1275 GT thread

[Peter Laidler]

You can take it from me that if your hydro suspension is going down, then the fluid is going somewhere. It's a law of physics! It MIGHT be weeping into the large diameter boots at the strut end of the hydro unit.

Each side doesn't actually take a lot of fluid, just a couple of pints per side. Actually finding the leak is a bit of a chore. The mechanical joints are simple enough - that's where they join the pipes at the front and rear. Where the hoses join the unit are pretty=well hidden away....., especially on the front hydro units.

You can detect a leak by wrapping a strip of white sheet around the mechanical joints to see if it stains green

Talking of which, if the front are leaking from there, then there is a deep well in which the fluid will settle and you can't get rid of it. The GOOD news is that you can re-hose the units. Alas, when the fluid - or water fills the well, it just rusts through the crimped steel part of the connector. There is a worthwhile modification to prevent this but, alas, ignored my most hydro car users.

A leak from the strut end - opposite the hose end - means the end of the unit. As a matter of interest, do you have a hydro pump/cabinet? Might make your life easier if you told us where you're from

[Colin a]

Hi Peter thanks for replying,yes I have a Churchill pump and I have a spare displaces which I have already fitted a new hose to, but both sides seem to be going down at the same times so if that is the problem it will have to do both sides, you are more than likely right because the car has been stood for a long time, I will try to have look tomorrow, I really do appreciate any help I can get because even though I worked as a mechanic all my working life I don’t know much about minis, I always worked on Rootes or Vauxhall cars, but I just struggle to do anything these days, anyway thanks again for your help.

[Peter Laidler]

With the aid of a home made nifty little adaptor you can test each hydro unit independently......, preferably out of the car. Even easier that you've got a hydro machine.

If it was me, I'd have them all out, a side at a time. Modify each unit to allow road shite and liquid to drain off - MOST IMPORTANT. Thoroughly flush the units out until clean and clear (a tub of distilled water, cheap from Robt.Dyas) water runs out, empty and fill with new, fresh fluid and stopper the ends with a wood bung or plug. Give he front to rear lines a good blasting through with clean water, stopper the rear end and fill with new fresh fluid. Re-assemble, greasing up the threaded junctions with coppaslip or PTFE, knowing that the units have been tested and the system is at least partially filled with new fluid.

Drain your hydro machine down to clean out all of the years of rusty sewage that is in the reservoir. Now you're ready to go, cooking on gas, with a revamped system, partially tested, full of new fluid, ready to be pumped up.

IGNORE the workshop manual. The system is correct and at its mechanical best when the driveshafts are parallel to the ground.

This next bit goes for all hydro car owners. DO NOT LET HYDROLASTIC FRIGHTEN YOU.

[Colin a]

Thanks I will give it a try I will let you know how I get on when it’s done,it may take a while it’s took me 32years to get this far.

[Pete]

Roger Saunders car, first pic in colour to have surfaced (via Roger’s brother John)

[surfblue63]

That looks to have been taken on the same day as the previous black and white I posted, also the car must have had a replacement drivers' door, but no replacement side stripe.

wadham and Stringer.jpg

[66Traveller]

Wadham & Stringer who supplied my GT in 1970...

Which is also this car

[mab01uk]

Roger Saunders’ ‘76 GT Challenge winner, Paul Taft and Steve Soper.
By John Saunders Artist UK
Prints available from John Saunders Artist UK:-
https://www.facebook.com/John.Saunders.Artist.uk/

The Sporting Minis:-
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=476 ... 8768042528

[Pete]

John’s run out of prints but we’re getting more made.

[mab01uk]

(Driver: Tim Goss, 1980 & 1981 Tricentrol British Saloon Car Championship)
Photo: Steve Murphy
(The 'recreation' of the P.J Green Racing 1275GT is featured in the November 2022 edition of Mini Magazine).

[mab01uk]

Thomas Bradley - 1275GT
Rally History 1977-1986 on:-
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid ... 996&type=3

[Roadrunner]

I used to have a 1275 which I built in the 1970's I fitted a 1275 Cooper S engine in it which was bored to 1310 and fitted with a Vulcan head and 731 cam , the Cam was rubbish I should have stuck with the 510.

4732547072_f062d8d094_o (2).jpg

4732546762_e271b20950_o (2).jpg

[GrayB]

Totally agree about the cams loved my S engine back in the day with a 510 ! Mate of Mine had the 731 so we did compare them.

[rpb203]

Wadham & Stringer who supplied my GT in 1970...

Which is also this car

Hello James,
Am I being really thick, which isn't the first time, but are you saying this is your car, or your car was supplied by Wadham Stringer?
Regards
Gary

[66Traveller]

No definitely not my car (now sold which was also supplied by Wadham and Stringer) - just I had also posted a black and white photo of the same car - but boy does it look good in colour!

[Quinny1293]

Would it be sacrilegious to drop a 1275 S motor into my GT and store the GT motor one side perhaps?

I have an almost complete 1275 S motor I'm considering building up and putting in my GT for some better power and then just not letting a nice motor go to waste. Currently don't own a MK1, which i would love to build as a replica perhaps with either my 1071 motor or 1275 S motor, just need to find a MK1 now.

[Costafortune]

Get in bolted in.

It's no use to anyone sat on the floor.

[mab01uk]

Would it be sacrilegious to drop a 1275 S motor into my GT and store the GT motor one side perhaps?

It's not at all sacrilegious and at the end of the day it is your car and is totally reversible, so why worry about what others think.
BL only installed the GT motor as a cost reduction exercise over the S motor and to lower the insurance group (along with the intention of the 1275GT taking over from the 998cc Mini Cooper without paying JC for the Cooper name).

[GrayB]

Off subject
but a question for the GT guru’s Did the early GTs with the S brakes all have the remote servo or was it an optional extra?

[mab01uk]

Off subject
but a question for the GT guru’s Did the early GTs with the S brakes all have the remote servo or was it an optional extra?

Never seen or heard of a factory standard 1275GT with 10" wheels without a remote servo, so not an optional extra. Not sure the pedal pressures required for S discs without a servo would have been acceptable to most non-enthusiast drivers anyway. The 12" wheel 1275GT with the larger discs had no remote servo and the late type servo/master cylinder did not appear on all Minis until 1988, long after 1275GT production had ended.