What's made you smile today?

[FiatMatt94]

If you want to go really silly Austin A30 13 inch wheels fit also, but note , the ones with spikes to locate the chrome hub caps have a habit of losing their centres with hard driving and 14inch on early Morris Minors, as mate of mine found out, fortunately after I had sold it to him.

With Mini's I always say 10's are best as when I had my first one it was a later one which had 12 inch wheels which had the later 8.4 setup as standard which were not the best so when funds were good I purchased a brake kit which was to convert the front brake setup to take 10 inch wheels using 7.5 Cooper S calipers, discs, pads & drive flanges, then at the first Mini show I took it to which was British Mini Day 2015 at Himley Hall in the Midlands I found a set of proper magnesium 6x10 slot mags which were straight but needed a refurb so I haggled a bit with the seller & managed to get them for £50, had them refurbished, I remember it was difficult to find someone at the time who would touch magnesium rims but I found someone in Guildford who did a really good job on them for a very reasonable amount at the time & I put them on with the Cooper S brake setup which totally transformed the car, better handling, better ride & excellent brakes so the £500 mark outlay at the time was worth every penny in fact I still have those wheels 10 years on sitting in my sister's loft & they still look brand new. I remember with that Mini I used to go through 2/3 whole sets of tyres per year at anything between £300-£400 a set as I drove it how a Mini's meant to be driven & beyond sideways, in the air, flat out I did it all I remember my sister's mate said she was going towards Goodwyns roundabout in Dorking one summers day down the main road which bypasses the town & all of a sudden she saw me emerge from the line of cars she was driving behind, overtake 5 cars in one hit & went flat out into the roundabout without braking, going sideways & come out the other side she saw me at home a few days later when she was visiting my sister & asked me how fast I was going when she saw me a few days before, I went "about 95 ish, I bet it looked good though" she said "your nuts, I was looking thinking surely he's going to brake but you didn't & just threw it in" .

 

[bugsymike]

With Mini's I always say 10's are best as when I had my first one it was a later one which had 12 inch wheels which had the later 8.4 setup as standard which were not the best so when funds were good I purchased a brake kit which was to convert the front brake setup to take 10 inch wheels using 7.5 Cooper S calipers, discs, pads & drive flanges, then at the first Mini show I took it to which was British Mini Day 2015 at Himley Hall in the Midlands I found a set of proper magnesium 6x10 slot mags which were straight but needed a refurb so I haggled a bit with the seller & managed to get them for £50, had them refurbished, I remember it was difficult to find someone at the time who would touch magnesium rims but I found someone in Guildford who did a really good job on them for a very reasonable amount at the time & I put them on with the Cooper S brake setup which totally transformed the car, better handling, better ride & excellent brakes so the £500 mark outlay at the time was worth every penny in fact I still have those wheels 10 years on sitting in my sister's loft & they still look brand new. I remember with that Mini I used to go through 2/3 whole sets of tyres per year at anything between £300-£400 a set as I drove it how a Mini's meant to be driven & beyond sideways, in the air, flat out I did it all I remember my sister's mate said she was going towards Goodwyns roundabout in Dorking one summers day down the main road which bypasses the town & all of a sudden she saw me emerge from the line of cars she was driving behind, overtake 5 cars in one hit & went flat out into the roundabout without braking, going sideways & come out the other side she saw me at home a few days later when she was visiting my sister & asked me how fast I was going when she saw me a few days before, I went "about 95 ish, I bet it looked good though" she said "your nuts, I was looking thinking surely he's going to brake but you didn't & just threw it in" .

I was more of a rear wheel drive Ford Anglia man with the back end hanging out, lowered, negative camber front end 5.5 J Dunlop steel wheels with 175x13 Uniroyals, 1500 engine 4 into 1 exhaust with a Sprite box exiting in front of the back wheel,etc. Later on when I got fed up of being pulled, I went for a Ford Zephyr V6 plain dark green and was ignored by the old bill as they thought it was another stupid taxi driver, 12mpg , so not hanging around, generally double that on a fast trip to London. Happy days, "when I was single and my pockets did jingle" as they say, 35 pence per gallon!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I was more of a rear wheel drive Ford Anglia man with the back end hanging out, lowered, negative camber front end 5.5 J Dunlop steel wheels with 175x13 Uniroyals, 1500 engine 4 into 1 exhaust with a Sprite box exiting in front of the back wheel,etc. Later on when I got fed up of being pulled, I went for a Ford Zephyr V6 plain dark green and was ignored by the old bill as they thought it was another stupid taxi driver, 12mpg , so not hanging around, generally double that on a fast trip to London. Happy days, "when I was single and my pockets did jingle" as they say, 35 pence per gallon!

After I got the Cooper S out of my system I had a mk1 Cortina 1500 GT. So the same pre crossflow engine you had in your Anglia Mike - a great engine in my opinion and "better" than the later crossflow. Like you mike, I bought 5.5 J steel rims for it but running Pirelli Cinturatos. The car was owned 50/50 with my dad and my end game for it was to steadily modify it until it could beat the Lotus version. One of the first "mods" I made was to install a cherry bomb silencer exiting under the N/S sill in front of the rear wheel. I was young and very stupid back then and one of my favourite "tricks" was to turn the ignition off on the overrun and then, as the car slowed, turn it back on again. The unburnt fuel in the exhaust would ignite producing a monumental backfire and an impressive - well I thought it was impressive - flame out the end of the exhaust. I would be mortally embarrassed to do something like that now! Unfortunately that plan was blown to pieces big time when I had a serious row with my dad and he demanded his half of the car back! At that time I got married and replaced the Cortina with a bog standard 997 Anglia and never owned a decent performance car again for many years until I bought a Mk1 SRI Astra estate with the 1.8 injected OHC engine. I really loved that car and kept it until the rust bug got into it too deep. Even my kids remember it and my youngest boy mentioned recently that he remembers Mrs J actually smoking a front wheel pulling out of the end of our road - Her throttle control has never been good! Oh, just remembered, I did own a MK1 1600 Vitesse for a while which was a very interesting drive with it's swing axle rear suspension. I quickly learned to NEVER LIFT OFF mid corner if cornering with "enthusiasm", especially on wet roads, or you'd uncontrollably end up going backwards as she swapped ends! The 6 cylinder engine sounded glorious pulling hard but the dif wasn't really up for it and broke some teeth off the crownwheel. luckily I got another dif off a scrap yard and sold the car not long after. Getting the corroded bolts which secured the dif to the chassis and went through the metalastic type rubber mounts in the diff casing to move was not at all funny but I got there in the end.

Edit. My pal's dad had a MK2 zodiac which I always thought was a bonny car as was the MK3. Never really liked the MK4 although I used to sometimes pick the boss up in his zodiac executive. Felt very barge like to drive compared to the earlier cars.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Circa 2004/5 I got to have some great fun in a Capri 1.6 laser that someone traded in at the company I was working for, most fun you can have on 4 wheels especially in the wet, zero weight on the back wheels, and what would be tiny by todays standards, little 13 inch wheels.

A friend of mine has a Mini Cooper 500 which is one of the last 500 Mini Cooper models made by the old design, before the bmw mini took over.
I seem to think that has 10 inch wheels still, I can’t remember exactly but I remember him saying there was only one company that did tyres for it still.

 

[FiatMatt94]

friend of mine has a Mini Cooper 500 which is one of the last 500 Mini Cooper models made by the old design, before the bmw mini took over.
I seem to think that has 10 inch wheels still, I can’t remember exactly but I remember him saying there was only one company that did tyres for it still.

The Cooper Sport 500 would have been originally fitted with 6x13 Minilites along with the Sports pack arches all round, I think you can buy a 7x13 of the same wheel but a modern replica. I know the tyres are a weird size 175/50/R13 & from memory only Nankang & Yokohama manufacturer that size tyre, that era Classic Mini from 1997 onwards was also the worst metal period as well which is why I tend to avoid them like the plague , I find with Mini's the earlier the cars the better the metal apart from 1977-1981 period which was when the metal was imported from either Russia or Finland, mines 1980 on a V plate which is surprising that it's still around & mostly original in bodywork terms, eventually the plan is to work my way to owning a MK1 Cooper S but pre 1964 as I'd like either a 970cc S or 1071cc S as they are the most valuable & the rarest of the lot & dry suspension. So my plan to work my way to a early MK1 Cooper S is to overtime own the Fiat's, Alfa's etc that I'd love to own, get them for a decent amount while they are still reasonably priced, have my fun with them & hopefully sell for a profit when they have risen in value. A Coupe 20v Turbo & Panda 100HP are on my list after I'm done with my Mini.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

The Cooper Sport 500 would have been originally fitted with 6x13 Minilites along with the Sports pack arches all round, I think you can buy a 7x13 of the same wheel but a modern replica. I know the tyres are a weird size 175/50/R13 & from memory only Nankang & Yokohama manufacturer that size tyre, that era Classic Mini from 1997 onwards was also the worst metal period as well which is why I tend to avoid them like the plague , I find with Mini's the earlier the cars the better the metal apart from 1977-1981 period which was when the metal was imported from either Russia or Finland, mines 1980 on a V plate which is surprising that it's still around & mostly original in bodywork terms, eventually the plan is to work my way to owning a MK1 Cooper S but pre 1964 as I'd like either a 970cc S or 1071cc S as they are the most valuable & the rarest of the lot & dry suspension. So my plan to work my way to a early MK1 Cooper S is to overtime own the Fiat's, Alfa's etc that I'd love to own, get them for a decent amount while they are still reasonably priced, have my fun with them & hopefully sell for a profit when they have risen in value. A Coupe 20v Turbo & Panda 100HP are on my list after I'm done with my Mini.

Thanks for that.

What’s really funny is that he had an older copper a few years back which was registered on a newer plate than his 500, both cars very similar both in racing green.

The one thing I really dislike about the 500 is the silver leather on the seats and steering wheel

 

[bugsymike]

After I got the Cooper S out of my system I had a mk1 Cortina 1500 GT. So the same pre crossflow engine you had in your Anglia Mike - a great engine in my opinion and "better" than the later crossflow. Like you mike, I bought 5.5 J steel rims for it but running Pirelli Cinturatos. The car was owned 50/50 with my dad and my end game for it was to steadily modify it until it could beat the Lotus version. One of the first "mods" I made was to install a cherry bomb silencer exiting under the N/S sill in front of the rear wheel. I was young and very stupid back then and one of my favourite "tricks" was to turn the ignition off on the overrun and then, as the car slowed, turn it back on again. The unburnt fuel in the exhaust would ignite producing a monumental backfire and an impressive - well I thought it was impressive - flame out the end of the exhaust. I would be mortally embarrassed to do something like that now! Unfortunately that plan was blown to pieces big time when I had a serious row with my dad and he demanded his half of the car back! At that time I got married and replaced the Cortina with a bog standard 997 Anglia and never owned a decent performance car again for many years until I bought a Mk1 SRI Astra estate with the 1.8 injected OHC engine. I really loved that car and kept it until the rust bug got into it too deep. Even my kids remember it and my youngest boy mentioned recently that he remembers Mrs J actually smoking a front wheel pulling out of the end of our road - Her throttle control has never been good! Oh, just remembered, I did own a MK1 1600 Vitesse for a while which was a very interesting drive with it's swing axle rear suspension. I quickly learned to NEVER LIFT OFF mid corner if cornering with "enthusiasm", especially on wet roads, or you'd uncontrollably end up going backwards as she swapped ends! The 6 cylinder engine sounded glorious pulling hard but the dif wasn't really up for it and broke some teeth off the crownwheel. luckily I got another dif off a scrap yard and sold the car not long after. Getting the corroded bolts which secured the dif to the chassis and went through the metalastic type rubber mounts in the diff casing to move was not at all funny but I got there in the end.

Edit. My pal's dad had a MK2 zodiac which I always thought was a bonny car as was the MK3. Never really liked the MK4 although I used to sometimes pick the boss up in his zodiac executive. Felt very barge like to drive compared to the earlier cars.

Great fun when no cares as a youngster, I used to love getting the Mk 4 Zephyr sideways, tyres never lasted for long , strangely enough.!!!!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

eventually the plan is to work my way to owning a MK1 Cooper S but pre 1964 as I'd like either a 970cc S or 1071cc S as they are the most valuable & the rarest of the lot & dry suspension. So my plan to work my way to a early MK1 Cooper S is to overtime own the Fiat's, Alfa's etc that I'd love to own, get them for a decent amount while they are still reasonably priced, have my fun with them & hopefully sell for a profit when they have risen in value. A Coupe 20v Turbo & Panda 100HP are on my list after I'm done with my Mini.

A friend of mine has a Mini Cooper 500 which is one of the last 500 Mini Cooper models made by the old design, before the bmw mini took over.
I seem to think that has 10 inch wheels still, I can’t remember exactly but I remember him saying there was only one company that did tyres for it still.

Mine was a "B" plate 1964 1275 S with the dry suspension. My friend had a 1071 which was just a touch slower in a straight line but round the twisty bits there wasn't much to separate them. I think the 1071 and especially the 970 were produced for homologation reasons for particular classes of racing? it was one of the most fun cars I've ever owned. You could do the most outrageous things with it and still come out of it alive!

 

[The Panda Nut]

If you think 13 inchers are difficult just try getting 10 inch size. That, of course, is the size which fitted the old mini - and stuff like the Reliant Kitten and a few others - also what my wee home made trailer runs on.

Mine too. The last pair were £90 each and they are not exactly top grade. That was at least 5 years ago. Im thinking of converting to bigger wheels but 14 inch may be the way to go, caravan size.

 

[FiatMatt94]

Thanks for that.

What’s really funny is that he had an older copper a few years back which was registered on a newer plate than his 500, both cars very similar both in racing green.

The one thing I really dislike about the 500 is the silver leather on the seats and steering wheel

I've seen 1 really late registered one on an 02 plate before so it must of been sat around for a while, there are also a few Y & 51 plates knocking about as well, I'm a classic mini enthusiast but I'm not too keen on the last of them 1996/97 onwards with multi point injection as they were just a massive headache & so unreliable with all the sensors etc & putting airbags in along with the silly 13 inch wheels, also they aren't that tunable compared to carb or even single point injection cars, I much prefer the earlier cars with 10 inch wheels, carbs, the tuning abilities, although SPI wasn't too bad as they were pretty reliable, basic & still tunable to a degree but not like the carb cars, MPI's just avoid

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I've seen 1 really late registered one on an 02 plate before so it must of been sat around for a while, there are also a few Y & 51 plates knocking about as well, I'm a classic mini enthusiast but I'm not too keen on the last of them 1996/97 onwards with multi point injection as they were just a massive headache & so unreliable with all the sensors etc & putting airbags in along with the silly 13 inch wheels, also they aren't that tunable compared to carb or even single point injection cars, I much prefer the earlier cars with 10 inch wheels, carbs, the tuning abilities, although SPI wasn't too bad as they were pretty reliable, basic & still tunable to a degree but not like the carb cars, MPI's just avoid

I think his first one was a 51 where as the 500 is a Y reg.

But I have to be honest, and this is controversial I know, but I don’t like the original mini…. I’ll just stand by a wall so all the die hard mini fans can shoot me.

Honestly though I like the newer cars much more

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I think his first one was a 51 where as the 500 is a Y reg.

But I have to be honest, and this is controversial I know, but I don’t like the original mini…. I’ll just stand by a wall so all the die hard mini fans can shoot me.

Honestly though I like the newer cars much more

It's a diverse world we live in and we all have our likes and dislikes. I greatly prefer the original mini complete with it's many faults. The new one is a bloated thing in comparison and far too difficult to work on - although the original one had it's problems in that respect.

 

[bugsymike]

It's a diverse world we live in and we all have our likes and dislikes. I greatly prefer the original mini complete with it's many faults. The new one is a bloated thing in comparison and far too difficult to work on - although the original one had it's problems in that respect.

I am with you Jock, the old ones were a pain at times to work on (water pumps, bypass hoses, etc.) but a lot easier to work on than the massive Ox they jokingly call a "Mini", that takes "Badge engineering" to the extreme.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I am with you Jock, the old ones were a pain at times to work on (water pumps, bypass hoses, etc.) but a lot easier to work on than the massive Ox they jokingly call a "Mini", that takes "Badge engineering" to the extreme.

The bypass hoses were a pain weren't they and it was a common job on the A series engine. When they introduced the convoluted one it was a little more flexible so easier, but still not easy. I remember one of the first jobs I ever did on a mini was when the apprentice jacked one up on the sump - luckily without damaging it! - but it sheared the engine mount under the bell housing. The air was somewhat blue around me for a wee while as I removed the two bits of old one and then fitted the new one.

I've not really worked on the new one but a neighbour had one which was loosing coolant and asked me to have a quick look before he took it to gthe garage. The overall impression it left me with was that the engine bay was very restricted in terms of access, so I'm glad I don't know anyone else with one. In fact he never cured the water loss and traded it in against a Hyundai (It's his wife's car)

 

[StevenRB45]

I think his first one was a 51 where as the 500 is a Y reg.

But I have to be honest, and this is controversial I know, but I don’t like the original mini…. I’ll just stand by a wall so all the die hard mini fans can shoot me.

Honestly though I like the newer cars much more

I seem to remember at this point we are further away from the launch of the BMW mini than the launch of the Issigonis Mini was when the relaunch was announced in 1997.

So in theory it's been a BMW longer than it was BL..shame they've never quite figured out the whole styling business

 

[PuntoHowTo]

So in theory it's been a BMW longer than it was BL..shame they've never quite figured out the whole styling business

Interesting fact, the guy who designed the first bmw mini is also the same person who designed the fiat 500 and is credited with saving fiat in the late 2000s

 

[StevenRB45]

Interesting fact, the guy who designed the first bmw mini is also the same person who designed the fiat 500 and is credited with saving fiat in the late 2000s

The R52/R53 was the best looking MINI though.

You aware of my styling theories but my final conclusion when it comes to the MINI is that in the design studio there is a mood board...and on that there are several pictures of the 1997 reboot and other than that multiple pictures of assorted bottom feeding fish.

Also a photocopier that appears to be jammed on enlarge by 1.25%.

 

[FiatMatt94]

Mine was a "B" plate 1964 1275 S with the dry suspension. My friend had a 1071 which was just a touch slower in a straight line but round the twisty bits there wasn't much to separate them. I think the 1071 and especially the 970 were produced for homologation reasons for particular classes of racing? it was one of the most fun cars I've ever owned. You could do the most outrageous things with it and still come out of it alive!

The 1071 S & 970 S were both for homologation in 1963, the 970 was for normal circuit racing such as touring car championships for the 1000cc category & the 1071 was also used in touring car championships but it was more used for rallying but they both went out of production with the introduction of the 1275 in 1964 so both were very short lived not even a year in production so either one of them would be the holy grail, I think if I ever own one though it'll be a restoration project as the very few that do crop up here & there go for anything between £40-£70k were as a project one could be picked up for around £10-£15k with a semi solid shell, a 1071cc engines & gearbox are expensive just on their own as one came up on a eBay auction around a year ago with the correct numbers etc as I looked in both my Mini book & A series book to confirm it & I watched it until the end, it went for nearly £8k & although it was complete it wasn't rebuilt either it had been in someone's shed for years if I ever did one though it would be completely factory spec with genuine parts & panels, I'd be very fussy even more so than I am now

 

[bugsymike]

Interesting fact, the guy who designed the first bmw mini is also the same person who designed the fiat 500 and is credited with saving fiat in the late 2000s

So he has a lot to answer for.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

The R52/R53 was the best looking MINI though.

You aware of my styling theories but my final conclusion when it comes to the MINI is that in the design studio there is a mood board...and on that there are several pictures of the 1997 reboot and other than that multiple pictures of assorted bottom feeding fish.

Also a photocopier that appears to be jammed on enlarge by 1.25%.

Let’s face it the original was never a pretty car nor was it a super car. The first BMW mini was built on the design language of the original but then now we’re on the 4th iteration and things will change over time.

I suspect in another few generations the “mini” will have very little of the original about all that remains now is the roof with the appearance of a gutter all the way round, and the rough shape of the grill and circular headlights if viewed directly from the front.

Though the people who say “it’s not a proper mini” or “it’s not mini” are the same people who won’t buy one or even take a proper look at them, many of the mini fanatics I know or have met on “Mini runs” are as much a fan of the new ones as the originals.

The current minis being nothing like the original is also not a bad thing unless you really like balled up news paper, chicken wire and body filler