Minitim's Clubby - Blaze

[minitim]

I guess it's time to finally put pen to paper and share my Mini journey thus far.
 As with all things, there is a start, and the end only comes when we stop dreaming.

Here goes.

I bought the Clubby from my father in-law when they relocated down to Cape Town in 2005.
Many say that I had my eye on the Mini first, and then on their daugther, but this could never be proven!

Here she is as I got it. A very original 1982 Leylane Mini 1275E. All matching engine and bodywork numbers,
with most importantly up to date papers and fully roadworthy.





Unfortunately, as with all Mini owners, the more you tinker, surf the net and read Mini magazines, ones thoughts start to wander,
and new dreams are born. Every Mini has it's own character much like the owner, and as such the Mini is gradually brought into line
with the owners vision of their "Ultimate Mini". I too succumbed to this "addiction" and will share the transformation to date.

[Jared Mk3]

You really did have a good base to start with.

[Vinay-RS]

Wow, your clubby was really clean when you got it. Do you have a close up of the tag?

[minitim]

Can't agree more Jared!

The 1275 motor was getting a little long in the tooth, and soon I found myself contemplating having it reconditioned.
It's tough to decide what the engine spec should be, as there is always a trade off between cost, performance and longevity.
After many quotations and budget calculations, I opted to look for another motor which I could do up, while still having use of the Clubby.
This made the most sense, as I could then take my time sourcing parts and assembling, without feeling rushed to get the job done.

One thing always leads to another, and in no time I purchased an A+ 1275 Metro motor of 1989 vintage.
My initial thoughts were to strip, clean, new rings and bearings and off you go, but alas this was not the case, as I'm too cautious
and rather try and do it right the first time, than do it twice and spend double!

---

The advantage of the A+ motor for me were the following:
- Electronic Ignition
- HIF44 Carburettor
- Really Strong Block
- Bullet proof crank
- Large valve head
- Already sporty cam profile

The stripdown began in all earnest, and one can see that the motor was litteraly cut out with a blow torch from the car.
Side shafts, cables and pipes were simply cut through and the motor pulled.

[minitim]

With the strip down continuing, I had to give thought as to what spec the motor would be.

* +60 Pistons making it 1330. The bores were still good but I was after a little more displacement
* Ported and flowed head
* 544 camshaft
* Lightened Flywheel
* Balanced bottom end
* Centre main strap
* Central oil pick up
* Duplex Vernier Timing Kit
* Maniflow LCB
* Mini Spares HIF44 Inlet Manifold
* K&N Filter for HIF44

Quite a list, but as this was going to be a phases approach, I could spread the expenses.











Clearly the motor had stood for a while, but there was no turning back now!

[minitim]

Jumping a little ahead in time

The engine bay was not exactly in the condition that I wanted, and I thought that a good cleanup will be in order.

Some more removal of parts, plenty of photos taken to ensure all goes back the same place (as I was later to discover that quickly do a cleanup took 4 years!)





Being a one man show, it was at times a challenge to get things done as sometimes one pair of hands cannot get everywhere.
While hoisting the motor up, I had missed that the engine earth strap was still attached to the sub frame, and snapped it off completely!



Shortly after this pic was taken, I made another stupid mistake. On wheeling the engine into the garage, I took the corner too
sharp and the motor made a slow tumble out of the wheel barrow. The end result was a broken distributor cap, and fortunately nothing else!

[Colin]

Shortly after this pic was taken, I made another stupid mistake. On wheeling the engine into the garage, I took the corner too
sharp and the motor made a slow tumble out off the wheel barrow. The end result was a broken distributor cap, and fortunately nothing else!

I've got the same engine cradle you have 

[minitim]

Hehe Colin....we all have to use what we have 

---

With the engine out of the way, it was time to remove all items that would be in the way for painting









The subframe was also looking a little lost and bleak in colour, so this was also extracted and stripped down to component level

[Vinay-RS]

That engine bay looks so nice with a fresh coat of paint.

[minitim]

Sanding down areas where the paint was not solid and a little flakey. A time consuming exercise and went a lot further than the photo below depics



Some primer...



and then finally a fresh coat!

---

Subframe was given a thorough cleaning and brought back to a respectable state.

Perfect Framing, got a crazy dad!