Research development and production of new and alternative products for the ‘A’ Series goes on unabated at Mini Spares Centre, London.  Not only in the never ending quest for more power from the evergreen engine, but also in the components around it to usefully and reliably transmit that power to “terra-firma”.

The past 12 months has seen Mini Spares involved in much research and development in the gearbox department, trying to solve reliability, quality and power transmission problems.

Current standard baulk rings produced in sintered metal are not man enough to deal with the demands of performance usage, in many instances only lasting one race before failure.  The main reason is the incompatibility of the material specification with the usage to which it is being put.  Basically it is too brittle.  Mini Spares competition baulk ring is cast in a very high quality, high tensile manganese bronze alloy, then finish machined by hand to give an exact fit on the baulk ring cone.  The provides an exceptionally strong, wear resistant ring and no failures have yet been experienced.

The next component that came under scrutiny was the diff pin – an item that causes frequent distress amongst those with powerful road cars, autotesters and all manner of racing where a standard diff has to be used.  BL changed the pin a few times over the years, but this apparently made little difference, especially to the modified market.

An in-depth study over a couple of months analysed the contributing factors to the horrendous wear rates and failures, enabling Mini Spares to produce a new generation pin that would all but eradicate the aforementioned problems.  Production tolerances are tied down to exacting specifications, material type is upgraded, and heat-treatment is added.  Planet wheel contact area is increased as is the core strength of the pin.  This combined with the finer finish ground surface, gives a very tough and hard wearing component.