1960 Morris Mini Minor in South Africa

[1380-GTS]

Hi all

Thanks for add.

My name is Scott and I stay in Cape Town. With the help of Abri(on the forum) and another friend Francois, I purchased a 1960 Morris Mini Minor. It has amazing original items on the car and a stack of detailed documentation on the car.

We went to look at the car last Saturday in Robertson(a few hours away), without a name or contact number of the owner. Only a rough idea of where he lived. After visiting his house and neighbours to no avail, we eventually bumped into him in a local restaurant. After a few hours of chatting and looking at the car, we shook hands. I am going to trailer it down this Saturday, and am so excited to get started on the car.

I have a few questions and was hoping someone on here could possibly help please? The seats have been recovered and I think possibly re-carpeted. My problem comes with the fact that this car was assembled in Durban and within the first few years of production, the interiors varied even between the factories in SA. Apparently Durban Mini's were closer to UK spec. If anyone perhaps has insight into what the interior could have or should have looked like, I would greatly appreciate photos?

I only have a few pics at the moment but will upload more once I have the car.

Thanks

Scott

[rich@minispares.com]

that looks a cracker


whats going on with the partial deseaming at the rear though?

[JC T ONE]

I would take that car back = there is no heater in it

All jokes aside , what a nice find and welcome inhere .




Jens Christian

[1380-GTS]

Thanks guys.
I asked about the partial deseaming and the previous owner did not know. The car has no finishing strips on the seams either, and I assume it must have been a bit of rust they sorted out. Thankfully it was done well and the car is solid.easy fix to get it back to standard.

This is Africa. We need aircon, not heaters! Seriously though, I am not sure if they had them here. Still a newbie to the early mk1 scene and have lots more to learn.

[rich@minispares.com]

heaters where an optional extra, so they maybe just shaved a few quid of the purchase price by not choosing it

[JC T ONE]

Looks it also has its original carpets in (early rubber heel mat)

[Nevsmini]

Is the steering column shroud made of fibreglass? Lovely solid project.

[rich@minispares.com]

Is the steering column shroud made of fibreglass? Lovely solid project.

I think its an early bakealite one, they go light brown and crumbly like that

[1380-GTS]

I also saw the original heel mat, and I am going to see if it was repurchased onto new mats or if original. Lots of investigating to do on Saturday!

Thanks Rich, did not know that. Once I get around to restoring it bit by bit, it will be good to know those details

[UHR850]

Very nice find !

[Bertam]

Looks to be quite a solid as well as unmessed with car. Congrats.

Interesting fuel pump? location. The apparently clear "fuel line" attached to it seems like an accident waiting to happen.

[1380-GTS]

Thanks all. Yes, that fuel pump and that hosing is getting replaced and relocated first thing, as well as flushing out the fuel tank. Next will be that Bull Bar on the front

I am really pleased with the car and after reading the 1959miniregister website, it has many of the features:
Peg feet on front seats
No 1/10th of a mile on the odometer
Rectangular holes in hubcaps
Flat thermostat
Triangular radiator bracket
Early engine stabilizer
List goes on....
It even has the bolts through the floor where it was mounted to the jig.

I have already purchased a NOS set of the correct spark plug caps. Only needed one but the seller was not willing to sell them individually.

I am really lucky to have found such a gem. 1 more sleep till I trailer her to her new home! Then the fun begins!

[1380-GTS]

Hi all

So after having the car at my house for the last few weeks and tinkering on the car, mostly with the generous help of my friend Abri, I have a couple updates.

I chatted to our local Mini Historian in South Africa, Ryno Verster, and based on the cars numbers, it is actually a early 1961. Strange thing about the Motor Assemblies plant in Durban is that the date of parts and date of assembly can be well over a year. In fact another car that he knew of that was assembled there a few months before mine in 61, had a 59 dated wiper motor. Also another weird thing about it, is that on the car previously mentioned, it also has the fuel pump located in the engine bay. We suspected that it may have been manufactured like that on my car, because of the well made bracket the pump is mounted to and also the lack of any mounting holes in the rear subframe. Adds a nice little "special" touch to the car.

Here is a pic of the bracket. (The mice droppings and acorns have since been vacuumed out)



After fetching the car, Abri and I eventually got the fuel pump working and stripped and cleaned out the carb, as it was filled with sediment. We then hooked up a temp fuel tank(bottle), and swung the motor. She started no hassles. And ran so smoothly. No worrying noises at all.

Video(please excuse the poor lighting. It was quite late):
http://vid1218.photobucket.com/albums/d ... slxex7.mp4

The following Saturday, we gave her a full engine service, which judging by the age of the oil filter and the solidified oil at the bottom on the housing, had not happened for a long time. We then took her for a slow drive around my complex and all the gears are great, and she pulls smoothly. We did notice that the engine was sitting slightly skew and realised that one of the engine mountings was broken and the other was almost non-existent. These have since been replaced by good second hand mountings.

Here is the oil filter. I'm not sure if anyone could shed light on make, or approximately how old it could be please?



I also very carefully and over the coarse of a few days, and a lot of Q10 oil, removed the thermostat housing and once again was astounded by a very old thermostat. It was damaged during removal, but if once again someone could help me figure out its age, etc, I would greatly appreciate it.



I still have to:
- flush the fuel lines and tank
- sort out the brakes all around
- redo the early type master cylinders
- reassemble the cooling system

And then I can go on a nice longer drive ...