Minis - Who's got/had one?

**R6_kid:Me** · 11th July 2006, 20:00

I'm looking at getting a mini clubman as a project once i sort my finances out. Who's got or had a mini of any type? Post pics if you have them.

**James Deuce** · 11th July 2006, 20:22

PM Mooch...

**Mr. Peanut** · 11th July 2006, 20:22

NSR-Dan is turbocharging his.

**NSR-Dan** · 11th July 2006, 20:24

sweet if you wana trade ideas etc that would be good, im rebuilding a round nose.

got a ex 1275 GT race engine to be turbo'd. i got some good websites for parts too.

my msn is realsnazy@hotmail.com. email daniel@dsracing.co.nz

pics is what i want it to look like and a similar engine im looking at putting in it

as you see i have alot of work

**Motu** · 11th July 2006, 20:24

Pity Graham Gordon isn't opperating anymore - he was a real eye opener on all things BMC.

**SlowHand** · 11th July 2006, 21:07

Sweet! stoppies!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SPfJ...search=stoppie

**slowpoke** · 11th July 2006, 21:09

Been down the whole "turbo'd mini" road, and it was a hell of a ride, windy as hell, with plenty of ups and downs not to mention potholes a plenty! Looking back it wasn't the smartest thing to do given my limited time at home but it was a lot of fun. Unfortunately we had to sell the poor wee abused lil' bugger when we came back to NZ.
I'm stuck in another stinkin' airport as I type this so unfortunately I can't post pic's at the mo'.
Hmmmm, how serious are you about the whole turbo thang? Just for a giggle or are you after SERIOUS horsepower? You need to make the decision NOW.
If you are after serious mumbo the race donk you've got may not be the best starting point, however attractive it may sound.
Turbo's need short duration high lift cams and lower compression which is kind of the opposite of your normally aspirated donk. Your turbo'd engine will also make huge torque which will kill a standard-ish gearbox. You'll also have to find a sealed carburettor so you can have a blow-through turbo setup rather than a suck-through, 'cos otherwise you won't be able to run an intercooler.
If you are serious then my advice is to source an MG Metro Turbo engine/gearbox unit. Then you'll have a stronger gearbox (stronger idler gears), sodium filled exhaust valves, sealed carb, lube and scavenge lines to the turbo, T3 turbo, stronger block, better head cooling etc. Then all you've got to do is lower the compression ratio (they ran fairly high standard with low boost), fit an intercooler and crank up the boost.
Yep, mine was awesome fun but the lil' bugger sorely tried my patience as I struggled to get it setup right.
Like I said decide NOW how serious you are about it otherwise you'll just end up repeating work you should have only had to do once.

**TonyB** · 11th July 2006, 21:10

I had a Clubman 1000- nothing fancy tho. Still heaps of fun. We had to drive it to Nelson once- the car had a great stereo... but we switched it off cause the bloody car made so much noise on its own LOL The real crackup was being able to pass much more powerful cars while going UP HILL simply because we carried so much more corner speed- the looks we got were priceless. My Mini had a quirky habit tho, every now and again for no apparent reason the brake bias would go bizerk and spin the thing side on. It happened maybe 5 times in 6 months, always in the wet- just as well Minis are so bloody short, side on it still fitted in my lane.

I went for a ride with Pete from Superchips when he was chipping a new Cooper S Turbo for Archibalds(?). The chip that gave it maximum go without needing engine work had it spinning in the first two gears.

**Biohazard** · 11th July 2006, 21:22

DO IT DO IT

Wifey wants a mini aswell, Mmmmm project car

Get one and have fun....

You know hyou'll regret it, i still remember my first one...

Ah a 998cc Mayfair (then got moded a bit

).

**Devil** · 12th July 2006, 09:02

Or you could put the money towards the race bike :P

But I do know you can fit a a Honda 1600cc Vtec engine in that engine bay, and can put you in touch with someone who's done it...
They'll be able to tell you how they got over 200hp out of it too, while still being n/a.

**skelstar** · 12th July 2006, 09:16

Had a 1275GT with big bore exhaust, twin 1 1/4 SU carbs. 12" mini-lites and it was metalic brown with met-gold stickers. Coolest car Ive ever owned and was thinking about it yesterday.

**kiwifruit** · 12th July 2006, 09:51

my first car was a mini leyland
great fun! blew up the standard 1000 engine, replaced it with a worked 1275

You will love it Gareth, it will be a bloody squeeze tho.... arent u like 6 foot 3 or something?

**Motu** · 12th July 2006, 22:31

I've worked on a shit load of Mini's,and absolute shit load.They used to be one of the most popular cars on the road,along with their 1100/1300 clones.We had a 1962 as our family car in the mid '60's,my father was intrigued with them,and just had to have one to see how they ticked.My mother had a couple...I've only had one,still had it in 2000 I think.

You name it,and I've pulled it apart and put it back together.We were always doing head gaskets and burnt valves - I could get a head off a Mini in 3/4 hr,the insides of my forearms nearly always had a burn mark where I did an exhaust flange on a hot engine.I used to do rubber cross joints in 20 mins,no air tools,no ratchets,just twirling spanners.There was a special tool to remove and replace the engine - it lifted the engine out on a tilt to clear the final drive and firewall,then you moved the chain to a different position to lift it level,so you could pull the engine off the trans.My boss borrowed one off the local dealer....and made a copy before he gave it back.Now you can buy them anywhere.Clutches were a 2 hr job (no air tools again) I still have the tool I made that I dropped into the flywheel teeth and jammed in the starter hole so I could get the big flywheel nut undone.Often we would find a gear tooth on the magnetic drain plug....then we'd pull the engine,split it and do a final drive pinion and put it back in.No worries.Filthy,filthy work.

Don't ever want another one,don't ever want to work on another one....

**avgas** · 12th July 2006, 23:06

Old man had a 1275 (with the 1318 kit), twin dellortos (that were big enough to mean the firewall had to move, fully drop forged kit, mild cam that only went stable above 3K (drove the neighbours nuts), twin side-by-side coby setups and standard wheels widend to 7in front 8in rears. Was fantastic, untill my sis was on the way and the old man joined the mod squad and bought the Ford Thames.