Downton Mini Cooper

[china]

I thought it was about time I but some photos of my mini being rebuilt at old skool minis in Birmingham. some of you may have seen the shell on their stand at bingley hall in January.

[china]

The story of my project so far, which at the moment is in great danger of turning into the story of my life. We, thats my wife and I, as she gently reminds me, 'its her project as much as mine'. Call it a Downton Mini Cooper when in fact the correct terminology is a Mini Cooper Mk2 with a Downton tuning kit but it has a nice ring to it - Downton Mini Cooper. We purchased the car early 2012 from a gentleman in Lancashire who was attempting to restore it but it got a bit too much for him. It was advertised as an Austin Mini Cooper S Mk2, it even had Cooper S on the V5 document. After a quick bit of research with help from BMIHT it turned out to be just a Mk2 Mini Cooper. Luckily for me this must of frightened off most of the potential buyers, so we agreed an adjusted price and snapped it up. When we got it home we started the research.
DVLA was not a great help, the only thing they could tell me was that the car was first registered in Herefordshire and was then taken out of the country and re-imported back into the country in the early 1980s. At this point I would wager this is where the V5 obtained its additional S. I contacted Hereford County Council Archive Department where luckily they still had it on record. Strangely they told me that I was not allowed a copy of the file or allowed to view it because of it's historical significance but they agreed to let me have a copy of the reference card, that was linked to the file. This reference card contained the first registered owners name which was Rubery Owen Engineering but sadly this company no longer exists, as it was taken over by a larger company. The car still retained its original 998 engine and all the numbers on the car and engine corresponded correctly with the documentation, along with the colour of the car being correct.
Items on the car which lead me to believe the Downton Tuning Kit was original included an old set of 1 1/2 SU Carbs, a nice original badge on the boot lid, along with a H.R.G. Engineering rocker cover which are currently being restored.The cylinder head was separated from the engine and was placed in a cardboard box in the boot. This item I placed a question mark over. It is a 12G 295 cylinder head painted blue and although there had been some polishing work to the inlet and outlet chambers, there had been no work carried out on the valves themselves. There were also no numbers on the cylinder head that would identify it as a Downton piece, only the letter 'L', so I am not sure if this is the original head or not. At this point my Dad who sadly died recently, obtained a 12G 938 Downton tuned head at great cost and gave it to me, however I didn't want to appear ungrateful but I was a little sceptical about fitting this to the engine because of block pocketing issues. My late Father was so excited about the project, I feel I owe it to him that this work is carried out and the head is fitted, which is currently being carried out by a local engineering firm.
The car is currently in the paint shop queue at Old Skool Mini and I will post pictures and progress reports on the ongoing project in due course.
At this point we can not verify for definite that the tuning kit really belonged to the car or not, but my wife and I have come to the conclusion that this does not really matter, as we love the history of this project and we are going to build it anyway. At the end of the day projects like these are all about having fun!
If anybody out there can shed any light on County Council archive records being withheld because of historical significance, I would be eternally grateful.

[bpirie1000]

Great job. Nice sizeable garage as well that makes the difference.. Place to store cars and work on them...in an ideal world I would have similar....

[GraemeC]

If Rubery Owen were involved in the car then Downton tuning wouldn't surprise me.
Could it have been a test car for 10" Rostyles?!

[china]

We'll you certainly do learn something new every day.I did not know that Rubery Owen made wheels I thought they made construction equipment.I off to have a read right now.Thanks for that info

[davidmuir]

That's the RO in rostyle!

[goff]

I think RO became part of GKN
Regards
Goff

[GraemeC]

Rubery Owen is still going as a company, but I think their business has changed a bit over the years

[UHR850]

Keep on doing these things for us to look at

[china]

Thanks guys for the info on Rubery Owen,there is a massive archive I can search and will post any info I find. ( It's like a big light as been switched on,chuffed )

[850 super deluxe]

Its about time to Paul. looking good. that shell came on quick didn't it.
Paul.

[china]

Hi Paul
Roy and Stuart had some weetabix for breakfast ( out of a clean bowl I hope ).

[Johnny]

Hello,
Any chance you could post a picture of the blue cylinder head. I would be interested in seeing what shade of blue paint is on it.
Thanks

[china]

The cylinder head is with the engineering company who are building the engine for me.I will try and get there Monday coming to take some pics of it.
I spoke to Jim Owen of Rubery Owen about the car who strangely is head of the archive department at Rubery Owen and he as confirmed the car was first registered to his company in 1967.I had a very interesting chat with him, and he recalls is older brother David owning one in 1967 but can't be certain of the colour.He asked if i could send in the cars details so he can explore further for me,which i have sent.He did however say it could prove rather difficult to track down the car or what its role in the company was has they owned several large companies with motor sport links.He did say when the car has been restored he would love to has is picture taken with the car.I am sure i can help him out there.

[china]

The cooper is now in the paint shop at old skool minis Birmingham .hope to have a new coat of paint soon .

[mk1]

Looking good!

I am really enjoying this great story.

[china]

Quick update
After lengthy discussions with Hereford County Council, I can now confirm the car was first registered to Rubery Owen Holdings Ltd in 1967. Spoken with Jim & David Owen of Rozone (previously known as Rubery Owen Holdings Ltd), they are really excited about the project and have offered to help in any way they can.
Spent today at Old Skool Mini's in Birmingham, watching them work on the car and they even allowed me to help refurb the heater box and rocker cover - see photos.

[mini63]

a great read so far.....I look forward to more story and pics.
cheers

[china]

I was down at Old Skool Mini's yesterday to check on progress, and i reckon two or three weeks and i will be posting pics of the shell in full colour.Its good to see everyone is enjoying the story to date.I promise there is a lot more good stuff to come.

[surfblue63]

A bit off topic but still related. Whilst watching the 15 Billion Pound Railway there was a small bit of archive footage showing how they constructed a bridge in Oxford Street in 1963 so the new ticket hall could be built. The bridge was built by Rubery Owen.

Programme on iPlayer
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... rt-surgery

It's also repeated tonight at 11.20pm on BBC2