How To Mini Deluxe Set: Prepare Historic Racing Mini, Power Tune Minis On Small Budget, & Works Minis In Detail

Ever since its launch in 1959 the original Mini has been a stalwart of the motor racing scene. Even today, there is a bewildering array of formulae that it can compete in. This book explains how to prepare a historic mini to the original pre-1966 Appendix K standard, which provides the racer with the largest choice of national and international events to compete in. Contents include regulations and safety; sourcing a suitable car; every aspect of preparation including body, engine, transmission, electrics and ancillaries; setting up and race preparation and testing and racing.

Features

• Updated & revised edition of a best-selling SpeedPro series book

• Now in color!

• How to improve MIni performance using ‘bolt-on’ interchangeable standard parts from various BLMC/Rover models

• Maximum road performance for minimum money

• The author is an engineer with much professional experience of building race engines

• Suitable for the enthusiast as well as the more experienced mechanic

• All the information is based on practical experience

Description

Practical and clear information aimed at Mini owners who want to improve their car s performance without spending a huge amount of money. The modifications described relate to simply bolting-on the appropriate mix of (mainly standard) parts, then tuning the engine to the specifications given. Includes advice on gear ratios and uprating brakes.

This book shows you how to improve MIni performance using ‘bolt-on' interchangeable standard parts from various BLMC/Rover models, and how to gain maximum road performance for minimum money. Des Hammill is an engineer with much professional experience of building race engines, and author of many of Veloce’s best-selling SpeedPro manuals; all of the information contained within these pages is based on hands-on practical experience.

The works Minis had a long and distinguished competition history between 1959 and 1970, when British Leyland bosses closed the Abingdon Competition Department. The car started its competition career chasing class awards with the diminutive 850cc Mini, but once race car designer John Cooper persuaded BMC that they should build a hot version, the Mini Cooper was born and things moved up a gear.

With the introduction of the Mini Cooper S, the car soon became a world beater. Winning the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally in the hands of Paddy Hopkirk was a watershed moment which the Abingdon team repeated three times. During that 11-year period, 77 works Minis were built, competing in more than 300 events, most of them international rallies. The 1969 season, when the works Minis went racing, is also covered, along with the rallycross events.

Works Minis in Detail covers each one of those 77 cars which, in their distinctive red and white paintwork, were a force be reckoned with wherever they competed. Build details of every car are provided, drawn from factory build sheets, with information also on when cars were reshelled and identities swapped. The details of the events entered and the drivers are the result of analysing hundreds of contemporary race and rally reports.

The result is the most in-depth study of the works Minis ever published, made possible by years of research by Robert Young, a lifelong Mini enthusiast. As the Mini Cooper Register’s ex-works registrar, club chairman and for many years archivist, he is well placed to write with authority. A proud owner himself, he has intimate knowledge of the little red cars.