Q&A

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Email: mw.ed@kelsey.co.uk Post: MiniWorld Q&A, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent, ME18 6AL, UK

Tim Mundy has worked on Minis since the age of 13. In the 1990s he worked for Oselli Engineering and has been writing for MiniWorld for 26 years. He has owned more than 20 Minis and built two from scratch.

Problems with your Mini? Tim Mundy helps you get them sorted...

4.5” -wide reverse rim wheels, pictured, look good on drum-braked Minis but 4.5” Cooper S steel rims are ideal if you have Cooper S front discs and rear spacer drums.

Reverse rims

I own a 1982 998cc Mini which is currently fitted with 12” steel wheels and front discs from a later Mini. I would like to go back to 10” wheels but I don’t want to go for standardwidth steels. My choice is to go for 4.5x10 reverse rims as I like the deeper dish over 3.5” wheels. Out of interest why are they called ‘reverse rims?’

It seems though that these wheels are no longer available new and the only option is a second-hand set. The problem I am finding is that most of the wheels I have seen advertised are in very poor condition, some not even useable, and they are not cheap either. Do you know if these wheels are ever likely to be reproduced?

John McFarlane Reverse rim wheels (4.5x10”) do look good as they create a more purposeful stance and also provide a Cooper S look. They are, however, intended to be fitted to Minis with drum brakes or Cooper 997/8 with 7” discs. Both of these OE brake set-ups result in a narrower track than either the Cooper S, 1275GT or Minis with later 8.4” front disc brakes. They are called ‘reverse rims’ because they are Cooper S wheels with the centre fitted in to the rim the other way round so that the deeper dish is on the outboard side of the wheel rather than on the inside. This means that they will not protrude inwards or foul the inner rear arch, which is the case if S rims are fitted to standard, drum-braked Minis without spacers. You will have to convert your front 8.4” discs to S discs/calipers/ drive flanges to fit any 10” wheels. Your best bet really is to fit 4.5” reproduction S rims as these are very good. You will end up with the same track as 4.5” -wide reverse rims offer with drums and you will get even more of a Cooper S look. All 4.5” steel wheels mentioned here are designed to take 145x10 tyres although 165/70x10 can also be used. I actually prefer the look of the wider tyre. Reverse rim wheels have been out of production for many years and are only available second-hand. Many were used in competition or for very hard road use hence the poor condition of some of the remaining wheels. I think it unlikely that reverse rims will be reproduced as most people modifying Minis convert from drums or 7” front discs to 7.5” front discs.

A pod is available to mount an 80mm rev counter to the parcel shelf area in front of the driver on Minis with a central speedo.

Rev counter mounting

I have a 1975 Mini 1000 to which I have fitted a tuned 1275cc engine, rebuilt everything else and converted to S front discs. I am now making improvements to the interior and would like to fit a rev counter in front of the driver like many performance Minis featured back in the 1960s and 1970s. What is the best way to mount the rev counter? Should I buy a pod and fix it to the parcel shelf or is it better to make up a dash panel along the lines of the Works dash but smaller?

Luke Petersen

I would say that this very much depends upon whether you are planning to fit any more instruments in the future. You can, as you suggest, buy a mounting pod from Mini Spares or other specialists and this is a very neat method for just a rev counter. If you want a voltmeter, clock, oil temp gauge, etc. then making up a panel and covering it in black vinyl would be the best option. Nippy Cars produces a very neat oval centre binnacle with an offset extension for a rev counter.

Air filter change

I have just fitted a bolt-on K&N air filter to the HIF44 SU carb in my MG Metroengined Mini. Previously it had a carb Cooper standard airbox and filter. The instructions in the kit suggest altering the mixture using the adjuster on the carb but, despite doing this to the max, I cannot get the car to run right. The engine is standard apart from an LCB and improved exhaust system and was running fine with the original filter. Do I need to change the needle in the carb?

Jim French

By fitting the Freeflow bolt-on filter, and bearing in mind your LCB and exhaust system, you have basically tuned your Mini to Stage 1. Stage 1 kits for carb Minis always contain a replacement carb needle which needs to be fitted and then the engine needs to be set up, ideally on a Mini-friendly rolling road. I suggest you do invest in a rolling road tune as many Stage 1 kits need a different needle to the one supplied for optimum running but only a session on the rolling road will determine this. Some Stage 1 kits, and any similar tuning, will require a different SU carburettor needle. Mixture adjustment alone will not suffice.

VON RYAN’S EXPRESS

Von Ryan’s Express is, in this case, the title of a feature in Cars and Car Conversions mag in December 1974, as well as being the title of a well-known Frank Sinatra film in 1965. The car featured in CCC was a heavily-modified rally Mini built and driven by Pat Ryan, who later went on to be a Works rally driver for BL, driving Marinas, Allegros and Triumph Dolomites.

Pat’s Mini had the rear seat back removed and the rear of the shell was held together structurally by the rollcage. Underneath, at the rear, was a beam axle and coil-overs, while the front retained standard S dry suspension with Hi-Los fitted. Brakes were standard S front discs with Minifin rear drums. It also ran on 13” wheels which was unusual for a rally car in 1974. The 8-port engine was fuelled by twin Webers. It had a BL Super Sprint cam and was ‘approximately 1485cc’ . According to the feature this capacity was achieved by boring, rather than stroking.

It would be interesting to know how this was done and what pistons were used as, even with 74.7mm diameter Triumph 2.5 pistons, the highest capacity achievable with a standard stroke is 1426cc. The closest to 1485cc that could be achieved with any real degree of reliability would be to use 74mm pistons with the stroke increased from 81.3 to 86mm. The engine certainly worked, though; his Mini was extremely quick and had a 14-gallon tank mounted in the rear, which it would certainly have needed.

At the end of the feature it says that the project was being put up for sale as Pat did not have the funds to continue with it. Does anyone know what became of J279?

Dampers do not alter the ride height of a Mini with a rubber-cone suspension system. Only adjustments to the spring or trumpet length will achieve this.

Uneven ride

The ride height on the driver’s side of my 1980 Mini is around 1” lower than on the passenger side. We have fitted a set of new Spax shock absorbers, which needed doing anyway, but the problem remains. Could you point me in the right direction as to what to check or replace next?

Phil Braverman

The shock absorbers, correctly known as dampers, do not have any effect upon the ride height of the car and it is quite a common misconception that they do. A suspension height difference of around an inch between the sides at the front of a Mini, with the RHD driver’s side being lower, is actually quite common. It was a problem with many dry-suspended Minis from brand new and is extremely annoying. If it is a recentlydeveloped problem it could be down to wear, so try replacing the trumpet knuckle joint on the low side. If this makes little or no difference you may have a worn or damaged rubber spring. If the springs are all good then a set of correctly adjusted Hi-Los, or similar, is the best way to make sure that your Mini sits exactly level. It is well worth the investment. Surface rust on a Mini rear seat pan can be caused by water leaking into the cabin. Rust holes are usually due to corrosion forming underneath.

Wet seat

I have noticed that, under the rear seat bench of my 1970s Mini, there is considerable rusting and a few rust holes which will probably need welding repairs. In other areas there are small pools of water and a previous owner has put polythene under the seat cushion to prevent the water from being soaked up. I think the water is being splashed up from underneath, as it is quite dirty, but it also seems worse after the car has been standing in the rain. Is there a usual point of entry?

Colin Rawlins Unless the rust holes are very bad it is unlikely that the water is coming from underneath, especially as you say it is coming in when the Mini stands in rain. The water could be coming in through the boot so check for water at the back of the boot floor and then look at the rear windscreen seal all round and especially at the bottom in the middle by the join and check the boot lid seal. It is also worth checking the tightness of the boot lid fit. You also need to check the fuel filler neck seal and the rear side window seals.

Replacement of seals and/or dealing with any corrosion under them is going to be the cure.

Sometimes it helps to dry the affected interior areas thoroughly and have an assistant gently direct a hose at the suspect areas of the Mini, starting at the bottom and moving slowly upwards while you watch from inside. If, or when, water starts to come in you know that you have found the problem area. In the boot, use paper towel to catch the water and test a small area at a time before inspecting.

Any rust holes in the seat pan that are rearward of the heelboard will need welding repairs as they are close to the rear subframe mountings, which is a structural area.

RESTORATION CORNER

When changing gearboxes, it is very important to set the idler gear clearance carefully.

Idler problems

I have a 1275-engined Mini which I have owned for many years and driven for well over 100,000 miles. Recently the gearbox became noisy and was crashing when changing gears; downwards into second in particular. A new gearbox was sourced and fitted by a friend and the gearchange crashing and noise have disappeared. A rattle has now appeared at the clutch end of the engine and is particularly noticeable at idle and immediately when revving gently from idle. Do you think it is likely to be the transfer gears? If so, if the flywheel and housing are removed, is it possible to replace the idler with the engine in-situ?

Rob Harris difficult to be absolutely sure but transfer gears are the most likely culprit from that end of the power unit. If any different gears, bearings or casings are being fitted, it is necessary to set up the primary gear and idler gear carefully to the correct tolerances so check to see if this was done. Even fitting a new flywheel housing gasket can change the clearance as different makes of gasket are different thicknesses. The end float is measured with feeler gauges and should be 0.0035” to 0.0065” for the primary gear and 0.003” to 0.008” for the idler gear with the gasket fitted.

Adjustment is carried out by fitting different-sized shims until the measurements are correct. It is not possible to do this with the engine in situ as the engine needs to be removed from the gearbox to access the idler gear.