1961 Mk1 Mini Traveller - what date was it made?

[whompem]

Hi from Oz
I have a mk1 1961? Mini Traveller which I am trying to identify a bit better. Rumour has it that there are some people who can give dates for FE body numbers.

My Traveller's engine number was 8AM-U-H103681 and body number is FE127168 I think

I'd be curios if anyone could place a value on it - I am forced to sell it.

If you'd like to know more about it take a look http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=77546 There's a link there to photos of it - it's going to need a lot of love

thanks

[bill773mini]

Is it internal or external tank? Is it a Woody or All Steel?

The body number and FE number are different, FE is Front End number.
Simon is the expert on FE numbers.

The body number will either be on the bulkhead to the left of the wiper motor or on the slam panel to the left of centre

Do you have a chassis number?

[graham in aus]

This is an early car, internal tank and in what you brits would say is good condition for rust.....

Pics here for those with no ausmini log in:

http://www.tbitc.com/photos-of-my-mini-traveller/

[whompem]

Graham - thanks for posting the link - clearly I had no brain function at that moment.

Latest development - looking for the M-AW number.
2 Days ago I visited the car - we are living apart - me and the car - on the crash bar as pointed out by others is a plate. Someone had even suggested there were 2 screw holes visible in the photos. They are spot welds not screw holes. The plate is there and was painted over - which reminded me that years ago my Grandfather had the car repainted - and at the time they painted the wood too - that paints has come off now - but it protected the wood.

I couldn't lay a hand on a torch or a piece of paper or a pen/pencil or any tools (we have moved out) So I used my pocket knife to scrape the paint off and then some oil and a bit of toilet paper to clean up the number. It's hard to read in the fading light - and I didn't see any sign of M-AW but the number looks like it was 1395794. So is this a body number or a M-AW number?

Later today I am headed back to the car with the tools to capture the number.

[Simon776]

The FE Number indicates a late January/early February 1961 build date.

The number on the front panel tag would be the Body Number but 1395794 seems much to high.

The chassis plate with the M-AW4 would have been on top of the radiator cowling near the FE Number but has clearly been missing a long time.

[whompem]

Simon776 - thanks for your post - this is getting interesting!

Here's the last couple of days developments - (Simon776 I would be very interested in your comments)

A very helpful post was made on my website by MiniTravellerAndCountrymanRegister.org

Saw your post on the Mk1 Mini Forum and thought we'd get in touch.
We look after the Mini Traveller And Countryman Register so we have an interest in all Countryman and Traveller cars that are still in existence.
With an internal tank this car will definitely be earlier than October 1961 - the launch date of cars with external tank, although we have external tank cars on the register with build dates of May &; June 1961.
There are other clues which could help to date it too - you car has the drip rails which were added in late September 1960 and also has a recessed screen as fitted from October 1960.

Yesterday I visited the old girl and here's what I found

I FOUND THE M-AW number plate.

Some clever intelligent chap had started removing things ready to begin a restoration and in a zip lock bag under the drivers seat - there it was.

* M-AW4 - 88810
* FE 127168 was confirmed too.
* and on the slam panel 005794 (boy I got that wrong)

I took the stuff out of the car and took some more internal photos, including under the carpet photos to reveal the state of the floor pan - summary - undented and not rusted. Even the battery box is firm to the touch. It really looks like the passenger door is the worst for rust.

Then one of the other Travellor owners Timbo - posted this

Interesting that your engine number is 1000 odd earlier than mine, but the chassis number and FE number is about 1000 later.

The only other internal tank woody that I know of in Australia is an Austin,..... His is a fortnight earlier than mine, but has a higher engine number. They didn't necessarily install the engines in the order that they were made, but I'm surprised that they were that far apart.

So at the moment I have pointers to it being either built Jan/Feb 61 but possibly with features as late as Oct 61

I am about to put up yesterdays photos and a bit more back story - I will post here as well for those of your following here.

[whompem]

More photos!

Photo gallery here http://www.tbitc.com/photos-of-my-mini-traveller/

Not to get to soppy about it but this is getting hard for me. I am getting such great interest (look at the views count here, and in for sale and over at mk1-forums) and assistance, and it's put my mind back to the time I got this car. Every hour or so I stop and think about not selling - but I have to. Yesterday it was difficult cutting a seat cover off knowing that it was my grandfather who tied the knot. I was very close to him and I hadn't been in the car for 20 years - memories came flooding back about riding in it with him etc. This is getting to be like days of our lives so I will stop here.

I rang my mother and best we could work out was that my grandfather purchased the car in his retirement at age 60 and then only used it to go shopping and visit us and my uncle. It was his first and only car - he travelled by bus right up to that point. We think this was about 1970. It never carried more than pensioner's shopping and 2 pensioners. My grandfather was a fitter and turner/ mech engineer who designed precision lawn mowers for Scott Bonner. Precision lawn mowers? - for bowling greens. His mowers were designed to cut every blade of grass to the exact same height - and they did. He died in 1982 and my last registration was in 1984. When I got it - it was a clean road worthy car. I feel bad now knowing what it is. Did he know what he left me? Argh - Sigh.

As you can see in the extra photos uploaded -the floor was inspected by emptying the car out and pulling back the carpets. It was whilst doing this that I found the M-AW plate carefully sealed in a zip loc bag and placed under the drivers seat. The drivers window is busted - I had an issue with a shed break in 20 years ago by a 13 year old #@$%@^%.

You can see a lot of litter in the photos - the plastic shopping bags and garbage bags I used are lying in a thousand pieces every where - except for the one on the gearbox. This is a different plastic to the other stuff. The gearbox has nothing to do with the wagon.

We are planning another visit to clean her out properly and take some more photos - we were a little time pressured yesterday and an empty house has no tools.

As a general comment I noted that what had been removed internally seemed to be lying around near by. Little things like battery hold down clamps were there. Even the battery box seems pretty firm in the bottom. I initially described the car as heavily rusted and it is rusted but the worst rust seems to be the passenger door, most of the rest is large stains. The rusty gutters for instance are very solid. The whole car is covered in 25+ years of dust.

Grill - I don't think this is the original grill. Ok I guess I know it's not. I think it was exchanged a couple of years into my Grandfather's ownership as he was having big problems with car reliability in the wet and he was transporting my sick Grandmother and breaking down. For what it's worth the car died in my possession from over heating and now I wonder if this grill modification might have been responsible. The day it died it was very hot and my Grandparents would never have left the home in that kind of heat. Oh I fitted a new dizzy cap and leads and she was fine in the water.

Missing radiator vents - guilty! I did this. There was this overheating problem and I had a thermostatic fan kit (still do have it), you can guess the rest.

In the passenger door, right where the rust is the worst I found the original owners manual and it's of no use - stuck together and very frail.

I found at least 3 screw drivers I have been missing for 25+ years!

Why the pictures of the rear tyre - one of my potential purchasers noticed in the photos the the drivers side rear wheel looked like it was leaning out. All it turned out to be was a dead tyre

[bill773mini]

All great information and discoveries. The chassis number is datable to the end of that 4th week of January 1961 (25-28th ish) and I can confirm the whole car is spot on for an early 61. There is nothing on it that dates to late 61 but there were no changes to internal tank cars throughout 61. The other two internal tank Woodys in OZ belonging to Tim and Garry are the same as yours (apart from Gary's is an Austin).

Looks in very good condition. In the UK that would be a couple of grands worth of project. Nice.

Bill

[tecman-2007]

If it helps I have a 1961 Internal tank Traveller and the numbers are:
Body No on the slam panel 06829
Engine No 8AM-U-H 118577
Chassis No MAW4 94490
Front End No FE 134070
Built 1st March 1961