1964 Morris Mini Traveller

[minitravellerman]

Export taillamp lenses all the way from Virginia in the US of A - thanks Pologround





Oh and I forgot that I had this done - I had a good chat with Paddy Hopkirk at the gala in his honour in Belfast back in February, and I got him to sign a sunvisor for the Traveller. Nice wee item to have.

[pologround]

ian, the export tail lamp lenses really complements the traveler very well....and yes, the paddy hopkirk signature tops it all. now, be careful washing the visor, or better yet, don't ever wash it lol! superb job all around.

[minitravellerman]

So with today being Bank Holiday and with me being off work I decided to get another wee job done on the Traveller - this time to get the KAD gear linkage installed.

Not so simple as first thought!

First of all I had to cut out the previous floor modification that I put in during the first rebuild back in '98 / '99 to allow a rod change unit to be fitted. So after this was done the bracket to hold the existing rod change wouldn't fit what was left of the Traveller's transmission tunnel due to the "bubble" for the floor starter, which meant getting out the angle grinder again and relieving the floor of the Mini of said bubble! So obviously now I had quite a large hole in the floor!!

Out comes so tin sheet and a new panel was cut out and a new transmission tunnel shaped out (not that in the photos it's only temporarily screwed in with self taps. I'm going to have this professionally welded in and the whole floor repainted so it'll look like it's always been there.

Next problem was once the transmission tunnel was modified the bracket was too wide as it was obviously designed for the later rod change car tunnels. Four little 1" spacers later and the bracket was bolted into place, and the whole kit installed.

Obviously will have to come out again to allow for the welding and painting of the floor, but all in all a good days work.

Oh - the handbrake is going to have to be moved back at least six inches so it doesn't foul the gear linkage, I'm thinking saloon cables will probably be the answer. A job for another day.

Few photos (excuse the poor quality)

[InimiaD]

That took some working out, I bet.
Re the handbrake, are you using an early twin cable or a later single cable.? Might be an idea to use the latter and have a "special" single cable made up to suit the desired length.

At least with the KAD shifter you can reach the gearstick without stretching, unlike my home made contraption.

[minitravellerman]

That took some working out, I bet.
Re the handbrake, are you using an early twin cable or a later single cable.? Might be an idea to use the latter and have a "special" single cable made up to suit the desired length.

At least with the KAD shifter you can reach the gearstick without stretching, unlike my home made contraption.

That it did

I'm using the original twin cable system (simply because it's the one in the car, but more because I don't have a single cable handbrake unit). To be honest I haven't exactly figured out what I'll do with the handbrake. Another option (but probably a difficult one to get right) is to fabricate up something to allow the handbrake to be moved to the off side of the car between the driver seat and the door, but the door pocket will most likely be in the way and make that idea impossible. Was just an idea that jumped into my head today when I was working on the gear linkage (my mind wanders a bit into a fantasy world sometimes!!! lol )

I set in a seat to give it a try out and the stick is in the perfect position - no stretching, and the KAD has a rear snappy gearchange. I have heard some folks say that it can jump out of gear as it doesn't have the steady bar, so if this is the case I'm going to have to fabricate up a custom bar (my dad has already been thinking this and has the design in his head and ready if needed!)

[Red Mist]

Hey Ian,

I had the same linkage in my old racer and I was able to bend the handbrake mount a little toward the driver's seat so that it cleared. Worked a treat!

[minitravellerman]

Been a while since I did anything to the Traveller, so to try to get motivated I decided to do a handy little job, so plumbed in my oil catch tank. Friend of mine modified my rocket cover to add a vent pipe, which I then connected to the tank with an MGB top radiator pipe.

It's only a small thing but finally got back to working on it again.

[rich@minispares.com]

you do realise that you can get a proper bracket that bolts to the block to hold an alternator?

will looks miles better than that flexible ugly length of studding your using!!!!

[minitravellerman]

you do realise that you can get a proper bracket that bolts to the block to hold an alternator?

will looks miles better than that flexible ugly length of studding your using!!!!

I know, but I like it I never have the bonnet open at shows anyway. As long at it works it'll do grand.

[rich@minispares.com]

I know, but I like it I never have the bonnet open at shows anyway. As long at it works it'll do grand.

it will put a lot of stress through the one correctly supported mount - you might find that the alternator body will crack through the front mount as all/most/ too much of the weight is supported off it

[minimans]

I'd be more worried about snapping off the water pump boss! I'd really like to see a photoshop picture of the car with a black roof................

[minitravellerman]

Over a year since my last update!! Can't believe it's been so long since I worked on the Traveller, but unfortunately the rally Mini took a bit longer to put right that expected but now that it's sorted I can finally divert my attention to getting the Traveller finished.

Well not much has happened but at least I've moved the Mini from the parking garage into the working garage (and fitted the correct alternator bracket ).

I did a bit of wiring the other day as I've relocated the fuel pump and modified a couple of electrical items, and after deliberating on whether to keep the BMA alloys and fit arches or to go a different route, I decided that I didn't want to drill the car. So to allow me to stay clear of wheel arches I bought an as new set of replica Cooper S 3.5" rims which have a nice period tread on the 145 Falken tyres.

We have a week long holiday here over the 12th July so fingers crossed I'll get a good bit done to the Mini and with a bit of luck get to turn the key for the first time on the Manx 1293.

[1071 S]

I'd be interested to know whether the Manx stickers are available from somewhere. I bought a head and bunch of other stuff for my Traveller from Bill Quine but didn't think about badges/stickers at the time...

Cheers, Ian

[minitravellerman]

I'd be interested to know whether the Manx stickers are available from somewhere. I bought a head and bunch of other stuff for my Traveller from Bill Quine but didn't think about badges/stickers at the time...

Cheers, Ian

I just got my stickers made up by my usual sticker guy. I took plenty of photos of Mervyn Johnston's Mini to get the logos to scale and just traced them on the graphics programme. They're maybe not 100% accurate but as close as I could get.

[1071 S]

Thanks Ian

[minitravellerman]

If you can access AutoCAD I should have my tracing on my computer at home. I emailed the CAD file to my sticker guru and he converted it into the format for his system.

[1071 S]

Unfortunately no AutoCAD... just wondering how much he charged you?

Cheers, Ian

[minitravellerman]

I don't honestly remember. I think it was just around a tenner for the 4 Manx legs and the 2 Manx Performance Components text. But he did me mate's rates.

[minitravellerman]

Got a lot of the wiring sorted over the past couple days and she's turned over for the first time Still have to finishing wiring and plumbing in the fuel pump and some niggling wiring under the bonnet (which of course I either didn't label or where the writing has rubbed off) to sort out and then fingers crossed the 1293 Manx will start. Will have to see what the weather holds for the weekend. I need to do some work in the garden so hopefully it'll rain so I can work in the garage instead

[minitravellerman]

It has been quite some time since I did an update on here.

First thing is I must get the photos on the thread back. I did away with my photobucket account as it was doing my head in. As soon as I get a replacement hosting site I'll reload the photos in the past posts.

Well onto the Traveller ...

As I was concentrating on competing with the Rally Mini in the Northern Ireland Autotest Championship last year my Saturday's were either taken up with competing or preparing the Mini for the next event, the Traveller basically got put onto the back burner for a while. Other than fitting a set of 3.5" Cooper S replica steels I've not even turned a screw on it. The plan was then to work on it over the winter but an incident at a Classic Trial I did in the rally Mini meant I spent the winter fixing it. The planet wheels decided they didn't want to stay in the diff housing any more and decided to make a break for freedom on last test of the rally and when I had the engine out of the rally Mini I decided to repair and maintain a lot of other bits and pieces on it while I had the chance.

Well that project was completed a few weeks ago, and I have decided to take a seat from competing this year, so the Traveller has now become project numero uno. Extra motivation has come with the Traveller being my wedding car this autumn so the push is on to get it finished.

New battery was fitted and with a little bit of wiring being finished I turned the key on the Manx 1293 for the first time. Bit of cranking and she almost fired. Checked timing (was out a bit) and adjusted the carbs I tried again. First turn and she fired right up. Needs a bit of fine tuning but sounds really good and with the Maniflow manifold and RC40 rear system sounds very CooperSie so very happy with that.

BUT .....

Turned her off and the rad was fizzing a bit. Carefully opened the cap and the water nearly hit the ceiling of the garage!!!! Huge pressurising of the water system in there. Radiator was fully flushed out before the rebuild but was fitted new not long before the Traveller was taken off the road previously so it can't be the issue, also top and bottom hoses were replaced so they're not blocked. Decided to pull the head off to see if there was any gasket failure apparent. Doesn't appear to be, but I have the head off to engineering firm locally to me who are going to give it a pressure test. They did think that there did look like a little bit of failure apparent between 3 and 4. Will get the verdict on Wednesday.

Hoping it's good news as there isn't an awful lot of work to do to finish. Some minor wiring of ancillaries, plumb in washer bottle to new position in boot, adjust KAD gear linkage, fit S brakes (going to be donated from the rally Mini) and then fit front seats and carpet.

Would love to have it finished before CCMC Mini Weekend on our north coast and that will give me a few weeks of test runs and ironing out any gremlins before the wedding in October.

Rally Mini will be back up wedding car if needs be (she actually prefers it anyway )