Pg6 - 5 SPEED GEARBOX Driving impressions Pg7 - MINI SPARES PROJECT MIN - Introducing our new star Read more
VALVE GUIDE MATERIAL ADVANCES More and more Mini owners are fitting modified, lead free cylinder heads to their cars. Due to this trend Mini Spares have investigated prolonging valve and guide life, as accelerated wear is the main problem when going this route. The problem is magnified when using modem performance cams with high lift, short duration profiles - particularly when used in conjunction with high lift rockers. Obviously using the Mini Spares roller tip rockers alleviates the problem quite considerably, but not for those running standard rocker gear. Read more
WHAT'S THE "DIFFERENCE? Following my first attempt to explain in 'English' what a limited slip differential (LSD) does Read more
EFl - THE CONTINUING SAGA It is some time since I reported on the electronic fuel injection and ignition system I have been developing for Mini Spares. Unfortunately I suffered a very stagnant period of too many months whilst a great deal of time was wasted by what I can only describe as the "holier than thou's" in the automotive electronics world. What a bunch of self-opinionated *ssh*l*s!! Far too many empty promises. Read more
Maximum Side-Draught Carburettor Potential For many years now, the steel-formed inlet manifolds - produced by a well known steel tube manifold fabrication company in England - have been accepted as THE performance manifolds for side draught carbs. This was mainly due to the extremely poor quality and terrible basic design of the alloy cast manifolds on the market. There were one or two that were deemed on a par with the steel ones - and were supposedly multi-funcitonal to use SU's also - but were more expensive and not particularly readily available. Read more
LIGHTENING STRIKES TWICE IN THE SAME PLACE As a follow-up to the introduction of our alloy roller-tip rocker, further attention was lavished upon the valve train. Although there has been a carbon-fibre push rod available for some time, it is in 5/16" diameter. This somewhat over-engineered size meant that awkward and time consuming alterations to cylinder block and head had to be carried out so that they can .be a) fitted and b) work without breakage caused by rubbing. Basically a good idea, but little consideration to fitment, and seemingly little R & D. The number of enquiries we have had about the use and fitment of carbon-fibre push rods ha~ been steadily increasing, however, sales wereWlimited because of fitting hassles. This prompted us into looking into just why 5/16" diameter rod was necessary, bearing in mind, the standard steel item is only 1/4". Carbon-fibre is much stronger, weight for weight than steel, so 5/16" diameter must have been chosen as the nearest size down that would actually fit, albeit needing modifications to its intended environmemt. Read more
Myk Cable might well have been accused of insider trading when the new 1994 Mini Miglia regs were accepted recently. Not only was he making the best of his position within the ranks of Mini racing by proposing them, he was also calling on fully 2 years worth of advanced testing of his new 1300cc engine spec which, even as we speak, is quietly blowing away Porsches and Lotus Elans for the second year running in the Spanish Historic Touring Car Championships. Read more
ALTERNATIVE ENGINE TUNING Forthcoming, and indeed existing, emission control regulations are making it more and more difficult for people to run modified engines on the road. Sometime ago, I said that I would be looking at alternative ways to make a more interesting road car to the normal route - bigger everything (pistons, carbs, cams, etc.). I must confess to being a supporter of milder states of tune for road use cars for sometime. Read more
8-PORT STEALS THE SHOW - Italian job jobbed Yorkshire's Richard Ollerenshaw hadn't really intended to spend a lot more than the original £100 he paid for his 1964 850 Morris Mini Saloon, but when it came to a choice between knocking together a shopping car for his girlfriend, or building an 8-ported, Amal throated, Renault 5 GT Turbo beating, Italian jobbing super Mini, .. the girlfriend lost one-nil. Read more
Mini Spares Project Min With so many new products being developed at Mini Spares, we decided - well actually, Keith Dodd decided - that instead of using staff cars, we should get ourselves a proper donor car for testing parts. Read more
Nov 1992 Minitech News Contents Read more
Historical Article - Nov 1992 - Graham Hill and Paddy Hopkirk These two very rare, and previously unpublished, photographs were taken at the 1966 RAC Rally. The driver of the top car is none other than Graham Hill – the ex Formula 1 World Champion, while the Cooper at the bottom is being driven by the more familiar figure of Paddy Hopkirk. Read more
A strange choice, you might think, for inclusion in Mini Tech News but, surprisingly the GTM has more Mini parts on it than the Elf! (because the Elf is nearly all space frame). Read more
In the November 1991 issue of Mini Tech News, we found ourselves with a half page to fill, and for no particular reason really, decided to throw a picture of our man Phil Oram’s recently departed Riley Elf racer... Read more
Once again the Mini spares entered 1000cc. Mini won the Rover Mini Challenge series for the Third time in 4 years driven by the brilliant and Dependable driver Myk Cable. To prove how Reliable and well tested our parts are, the runner Up this year was Bill Sollis, who also uses Mini Spares parts! Read more
For some time now, Mini Spares has been selling a positive water pump drive system – primarily designed for the race-car fraternity. The system used the ubiquitous “Gimhler” (or toothed) best method of drive at all times. It is also self-compensating for any slight misalignment of the pulleys as the crank pulley has guide rails, whilst the water pump pulley is extra deep. Read more
Having built one Cooper ‘S’ for Timo Makinen to use in Historic Rallying, in which he won two International Rallies, I decided to build another one with more power and less weight than the previous one.
One lesson I learnt the hard way building the first car, was that a reliable source of new parts with in-built quality, especially where obsolete parts were being remanufactured, was essential. Mini Spares of London... Read more
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