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against all odds i havent refitted the original 850... although its now built back up!
ive rebuilt the 998 lump which was its replacement over 40 yrs ago.

it seemed rather sluggish,,no faster than an 850 so after deliberation i fitted a 12g 202 head,hs4 carb and manifolds
the correct period mk1 hs4 steel donut airbox ,and a ,now rare,,new old stock 1275 gt exhaust system

the car is now as it was ,(apart from the aftermarket dash) when i aquired the car as a youngster

goes really really well now,and looks standard....it will never win concours awards,(and ive got enough shiny stuff i am scared to drive,) but its never had a full resto,,, just repairs as and when needed.

i think it looks quite good for 170,000 miles personally and it still has its original floorpans

thanks for the comments on the car,,,

might put some m machine front panel lower corners in as the front panel fitted over 40 yrs ago was all you could get back then.....or maybe i shud just leave it,,as the car has a few tales to tell and its deffo seen a lot of action

618AOG wrote:Cars got tatty very quickly back then - the build quality of modern cars has spoiled us. I have an AA Drive magazine from 1971 with an article called 'the Austin Seven', about a 1962 Mini Woody Countryman (313WBH) that had seven or eight owners and had been resprayed twice, engine and gearbox rebuild etc etc all before it was 8 years old.
My first Mini was £20 in 1974 when I was just a nipper, purchased for my by my folks as a thing to sit in the garden and play Cops and Robbers with. It was a smoke grey Austin Super Deluxe, around a 1962/3 vintage and it was absolutely shagged out. It's one redeeming feature was a recently fitted Peco centre exit exhaust that was immediately liberated and fitted to Mum's 1275GT. Ha - I knew there was an ulterior motive.

haaaaa,andrew,sir!!!
my smoke grey one had a peco centre exit,,i still have the back box....sometimes i have the urge to "re-live my youth"

i agree with what you say-this car was proper shagged out in 1974 ..if it hadnt been for me wanting it to use when i passed my test it would have been sent to the scrappers without a doubt
the inner and outer sills were hanging off back then and the boot floor resembled a collinder,,,but oddly enough,the rust never nibbled the main floorpans-very odd !
my grandad did brush engine oil on the underside once a month though,,suppose the boot floor and inner sill rust was rust from the "inside out" due to condensation/moisture

slowboy wrote:really nice car , i am doing a smoke grey car at the moment and have grown to really like the colour, it sort of lends itself to an early model ??

slowboy -been watching your car with interest-
lovely lovely job !!!!



im kinda lucky having a smoke grey deluxe and a smoke grey super deluxe (one of the very first super deluxes built oct 62) and they are totally different animals and behave and sound in a totally different way

the early 62 deluxe has such a ~"early" feel to it,,,the super deluxe ,although smoother and quieter somehow has less charm than the earlier deluxe,,,,

Lovely little collection youve got there, must be hard to decide which to take out
The "62's history and your continued ownership is so nice to have, and a car you'd not be afraid to use / get wet / dirty!

using it adds to the patina
the unrestored ones always drive and smell so much better than the restored stuff...

the unrestored ones always drive and smell so much better than the restored stuff...

smell is ok, but why do they drive better ?

they just seem to do...if they dont have worn out components of course

its just the old car patina,,once its gone ,,its gone