There is a 64 Cooper S on Bring A Trailer (https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1964-austin-cooper-s-2/) from the good people at Mini City in Rochester NY that says it has a matching key for both doors and ignition.   It made me curious, although I only have one car to judge things by.

I suspect they're closing shop, sad for me to see as when I bought my '63 Cooper in 1992 it came with a Mini City catalog.   2 months later I was in the USVI and was outside the shop in Christenstead where Laurie was checking out swimsuits chatting with her father in law about Minis as he was wearing a Mini City t-shirt.   Laurie sent Grover Mauer to me when he was building his car in 1996 as a local Mini owner to help with his build.

It's a small world.

Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy
Too many toys, not enough room.... soon

I'm just curious for those with what they think are original (kind of original?) Mk1 Minis....  My '63 Cooper has an "FS" door key and an "FP" ignition key.    Was that a standard split of key types, or was it more random for door vs ignition?


Thanks,

Jim
McKinney
'63 Awesome Cooper

Or am I starting a new group of MOT?   I finally found work in Abilene with Taylor Electric Coop, planning their fiber to the home initiative.   


Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy
Formerly McKinney.. eventually

The weather this year was very nice...  a few degrees cooler would have been better.   This year the parking seemed a bit chaotic, with various marques mixed and mixed again.   There was a nice display of 4 classic Minis, then further down the row in a group of VWs was another classic Mini and a Bugeye.   Hmmmm.

It's a charity show and all for fun, still it made it harder to find people I know who aren't exclusively Mini owners.

My son has gone from "your cars are old and I don't want to ride in them" to "maybe if you fix one up and add some things to get crowd appeal we can bring it next year."  Not sure what constitutes crowd appeal to a 9 year old, but Pokemon and Lego Ninjago stickers are out.

It was nice to finally meet Paul and see his Matchbox, a very nice looking 1991 Mini in red.   We are overdue for a brunch meeting in the DFW area, anyone interested?

Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy
Almost Oklahoma

Your engine (or parts of it) were built by Swiftune.  That's where we're suggesting you point your questions.

https://swiftune.com/

Cheers,

Jim
It's not hard to drive me crazy as it's such a short trip

I wish I were closer.  Can you give the basic config of what you have?   And is it runs rough at idle or runs rough on the road after driving for a while?

Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy
Almost Oklahoma

I wonder if you could contact Swiftune with the engine # and ask if they have details of the build.  Also, just wondered where your car came from.

Thanks,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy

Hi Dan,

I am running BP5s in my street car and BP7s in the race Mini (1275S, 11:1 compression, Weber side draft) and that worked well.   NGKs get cooler as the number goes up.   

I'm guessing you're on the west side of McKinney, I'm on the east side outside the city limits.


Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy

Figured I'd start a new thread on this show 

I'm hoping to bring something this year after many years of just spectating.   Just wondered how many other MOT members are planning to be there.

And does MOT still have a  banner?


Thanks,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy
Triumphs and MGs and Minis, oh my!

Yeah, I wish I'd been in a position to grab more of Grahams bits and pieces when he closed his shop.   He is a true gentleman in the LBC business.

In 1995 he met me at TWS with the Cooper S axle shaft I needed to get the car on track, and we spent the drivers meeting time installing the axle.  Later in the weekend he met me in pit row to check tire temps, he questioned what I was using on my street spec A008Gs in 13" rims.   Some racers look down on Autocross, but you do learn how to read tires and set pressures.   Good enough that I got a Healey 3000 driver to wave me by. 

Cheers,

Jim
Almost Oklahoma, for now



 

John,

Let me discuss the idea of a road trip to the family.   Any a/x events coming up in your neck of the woods?

The 1098 is a stroked 998, same bore.   Yeah, thing like piston height/dish need to factored in.   I've been told there are people who've stretched them into the low 1200cc range with some creative parts swaps.  They were used in Minis in the late 70s.According to one source:

1098cc  64.58 X  83.72mm   

45bhp @ 5250rpm   56lb ft @ 2700rpm    1975-80: Mini Clubman
48bhp @ 5100rpm    60lb ft @ 2500rpm   1979-80: Mini 1100 Special

Then again, even Vizard lists the 12A185 cylinder head as the "original" S head.   I've got 2 of them, they are definitely small bore, and 9 stud.


Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Mini Me
almost Oklahoma

Back in 1992 when I bought my '63 Cooper 997 and realized that the engine was tired I started looking for possible replacements.   At that time the choices seemed to be a 998 or 1275.  Since the costs to machine and the parts prices are similar, the 1275 was the no-brainer replacement, when 1275s were reasonably priced.   Seems I missed that era by my usual 2 months... most people with any form of 1275 treat them like they're solid gold.

In my searches since I've had trouble finding 998s and 1275, but 1098s have followed me home like lost puppies.   One is even a factory replacement engine, no one I found could decode the tag completely.

It didn't make much sense 20 years ago to build one up, but it's looking more attractive now.    The last 1275 I found had a $2500 price tag, used and not guaranteed.    That's more than what the parts/machining for a street engine cost a few years ago.

Just wondered if anyone in the group has suggestions and pitfalls that Vizard neglected in TBASE.

Cheers,

Jim
McKinney
Too many projects, not enough cents.

It was a 1990 Surf Blue Japanese car with a/c on BringATrailer.    In NJ of all places.


Cheers,

Jim

Brad,

Nice clean looking Mini.   Good luck on selling it, I wish I could make a real offer right now.

I think I'm being nudged to work on the Cooper, this is the second Surf Blue car I've seen for sale in the past 2 weeks.   


Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy
Almost Oklahoma

Well, it was another SA drive by at 2 am, so we didn't wake you up.   The trip went ok for the most part, except for a fuel pump failure in the Expedition.  A local shop replaced it at a reasonable price but it threw off our schedule.   See, it's not only Minis that have issues.

Just curious if anyone in the group has applied for the SENTRI program for speeding through customs?   According to the Customs website it was supposed to be only a 2 hour wait last night, it turned into a 3 hour wait

Several interesting Minis on BAT this week.


Cheers,

Jim, Diana and Jimmy