mk1 door

[Nick W]

whilst adjusting the mk1 doors , I was struggling to get the them flush at the rear. not tight on the seals, just not enough adjustment. although it only needed less than 1mm, theirs is no way to file the striker mounting holes, or the striker.
so I went to look for a less worn striker in my parts boxes.
the one I found is 2mm deeper, so it looks like they had a choice on the production line when building the doors up
this one alowed the door to be adjusted fully flush

[mk1]

Now that is very interesting!

Door fit was obviously an issue even back then.

[Hipwell]

Back on topic maybe this...

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/GPO-Mini-Van-r ... 3179340014

[Peter Laidler]

I think that you have got the answer to the extra oval slot there! It's a shame that the GPO vans didn't have a special locking mech for the wheels! When the GPO at Newbury (just off the) Market Square HQ got and proudly displayed 10 brand new shiny red minivans to the local Newbury Weekly News in the mid 70's, they turned up the next morning to find two of them on bricks - with the wheels missing

[rich@minispares.com]

in the interest of learning things, I have made a 'forum purchase'.....

1 x GPO door lock







I think this puts to bed what the oval hole is for!

[mk1]

Thanks for taking one for the team Rich. Another mystery solved for good.

[timell]

Bingo!

[Pete]

So my GPO van theory was right.

Told you so told you so told you so told you so told you so.....

[Hipwell]

Just got to build a post office van to go around it now!

[rich@minispares.com]

So my GPO van theory was right.

Told you so told you so told you so told you so told you so.....

its just going to be something else to spot on the 'exceptionally restored' cars that appear on ebay and the like

'upside down door cards'

'GPO doors'

[Nick W]

ha ha , I thought about buying it...

so how would this lock it more effectively than the standard lock???.

[rich@minispares.com]

ha ha , I thought about buying it...

so how would this lock it more effectively than the standard lock???.

it would have had a key operated barrel lock on the outside of the door which pulled the twagger down.

this would mean that you cannot pop the window and just flick the standard lock up

[Peter Laidler]

While were here, do I recall GPO Vans having a yale type lock on the rear door(s) too - anyone.

Totally off the subject of locks but while were on the heels of the GPO Mini's....... When I was restoring my cop car I was in contact with the Merseyside transport manager (ex Liverpool and Bootle man to boot) and he often grizzled about how tight fisted BMC were about their relatively small orders of Cooper S's. So small were they that they wouldn't deal directly with BMC bulk sales but only via the local main dealers who I seem to think were Lookers (correct me if I'm wrong please). And discounts extras were all a hard bargaining chore, even when they wanted double speed wipers for cop cars they had to haggle like their lives depended on it. BMC suggested that if they ordered their cars in GPO, Army or NHS quantities they would work in a good deal.

[Spitz]

I was forwarded here by another poster as I had a question about the doors

My 61 Morris van with original doors and glass has no holes.

[mab01uk]

While were here, do I recall GPO Vans having a yale type lock on the rear door(s) too - anyone.

Totally off the subject of locks but while were on the heels of the GPO Mini's....... When I was restoring my cop car I was in contact with the Merseyside transport manager (ex Liverpool and Bootle man to boot) and he often grizzled about how tight fisted BMC were about their relatively small orders of Cooper S's. So small were they that they wouldn't deal directly with BMC bulk sales but only via the local main dealers who I seem to think were Lookers (correct me if I'm wrong please). And discounts extras were all a hard bargaining chore, even when they wanted double speed wipers for cop cars they had to haggle like their lives depended on it. BMC suggested that if they ordered their cars in GPO, Army or NHS quantities they would work in a good deal.

On the subject of Police car orders, apparently when developing the ERA Turbo Rover provided ERA with a copy of their gearbox test schedule they had formulated for the Mini, one of the tests was to drive in reverse for 2 miles at 35mph. Rover said this was because the cars they had sold to the Police would often have to reverse for long distances down motorway hard shoulders. ERA took six standard Minis on loan from Rover to Bruntingthorpe aerodrome to put Rover's reversing theory to the test......however all the standard gearboxes broke and it later transpired that Rover had almost never managed to get a car past the test they'd set!

[Pete]

I was forwarded here by another poster as I had a question about the doors

My 61 Morris van with original doors and glass has no holes.

Pretty sure the holes were a later thing. I presume the pressings were changed in the 70s?

[Nick W]

Nos GPO door

[Nick W]

With a mk2 boss

[WMU 211G]

Mk1 doors had the longer door handles and bosses from '66 I think...!

[Stewartp]

Why bother with locks, they only keep honest people out.
We restored a 76 aussie clubman S in the nineties, the low life wanted his head unit so just smashed the quarterlight window opened the door and gone in no time at all.
We replaced the complete assembly I still have the frame without glass.