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My ex girlfriend passed her test in 01. She was hellbent on getting a mini. I told her that the wheels were too small, the engine was in the wrong place and if you crash them, you're going to lose your legs.

I hated it. It was a tedious thing being a passenger in it. I was no stranger to A Series engines having cut my tuning teeth of a variety of Morris Minors which got progressively more mad until I crashed my 56 Splitscreen S2 in the lanes. It's engine (full race midget) ended up in an Austin A35 which was like a bubble on a windy day. It accellerated like a bike and handled like a hovercraft. Anyway, I was working on a building site and she was doing teacher training. The building site happened to be at the other end of one of the best A/B roads in the region. My car was kaput and I had to borrow the mini.

It was a great week, I remember following a KA^2 and him trying to burn me off and me just being sat there on his bumper as he upset it around a big sweeping bend.

The following week, I went and bought a 64 Mini Minor, which had been "restored" and promptly put an MG metro 12HD24 engine in it. Come MOT time, it ended up being made of filler (I paid £800) and feeling rather sad, I ebayed it for £1800. This was about 2002 and the beginning of the silly rise in Mk1 prices on ebay.

I had bought a Hammond Organ (Jimmy Smith machine) at university for £400 and sold that for £1800. I was reading pistonheads classifieds in 03 and saw 1966 Morris Mini, restored, unwanted rally car £1500. I went and bought it. I didn't like the (souped up) hydro and when a displacer went, I put the subframes from the 64 on it. I picked up a 1275 +60 with S3 head and 286 cam for about £200. That was my daily hack in about 06-07. I was a science teacher then and the job was at the other end of that road as well. Every day I'd set off in a roar of A series looking forward to getting to work. I got the road dialed, I'd hang back and then roar past everything. On the way home, there is a hairpin bend 180 degrees. I would go down through the gears, whack it in first and then go around the corner on 3 wheels and then hit the rev limit before taking a sharp left. It sounded like motorsport.

I remember being in the pub and someone came up to me and said "They've had a meeting about you in (hairpin) village, they are looking into getting an asbo for your driving". This of course got all around school due to my mate going out with one of the U6th.

The exhaust manifold cracked, we pulled the engine out and it's been in the shed since.

I'm no longer teaching, but I've recently got some more time and it's time to revisit the mini.

I've reconned the cylinder head, which was in my childhood bedroom, along with my engine, everything else is in boxes.









Oh, I forgot. I picked up a full race 1430 which had been used as an autograss race engine, 137 baldwins, SC everything and LSD, £570. I think my fat fingers spelled Mnii Raec Enjige and that's what the title was.



It's time to do it and get it making oil/tyre smells and an antisocial screaming/roaring noise. I'm not going to clean it, or respray it, or shine it, it will be put together and then given a wipe off with an oily rag.

There are too many minis not like this and it's time this one redressed the balance.

Stu

I bloody like that!

excellent

the 'HASBO'


I reckon you need to get it done and bring it to blyton

then the er-cooper s and the hasbo can go round the back of the hanger and be part of the 'not allowed to park with the nice cars' club

Having built a trailer queen, albeit not entirely intentionally, I'd love a car like that! Fantastic!

It was an odd one. The car was resprayed in about 02 and was like new when I had it. I gave it a wipe off with an oily rag and it just looked like that....like it was a barn find. My name of the game was no rust (following the rusty 64) and so the carpets got taken out....no nasty moisture. The door bins are full of essential tools and the sort of bits you'd need. Comprehensive tool kit in the boot.

That'll be the name of it's game when it's back on the road.

I remember going to Run to the Sun at Newquay and it was always the Er-Cooper-S cars which caught my romantic streak. I am saddened when I see someone chucking the wheelarches and JA Pearce wheels out and fitting 3.5 vented steels, sprayed in the correct colour. People paying a fortune for an original bulkhead panel, so they can weld the weber hole up. Fitting the correct sort of oil cooler. The craziest mod seems to be something like a Les Leston steering wheel.

I'm not into Carl Austin split rims, group 5 arches, 13" anything, vauxhall conversions, but I almost hanker after seeing such things. It seems the hillclimb minis are gradually being reverted into trailer queens. Glass washer bottles fetching £500.

The first pic makes the car look really nice. It is actually quite tatty....but it's TOTALLY rust free.

I love webers, I love 8 ports, I love all the sort of things which inspire wonder and make you say "What's that had done to it?".

As I drive my Corsavan 1.3 CDTI, when I see a mini, I quickly wind the windows down to hear if it's a noisy one. I noisy mini went up the road yesterday and it sounded great.

I wonder whether things like ASBO and Er-Cooper-S are actually more desirable than an immaculate, matching numbers A* restoration.

They are for me.

Hopefully, I'll make gradual progress with it. The engine has made it from my childhood bedroom table to the dresser in the kitchen......along with the refurbed cylinder head. I'm going to get on with that tomorrow and see what's in some of those boxes.

Here's a photo of it (gosh, me with long hair, that was ages ago) running 145 tyres. I think I got a puncture and didn't have a spare, so on went 4x 145s. Fronts would last 2 weeks.



I assume there was something wrong with it, since I am being towed by my mate who had a carlton engine in his Suzuki SJ. That was almost as mad as the full race A35.



There it is again in typical roadgoing form. I will make a point of putting the grille on.

I am not surprised you gave up being a sience teacher.
When i went to school 180 degrees was straight, some hairpin bend
It did sound fun though

...which involved making a turn of 180 degrees.

This is a science lesson, not an English lesson. Now go and stand outside and I will see you back here lunchtime, removing chewing gum from the underside of the benches

*like!

One to keep an eye on! Love the patina and the fact it brings useable joy!

Are there any updates for this? The world needs more minis like this one!!!

Liking it

Cheers

Alan

YES! a man who uses's his mini properly!

I drove mine like i stole it even on drum brakes before the restoration begain.

even drove it around the farm i worked on at the time with no doors, boot, windows, bonnet, bright work lights just a bucket seat, speed and steering wheel was dead fun!

now its sulking in my garden awaiting welding and block to be rebuilt