Indice dei contenuti per October 2021 in Mini Magazine

You need to get along to a Mini show, every now and then. We're lucky, as it's part of the job to visit as many as we possibly can. And even if we don't make it ourselves, one of our contributors is there for us so we don't miss anything. I may be a little biased, but I really don't think there is any enthusiast scene as vibrant and as varied as Mini. I drove up to Himley Hall on the first Sunday in August, and I still get a buzz when I spot my first Mini en route. I've been going to Himley for a long time, and the formula has always been the same. The location doesn't change and there are always lots of familiar faces, but it…

• The British Motor Museum and MG Motor UK have entered into an agreement which will ensure the longterm future of Lord Austin’s Office. Known by the workforce as ‘The Old Man’s Office’ it was the place where many of Austin’s important decisions were made. The Office had been preserved after Austin’s death, although not in its original position on the Longbridge site. In this revised location the Office has not been accessible to the public due to operational requirements at the plant and the long term viability of the location could not be guaranteed. This new agreement will see the Office re-established at the British Motor Museum, displayed to the many thousands of people who make a visit to Gaydon each year. Over the past months the Museum’s curatorial…

Due to the uncertainty surrounding Covid, please be aware that events are subject to change. Keep an eye on the organisers’ websites to stay up to date with any developments. September 5th Minis By The Sea Free-to-enter seaside Mini event, supporting local hospices, at Steyne Gardens, near Worthing Pier, West Sussex. www.wsmoc.co.uk September 11-12th Isle of Wight Adventure West Country Minis event at Sandown Airport, including reduced rate ferry crossings from Red Funnel Ferries. There are runs and activities over the course of the weekend, but there is also a lot of freedom to enjoy the time as you wish. https://www.westcountryminis.co.uk/iow September 13th Stratford Autojumble Multi-marque event at Stratford-upon-Avon Racecourse. £5 entry. 01507 529529. www.stratfordautojumble.co.uk September 19th Stanford Hall Mini Show Mini event in the grounds of Stanford Hall, Lutterworth,…

Only recently we featured Steve Ward’s collection of Minis – a Pickup, a Minivan, and a saloon in Gulf racing colours which to be accurate, belongs to his wife Sue. All three were completely restored and rebuilt by Steve in his modest garage and all proved to be major projects with plenty of work involved. The last of that trio to be completed was Sue’s stunning saloon, but rather than take a well-earned break, Steve’s already made a start on his fourth consecutive Mini project and this one is proving to be the trickiest yet. “It took me years to complete that first Pickup due to other commitments taking priority,” Steve explains. “Only recently have I got the bug again to work on Minis and I have the spare time…

The name Nick Storey may well be familiar to regular readers – earlier this year we focused on his varied Mini collection which included a very rare unwelded MkII. You may have noticed Nick is a huge fan of South African sourced early Minis and this ’65 Cooper S continues that SA connection, but with a slight twist this time. Despite having a brief fling with Land Rovers and RWD Fords, Nick’s been a die-hard Mini fan ever since he received a free 1960 Austin which became his first car. He may have crashed that one, but his subsequent mechanic and bodyshop training has led to a life revolved around repairing cars and bringing them back to life. In latter years, he’s been in the position to choose which type…

A leaking windscreen is a common problem on a Mini and this can be due to a number of reasons, including a perished or damaged rubber windscreen seal. If this is the case, then removal and replacement is a fairly simple process and easily carried out by most home mechanics. One of the keys to a successful removal and replacement is the use of the correct tool. It’s all too easy to grab a screwdriver or similar out of the toolbox and use that but that’s just asking for trouble. “A laminated screen won’t shatter and will still come out in one piece” Once you have the windscreen removed from the car be sure to store it somewhere safe, not just leaned up against the garage wall as again this…

MINI SPARES REVERSING LIGHT SWITCH £30.00 For classic Minis with a pre-rod manual gearbox. Mini Spares is pleased to announce it can now supply the correct shaped dowel and fibre isolation washer required to enable the GAE131 reversing light switch to be fitted to any pre-rod manual gearbox. The three parts are available separately as: • Mini Spares 22G351 dowel £5.04 • Mini Spares 1B3664 fibre washer 26p • Mini Spares GAE131 switch £30.00 • 01707 607700 • www.minispares.com MINI SPARES ULTRALITE MINI WHEEL £70.20 The Ultralite eight spoke alloy wheel, finished in black or gunmetal is the perfect addition to your classic Mini. Includes the Ultralite centre cap. Size 4.5x10 inch with offset ET 35, suitable for Classic Mini’s fitted with Cooper S 7.5 inch disc brakes. • 01707…

Like a good percentage of Mini Magazine’s readership, Shaun Stephenson’s first car was a Mini. In fact, Shaun has owned upwards of twenty over the years, and his stunning MkI-inspired 1330 was featured back in 2017 (issue 266) – getting pride of place on the cover, so it’s safe to surmise that he’s a bit of fan. Yet, more recently, he began feeling that he ought to bid goodbye to the Mini and move on to things anew. Which he did. However, he was soon missing the scene and missing having a Mini in his life. So he bought a black Clubman, with the intention of restoring it. Except this didn’t happen and Shaun and the Clubman soon parted company. Happily, this was only a glitch in the Mini matrix,…

• Previously featured in Mini Magazine, the brand new 998 A-Series kit from Specialist Components is now available to buy. It’s designed to offer a supercharger solution with an appropriate capacity charger, mounted and driven in such a way that no body modifications are required. It’s a 'blow through' system for the most effective fuel distribution, as the charger pushes air through the carb or throttle body – as used with amazing results on SC’s S-Pack 'Big Block' charger system. SC will offer the kit on its own, where the end user can install the kit and has the option to run carburettor and distributor to manage the fuel and spark timing, or utilise a throttle body system in conjunction with 3D mappable ignition timing, this EFI kit will be…

The British Mini Club’s Himley Hall show has long been a corner stone of the Mini show calendar. The 28th event had been postponed, and then the date delayed this year to the 1st August from its regular slot in May. Not that this seemed to bother the hundreds of Mini owners who had travelled for the event. The BMC team have worked long and hard to make sure the event would be a ‘safe’ one, but they’d also been sure that being safe didn’t mean ‘no fun’. There were obvious signs of the times in hand sanitiser stations and signage, but all that we’ve come to know and love about Himley Hall was there by the bucketful. They’d even managed to book some sunshine… With the show set between…

“I do look at the power, but I’m not really interested in that at the moment” Complete failure to generate any oil pressure was the reason that the Downton ended up in the skilled hands of Ben at BHPerformance. And it wasn’t long before he’d found quite a list of horrors concealed inside what we’d believed to be a ‘sound’ engine. The oil pressure issue proved to be a blessing in disguise – we would have been looking at a bigger shopping list and a much bigger bill if we’d managed to get the car running well enough for a test drive… Now with a completely rebuilt bottom end, new cam, oil pump and endless other sundry items, the Downton is ready to go. Well, almost. Start up, running in…

Said goodbye to the Blitz buggy as a local friend mentioned he fancied putting an electric motor into something Mini. As we are all painfully aware, project Minis now fetch entirely unreasonable money whereas kit cars fetch relatively sensible prices so we hatched a deal so it goes off for another silly adventure. I had toyed with the idea of putting a plastic body on it but got sensible. Progress on the Biota is now concerned with getting it more competition-based. I wanted to get it lower, so the front was relatively simple as its straightforward Mini (HiLo or whatever). It looks like it might be on the rubber cones it was built with as they have the pre-1974 thread and the knuckle joints certainly showed some wear! The rear…

With time running away before my birthday, I still had a long list of jobs to do on the green Mini to get it ready. But more on this later… We had some glorious weather so I thought I would take full advantage of it and make a start on doing some paintwork on the MkI. First of all I masked all the top side of the car off and stone chipped the underside. That was left that for a week to dry before putting anything on top of it – experience has shown that this does not end well. Once I was happy that everything was dry I then painted the underside with a 2k primer and left that for a few days to dry. It was then flatted…

After a long wait, Mini owners returned to the legendary Castle Combe circuit on Saturday, 14 August for the Mini Action Day 2021. Sponsored by Mini Sport, the track-based Mini event was back following 2020’s instalment being cancelled due to the pandemic. Action Day gives owners a unique opportunity to take their Mini out on track – whether that’s during one of the Mini-only track slots with a chance to see just how well their car performs outside the restrictions of modern roads, or during one of the parade laps, which are taken at a more sedate pace with a chance to wave to the spectators and take in the scenery… There were the more usual attractions to keep visitors busy, including a trade stand area, large club displays and…

Send ‘Your Minis’ pictures to minimag.ed@kelsey.co.uk FUN IN THE SUN Name: Andy Blee Car: 1972 Leyland Authi Mini 850 Deluxe Location: Estepona, Malaga • After being heavily involved in the Mini scene back in the 90s, Andy reluctantly sold his last Mini in 2001 shortly before moving to Southern Spain to live. He soon learned about Authi motor company (Automoviles Turismo de Hispano Inglés) and the deal between General Franco and British Leyland to produce a range of BL cars in Spain (including of course, the Mini), and the search for a Mini began. It’s taken a few years, but he finally found a beautiful 1972 Leyland Authi Mini 850 Deluxe lightly restored with fresh BRG paint, some new brightwork, and a beige vinyl interior. It has all original metal,…

Those of us men who are fortunate to have witnessed the wonders of childbirth – will appreciate that within that experience there are moments of what is described as intense emotion and activity, interspersed by moments of relative calm, culminating with the magic of the birth itself. Well, it was during one calm moment that James Bostock, who was with his wife Kealeigh in the delivery room, started browsing the Internet, looking for a Mini to restore! Rather than labour the point (sorry!) I can tell you that well before his son, Kai, was born, and with Kealeigh’s approval, James had bought the delightful 1960 Austin Seven featured here. Not that it has always looked so pristine. Mind you, it was cheap. THE PRICE IS RIGHT “I’d already bought a…

It’s part of the joy of this high tech, high speed age we live in. Stay online and you can watch people’s Mini projects come together in almost real time, seeing the highs and lows of the build, and learning a lot along the way – all from the comfort of your armchair. It’s no secret, a lot of these projects spring from Instagram and Facebook to the pages of Mini Magazine… Will Harris is a huge Mini fan with a list of very cool builds to his name – you will no doubt have seen his superbly detailed Harvest Gold K-Series-powered Clubman that featured in our December 2020 issue. It’s not just how well Will bolts a car together, it’s the endless little details he engineers in. His cars…

POWER DOWN “Attempting to do it yourself to save a few pounds just doesn’t make any sense” Q I’ve recently bought a 1996 Mini Mayfair. The car is a real survivor and is in lovely condition. It came with full service history, has less than 50k miles on the clock and has the 1275cc injection engine. Back in the day, I owned 998cc Minis, and it may be that my memory is playing tricks on me, but although my new car is much smoother, the performance is quite disappointing. I believe the engine is different from the contemporary Cooper unit but it’s not what I expected from a 1275cc motor. Can you recommend which modifications would best suit this engine? Robbie A To get an appreciable improvement in performance, you…

Ican’t tell you how much I enjoyed Himley Hall this year. I’ve been attending the show for as long as I can remember – long before my Minimag days – when we’d drive up in whatever shabby old Mini 1000, Clubman Estate or Minivan was passing for my daily transport back then, and wander round the pristine show cars, pick up endless ideas and the odd bargain, and say “One day…” As I walked around this year, I had a similar feeling to what I imagine Scrooge in Christmas Carol experiences when confronted with the Ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, but in my case, it was more a feeling of Minis past, Minis that might have been and Minis (still) yet to come… It’s great to see period…