Congratulations to Steve Wood - Raffle Mini Winner

Congratulations to Steve Wood who has won the 'Better Than New Mini'. Hope you have many pleasurable hours with your new car. A huge big thank you to Miss UK, Kirsty Rose, for her part in drawing the raffle and for lighting up Mini Spares on an otherwise dreary Monday

Steve Woods collects his NEW Classic Mini.

Congratulations to Steve Wood who won the Raffle for a "Better than NEW Classic Mini".

SUSPENSION - Basic set-up method

Time to arrange all those agonised over, carefully selected and applied suspension components to give of their best.

Suspension - Basic set-up method

part numbers: TOOL10, TOOL11, HILO, HILO-01

Time to arrange all those agonised over, carefully selected and applied suspension components to give of their best.

This is one of those subjects viewed as a ‘black art’, largely because of lack of understanding and confusion. The confusion part is because folk encompass the whole suspension set-up deal with suspension arrangement and design, lack of understanding instilling terror at the thought of ‘fiddling’ with the suspension components. The latter also fuelled by the knowledge that expensive specialist measuring equipment is needed. Well, there is no black art – you can work the magic. More a case of a long day...

CAM TIMING - Basic Notes

To avoid lots of swearing and unnecessary damage, check the timing gears slide neatly onto their respective bosses. If tight, first check for any high spots in the gear bores and key-way slots. Clean out using with fine emery cloth, medium Wet 'n' Dry paper, or some such. Remove the Woodruff keys then dress the bosses using abrasive material as mentioned previously. Re-check fitment before re-fitting keys. Check the key-ways and keys too before re-fitting. Get rid of unwanted sticky-out bits on the keys that would inhibit a slide fit. Clean out the key-way and de-burr top edges. I always file a slight 'flat' across them to give plenty of clearance to the gear key slot. If the pulley is a slack fit on the key, turn it anticlockwise before nipping the bolt up. ALWAYS fit it like this. It's imperative to fit cam (and followers in the case of solid wall blocks) following manufacturers instructions precisely using a good quality cam lube.

Success for MiniSpares Rally team in Belgium

Round 7 of the 2004 MSA British Historic Rally Championship saw crews heading across the Channel for the only European round, The Tour of Flanders , based in Roeselare in Belgium, on Saturday and Sunday 10/11th September.

Dry weather and 14 closed public road stages challenged the crews over two days ,with the long straights and dangerous ditches favouring the quicker cars and the braver...

SU Carbs - The history

Practically every Mini owner can name the brilliant engineer responsible for our obsession. Many can name the man responsible for the rubber suspension spring.

A goodly number know a fair bit about the engine's heritage and the man who came up with the extremely efficient cylinder head design.They account for the biggest chunks of the Mini's anatomy. But what about that other extremely simple yet hugely effective instrument that features so prominently when engine tuning occurs - the SU carburetter? A limited few can tell you what 'SU' stands for, extremely few have any idea of its concept and evolution. So let's put that right… In the beginning Strangely enough, it all started way back with William Banks Skinner; one of the owners/directors of the well-known Lilly and Skinner footwear distributors.

14A7630–CHANNEL+14A7631

Vertical rear moulding for the Estate and Traveller rear side windows.

14.4375” or 367mm With the double row channel grooves facing upwards. This is a side view elevation. This channel will require the ends to be cut exactly as above to the original angle of 20 degrees and the correct length as shown which ensures the best fitment. As the material is not the easiest to cut cleanly it is recommended that a new hacksaw blade or good quality snips are used and the channel grooves are packed with wood splints. Alternatively, you can use your old original sample as a template. 14A7631 – FRONT VERTICAL MOULDING HAS SQUARE ENDS, 340MM LONG Alternatively, use your old original sample as a template

03.04.10, Cadwell Park Race Report by Keith Calver

Getting the car ready for the first race was not quite the last minute flurry of panicked activity it usually is. Largely because the re-fit and re-furb were kept to a minimum following complete strip re-build plans shot to pieces by tradesmen being somewhat hard to pin down to get very necessary domestic work done.

Most importantly the doors and windows in the garage. The special concertina type front doors have been falling slowly decaying over the past few years....

GS130273 Internal Bonnet Release Kit

The cable bracket is made to fit universally and will replace the original bracket as tacked in on the latest Minis. The funny looking tag, which points to the heater, is used on later cars to hold a relay and the single bolthole faces the front. This bracket should be fitted about 3" back from the lower padded rail of the parcel shelf and 5-6" from the R/H door seal. Ensure the choice of bolt holes in the cable bracket lines up with metal on the parcel shelf as latest vehicles have gaps (visible from underneath) and the plastic cloth of the parcel shelf would tear.

14A7630, 14A7631 - Fitting Instructions.

Vertical rear moulding for the Estate and Traveller rear side windows.

With the double row channel grooves facing upwards. This is a side view elevation.

This channel will require the ends to be cut exactly as above to the original angle of 20 degrees and the correct length as shown which ensures the best fitment. As the material is not the easiest to cut cleanly it is recommended that a new hacksaw blade or good quality snips are used and the channel grooves are packed with wood splints. Alternatively, you can use your old original sample as a template.

Mini Spares crew come 3rd overall in Poppy Rally

Congratulation to Peter Horsburgh and Anthony Preston for coming 3rd overall in the Poppy Rally 2015.

Historical Article - March 1992 - Cabrioni

Warm weather is just around the corner in Britain, so along with winter draws, the roofs will soon be coming off cars all over the country.

Of all the soft top Minis that we have seen, there is none more stunning than the Cabrioni. This conversion, from the Netherlands based company is of the highest standards of quality and workmanship. It is only offered for sale in Europe and Japan at the moment...

Historical Article - March 1992 - Cabrioni

Warm weather is just around the corner in Britain, so along with winter draws, the roofs will soon be coming off cars all over the country.

Of all the soft top Minis that we have seen, there is none more stunning than the Cabrioni. This conversion, from the Netherlands based company is of the highest standards of quality and workmanship. It is only offered for sale in Europe and Japan at the moment...

Historical Article-August 1994-Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy My first visit to Mini Spares must have been over 12 years ago and while buying the usual go faster bits, I enquired about a Saturday job. A very lean and handsome Keith Calver could only offer me full time employment. I declined and subsequently have spent a small fortune over the years and drunk far too many pints of beer with K.C.

Historical Article-August 1994-Steady Eddy

Steady Eddy My first visit to Mini Spares must have been over 12 years ago and while buying the usual go faster bits, I enquired about a Saturday job. A very lean and handsome Keith Calver could only offer me full time employment. I declined and subsequently have spent a small fortune over the years and drunk far too many pints of beer with K.C.

Injection - Tuning up-date Mar. 2003

Late again - I know. But there were pressing problems and I wanted to clear something up about another company's claims I alluded to in my last up-date.

 
Previous article in this series:
Injection Tuning - Basic Information (5/02)
Injection Cars - Tuning Update (12/02)

The very astute of you will also have noticed I've dropped the 'cars' from the title/header - simply because this is applying more....