1965 Morris Mini - From NZ to the UK!

[W1NG3D]

Yesterday turned out really nicely weather-wise, and being off work it was a great opportunity to test the performance of the Mk1 on a longer drive. So I took it all the way along the M27 and through the New Forest, stopped off for a pub lunch, then returned back home with a mini photo shoot on the way back. It worked out to be a 70 mile round trip, and while it was noisy, smelly and a bit smokey (it does chug through a bit of oil!), it made it all the way no bother. Now I'm much more confident about taking it along to Beaulieu in June

Here's a selection of photos I took, I posted a few more over here if you're keen to check those out as well - http://mk1-forum.net/viewtopic.php?p=277298#p277298

[W1NG3D]

I braved some questionable weather to attend the first event of the year in the Mk1, a classic car meet just a couple of miles up the road. However I wasn't able to get back home under my own steam



It started misfiring a bit just as I was pulling into the car park, and I suspected moisture in the cap - so once I parked up I pulled it off to take a look, give it a wipe down & a bit of WD40, and re fit. But in doing this, it looks like the little spring-loaded carbon stack in the middle of the cap had somehow completely disintegrated, so after popping it back onto the distributor I wasn't able to get any spark at all. Annoyingly I didn't have a spare and none of the other attendees at the meet did either, so I was forced to admit defeat and call the tow truck in to get me home.

I've already ordered a new cap and rotor arm along with extra for spares, which will be staying in the car at all times for future journeys! Hopefully that will be dispatched tomorrow morning and arrive on Tuesday, so at least I'll be back on the road in a couple of days. Not the end of the world, and if anything, a lesson to make sure I've always got a good set of spares in case of breakdowns!

[Peter Laidler]

I was always taught to keep the 'holy trinity' in the upside down spare wheel. A set of points, a rotor cap and a condenser as spares. Plus the bits to fit them such as a Leatherman or Gerber and a .015" feeler. Someone told me that the cigarette packets of the day were exactly .015"

[W1NG3D]

New dizzy cap and rotor arm (plus spares) arrived in the post today. I was a bit puzzled when I fitted these and still had no spark, as I'd verified the coil voltage and triple checked all the wiring, plugs etc. That just left the electronic module in the distributor to eliminate - luckily the cap & rotor arm set also came with a set of points and condenser, so I could fit these and hopefully identify the fault properly. It was intermittently raining today so I quickly got out around lunch time to pull out the distributor, and bring it indoors to swap over the electronics for the good old fashioned points setup.

Annoyingly I never kept the little screw for the condenser when I converted to electronic originally...



Determined to try and get the Mk1 back on the road, I had a rummage around, and in a random stroke of luck it turned out that the screws holding the handle onto my small handsaw are perfect size and the same thread I needed!



With this all fitted up, I plonked the distributor back into its hole, and the engine now runs again! Albeit, not perfectly - it's a bit farty and misfires a bit under partial throttle, but I'm just glad it's back on the road. I do remember having similar issues back before I converted to electronic ignition, for whatever reason I don't think this car seems to enjoy running on points. However I am booked in for a static tuning session with AC Dodd this weekend and perhaps he can help get to the bottom of this! If not, I think I'll start saving for a good quality 123 or CSI distributor; this is the second electronic conversion module that's failed for me now, so I won't be wasting any more money on those.

[Polarsilver]

Have had similar issues with failing electronic unit within the distributor .. before fitting the next replacement part i did read the supplied instructions & to my Horror this electronic ign; system should "Not be using Copper Core HT Leads".. instruction tells me they should be silicon HT leads .. perhaps this is why my first electronic ign; kit failed in a short time scale.. just a thought.
When it fails again ..i will re-fit the Points .. because a Mk1 should have proper Copper Core HT Leads

[Peter Laidler]

An electronic conversion is no better or worse that a well set-up set of points and vice verca. And you can always keep the holy trinity in the car and fit at the roadside. As I found out hundreds of miles from home on my Commando - with Boyer electronic ign and TWO sets of points.. Replaced electronics at the roadside and it's been fine for the past 30 years. Here's hoping that RBH xx L will give me another 10 years of reliable mechanical ignition service too

[W1NG3D]

An electronic conversion is no better or worse that a well set-up set of points and vice verca. And you can always keep the holy trinity in the car and fit at the roadside. As I found out hundreds of miles from home on my Commando - with Boyer electronic ign and TWO sets of points.. Replaced electronics at the roadside and it's been fine for the past 30 years. Here's hoping that RBH xx L will give me another 10 years of reliable mechanical ignition service too

That's the thing, a spare set of points, a condenser and rotor arm cost pennies compared to a new electronic module, and they're not exactly difficult to fit at the roadside! With that in mind I've learned my lesson and have now got a spare set to keep in the door pocket, just in case. Provided it runs nicely after the tuning session I'll probably just stick with points, at least until I get a full engine rebuild done at some stage (probably not for a long time while I save up!).

[W1NG3D]

Had a great day out getting the Mk1 tuned by AC Dodd along with a few other cars. My suspicions are well and truly confirmed that my engine is knackered, but it's now running as well as it can and feels much smoother to drive, so hopefully I can nurse it gently along to some shows and events this summer while I save up for a proper rebuild.

[Peter Laidler]

A bit off the subject now when you (and plenty of others) say or tell you that your engine s knackered - or 'shagged' for you more technically minded antipodeans and wild colonials. in one of our big workshops, the Instrument section calibration bay had a small electronic machine called a LOROGRAPH something or other. You could place a mechanical wristwatch on it and it'd 'read' the pulses and wotsits and send out a paper graph telling you what was wrong with it. Great......, so far as it goes - if you really need to know that the balance staff axis plate is worn or is slghtly out of balance or it is loosing 4 seconds a day while horizontal...... You know the kind of thing. But your old Omega or Longines or cheapo Smiths might be running perfectly and still keeping perfect everyday time.

My boss at the time used to say to us repairers and testers '......It's a mechanical thing. Listen to what the watch tells you and not what the machine tells you...'

[roger mcnab]

g,day mate
you are right when the engine is going clunk clunk you do not need a machine to tell you that it needs fixing
cheers roger

[W1NG3D]

Finally heard back from the DVLA after my application for UK registration was sent off in April - annoyingly it's been rejected, but luckily, it's for a really simple reason - the cheque was damaged!! I spoke to them on the phone and they advised all the actual forms and paperwork were in order, which was my main concern. So now I just need to re send all the paperwork again with a new cheque and fingers crossed it all goes through nicely this time, though it'll probably be another 6 weeks to wait for that to process.

[minibitz]

A cheque!!!

Thing of the past here in NZ now Jack. NZ banks no longer issue or accept cheques.

Fingers crossed for your second attempt.

[W1NG3D]

A cheque!!!

Thing of the past here in NZ now Jack. NZ banks no longer issue or accept cheques.

Fingers crossed for your second attempt.

Bizarrely it's one of the few application processes that the DVLA still only accepts a cheque for! Another of which was converting my NZ drivers' license to a UK one a couple of years ago, which is the only reason I even have a cheque book

[W1NG3D]

Made it along to Beaulieu (and back home again!) for the Mk1's first proper UK Mini event





As nice as it was to be directed to the parking area for all the lovely Mk1 Coopers and S's, I must admit my car did feel a little out of place with it being outclassed by some truly stunning cars beside it, especially given that mine isn't a genuine S! However that didn't stop me having a great day out and I was surprised to see my "rough around the edges" Mk1 getting a surprising amount of attention, no doubt helped by the over-abundance of spare wheels on the roof

Later in the day an Australian number plate on an ex-works car caught my eye, and I had to take the opportunity to move my NZ-registered car next to it, so I could get a few photos of what must be two of the furthest travelled minis at Beaulieu.









I did take a lot more photos of other cars at the show, far too many to embed in a forum post so I've set up a Flickr album which can be viewed here if anyone's interested! https://www.flickr.com/photos/193243045 ... 9408410819

[AndyPen]

What great weather you had too!!!

For what it is worth, I love the look of your car

[W1NG3D]

What great weather you had too!!!

For what it is worth, I love the look of your car

Thank you! The weather was phenomenal, and the car behaved nicely with no overheating even while we queued up to get into the show. Although that said, it's still pretty smokey and the oil pressure did start to worry me a bit, so I'll have to limit any lengthy road trips until I get the engine out for a rebuild I think.

[AndyPen]

Smokey pistons or the usual Smokey valves?

[W1NG3D]

Smokey pistons or the usual Smokey valves?

More than likely piston rings are allowing oil into the cylinders, though there could be some wear in the head as well. When I took the car to a tuning session with AC Dodd about a month ago, he measured the crankcase pressure and basically determined that the engine is on its last legs. It does sound a lot noisier / rougher than other 1275s I've heard recently So I'll need to start saving up for a rebuild within the next year, I think!

[W1NG3D]

Well, I've gone and done a thing... or more accurately, I've bought a thing! The "thing" in question being a complete new power unit



This engine & box came up for sale locally and I just couldn't go past the opportunity to purchase it for the Mk1, and avoid the hassle of a rebuild. The circumstances behind its sale are quite unfortunate, as the magazine cover car it belonged to was sadly written off a couple of months ago, after having only had about 800 miles put on it since it was totally rebuilt. However it's going to a good home and will be well enjoyed in my Mini, as a very nice replacement for the smokey and noisy engine I'm currently nursing along!

The rather extensive spec list goes something like this...

• Pre-A+ 1275 block from a 1979 1275GT, overbored to 1330cc

• 12g940 big valve head, rebuilt and ported by JW Engines w/ unleaded conversion

• Omega pistons and rings

• Swiftune SW8 camshaft with new lightweight followers and MED push rods

• Minisport 1.5 Roller Rockers

• Swiftune CSI electronic distributor

• MED Duplex adjustable timing gear with DSN billet timing cover

• MED harmonic balancer pulley

• DSN classics oil filter housing with oil cooler plumbed in

• Lightweight alternator (40amp I believe)

• Davies Craig electric water pump, electric rad fan, and electronic controller unit

• High performance alloy rad

• MED lightened and balanced pre-verto clutch and flywheel assembly

• 1275gt "crossover" close ratio gearbox, fully rebuilt with straight cut drops, competition layshaft and central oil pickup

• 3.44 ratio cross-pin diff

• High torque starter motor

• Various other DSN bolt-on parts included such as adjustable engine steadies, thermostat housing and more

Essentially, it's my dream spec for a fast road engine, and comes complete minus the carb which has already been donated to another car. I'm very much looking forward to swapping it into the Mk1 - it'll probably end up as a bit of a sleeper when I've got it up and running with the new motor, and paired it with the twin HS4 carb setup I purchased a while back! It was never put on a rolling road as it'd still only just about been run in, but this will no doubt be a massive improvement over the current unit which almost burns more oil than petrol at this point

The plan is to keep it mostly as-is, paint engine green, and convert the car to utilise the rod change shifter and pot joint driveshafts rather than the current rubber crucifix joints, which would probably struggle to cope with the power and torque. I'm debating whether to retain the fancy electronic water pump & fan setup, or convert back to a traditional rad fan and water pump, but I'll be able to go in either direction and don't have to decide straight away.

I'd like to try and tackle the swap over a weekend during the next month or so, time allowing. Watch this space

[roger mcnab]

hi
well it is just as well that you have the air brakes on the roof to keep the beast under control
but that looks like a great buy pity about the donor car but at least it saves you a lot of hasells
good luck and an easy swap over cheers roger mcnab