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[short_fat_hairy]

Hello Chaps,

I believe i know the answer, but i want to check the details first.

Was helping my son prepare his recent Mini purchase (1971 + Metro Turbo lump) for the MOT and i went to grease the front Ball Joints ..............except there weren't any Grease Nipples.

Previous owner indicated that Negative Camber lower arms had been fitted and this leads me to think that he fitted the complete Metro Upright set-up............hence no Grease Nipples ..............and the longer lower arms were fitted to push the wheel upright ...........am i correct ?? .............if so that would explain why the 7 x 13's clout the wheelarches as the Castor Angle is screwed-up as well !!!!

I've got a set of Mini Uprights i can swop everything over too, but where can i get the correct Caliper bolts ...........Mini's are 3/8"UNF (9.52mm) but the holes in the Metro 4 Pots are clearance for 10mm ...........somebody used to make Shouldered Caliper Bolts for this conversion ...............any ideas guys.

Need to get the car presentable for the Norfolk Mini Owners Show at Fakenham at the end of May, so any help or guidance would be appreciated.

Many Thanks


Short_Fat_Hairy

[Dan]

The bolts you are after are called ERA Turbo caliper bolts and are available from most of the bigger Mini specialists.

13 x 7" wheels will always hit the bodywork somewhere unless specific modifications have been made to accomodate them. The Sportspack cars used a reduced lock steering rack and trimmed the wings. There are collars available to slip under the steering gaitors that reduce the travel of the standard rack for use with large wheels.

Sounds like the car does indeed have Metro uprights, they really mess up the suspension geometry and changing back to Mini hubs would be a great plan since you have the parts.