35 replies to this topic

[leroy26]

just wonering, as folks say its life or death that your mini goes on a rolling road at some point, specially if got a stage one, but noone had rollin roads in the 60s/70s/80s specially at the many motorsport events the mini did, so what happened? did they blow, run rough?

discuss!...

[scrog]

My time was the 80's and we did.nt need a rolling road to set up a mini. we used to do it by eye and ear and trial and error. Performance parts were sorce'd from scrap yard's old 1300's allegro's metro's mg's were best for parts. And we had some quick quick road going minis

[ANON]

when do you think rolling roads were invented??

Edited by ANON, 11 November 2012 - 09:29 AM.

[scrog]

no idea

[Tamworthbay]

They ran rough, we used to fit all sorts of stuff with no idea of how to adjust it properly. Just a matter of turning the adjustment screws until in ran as well as possible. There was always someone who would say this needle or that needle but whether they knew what they were talking about........ The only thing I managed to break seriously was the diff which could have been due to my over enthusiastic exit from Leicester uni car park on more than one occasion. I had 1inch wheel spacers (scary) and saw more than one car with spacers doubled up for the uptra wide look. That was the late 80s / early 90s and there was no Internet to get info from and a GOOD mini was a few hundred quid and a rough one £25 from the local scrappy for spares.

[mini-luke]

Dyno's have been made commercially since the late 1800's by a company in Worcester, Froude Hofmann, so they have certainly been around to see the invention of the Mini

[mk3 Cooper S]

More skill level with the home mechanic / enthusiast. People actually used to read up on upgrades/modifications.
A fair bit was trial and error but the parts were dirt cheap if you got it wrong.

Rolling roads were available but not used by the masses.
People relyed on feel, sound, smell, plug colour etc

Basically there was a lot more knowledge by the home mechanic/enthusiast in the past

[jaydee]

Jack up the car, while one accelerates lightly pushing the brakes, the other is checking hte mixture with a colour tune or similar.
There was a write up from Vizard about doing this in the 70ies

[ANON]

when i was setting motors up i'd end up driving them with a mate in the passenger seat holding on to a co meter to keep an eye on things, worked quite well but was more like a driving road than a rolling road

[tom1]

You had to talk to people who had done something slimier in the past and try and go to the next level. I had a mate how worked for the local engine re manufacturer, we got in about 30 piston so we could see how they were made and the size so we could make a 1399cc engine.I think we had to turn down the top by 0.025" and it worked. The good old days.

[jd24-7]

My time was the 80's and we did.nt need a rolling road to set up a mini. we used to do it by eye and ear and trial and error. Performance parts were sorce'd from scrap yard's old 1300's allegro's metro's mg's were best for parts. And we had some quick quick road going minis

ditto
power limits were based on what you could find/fit under bonnet.
I think there was less hassle with vosa/dvla as well. Maybe less perceived hassle!
I put various allegro/metro/1100 parts in my mini. Disc brake setup £25, turbo setup with head £25, good engines £60
i also got a Mercedes v8 for my chevanne for £150!
Those days seem to be over now, just seen a turbo metro engine on ebay in for £600! Might sell mine and buy another vauxhall engine!
Ah well back to the net to to find some overpriced chineese spares!
Jd

[Old Bob]

The answer is that yes they did....... They stopped if it rained (and they leaked), tyres punctured, lights were dreadful, they boiled over or froze, they rattled, things fell off, fuses blew, suspensions failed (well, mine did) so nothing much has changed!

But, back in those days, there was far less traffic, the underpowered mini was more than capable of holding its own with most other cars - and it cornered better than any of them. So, we accepted the problems, learnt to carry basic spares and since most of us did our own maintenance, kept them going and 'improved' them to the best of our ability.

And then, just like for most people today, the limit to our 'improvements' was a financial one.......

Bob

[Shifty]

Hell yeah!!

I've blown up loads of engines, you kinda get a feel for when ones gonna go pop, there's a sweet spot where go really well just before they blow!!

"They always go better before they blow!!"

£25 later, job done!!

[Yoda]

Jack up the car, while one accelerates lightly pushing the brakes, the other is checking hte mixture with a colour tune or similar.
There was a write up from Vizard about doing this in the 70ies

Thats pretty much what a Dynomometer is! and thats exactly how i did it! still do sometimes.

Drive one side of the vehicle onto a ladder laying on the floor, strap that one side of the car to the ladder to prevent it from moving when applying the brakes ( Basic rules of differentials ) then load the engine with the brakes and colourtune, co meter etc. Never once blew an engine and i can say that all the methods of aquiring parts mentioned so far, I have done!

This was also the way a lot of garages did tuning way back then too.

There is something to be said about "Old school" engineering and i have to agree also, with the fact that most people these days rely too much on the internet to solve problems. My grandad taught me to "learn by my mistakes" and wow did i learn quickly.

Edited by Yoda, 11 November 2012 - 11:57 AM.

[leroy26]

so really a dyno tune aint as vital as its made out if you know what ya listenin too?