mini magazine article - pg 3

Words and photography by Zoe Harrison
published in mini magazine, June 2000

Mini Machine managed to straighten out the burnt area and treat it so it wouldn't rust, without having to replace the entire side of the car as Trevor had first feared. He has tried to keep as much of the original car as possible, so although the floorpans have been replaced, the transmission tunnel has not.

The Mini Cooper did need new front wings, sills, A-panels, and a new roofskin to get rid of the large sunroof fitted at some point by Mr Hunt. The plate containing the body number was spot-welded to the original slam panel, so the slam panel itself was cut out and stitched in to the new front end. Mini Machine also put in a MkIII S boot floor. "The metal is thicker than the later Rover floors, so that was better," Trevor explains. "Then all the correct holes were put into it."

Although Trevor originally wanted an Almond Green Cooper with a white roof, having traced so much of the car's history he decided to stick to the Old English White with a black roof paint scheme. Mini Machine used two-pack paint, which should help the car last for years.

All the exterior trim was missing when he bought the Cooper, so Trevor scoured autojumbles and car shows. "The particular bits you can't find are the chrome trim round the door and under the window, and the early headlight rims with the brass rivet on top," he remarks. "I ended up drilling out some later ones, sending them away for re-chroming and making up a brass rivet to put back in. Bit sad that, isn't it?" The front grille is a reproduction chrome piece, but the bumpers are stainless steel, after Trevor was unable to find chrome ones.

Since the Mini Cooper was finished in November 1999 it's covered only a few hundred miles, but soon it will be travelling several thousand in one hit. Trevor's work is taking him back to Canada with his wife, Mary, and the car is going with him.

"I'm going to get an enclosed trailer for it and a motorhome so we can travel down to shows in the States," he reveals. "I might even do a few autotests, but I want to go and have some fun with it."

Having gone to so much time and trouble to create such a nice S in the first place, Trevor's not planning on parting with for some time. "My daughter used to watch me ice race Minis years ago," he adds, "and I want to leave it to her when I'm gone." So perhaps this very nice little Cooper will continue with a largely unblemished record of ownership?

Thanks to: SW Crompton, blacksmith, for use of The Smithy at Thornton Hough, Wirral for our location.

mini magazine article - pg 2

Words and photography by Zoe Harrison
published in mini magazine, June 2000

Trevor himself has owned all manner of Minis in the past, both here in the UK, and over in Canada where he has lived for many years. "I used to race Minis on the ice over there," he reveals. "My first car was a Mini, and to me it's the only fun car you can have."

Getting this Mini Cooper into its present immaculate condition took 18 months of hard work. To begin with, although he'd been assured by the dealer that the car was complete, it was actually without an engine and gearbox.

"When I got there it was a case of well, there's an engine block over there, and choose one of those cranks from over there," he recalls. "What you don't get is all those little nuts and bolts."

Nevertheless, after numerous trips backwards and forwards, Trevor managed to obtain a reasonable 1275cc cylinder block, which he's bored out by .060 inches and fitted new pistons to suit. "Finding a standard block is very rare and expensive," he adds. The block also had to be drilled to take a modern four-bolt oil pump.

To this set-up, Trevor has fitted a Piper cam, which turned out to be a cheaper option than re-grinding the original. "I put a Duplex vernier timing chain on, because I wanted to dial the cam in properly, and roller rockers, because 1.3 roller rockers are exactly 1.3, where old S rockers are only approximate," he comments.

Trevor had the twin SU carbs restored by Burlen Fuel Systems, who also tracked down a fuel pump for him, and he's very impressed with the service. He's equally pleased with the new cylinder head from Racespec Engineering.

"What I was aiming for was to get the horsepower a little better than the original S," he declares. "The S was only 58-59 bhp at the wheels, and this was dyno'd at 64 bhp, so I did exactly what I wanted to do. I wanted to use the original 1.25 in carbs and if you go much over 65 bhp you're wasting your time because the engine can't breathe that fast with those carbs. I developed the engine to be compatible with that horsepower."

The gearbox and diff has all been rebuilt as well, although the first 'box Trevor had for the Mini went back because of a repair to the casing. He had initial teething trouble with the diff too, which had a slight oil leak. Trevor stripped the unit down again, and re-shimmed and re-sealed it to cure the problem.

Apart from this, the Mini Cooper was in very good condition mechanically. "When I took the subframe apart it even still had MOWOG stencilled onto it," he recalls. "Even the hydrolastic units were in pristine condition, still with the blue band on." Many of the bits such as the subframes and the twin fuel tanks were powdercoated to preserve them.

The body itself needed a lot of work to bring it up to scratch, much of which was carried out by Mini Machine in Darlington. Trevor was anxious that MkI Cooper details were retained. "On the 1967 S all the boot board brackets and the cross brace on the front were pop-riveted in rather than spot-welded, because the Mini was still being developed," he reports. "I've had it seam-sealed properly, which wasn't done when it was made, and Waxoyled it heavily in all the cavities you can't see."

By The Book

Only one previous on your logbook? Then researching your Mini's history should be a doddle.
Words and photography by Zoe Harrison
published in mini magazine, June 2000

These days people tend to change their cars on a regular basis, so finding a classic without a ream of names on the logbook is a pretty rare occurence. This was especially true for Trevor Vickery when he bought his Mk1 Mini Cooper S.

Despite the fact that the car was over 30 years old and had changed hands many times, the only officially recorded previous keeper was the first owner. When Trevor tried to track him down, he discovered to his amazement that the man still lived at the same address.

Trevor bought his car in a very rough state in 1998 after viewing various ready-restored examples. He had help choosing the right vehicle from a friend and fellow Mini enthusiast, Barry Long. "Barry said he knew of a genuine car in Sheffield, but it was in need of restoration," Trevor recalls. "I thought OK, sounds good, if I want it done properly, I'll do it myself."

The car in question turned out to be a 1967 Austin Mini Cooper, which had been taken off the road some time in the mid-'70s and not driven since. After contacting the first owner, Arthur Hunt, Trevor discovered more of the car's history.

It had been delivered to Mr Hunt by dealers Carey & Lambert of Southampton in March 1967, and their medallion still decorates the dashboard. Mr Hunt ran the Mini Cooper until he started having gearbox problems, then passed it onto his wife for shopping duty until it was finally laid up in the garage. Eventually, rather worse for wear by this time, the car was traded in against a replacement.

From there it passed through numerous sets of hands without being driven again. In the end, the Mini Cooper was involved in a workshop fire, allegedly part of an insurance scam. "The firemen came along and pushed the Mini outside, put the fire out, and the two guys who owned it went to prison for attempting to defraud the insurance company," Trevor explains. Fortunately, the Mini was rescued with just burn damage to the driver's side and went to the dealer, then on to Trevor.

Mini History - Pt. 3

British Leyland training video introducing the 1978 Mini Range. Presented by Raymond Baxter, for British Leyland car sales.



Part Two:


Highlighted "improvements" to the 1978 Mini line were: brown coach lines under the windows, a better grip-form on the emergency brake handle, a door-pocket with a snap, a pocket on the driver's side visor (for papers!) and a vanity mirror on the passenger's side visor.

Will the technological wonders of the Mini never cease?!

Mini History - Pt. 2

Before buying this car, I didn't realize there was such a thing as a Canadian Mini. Outside of the UK, Minis were produced in several countries (Spain, Australia, South Africa, Belgium, Portugal and New Zealand) but none in North America.

Minis were exported for sale in the US until 1967, when the safety regulations changed (thanks Ralph Nader) and there weren't enough US sales to justify the modifications necessary to comply with the new standards. However, the Canadian regulations were less strict which allowed British Leyland to continue exporting Minis, with minor alterations, to Canada until 1980.

There are several cosmetic differences in the Canadian Mini:

reflective side markers at the front and the back,

rubber bumpers mounted higher than the traditional chrome bumpers
(must withstand an 8km/hr hit with no damage to body),

and larger front indicator lights in the grille (instead of under it) to accomodate the higher bumper,
.
Apparently the Canadian Mini is considered pretty ugly (I disagree, personally I think the Clubman Minis are the ugliest) and most have been converted to more standard specs by replacing the rubber bumpers with chrome or stainless steel ones.

This makes my awesome Canadian Mini a bit of a rarity - which pleases me.