game. Essentially, anything goes as long as it’s old, with a strong emphasis on acceptance. That generally means a…

“If you are using the Mini in more agressive situations you may need stronger tie bars” Tie rods are often replaced on Minis. One reason is that the original parts often end up bent by people jacking the car up on them, but I suspect that a lot are uprated simply because they don’t look very sturdy. Happily, the standard part is up to the job in normal circumstances as most of the forces acted on it are pulling along the length of the shaft rather than trying to bend it. If you are using the Mini in more aggressive situations then you may find the need for stronger tie bars but you are also adding more weight. The tie rod does more than supplement the bottom arm mounting, it…

The damage to my racer’s engine looked bad at first – two pistons, cylinder head with chunk out and top of block marked. Frustratingly there was no obvious cause as it went between three and four, which is not the usual place to go - it’s hottest between two and three. I had a couple of used pistons we could use, so pal Oliver got the block skimmed and the pistons got a haircut to keep the compression the same. With a set of rings and shells it was back together using the swanky head I damaged five years ago. Keith Calver mended it, and despite the smaller valves it seems to work better according to my lap times. I’m now waiting to see how the original fares, as I’m…