So I have a bit of back tracking to do, as I mentioned in my initial post about what do you drive I bought this 1974 Mini 1000 in July last year and I only just feel ready to start talking about what it and I have been through so far.
When I bought it the restoration work on the body was stunning and there was a clean and pretty well running 1275 engine swap done. Very little had been done as far as suspension and the standard non-spacer drums where still fitted all round without a servo.
First things first I wanted this car as a track day, hill climb and weekend road Mini, so I got to work on the suspension and brake set up.
Suspension I went down the usual HiLo, Gaz shocks, adjustable lower arms / tie rods / rear camber brackets and poly bushes all round.
Wheels are 10x6 Minilites with Yoko A0008 tyres.
For the brakes I went with KaD 4 pots on 7.9 vented / grooved discs and Ferodo pads up front, Mini Sport Superfins for the rear and braided hoses all round. The guys at KaD are excellent by the way, I had some trouble fitting the 7.9 vented brakes to the hubs using the standard drive flanges, as advertised from KaD they should fit standard, but the disc fouled the hub and they sorted me out with which modified drive flanges would give the clearance. If anyone else with this set up has been able to get these to fit with original drive flanges I would be interested to hear. Check out the clearance;
and with a modified metro turbo vented drive flange, loads of room;
These brakes are great and I have decided not to go for a servo as it just doesn't need it.
Interior didn't need much doing as I wanted to keep the car looking right for its age, but a little more race ready. So black leather Cobra tubs, Smiths rev counter with custom mount, a KaD quick shifter and a beautiful Nardi wooden steering wheel.
So the engine, this might have to wait for another post as the story is as long as it took to finally get a working engine and I'm still in dispute with the first engine builder. Once that is settled then full details.
What I will say is the 1275 that was in the car when I bought it is now in pieces with a snapped crack (yes I did just say a snapped crank...) which destroyed the block, con rods and pistons. Luckily the recently worked on cylinder head and gearbox are still in tact and I will be putting them up for sale shortly.
Now onto the new new engine!
I needed things done quick and I took a leap and decided to trust a engine builder from Yorkshire who was selling re-built engines on Gumtree. I have to say so far after 700 miles apart from a small oil leak the engine has been spot on. Spec of the engine and the ancillary parts I put on during the swap
12G940 A+ big valve cylinder head
Minisport 1.5:1 alloy roller rockers
Copper head gasket
Mini 1275 A+ block overbored and honed to 73.5mm
Minispares black alloy rocker cover with chrome T-bars
Minispares 73.5mm evolution pistons
NGK spark plugs
Minispares Evolution002 cam
High capacity oil pump
High capacity water pump
Vernier adjustable duplex timing gears
Rebuilt gearbox with central oil pickup pipe
3.2 final drive differential
4-pin differential
Lightened and balanced heavy duty clutch verto and flywheel
HIF44 carb with K&N cone filter
Minispares heated inlet manifold
Maniflow 3-2-1 LCB exhaust manifold
Maniflow 1.75" single box centre exit exhaust
Aldon road/race distributor
Braided clutch hose
More images from the build to follow
Sorry for such a long initial post, but it has been a really hard time getting this far, now things are on the up and up I finally feel like sharing. Hope you enjoyed
Edited by Montmorency, 23 March 2017 - 10:50 PM.
Have you done any events with it yet?
