Classic Minis - teach me.

APEowner said:

... Check out this video -> Link for some perspective and options.

Hah!  I was reading through this thread and looked at your link. Literally 5 minutes later, the same guy shows up with the Mini in the Netflix series I was watching, Fastest Car. 

If you have not seen the show, they basically put three street "sleeper" cars (some are very much not sleepers, but are fast street/drag cars), against a super car in a 1/4 mile drag.  There tends to be a lot of "story" about the drivers, which might be too much for some, but the races can be interesting.  I will not spoil the episode, but I will say, that car launches HARD!

really fun cars, the design is archaic, so if you want it to keep up with modern traffic and stop properly it's a lot of work. A B16 with a taller final drive totally transforms them into something usable, kits are available but it's quite an involved swap. 

Rust is the biggest problem,  

I remember building a cammed 1380cc one as a student [using a turbo block and crank, mg metro head with all of the Vizard porting tricks, still on drum brakes] and racing my friends 1600cc cavalier, the cavalier murdered it completely.

Turbo block and crank?

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Presumably from an MG Metro Turbo - that was a common-ish mod in the 90s in the UK, sometimes even dropping the whole Metro Turbo drivetrain into a Mini shell.

The A+ engine that went into the Metro is generally considered the best version of the A-Series and given that Metros (which were supposed to be the replacement for the Mini) weren't really that popular once they hit the used market, they made for cheap engine and gearbox donors.

I got a whole metro turbo engine for £10 once. i don't think the scrap man knew what he had

they came in these

they had better bearings, sodium cooled exhaust valves and improved MG metro head with bigger inlets [over the standard 940 head, but not as big as the original cooper 1275]

1275 engines were in a lot of cars at that time, Maestro, Marina, Allegro etc, all had some differences, but the 2nd hand scene was awash with mini spares  

I loved classic Minis. Obvious limitations, but ample helpings of fun.  

One of the most impressive Coopers I saw/heard was the ultra short stroke 970 cc engine with a downdraft head on it. He wouldn't admit to exactly how high he ran the engine but admitted above 8.000 rpm which was a lot in the good old days (today, SCCA style MGB engines can get up there). 

They used to hit the same rpm levels in engines like the 997 cc Ford and the 998 cc Imps

In reply to wspohn :

The engine in my Mini could rev to the moon and back.  I don't remember if it was a 970 or a 997, but it definitely had been worked by the previous owner in some way.  It was not really happy as a street car.  I honestly never found the top speed - I passed 90 (using a GPS speedometer) and there was still pedal left before it was on the floor. 90 MPH in a Mini is frightening. And loud AF.

About 20 years ago a high end classic car dealer was selling newish old minis that were some kind of rebody putting an older body/vin on a newer (classic/UK not BMW) that included fuel injection and a drivers air bag. They were beautiful and I still see one parked in my neighborhood. Not sure how they imported those but they did.