1275 GT thread

[Quinny1293]

Gave my GT a wash and polish over the weekend, as a friend asked if they can use it as a wedding car on Friday. Theres a few differences between the GT in the UK and the GT in South Africa

8E5A3E5E-0145-4105-8A39-1533006F7E2B.jpg

[nick@dunsdale]

This is a great thread. Thanks for sharing the paint chart info.
Would anybody know what year Damask Red was introduced on 1275GT's?
I am going to take a stab and say 1973 but I cant find anything definitive.
Thanks

Also on the main site are a couple of earlier listings of GT colours and trims


October 1969 List https://mk1-performance-conversions.co. ... Models.pdf


September 1976 https://mk1-performance-conversions.co. ... tripes.pdf


Also I do have most of the brochures for 1970s cars scanned somewhere. When I find them I will post them up.

I think Damask red on the Mini was a little later than 73 i remember a local N reg which would put it at 1974 i remember quite a few P reg ones
I think Damask red was an older colour though sure it was used on Morris Minors

[coopertim]

Damask Red was also used on rubber bumper MG Bs and Midgets so that would put it at 1975?

Tim

[Old English White]

I think Damask red on the Mini was a little later than 73 i remember a local N reg which would put it at 1974 i remember quite a few P reg ones
I think Damask red was an older colour though sure it was used on Morris Minors

We had a "M" reg Mini in Damask Red. I can't recall whether it was a 1973 or '74 car though. It wasn't a 1275GT. Just a Mini 1000 but I think it was introduced across the range at the same time.

You're right Nick that Damask was an old BMC colour originally. I had an old Riley 1.5 - about a 1959 one - which was Damask and Mini-wise it was used on the Elf and Hornet of course in the 1960s. Oddly enough, Damask was never used on the Morris Minor.

(Attachment is from the BMC Service Paint Scheme publication dated January 1964)

[rolesyboy]

Thanks folks. I am certain I have seen 73/74 Minis in Damask but cannot find a definitive start date when this was introduced. Was it available in 71/72 I wonder?

[LuisM]

A friend of mine here in Portugal is selling his 12" GT,

https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php? ... 0369583612

genuine and honest car, with an interesting story... as it was first registered in UK , it was supposed to be exported to Angola and ended up stuck in Portugal and registered later with Portuguese license plate.

Cheers
Luis

[66Traveller]

Bracken with a sorrel interior I think?

[surfblue63]

This is a great thread. Thanks for sharing the paint chart info.
Would anybody know what year Damask Red was introduced on 1275GT's?
I am going to take a stab and say 1973 but I cant find anything definitive.
Thanks

Also on the main site are a couple of earlier listings of GT colours and trims


October 1969 List https://mk1-performance-conversions.co. ... Models.pdf


September 1976 https://mk1-performance-conversions.co. ... tripes.pdf


Also I do have most of the brochures for 1970s cars scanned somewhere. When I find them I will post them up.

I think Damask red on the Mini was a little later than 73 i remember a local N reg which would put it at 1974 i remember quite a few P reg ones
I think Damask red was an older colour though sure it was used on Morris Minors

This Clubman was first registered in July 1973

[mab01uk]

From a recent Mini 7 Club magazine:-
http://www.mini7.co.uk/newsletter/

[GrayB]

Sorry for resurrecting a GT thread on a Mk1 forum.
But I’d just like to say what a fascinating read especially if you own a GT.

Although touched on in the thread does any of the GT Guru’s know exactly when the air cleaner changed from metal to plastic?
On a 1972 car I have seen …..
All metal , Plastic with metal spout, Plastic with metal temp control flappy thing. Which is correct for a 72 GT?

Cheers for now Gray.

[Peter Laidler]

Keep resurrecting it. It's a great little thread and a LOT of the 1275GT owners problems are shared with us too. Except that they've got a lot more room to work in!

[mab01uk]

Sorry for resurrecting a GT thread on a Mk1 forum.
But I’d just like to say what a fascinating read especially if you own a GT.

Although touched on in the thread does any of the GT Guru’s know exactly when the air cleaner changed from metal to plastic?
On a 1972 car I have seen …..
All metal , Plastic with metal spout, Plastic with metal temp control flappy thing. Which is correct for a 72 GT?

Cheers for now Gray.

I agree with Peter above, resurrect this thread as often as you like, new 1275GT info is always welcome here!

[rolesyboy]

Agreed. I’ve got an early and a late GT. The early ones have some really interesting quirks which makes restoring one that much more appealing

[66Traveller]

Sorry for resurrecting a GT thread on a Mk1 forum.
But I’d just like to say what a fascinating read especially if you own a GT.

Although touched on in the thread does any of the GT Guru’s know exactly when the air cleaner changed from metal to plastic?
On a 1972 car I have seen …..
All metal , Plastic with metal spout, Plastic with metal temp control flappy thing. Which is correct for a 72 GT?

Cheers for now Gray.

1969 and early 1970 cars had metal filter boxes - I suspect the subsequent transition to plastic was, like every other similar production change, messy and uneven ( depending on what was in stock or the supplier had supplied on the day a particular batch of cars was on the production line). I would think that by 1972 the plastic filter box was standard.

[GrayB]

Thanks for all the replies and info.

Something else that I have learnt from this thread is about the the colour coded rubber door seals. I’ve never seen them on any other cars / GTs they must be extremely rare. But I guess they are about,in fact I have them in red on my GT to match the Geranium interior.

Cheers Gray.

[66Traveller]

Something that makes restoring a 1969 or a 1970 GT easier - since the only interior colour was black ( and the seals match the seats)! Curiously black was dropped as an interior colour from 1971 onwards….

[Colin a]

The build date on mine is 16-5 - 70 I don't know weather this is classed as early, but it has a plastic air filter box with a metal intake, the interior trim is all black with a grey headlining and grey sunvizors.

[66Traveller]

That is interesting Colin - my car's build date is early April 1970 and the air filter box is all metal

[Peter Laidler]

You will always get this transitional period or 'intermediates' during a changeover. That''s why the parts list seem to contradict themselves during such times. Especially when it quotes a body number!!!!! As I have said several times, my neighbour, a former top man at Unipart here in Oxford tells me, that where there are rolling contracts for parts from supplier A that changes to supplier B, then they are obliged to finish and accept the contracted supplies from supplier A. These are fed into the line - or for spares. This means that for many months both sets of parts run together.

Metal to cheaper plastic was a classic example - as was rubber to the cheaper 'rubberised' or pliable plastic.

Not directly related but round these parts, when MG closed down there were literally tons upon tons of Midget and MGB spares including wheels and panels, instrument clusters trim........ EVERYTHING including complete damaged cars that were used as slaves in the crash bay. These spares belonged to BL. So they were dumped wholesale, over many months at Drayton landfill. When asked why, they replied that this was BL and Unipart were an entirely different company.

Yep....., I expect the same happened at Longbridge when mini production ceased

[GrayB]

Continuing with the air box saga…….On page one of this thread there is an article from Popular motoring February 1972.
They give you the impression that they have tested “The latest 1972 GT version “ To me it looks like a 71 GT ? But you can clearly see it has a plastic box with metal intake! Transitional period?
Re- all plastic box with the flappy temp thingy ( technical talk) did that ever work ? Was it any good? Reduced performance? from what I remember people used to take them off and bin them.
I see now a company makes a polished aluminium finishing ring so if you do bin it you can make the air box look presentable.

Cheers Gray