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Two New Minis To The Forum - South African Mini 1000 And A Racing Green


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#1 NikOett

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Posted 19 January 2017 - 08:28 PM

Hello everyone. Wanted to introduce my two Minis to the forum. Here they are:

 

Attached File  IMG_0886_mod.jpg   94.59K   20 downloads

 

One is a 1989 Racing Green (the first generation without the alloy wheels but white hubcaps) - but as you can see there are some Minilites on as well as the Cooper grille, white door mirrors and a few non-standard crome brightworks bits. I've kept all the orginal bits so it can go back to pretty much orginal condition in the future - although that nimbus paint has faded a bit...! It was my first car back in 2001.

 

The other is a little bit unusal. It's a South African Mk1 Mini 1000 De Luxe, assembled out there in 1966 (registered as a 1969/70 'H' when it was imported to the UK). It was very kindly given to me by a relative when he moved overseas a number of years ago. It has a few interesting and unusual features compared to the British Minis of the time including the quarterlight front doors, two tone paintwork and the Mini 1000 on the bootlid:

 

Attached File  IMG_0893_mod.jpg   97.8K   27 downloads

 

Aside from the Cooper S wheels, grille and engine, it's pretty close to orginal condition. The orginal engine exists (although not the gearbox casing) but some of the interior has become lost or damaged over time.

 

I'm very keen on finding out more about this car, particulary if anyone has a similar South African version for some photographs since I'm keen to restore this back to it's complete original condition. This will be hard considering many of the parts were unique and locally produced so are different specifications to the British versions. Keen for the challenge though!

 

Pictures of the interior are particulary of interest, and the engine bay. The engine is painted in a maroon colour, rather than BMC green as I believe to be standard for South African Minis.

 

Would be great to hear from anyone with more information!



#2 Jared Mk3

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Posted 20 January 2017 - 11:25 AM

Lovely looking cars, especially that SA one. Have you got any pictures of the interior to post up? Interested to see if I can try and help you out. Pictures of the current engine and bay and original engine if possible too. Lastly, what is the body tag prefix and body number? Don't need chassis number, but actual body number.

#3 Vinay-RS

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Posted 20 January 2017 - 12:51 PM

Welcome to TMF :) Jared, I'll try and post some pictures of the '66 mk1 1000 from Ryno's book over the weekend. I think there were a few pictures in there of the original features on the SA spec Mk1s. 



#4 NikOett

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Posted 20 January 2017 - 03:32 PM

Great thanks! I have Ryno's book - it's currently my only source of information on the SA Minis - but a great source it is!

 

I'll put some photos up once I get home of the current engine bay and interior. The interior that is currently in there is a Newton Commercial Mk1 red version at the moment. I have some bits of the original rear seat. It's a maroon colour. The carpet is quite interesting as well - definitely something that was locally produced. Really thick and high quality maroon coloured as well.

 

I'm sure I saw a thread in the forum about a 66 Mk 1 that was found in near perfect condition that looked practically identical to my one (I can't seem to find it any more...). I'd be really interested in getting some images of the interior as well as the engine bay. I have all the the original engine parts (except the gearbox casing) but really would be interested in some images - particularly of the more unusual features such as the additional bottle/catch tank.

 

The body tags I have in the engine bay has the Cowley/Oxford bit on the top cut off which I think is usual for SA Minis?

 

Wondered if you had any good sources of SA original Mini parts, particularly the interior as there are a few orginal bits missing (on sun visor, door seals etc) over the years



#5 NikOett

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Posted 20 January 2017 - 04:07 PM

And sure enough, I've found the topic with the similar Mini in:

 

http://www.theminifo...original-paint/

 

It is a little different though, as it doesn't have the opening front quarter lights and wind down windows, the grille isn't the pressed Morris chrome type that I have (although not on the car) and the bumpers don't have the overriders. Maybe some of these changes came in in 1966, or it was a different specification?

 

In terms of the interior, this is a picture from Ryno's book:

 

Attached File  RynoInterior.jpg   54.97K   7 downloads

 

And here is a picture of the original rear seat (it was painted black many years ago) but it appears to match the style of the book picture, so I would imagine the front seats were the same on my one?

 

Attached File  PNK_RearSeat.jpg   36.51K   7 downloads

 

Over the weekend I'll put up some images of the other bits I have. Thanks!



#6 Itsaminithing

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Posted 20 January 2017 - 05:22 PM

You might find these links interesting....

 

http://mk1-forum.net...opic.php?t=9023

 

http://www.minicoope...w.MiniSA.co.uk/



#7 NikOett

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Posted 01 February 2017 - 05:05 PM

Thanks for the links and the info. Sorry for the wait. I've got a few more images of the Mini. Firstly the interior:

 

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Anything red is non-original (the seat covers, behind the dash, checkstraps and the carpet around the front wheelarches and the crossmember) and anything maroon is original - so the large 'mat' style front carpet and the door cards. Like the previous picture of the rear seat cover, I have some of the original interior but not all, and of which some ins in not great condition. It would be great if there are any contacts for SA Mini parts if any still exist. The original check straps were made of seat belt material, rather then the vinyl. Again, some of these would be great. The door seals are also non-original - the original ones were white and cloth covered, so different to the UK ones I think.

 

This is the current engine bay (with the non-original engine):

 

Attached File  IMG_0900_mod.jpg   78.04K   10 downloads

 

The original rocker cover is on the engine, but the rest of the engine is a Cooper type with the twin SUs (rather than the original single carb). As before, I have this, with the exception of the gearbox casing. The original engine block is behind a few things in the garage and currently hard to access but it is painted maroon and has the '1000' tag on the rear.

 

The plates are here:

 

Attached File  IMG_0901_mod.jpg   54.68K   12 downloads

 

With the Morris Cowley bit cut off as I think is common of SA Minis. If there is any further info with these numbers that would also be really useful.



#8 Jared Mk3

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Posted 04 February 2017 - 06:12 PM

A lot of the original SA-only parts are getting rather difficult to find, especially in good condition. I tried to have a look at the tags, but can't make out too much from them unfortunately . . .






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