Here’s what we are working with:
The car is registered in California as a 1960 Austin Mini. It’s original badging was either an Austin Se7en or an Austin 850. The car was built in October of 1959 but first sold in January 1960. It has been switched over to the traditional position of right hand drive from the left.
Its running a 1275 smog head (SN:12G1316) with a 1275 engine block (SN:12H393M-(X)8068) from an ADO16. The remote shift transmission (SN: 22G1128) is a close ratio unit from a 1300GT with a 4 synchro manual shifter and a 3.1:1 final drive. This wasn’t originally a Mini gearbox because it has a remote shift sandwich plate. We will be removing the old rubber sandwich plate and making it a solid mount like that of the Cooper S models.
The intake system has been altered from a single HIF44 1.75″ carb to a Cooper S spec twin SU HS2 1.25″ carbs. We added pancake filters, M needles, red springs, brass dashpot dampers, stainless steel heat shields and some 5mm carb spacers. AKA, perfection.
As far as the engine pressure relief system goes, we added a red PCV valve which replaced the crank case breather. And as always, the valve cover cap is vented. Should be a good way to keep the pressure equalized.
The Exhaust got upgraded as well with a Magniflow freeflow header, a freeflow to single box straight pipe, and a RC40 single box exhaust to finish it off.
The engine got a few new trimmings too. We have a high torque starter, electronic points, Flamethrower ignition, Facet electronic fuel pump, and have the car converted from dynamo to alternator. Cooling wise we have a polished valve cover, two piece Cooper S radiator shroud, four blade metal radiator fan, and an aluminum radiator.
The brakes I cannot take much credit for. When we got the car it already came with 7.5″ Cooper S front disc brakes, 1″ Cooper S spacer rear drum brakes but we did install all new linkage and piping.
The suspension like the brakes came to us mostly setup the way I wanted. It has HiLo adjustable suspension with red coil springs, KYB shocks, and 10×5 100+ brand wheels. But we did add a complete set of polyurethane bushings to the entire car. I can’t wait to feel the difference that makes.
The interior has been completely redone to compensate for a flat dash with a passenger glove box, a center three cluster gauge pod (oil pressure, water temp and tachometer) and a Kenwood single deck stereo. The speedo/fuel gauge will be in front of the driver where the driver’s glove box would normally be. We added a 12 volt cigarette lighter to the list of interior goodies such as the floor mounted push button starter and the floor mounted Hi/Lo switch for the headlights. The car still has it’s original mk1 headliner (still fully framed) and the rare reclining mk2 seats with aluminum seat extensions so I actually fit behind the wheel. We got rid of the ghastly wink mirrors we bought it with and replaced it with an original style white mk1 rear view mirror.
The exterior has been the thing that has seen the most change. The wavy Austin mk1 grille and mustache have been replaced with the stamped mk1 Morris grill held on by brass grille buttons. To help get the car into the 21st century, we added plastic side mirrors and a black adjustable roof mounted antenna like those found on the late model Mini’s of the 1990’s. And no car is complete without a roof rack, so we added some Paddy Hopkirk roof bars. The car came with Lucas PL700 headlamps but I am tempted to add a set of iridium tinted halo headlamps to the front to add to the chromium look of the tow eyes and lug nuts. I found an awesome site that supplied me with Land Rover Defender front and rear lights for dirt cheap, so they will be replacing the old and tired mk1 lights that are too brittle to handle daily use. We added to the Cooper S look with twin vented fuel tanks with stainless steel filler caps. We also removed the “City” wheel arches along with the front and rear bumpers and their seams.
Oh, and did I mention we made the front end removable? No hinges at this time to make it a flip front, but we did make it have the capability later down the road. We managed to take the front end off in one piece so we have a solid metal outer shell with bracer bars installed to make up for the lost rigidity. It should make fiddling with the engine once we get it back on the road a little easier.
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