12 replies to this topic

[Minor Man]

I have owned three Minis in total (One of which was my first car and I still own the car for which I part exchanged it 42 years ago) but now own an earlier Issigonis creation, namely a 1971 Minor Traveller.  There are some similarities in the layout of the front suspension links and the steering rack is in a similar place, perhaps the steering column not being at quite such an angle.  The box section, that runs above the steering rack, is also similar and has been injected with Waxoyl.

 

The first Minis borrowed the speedometer of the Minor and in turn, my Minor has added the oil pressure and water temperature gauges of the type that my first two Minis had (The last Mini was my only brand new car and sadly that lacked the oil pressure gauge).  Until the original Minor voltage stabilser failed, all worked well but the replacement stabilisers have all been short lived and in each case, lost the ability to reduce battery voltage, causing the gauges to over read.  I've been looking for information on testing the fuel and temperature gauges and their sensors and found Checking, Testing And Adjusting Smiths Fuel Gauges - Electrical - The Mini Forum .  Alas I can't view the images, in my region.  Can anyone help?

 

[Designer]

Hi,

 

Welcome to the forum. You will find plenty of expert knowledge, help and tips on here.

The first tip being to become a TMF+ member for the cost of £5 per year. This will enable you to get the 7 1/2% discount on orders at Minispares. Note you will have to register your TMF+ membership with them.

All you need to do is contact Simon@minispares on here via a private message and give him your details.

 

Due to the legislation to restrict access to unsuitable websites and the dark web by the younger generation, which I agree with, this has caused a lot of problems for genuine websites like this forum and many ohers.

To get round this you need to use a VPN (I use NordVPN) and set it to another country, I set it to the United States. This enables one to bypass the legislation that is imposed by by the UK and many other countries.

I am not sure if having a small number of postings as you are a new member adds any restrictions but I am sure somebody with more knowledge on that will step forward and enlighten you.

 

 

Paddy

Edited by Designer, 12 July 2026 - 04:48 AM.

[Minor Man]

Many thanks, I will look into that (I know someone who really is good with this kind of thing).  I should have added that my car has a Cooper S style inlet manifold (Made by Maniflow), as when Minors have twin carbs fitted, the Spridget type fouls the Minor exhaust manifold.  The car has a 1275cc engine, Ford Type 9  geabox and Quaife diff.

 

I am not in a position to have more cars but if I was, a 1275S would be high up the list (Above any Ferrari).  When I bought my second Mini (To save my first MG Midget, which I still have, from regular use), I was looking for a Clubman Estate but nothing suitable seemed available.  I ended up with another 1000 saloon, a one owner example, with 25000 miles.  It was applejack, which wouldn't be my first choice but it was a good car, that did the job asked of it.  I still have the OE steering wheel of my first Mini 1000.

 

My father had a 1959/60 Se7en, that had been fitted with some Downton goodies and it was only a year old.  It went very well, though the gearbox wasn't really up to it.  That was replaced by a new Countryman, in 1961 (My parents took it to France by air and I have a photo of it in the Le Mans pits) and my father fitted a Shorrock blower to it.  He had a Cooper JAP at the time and used the Countryman to tow it.  My mother also passed her test in the car and liked the power delivery of the supercharged engine.  My father had a Hornet and another Countryman after that, whilst when my mother had a car of her own, for the first time. it was a white Mk2 850 saloon.

[panky]

 Hi and welcome from another Minor traveller owner. Mine's not quite as modded as yours but it does have a 12g940 head off a '91 Cooper on the 1098, MG metro cam, alloy inlet manifold with an  1 1/2" SU and MG Midget exhaust manifold to name a few. The Riley 3.9 diff dulls the acceleration a bit but it goes quite well  

Edited by panky, 12 July 2026 - 12:55 PM.

[mab01uk]

As said above to view the photos you need to open the TMF thread below with a VPN.

Many Web browsers like Firefox, Opera, etc, now include a basic free VPN which if you switch it on and then set to a different country, outside the UK, will allow you to see the photos you require.

 

Checking, Testing And Adjusting Smiths Fuel Gauges:-

https://www.theminif...hs-fuel-gauges/

Edited by mab01uk, 12 July 2026 - 11:32 AM.

[Minor Man]

The person I mentioned, who runs a business offering e commerce platforms, put me on to a browser called Brave and that did the trick.  I have been able to make a word document, with all the images.

 

I'd like to add some pictures of my Minis to this thread, plus one of my father's Countryman in the Le Mans pits but I can't find a way to upload photos off my computer.

Edited by Minor Man, 13 July 2026 - 06:14 AM.

[Minor Man]

 Hi and welcome from another Minor traveller owner. Mine's not quite as modded as yours but it does have a 12g940 head off a '91 Cooper on the 1098, MG metro cam, alloy inlet manifold with an  1 1/2" SU and MG Midget exhaust manifold to name a few. The Riley 3.9 diff dulls the acceleration a bit but it goes quite well  

I recognise your name from Morris Minor forums, where I go under the name of Blaketon.

  

I have often pondered whether, if I owned a 1098 (Mine came to be as a 1275), I would go to the trouble of swapping engines, especially if the 1098 was in good order.  I reckon a 1098, with something like a Burgess Econotune head (That's what I have), twin HS2 and LCB would give 60 - 65 bhp and I think that would pull a 3.9 CWP.  My last Mini (City 998) had an Oselli inlet, with an HS4, K&N and LCB exhaust and it gave it a bit more go (I also fitted an oil cooler with thermostat).

 

Incidentally I though the Riley 1.5 ran a 3.7 CWP (It was later used in the MG Midget 1500, from 1976 or 77).  I know the 3.9 as the one used on later 1275 Sprites and Midgets.

Edited by Minor Man, 13 July 2026 - 08:37 AM.

[panky]

Yep sorry it is a 3.7, it probably would be better with a 3.9. I don't bother with the MMOC message board any more as the minority of keyboard warriors who think they are entitled to force their opinion on anyone who dares stray from the straight and narrow of originality spoiled it for me. I still visit the MorrisMinorOwners.co.uk but It's gone very quiet since it went over to Tapatalk. I can still get my A Series fix on here though   

[stuart bowes]

for uploading pics, its a pain to redo if you've already formatted something but I use https://imgbb.com/

 

have the pictures in a folder on your dekstop, drag and drop image(s) onto the page, don't pay or sign up for anything

 

chose the 'never delete' option and i think it's 'bulletin board full' in the other box,  it gives you links to copy and paste into a comment

 

sometimes it adds some advert code, you'll quickly learn to recognise and ignore that.  it'll be the bit that doesnt have a picture file name in it

 

write relevant text between the links after posting into the comment

 

you'll figure it out with a bit of trial and error.   the edit button is useful, just post and then edit afterwards to correct order / text position etc

Edited by stuart bowes, 13 July 2026 - 12:13 PM.

[Spider]

I've sorted the issue with the photos on the applicable FAQ thread, they now should be visible in the UK

 

Another down, many more to go !

[Minor Man]

Yep sorry it is a 3.7, it probably would be better with a 3.9. I don't bother with the MMOC message board any more as the minority of keyboard warriors who think they are entitled to force their opinion on anyone who dares stray from the straight and narrow of originality spoiled it for me. I still visit the MorrisMinorOwners.co.uk but It's gone very quiet since it went over to Tapatalk. I can still get my A Series fix on here though   

I know what you mean about some on the MMOC site.  One person got very uptight when I referred to the last style of Minor wheel as a Minor 1000 wheel.  Granted they were fitted to the late S2 but most people and suppliers call them Minor 1000 wheels, as opposed to MM (Some of which were fitted to early S2) or S2, both of which were prone to cracking.  I suspect many S2 were retrospectively fitted with 1000 wheels.

 

The other site hasn't benefitted from Tapatalk!!

[Minor Man]

for uploading pics, its a pain to redo if you've already formatted something but I use https://imgbb.com/

 

have the pictures in a folder on your dekstop, drag and drop image(s) onto the page, don't pay or sign up for anything

 

chose the 'never delete' option and i think it's 'bulletin board full' in the other box,  it gives you links to copy and paste into a comment

 

sometimes it adds some advert code, you'll quickly learn to recognise and ignore that.  it'll be the bit that doesnt have a picture file name in it

 

write relevant text between the links after posting into the comment

 

you'll figure it out with a bit of trial and error.   the edit button is useful, just post and then edit afterwards to correct order / text position etc

 

Thanks for that.  I had forgotten that I have an Instagram account.  It was one of those things where I needed to look at something on there and needed to be signed up.  Social media isn't my thing and there is so much of it now, you could spend your life, on various platforms, repeating yourself.

 

I now see there is an option below for me to upload directly......maybe others will like the ones I loaded to Instagram.

 

The Le Mans photo was taken in 1961 and shows my father's supercharged Countryman.  The tow bar is just visible and the car he used to trailer (Cooper Mk V111 JAP 1100) is also pictured at Prescott Hillclimb, in 1961.

 

The green Mini was my third car and second Mini and the white one was my only new car, which followed it.

 

Details and pictures of the Morris can be seen at At last, well more or less. - Practically Classics Forum .

 

I'd have liked to have kept my first car but it wasn't to be.  I still have my second car, for which the first Mini was part exchanged.  The owner was getting married and was selling his MG Midget to raise some money (Years later, I met the second owner of the car, who had sold it for the same reason but had promised himself another like it one day and he had kept his promise).  He allowed me £400 for the Mini, as he needed a runabout.  I attach a picture of the Midget but I hope nobody will stick pins in it!!  Since my father's passing, I have inherited his red 1275 Midget and his BGT V8 had been in my care for some time before that.

Attached Files

•  Mini at LeMans..JPG   64.54K   3 downloads
•  HAX 412W_15_2_1987.jpg   40.19K   4 downloads
•  D372 NAX_1987.jpg   56.27K   3 downloads
•  Cooper Mk8_JAP.jpg   86.19K   3 downloads
•  freebee.jpg   68.21K   2 downloads

Edited by Minor Man, 14 July 2026 - 11:08 PM.

[panky]

 

Yep sorry it is a 3.7, it probably would be better with a 3.9. I don't bother with the MMOC message board any more as the minority of keyboard warriors who think they are entitled to force their opinion on anyone who dares stray from the straight and narrow of originality spoiled it for me. I still visit the MorrisMinorOwners.co.uk but It's gone very quiet since it went over to Tapatalk. I can still get my A Series fix on here though   

I know what you mean about some on the MMOC site.  One person got very uptight when I referred to the last style of Minor wheel as a Minor 1000 wheel.  Granted they were fitted to the late S2 but most people and suppliers call them Minor 1000 wheels, as opposed to MM (Some of which were fitted to early S2) or S2, both of which were prone to cracking.  I suspect many S2 were retrospectively fitted with 1000 wheels.

 

The other site hasn't benefitted from Tapatalk!!

 

 

I've got a set of re-hooped 6 1/2'' J's that I was running for a while but the front ones started cracking around the stud holes. I guess they must be the early type centre.