9 replies to this topic

[mardaveboy]

hi im a newby i have a mini clubman 1976 that im going to do up in my own way,a guy reckons that it may be older than 1976 and now its bugging me is there any tell tale signs to guess its age,it has push pump window washer and the fuse box is on the inner wing.my mates has a fuse box on the bulkhead and an electric washer,any clues cjs

[Sir Cheat]

Pictures please of engine bay/boot and inside and outside...

[Turbo Nick]

single or twin bolt front subframe?

[boffster]

single or twin bolt front subframe?

Don't forget the single (later) or double (earlier) handbrake cables

[The_Mistro]

What pedals does it have? in 1976 they changed the pedals

where abouts in Evesham are you?

[huntface]

I once wandered into a local mini specialist and said "I need X for my '77 clubman."

"Oh dear well..that could be a number of parts. Bit of a dodgy period around then".

Mines a 77 and has single line brakes, which I believe it shouldn't have

[ibrooks]

Generally the changeover period is "pre '76" and "post '76". There were a few things that changed areound this time.

Subframes changed from solid mounted with 2 tower bolts to rubber mounted with a single tower bolt.
The gutters lost the drip rails along the sides.
The fusebox changed from a 2 fuse item to the 4 fuse one and moved from the inner wing to the bulkhead.
The reversing lights appeared.
The rocker switches changed along with the panel they are mounted in.
The column changed - you got two switches instead of one and the ignition switch went from below the column to above it.
The handbrake chnged from two identical cables to a single cable from side to side with a smaller one running from the handle to the equaliser.
Single to twin circuit brakes with the balance valve moving from the rear subframe to the bulkhead.
Pedals got bigger and sort of diamond shaped rather than square.

No doubt other things that I've missed. You also need to bear in mind that they didn't simply stop using the old stuff and start using the new stuff - they kept going until a particular parts bin was empty and the replacement was the new stuff so where there aren't dependancies on other changes you can find all sorts of combinations on cars made around that period. You can also find cars that were made for example late '75 with early features but for one reason or another they weren't sold and registered until maybe early '77 so you get a '77 car that's an earlier spec.

It sounds like the OP's car has "pre '76" features but as the man in the motor factors says it's an iffy period and you could find all sorts of stuff fitted to a car made around that period.

Then of course there is also "previous owner syndrome" - any car of that age has had a few owners and whilst the first ones might have cherished it there will likely have been some to whom it is simply an old car and they would have fitted any parts they could get hold of cheap whether they were historcally correct or not would be a secondary concern to whether they were cheap and worked. Then of course there could have been owners who loved the car and wanted to make it better with maybe later parts.

Iain

[Jacko-lah]

Stock control and FIFO were never strong points in the britsh car industry. Massive stocks of obsolete parts, replaced by parts they didn't have, from suppliers who took the *******. So doubtless lots of build concessions to keep things moving in the factory. Anytime a part changes, but there's a degree of interchangability, you can expect there not to be a clear cut off date.

[mk1leg]

Your wiper motor cover will have the date on it or your boot lock latch will have the date stamped on it.............

[mardaveboy]

well thanks for all your help ill look into it tomorro and perhaps take som pictures