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My Mini

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I decided to do one last classic rebuild project.

Steve Trott 1966 South African Van

After 25 years I sold my body shop business in 2002 and vowed never to work on cars again. My fi rst car, in 1969, was a Mini and I always had a soft spot for them so I decided to do just one more so, in 2015, I purchased a 1966 Mini Van online, without viewing it. It was imported from South Africa, having been exported as CKD. As soon as I collected it I knew I had some work ahead but it was not too daunting.

First job was to get it ready to pass an MOT so I could get it registered with DVLA for an age-related registration. Then the painstaking job of stripping it began. There were eight coats of paint: white, red, green and then its original Dove Grey.

I fabricated an A-frame so it could be mounted and rotated. The smoothroofed Van bodyshell, complete with vent, was relatively sound but was well worn, with some damage, so new panels were fi tted including fl oor sections

I fitted reclining front seats from a MINI One.

including sills, seat crossmember, rear valance and corners, a door skin, rear doors, bonnet, front panel, an A-panel and the right lower body side panel, which was badly damaged. All new panels were from M-Machine, who made the front panel with a solid grille, and all their panels fi tted extremely well.

Remarkably, the wings and the rest of the body, including left-hand A-panel and bulkhead, are all original, as are both subframes. The load fl oor area needed many hours of painstaking work to straighten and, using a Miracle Puller, eventually turned out well. The right B-post was also damaged so it was cut out, straightened and refi tted as a new panel was not available. The body was then prepped and dents removed.

The bare-metal body was coated in 90% zinc primer, then the fl oors inside and out, plus inner wheel arches, were sprayed with U-Pol Raptor which I would recommend as it gave a really good protective coating before priming and painting the whole body with 2K direct gloss Dove Grey [GR26] paint.

Both subframes were stripped and sand-blasted. The rear had one pinhole, which was welded, and the front needed a small repair. They were rebuilt with new suspension and brake components and new pipework fi tted. The front brakes were replaced with 7.5” discs with a Cooper S master cylinder. Cooper S 4.5” rims were fi tted to keep them within the body line as I didn’t want arches.

The engine is from a South African 1275 GTS. It was stripped, re-bored and rebuilt with new components by Derek at Hilltop Performance Trucks. The main blocks for these engines were originally cast and built in South Africa using a pattern from a Cooper S. This engine has the oil fi lter on the left, mounted vertically for easy access. A new water pump, radiator and hoses were also fi tted.

A rod-change remote gearbox was cleaned and found to be OK. It needed a new casting where the linkage attaches. New gaskets and seals were fi tted.

The carburettor is a 1½” ISO, common on Datsuns in South Africa. It is very similar to an SU and works really well. I even found a brand new spare one at Beaulieu. A Mini Sport performance exhaust with a three-branch manifold is fi tted so it all performs well. The petrol tank was sand-blasted and painted and new fuel lines were fi tted. I chose an Autosparks wiring loom together with electronic ignition, so I don’t have to access points behind that Van grille.

A centre binnacle with speedo, oil pressure and temperature gauges was fi tted. Brackets were fabricated for the crossmember to fi t reclining seats from a MINI One. Inertia seat belts are also fi tted. The headlining and door cards were made by Adrian, at Axminster Upholstery, and the fl oor area was carpeted. The rear inner side panels were insulated and lined with millboard and the load fl oor was fi tted with chequerplate rubber to protect it and reduce road noise.

The Van came without a heater, as BMC felt it wasn't needed in South Africa, so I bought a Mk1 Mini heater, stripped, refurbished and fi tted it with correct ducting and vents.

Although slightly modifi ed, as most Minis are, the Van performs well with the bigger engine and stops well with the disc brakes.

The Van came to me with black door mirrors. SA is stamped on the inner wing. I made an A-frame for easy access. The body repairs were fairly straightforward as I have lots of experience.

The BMC South Africa engines are different to UK ones.