Innehållsförteckning för May 2022 från MiniWorld

There's plenty of time to give your Mini some attention before the summer shows arrive. Follow Tim Mundy's tips on pages 38-42 to get your brakes in order and, while you're at it, you could give your Mini a check over and a good wash and polish so that its ready to roll. There are plenty of Mini and classic car events to take your Mini to so don't miss our 2022 show guide on pages 54-56. Many events that we have missed going to over the past two years are back, such as the London to Brighton Mini Run, in May, so get the dates in your diary now. Although, sadly, the IMM in Germany has now been postponed to 2024. Inside this issue you will find a wide…

Willy Cave passed away in March 2022 and will be remembered as being a key member of BMC and other British Works teams in the glory days of rallying and also as a true gentleman. In his later years he competed in the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique as part of a MiniWorld/Mini Spares/Mini Cooper Register team on the Monte Carlo Rallye Historic as co-driver to both Peter Barker and Alastair Vines in various Minis from 2001. He competed in his last rally in 2020 meaning that he rallied for 70 years! Willy studied engineering at Oxford University and began his career as an RAF pilot towards the end of WWII and completed his national service in the airforce. He went on to work in TV as a director, working on…

Steve Burch, the owner of this rare Italian take on the muchloved BMC classic, started his Mini career at a very young age and subsequently pushed the limits. “I had an 850 when I was 17. I passed my test and put it in a ditch three weeks later but a local garage put it on a jig and straightened it out for me,” he recalls. His next acquisition was the much-sought-after 1071 Cooper S but it was in bits when he bought it which, as you’ll see, started a pattern. Though clearly a fan of the mechanical he knows his own limits. Thankfully his brother Philip was a mechanic and able to help. “My brother put it all together but that kept overheating, so that made way for a…

I bought a Mini just before the first lockdown in 2020. It has been restored and was fitted some years back with an engine from a 1275cc Metro with an SU HIF44 carb and LCB exhaust manifold. I have not driven the car a great deal but did take it on a 20-mile run a couple of weeks back. I found that the noise from the air filter was really loud, even under moderate acceleration, and need to do something about it as I plan a 200-mile trip to Cornwall later this year. What is the simplest way to improve matters? Paul Smith From your description I think the HIF44 is fitted with a bolt-on air filter. Most are so equipped when the engine is not original to the car.…

“I wouldn’t enter a concours if you paid me,” says Chris Spennewyn, as we admire his superb Mini Pick-up. Well known for his excellent Mini restorations, including high-value Works rally Minis, he is very much into restoring Minis to be just as they came out of the factory and as they were used in their day, rather than making them into supershiny concours show-stoppers. In fact, with this Pick-up, which is his own rather than a customer’s car, he took great care to get the Willow Green (GN33) paint looking less than perfect. “I tried to keep it looking orange-peely like the factory paint. I didn’t flat it and polish it at all. It’s painted in two-pack. The myth about Minis being painted in cellulose is rubbish. They were all…

In his efforts to stay ahead of other local drivers, particularly his mate Brian Foley, Peter made regular trips to the UK. He always visited the Special Tuning Department at Abingdon and returned with the latest developments. From their trips out to Australia for Bathurst and other events, Peter had also made friends with some of the BMC Works drivers and, through them, got involved with the team in a small way. In 1966 he drove a Works MGB at Sebring in the US, with Roger Mac and Emmet Brown, finishing 17th outright and third in class. Another recently uncovered connection was revealed in a letter that I discovered among Peter’s private collection of photographs and memorabilia. It seems that Timo Mäkinen must have taken one of Peter’s camshafts back…

Contact us Send club, trade, motorsport and all other Mini news to: Email: mw.ed@kelsey.co.uk Post: Mini Scene, MiniWorld, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL UK The German International Mini Meeting, which was due to happen in Geiselwind in 2020 and was postponed to May 2022, has now been put forward to 2024. Organisers Mini IG Bamberg explained that they made the difficult decision due to uncertain COVID-19 restrictions both locally and worldwide. “The most important and most significant reason is that at this moment in time we will not get a license from the local government to hold an event of this size. We want to celebrate an IMM with the whole Mini family and all guests, unrestricted whether vaccinated or not, without…

“When I was in my early 20s I thought that the MPis were amazing when they first came out in 1996. I thought they were absolutely brilliant,” exclaims Keith Miller, who was a mechanic working in a garage at the time. “I was in awe that they had made an A-series which had twin-point fuel injection and all this modern wizardry.” Keith’s passion for Minis started early; he even passed his driving test in one so, when these ‘modern’ Minis came out, he had to buy one, especially when he read in MiniWorld about the Cooper Sport 5 Si model which was available from John Cooper Garages with its 5-speed Jack Knight gearbox. “I could afford a brand-new standard one, not an S, so I bought a Nightfire Red Sports…

Looking back to the 1960s a new breed of shop appeared in most towns and proved to be very popular. These car accessory shops were mostly located away from the High Street but still quite close to the centre of town. As well as this many garages and filling stations – they were oft en one and the same back then – had a shop selling the same kind of merchandise. As the 1960s progressed, they tended to go in one of two directions. Some became more specialised and sold performance tuning equipment, sometimes specialising in one make of car but often catering for a number of different makes and models. The others remained more general and catered for the general public rather than the full-on enthusiast. Some shops catered…

PRINT & DIGITAL BUNDLE JUST £9.99 A MONTH* SAVE 41% PLUS FREE DELIVERY TO YOUR DOOR AND INSTANT ACCESS ON YOUR DEVICE. GREAT IF YOU’RE OUT AND ABOUT AND NEED THE CONTENT TO HAND Inside Each Issue: The latest news and analysis Expert buying guides and advice Product reviews Classic cars and parts for sale Auction news and preview Visit shop.kelsey.co.uk/CBU22P Or Call: 01959 543 747 and quote CBU22P Hotlines open Monday – Friday 8.30am – 5.30pm. Calls are charged at your standard network rate *Full terms and conditions can be found at shop.kelsey.co.uk/terms. Offer applies to UK subscribers only when paying by direct debit. Your subscription will start with the next available issue with your first 4 issues charged at just £9.99. Payments will continue to be taken at…

The previous Mini Fair happened in January 2020 so, after a cancellation and a postponement, British Mini Club organisers were pleased to welcome a large queue of Mini enthusiasts through the doors on 13 March 2022. This year the club also celebrates its 30th year so it was the start of a year of special events for them. Inside Bingley Hall, at Staffordshire County Showground, visitors were greeted with many trade and autojumble stands offering parts and spares as well as displays of fantastic Minis. Show sponsor Mini Sport was on hand to supply parts. This event traditionally hosts BMC’s Premier Concours final and, as we have come to expect, the Minis on the red carpet were beautifully prepared. Judges Steve Moore and Dave Webb were even spotted using torches…

Traders To get your products on these pages email: mw.ed@kelsey.co.uk. Post: MiniWorld, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL, UK. (Prices include VAT). Cooper door step edging plate Mini Sport sells these stainless steel sill door step covers laseretched with Mini Cooper lettering and sporty chequers. £38.47 per pair (Ref: MSLSPLATE1) +44 (0)1282 778731 www.minisport.com Rally Mini mug Enjoy your favourite hot beverage in this ceramic rally Mini mug from Mini Sport. Featuring Mini Sport’s Mini Sport Cuprally Mini on both sides, the mug is a limited edition in a range of Mini Sport mugs and can be washed in a dishwasher. £8 (Ref: MSLMUG01) + 44 (0)1282 778731 www.minisport.com Mini Spares drop gear Mini Spares has remanufactured the 37-tooth helical A-plus idler gear…

Painting and restoring components in wet and/or cold weather can successfully be done with the gentle aid of a heat gun. One of the major problems faced by anyone restoring a car is painting components in less-than-ideal conditions. In good, nonwindy weather it is usually possible to paint components outside, provided of course that they can easily be moved inside before the paint has fully dried if that becomes necessary. Spray-painting parts is the best way forward if a quick-drying finish is needed. Hand painting, especially with slow-drying paints like Eastwood Chassis Black, can mean waiting some considerable time before the parts are dry enough to handle, let alone reassemble. Back last summer I hand-painted a lot of chassis components in Chassis Black by hanging them from a metal rod…

A Mini that performs well is a pleasure to drive but that pleasure quickly turns into something of a nightmare if you are unsure of how well it will stop. Good brakes mean that you can enjoy your Mini to the maximum, as long as you always drive with awareness of the conditions, within your limits, the car’s limits and keeping everything legal. Brake checking, and in most cases maintenance, are very straightforward on a Mini. The main difficulty is bleeding the system fully after repair or a fluid change. Getting the air out is more of a problem with the original baked bean can style master cylinders because the fluid has to travel up out of the cylinder and round a U-bend, to get to the calipers and/or wheel…

APRIL 6-9 Mini 63 Classic Mini event at Wytheville, Virginia, USA. Based at KOA Campground. Fancy dress, silent auction, swap meet and scenic Mini cruises. www.classicminis.org 7 Mod 'n' Mini Meet At London's Ace Cafe on the first Thursday of every month. Good food and good atmosphere at this iconic venue. +44 (0)20 8961 1000 www.ace-cafe-london.com 10 Normous Newark Autojumble Multi-marque event at Newark and Notts Showground. www.newarkautojumble.co.uk 15-17 Festival of Power Drag racing event at Santa Pod Raceway, near Wellingborough, Northants. Jet cars, live action arena, monster trucks, stunt shows, top fuel dragsters. www.santapod.com 23-24 Spring Scramble Multi-marque event with displays of pre-1990 cars at Bicester Heritage, Bicester, Oxon, a former RAF base. Explore the 1920s and 1930s buildings and specialist automotive businesses. +44 (0)1869 327 928 www.bicesterheritage.co.uk 29-2…

Feature cars If your Mini is rust-free, immaculately presented and you have a great story to tell about it then email us around five photos showing the exterior, engine bay and interior and, if it qualifies for a full feature, we will arrange a photographer to visit you. You’ll get a copy of all the photos, a copy of the mag and the glory of sharing your Mini with MiniWorld readers. Reader features If you or a friend are handy with a camera and would like to take some photos showing all aspects of your Mini from every angle, including any interesting details, and want to write around 1,500 words about your ownership of the Mini then send it in to us and, if we print it, then you will…