907 replies to this topic

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

This is unreal!! You're so good at everything and your car is amazing! Good luck with future rallies! It's good to see them still being used for what they were best at!

[rally1380]

This is unreal!! You're so good at everything and your car is amazing! Good luck with future rallies! It's good to see them still being used for what they were best at!

Cheers bro, but there are many more projects on here that are alot more impressive. Having said that, this car will go through quite an evolution in the future so keep yer eyes peeled.

[Mini-Mad-Craig]

Projects like yours impress me most, to build a car like this and then take it out rallying putting it truly through its paces and putting it all on the line... that's an awesome show of dedication to a classic I think

[rally1380]

Projects like yours impress me most, to build a car like this and then take it out rallying putting it truly through its paces and putting it all on the line... that's an awesome show of dedication to a classic I think

Either that or stupidity!

When we arrived at scrutineering the guy just looked at me and said the car was too nice to rally....I just smiled and said it wasn't too nice to rally, but it is too nice to crash!

[iMurray]

Cracking car, good job man.

[Rob Jones]

Not an update as such but a shot of my father rallying back in the day! And show's that rallying is certainly in my blood....in fact until recently my hair was the same!

Hair + mustache = 70's. The Rally was run by Clwyd Vale MC and he seems to think it might have been called the Station Motor's rally (not 100% sure though) and this shot was taken at a ford near to 'World's End' near Llangollen in North Wales. It is a superb road that twists its way over from Minera to Trefor with various "oh SH*T" corners, yumps and drops!!! They still use it today, and i marshalled about 2 miles down the road from here on the Bryniau Clwyd rally a few weeks back.

The car, was bought (1971/72) brand new for £622 (think it was a 850) and suitably modified for rallying. The front arches are steel and edged with solid round bar and could be used to man handle the car back onto the road (not flimsy GRP then!), front wheels are 12" imp steelies with 10's out the back, the engine (1380) is the exact same one as in my clubman - although not same spec anymore as bits have been sold off or lost in the last 40 years! Debumpered at the front (probably after a crash on a previous event!) and liberal coats of red oxide applied to contrast the factory Teal Blue. Oh and a monster steel sumpguard because Alloy was too expensive!

Is your dads name Cliff by any chance?
The Station Motors Clwyd Rally started in Denbigh at a the garage called Station Motors, but I dont think its there anymore (its been a while since I have been to Denbigh town centre). I have navigated on the event in the early '80's.
When I first started off in motorsport, many moons ago, I marshalled and then later drove on many autotests and PCT's that Clwyd Vale MC ran, and your dad was always out in a Mini.!!

[domdee]

very jealous of your raod rallying! i want to do it but cant afford to run a seperate car!

[minisi35]

Ive always used m1144s and never got them to fade so they get my vote!

[rally1380]

Not an update as such but a shot of my father rallying back in the day! And show's that rallying is certainly in my blood....in fact until recently my hair was the same!

Hair + mustache = 70's. The Rally was run by Clwyd Vale MC and he seems to think it might have been called the Station Motor's rally (not 100% sure though) and this shot was taken at a ford near to 'World's End' near Llangollen in North Wales. It is a superb road that twists its way over from Minera to Trefor with various "oh SH*T" corners, yumps and drops!!! They still use it today, and i marshalled about 2 miles down the road from here on the Bryniau Clwyd rally a few weeks back.

The car, was bought (1971/72) brand new for £622 (think it was a 850) and suitably modified for rallying. The front arches are steel and edged with solid round bar and could be used to man handle the car back onto the road (not flimsy GRP then!), front wheels are 12" imp steelies with 10's out the back, the engine (1380) is the exact same one as in my clubman - although not same spec anymore as bits have been sold off or lost in the last 40 years! Debumpered at the front (probably after a crash on a previous event!) and liberal coats of red oxide applied to contrast the factory Teal Blue. Oh and a monster steel sumpguard because Alloy was too expensive!

Is your dads name Cliff by any chance?
The Station Motors Clwyd Rally started in Denbigh at a the garage called Station Motors, but I dont think its there anymore (its been a while since I have been to Denbigh town centre). I have navigated on the event in the early '80's.
When I first started off in motorsport, many moons ago, I marshalled and then later drove on many autotests and PCT's that Clwyd Vale MC ran, and your dad was always out in a Mini.!!

It is such a small world!!!!!.......Yes thats him. Then i arrived and motorsport took a bit of a back seat - although i do remember doing PCT's with him (mid 80's) when i was very small...in an orange metro, if that rings a bell? And then doing them in various company cars that he was given to use!!!!

He does reminise about the good old days doing PCT's and autotests in his mini's, but unfortunately i wasn't born when he was mini-ing. He was round here yesterday dropping off his old fly off handbrake and regaled me of a rally he did up in Lancashire (Bowland area) where his diff broke whilst going through a ford and causing a rally traffic jam because neither he or nav wanted to get wet pushing the car out. Eventually got towed to services by a photographer. He then said a fellow competitor in a twin cam Escort offered to tow him back home but they only had a small length of tow rope. He said he was that close to the back of the escort he could read the speedo and was cr&pping himself as they cruised past a police car at 90 on the M6!!!! Bet there are some awesome stories from rallying in the hey day's!

Explains my motorsport and mini's passion.

[rally1380]

very jealous of your raod rallying! i want to do it but cant afford to run a seperate car!

I don't actually run a seperate car....this is my one and only road worthy motor....all the others are either knackered, broken....or knackered and broken! (and rusty!!!)

Lots of people use their every day car as a road rally car...after all, that was the idea originally. If you really want to rally then give it a bash...just try not to crash or you'll be explaining to your boss why you arrived late on the bus to work!

[domdee]

I'd love to have the balls to go for it but i dont think our lass would approve......

new house to renovate a wedding to pay for, 60 miles round trip to work...... dont think i could afford to kit up a mini and have it reliable enough for work. i drive like an idiot all the time anyway so in rally conditions, i likely to be worse....

.....i can hear my self making up these excuses thinking shut up lol.....

I might see what 2013 brings.

[jaydee]

very jealous of your raod rallying! i want to do it but cant afford to run a seperate car!

I don't actually run a seperate car....this is my one and only road worthy motor....all the others are either knackered, broken....or knackered and broken! (and rusty!!!)

Lots of people use their every day car as a road rally car...after all, that was the idea originally. If you really want to rally then give it a bash...just try not to crash or you'll be explaining to your boss why you arrived late on the bus to work!

Due to circumstancies i'm the using the rally car as a daily too, guess what? the bini is broken...
i have to say using those cars as a daily runner is great for reliability improvement.
I downgraded the camshaft for something more road friendly though :)

[rally1380]

I'd love to have the balls to go for it but i dont think our lass would approve......

new house to renovate a wedding to pay for, 60 miles round trip to work...... dont think i could afford to kit up a mini and have it reliable enough for work. i drive like an idiot all the time anyway so in rally conditions, i likely to be worse....

.....i can hear my self making up these excuses thinking shut up lol.....

I might see what 2013 brings.

You could start very cheaply doing 12 car rallies. Not alot of modification needed (if any) and they give a feel for competition without the need for spending a fortune. Plus, you can solve the 'missus' issue by getting her to navigate for you. My wife nav's for me and really enjoy's it...in fact she wants to do some proper training so she can improve.......SH!T...that means i'll have to drive better! I honestly thought it would end up with us arguing but it was the opposite and we did well, so want to do more.

Have you thought about navigating for someone? that way it ain't your car that takes the hammering but you get into motorsport.

What ever you do, good luck and if you need any help or info there are loads of helpful people on here to aim questions at.

[keefr22]

Gonna echo what Rob Jones says above really. The events that i intend to have a go at are all ANWCC events and are North West based but all seem to be pre plot.

Keith - I'm sure you could get your clubby prepped for a road rally or two??? There was another one on the rally we just did and was very well prepped....felt a bit guilty beating it to be honest!!! especially as they had experience and we had none!

Really sorry, for some reason I stopped receiving notiifcations of your thread updates, & have only just caught up! Thanks for both you & Rob's replies on pre-plotting, I'd so lost track with road rallying after I stopped back in the dark ages, that I thought they only allowed plot & bash now, it's great to hear that events are still pre-plot!

As to getting our Clubby done for road events, at the moment we just need to get it back on the road! The exhaust has gone somewhere & it sounds ridiculous! We haven't had chance to look at it yet, were going to do so over the Christmas break, but my son managed to bend his jeep last week, so we have to fix that first. And that will dent the competition budget a bit, so it'll just be a couple of hillclimbs next year - hopefully! And to be honest it'll take a fair bit of work to get it prepared for road events - no door cards, carpet or rear seat for starters, & even when the exhaust isn't broken I very much doubt it would pass noise! Still, you never know in a couple of years, but I think he'd prefer single venue stages if he could afford them...

Your car is looking superb! I really like that harness bar that you fabricated, very neat work! And it's a great colour! I enjoyed your photo of your dad rallying. I've got some of myself from that era hidden away somewhere - but only driving escorts or an Avenger Tiger - I wasn't bright enough then to get a Mini...!!

Happy Christmas!!

Keith

[bikerjohn]

@keefr22 " it'll take a fair bit of work to get it prepared for road events - no door cards, carpet or rear seat for starters"
You have to leave all the interior in for road events with the current regs..