Feb 64' Austin 1071 Cooper S

[SteveG]

Thought I should start a thread as progress is fairly quick. I had to sell my 59 (in feb issue of Mini World!) to help my latest purchase.

I've told the wife this one is a keeper but she doesn't believe me. I replied 'well I said you were a keeper and I still have you don't I?' she didn't see the funny side. Perhaps i'm not a keeper?

Anyway, back to the car.

Its a Feb built 1964 Tartan red / Black Austin 1071 S. I've been after a UK S for many years now. There are not many around in NZ. I would have settled for any UK car but quite chuffed to have a 1071.

At first glance the car was in good condition but it has a bit of bog in it and rust to sort so those are my first priority's. The shell is the original and it has a bit of race history. Its been owned by a few well known people over here and I will research it more to find out what I can. The 2nd owner I got in contact with sent me photos from 1965 which are pretty cool. He used to hill Climb the car. His friend wanted a Austin Cooper at the time but owned a Morris. He convinced the owner of my car to swap Grilles so his could look like one! That's why my 1965 photos show the car with a Morris Grille! I guess it didn't matter back then.

The engine bay, boot, all floors, back seat and upright and wheel arches had a think coating of underseal. I've spent a week of evenings into the early hours scraping it off! still not finished.

I've had the car only 2 weeks but I have 3 weeks off work so have been busy stripping it back to the shell. I have cut out a section in the boot which had a little bit of rust in.

Today I removed the outer sills and the front section of inner sills. The driver side was the worse with a fair bit of rot in there. I have removed the jacking point from that side, and will probably replace the passenger side also even though its not too bad. Just for a peace of mind.

The car was fitted with a 1275 S unit. One of the former owners had fitted it. I sourced a +20 1071 block with very nice 1071 Crank. The 163 head was missing and I had a chance to get one but it didn't look to be in nice condition so passed. For now I will run with a very nicely ported 940 S head which I have had reconditioned. The car came with its 190 box which I'm very chuffed about. THe box has been reconditioned but its not got its original extra C/R gears which were ordered for it when new (mentioned them on the Heritage Cert) I'm fine with this as the 2nd owner said because of the gearing it was very slow of the mark.

I've had the block reconditioned so everything will be good. The car came with a good set of S pistons so its just new bearings / rings etc.

The car only came with a 1300 crank pulley so I will probably go for a minispares replacement and get everything balanced up.

The front panel appears to be original but the lower part has been replaced with a later cut out type. I will fix this back to the original wide apron. I think the car had a nice 'tidy up' probably 10-15 years ago. unfortunately back then originality was not so important and it had mk2 doors fitted and a mk3 boot lid! Easy to fix ofcoarse. The bonnet looks original from what I can tell.

The car has all its original dated glass except front screen. The interior is original apart from missing dash cards and tray liner/parcel shelf. The seats have been repaired but looks nice and used. I have a complete rear seat spare with very good brocade which I will use to repair the front seats at some stage. Door cards are original. The card needs replacing on the front doors but brocade is good.

Because of a knock to the front left corner its had a replacement wing and lost its FE plate. The front floor plate still remains though. Overall the car has a few minor dings and flakey filler to fix but being a ex race car I don't actually mind these things.

The dash vinyl is original and while not perfect I will certainly be keeping it this way.

There's enough original items and dated switches etc to make it a very nice car

(and a keeper) even if the wife doesn't keep me.

[SteveG]

Some photos from the 2nd Owner Don Anderson

2nd one is a link as its a PDF file

[Tim]

Nice one Steve. those Aussie wheel arches will have to go.

Tim

[SteveG]

Hi Tim.

Funny, I was just posting this photo with arches removed when you posted that.

I'm in 2 minds. I really like the Aussie Gp2 Arches.. Alasdair Brass's Almond Green S has them on (local car to me) and I love them.. I think its the best arch on a mk1 as its still period.

What does everyone else think? Would like feedback. If they stay I will probably paint them black.

[SteveG]

That's also James's push bike in the background which he had painted surf blue to match his car.

Attention to detail

[foxy52]

nothing wrong with any period proper mod !!! wheel arches or otherwise.. i for one like them but others dont !!! pers choice i say.. happy new year foxy52

[Tim]

I agree that the Aussie arches were the best looking ones, but they don't look right on that car. I much prefer the no-arches look if you can get away with it. James' 970 looks fantastic with no arches.

BUT its entirely up to you. You aren't doing anything dreadful by using them and they don't do any significant damage to the body when they are fitted. I had a red van with black arches (forced on me by the insurer) and it looked good together. The next owner painted the roof black too and it looked really good.



Excuse the huge roof rack, the previous owner was a joiner who specialised in timber windows, this was his delivery van.

Tim

[SteveG]

So that's not a period 'works style' roof rack? Did you have the sticker on the back 'If you hear a rockin, don't come a knockin' ?

Good thing about the Aussie arches is you don't drill through the wings so I have plenty of time to think about it.

Car goes to panel beaters tomorrow. I have cut some rust out but wan't to get the welding done professionally.

I can work on smaller items while its away like fuel tanks and air box etc.

[Tim]

The van was hotted up by a young bloke, who sold it to the window man. I ripped off the tinting so I could see out, threw out the very ordinary sound system and ditched the roof rack. On the positive side, he was a boy racer who worked for the local mini specialist, so it had a 1360 that went like a cut cat. It was a bit slow to get away from the lights because the wheels would be spinning so much.

Tim

[JC T ONE]

1st thing I look for to authenticate shell. Still caked in under seal but nice square cut outs

Question

how do one tell a Cooper body, from a S body ?? (before 1966 = std twin tanks & oil cooler.

How is the voltage regulater fitted ? does it have the plastic body inserts, that sit in a square hole aka the MK III wiper motor .

How about the holes for the brake servo ? are they drilled ? or stamped out ? do they have welded nuts on the innerwing ? or ?

Its a nice "new" project you have there

[SteveG]

Hi Jens

voltage regulator
scroll down to bottom of this link to see where a Voltage Reg is mounted on a 'dry' Cooper S. My car has the holes in this position. When Hydro came in they moved the regulator onto the inner wing to let the Hydro hoses pass by. There are no holes on the inner wing on my car.

http://rsn-mk1.blogspot.co.nz/search?up ... -results=4

My car also has factory holes for Brake servo on inner wing. Both these coupled with correct dated glass and original Tartan red / Black paint on shell and number on floor plate allows me to confirm its the original shell. I also know of people who have known the car many years who confirm its not been re shelled.

I guess it would not be hard to make a Cooper shell into a 'S' shell but with all the other evidence I know this is not the case on mine.

[JC T ONE]

Hi Steve,


I was only asking for details regarding on how to tell the difference (if any?)

your car surely looks "the bizz" and correct



my question was to see if there ARE any way, to tell a S body from a Cooper body ?

So do the voltage regulator screw direct into the body ? or does it have the plastic inserts ?

[SteveG]

Hi Jens.

It screws directly into the body. The left screw goes through the locking tab on the Tower bolts.

[foxy52]

Nice one Steve. those Aussie wheel arches will have to go.

Tim

...tim, a question for u ,...do u know roughly how many coopers or s types were sent to aus and nz..??? thats either kit form or complete cars mk1-3 inc ????..and/or how many still exist ??!!........its really great to see so many still in fab condition in the various mags ,forums or vids.... happy new year foxy52

[Tim]

Sorry, no idea of the total numbers, but there's a joke that goes something like "Of the 500 Cooper Ss built, only 1000 of them are still on the road" (the numbers aren't correct).

The situation was very different between Australia and NZ. In NZ there was a mix of cars assembled locally from CKD kits and cars imported from both the UK and Australia in completely built up form. By contrast, the vast majority of Australian Minis were built locally, initially from CKD kits, but ultimately they were mostly local content. NZ tends to have much more of a variety of models than Australia, as a result. Because BMC Australia did some of its own development Aussie Minis have a number of unique features, like our wind-up window doors, the arch flares and different detailing of the front panel.

Tim

[SteveG]

All Coopers that came to NZ were built in England and sent complete, am I right in saying apart from very early Coopers they were CKD in Australia?

Normal minis were CKD and assembled here. We can't get heritage certs for those, only dating letters.

[SteveG]

I've cut all the rust out and taken it to panel beaters this morning. How many weeks will it be there??

Nothing too major to do. Inner sills, outer sills a bit in the boot and loads of small holes to fill.. no doubt from racing days.

[Tim]

Apart from private imports, only a handful of any Minis were brought in to Australia completely built up. All the coopers were either assembled from CKD kits, or from locally pressed panels. Minis weren't available here until 1961 to give BMC Australia time to get up to speed with assembly.

Tim

[foxy52]

Apart from private imports, only a handful of any Minis were brought in to Australia completely built up. All the coopers were either assembled from CKD kits, or from locally pressed panels. Minis weren't available here until 1961 to give BMC Australia time to get up to speed with assembly.

Tim

...Tks for all the info, i have jus been watching the dvd of The Great Race..thats Phillip Island 60- 61.. but more interesting are the 500,s at Bathhurst 62-66... esp 65 and 66.. the golden years of the morris cooper s.. i wonder if austins noses were put out of joint at the time !!!????...i suppose it promoted huge sales of the mini generally in auz and nz .??... foxy52 .

[SteveG]

Another interesting fact. All coopers and coopers 's' assembled in Aussie were Morris badges except some which went to NZ which were Austin badges but had a Morris Grille (I owned one) Tim will correct me there but I think that's right?