My 1991 Mini Special
Discussion
Well what has the Mini been up to recently?
If there's one thing a Mini needs it's more shiny bits.
Perfectly fine though the black plastic mirrors are, These chrome ones look nicer, and they look like better quality than the 70's style 'Tex' mirrors. On they went.
Then there's the obligatory small-version-of-big-car that French law requires you to have on your dashboard at classic car shows. Surprisingly hard to find black model Minis. This had a white roof, so it got resprayed.
Also my FFVE certificate arrived, meaning I could get a Carte Grise de Collection - or a historic registration certificate. With this I am allowed to have black and silver number plates, and only need an inspection every 5 years.
The plates look so good on a black car!
There were a few issues that I wanted to fix. I had only ever received hot air out of the driver's side vent. Upon investigation I found that the pipe leading to it had been cut halfway along the wing and was just getting warm air from the radiator. The grille scoop for it was also missing. These items are no longer available in the UK, but I found the scoop on a French site, and ordered some equivalent pipe from Rimmer bros in the UK.
God, it really is that good underneath!
And with the new hose, I now have fresh air on both sides of the car.
I did a few more tweaks, adjusting the bonnet fit, reseating a badly fitted rear light unit, and fixing the interior light wiring which had been connected backwards, and then I went to park it in a field with some other cars.
And with all that done I went off to Japan...
If there's one thing a Mini needs it's more shiny bits.
Perfectly fine though the black plastic mirrors are, These chrome ones look nicer, and they look like better quality than the 70's style 'Tex' mirrors. On they went.
Then there's the obligatory small-version-of-big-car that French law requires you to have on your dashboard at classic car shows. Surprisingly hard to find black model Minis. This had a white roof, so it got resprayed.
Also my FFVE certificate arrived, meaning I could get a Carte Grise de Collection - or a historic registration certificate. With this I am allowed to have black and silver number plates, and only need an inspection every 5 years.
The plates look so good on a black car!
There were a few issues that I wanted to fix. I had only ever received hot air out of the driver's side vent. Upon investigation I found that the pipe leading to it had been cut halfway along the wing and was just getting warm air from the radiator. The grille scoop for it was also missing. These items are no longer available in the UK, but I found the scoop on a French site, and ordered some equivalent pipe from Rimmer bros in the UK.
God, it really is that good underneath!
And with the new hose, I now have fresh air on both sides of the car.
I did a few more tweaks, adjusting the bonnet fit, reseating a badly fitted rear light unit, and fixing the interior light wiring which had been connected backwards, and then I went to park it in a field with some other cars.
And with all that done I went off to Japan...
Anyone who knows Minis will know that Japan has its own Mini scene, with its own style. It's no exaggeration to say that without the huge demand from the Japanese market the Mini would have been killed off in the mid-late 1980s. The Japanese market also has some really cool accessory bits that are just not available elsewhere. And usually they are of much higher quality than anything on offer in Europe.
By a quirk of fate shortly after getting the Mini my wife was booked as a speaker at a conference in Tokyo. With flights and hotels partly paid for we flew off for an amazing couple of weeks around Japan.
We saw this lovely backdated 90's car in Naoshima:
As we were in Japan it would have been rude not to take advantage of the situation and not buy Mini bits, so one day we went car shopping.
On an unassuming side street in a suburb of Osaka you encounter a surprising thing: A British phone box. Getting closer you see a very stripy Paul Smith Mini parked next to it.
![](https://thumbsnap.com/sc/Mq867BdP.jpg[/img]</a> <a href="https://thumbsnap.com/b6b7gNUT" Target="_blank" rel="nofollow">[img]https://thumbsnap.com/sc/b6b7gNUT.jpg)
This is the premises of Mini Delta. They had some very tasty stuff in their workshop:
There was nobody around, and it all looked a bit closed apart from the workshop door, but we were very brave, and armed with Google Translate, we ventured inside, followed voices to an office and with a cheery 'Konnichiwa" we asked if they would sell us some Mini parts. Turns out that yes, they were very happy to do so. Totally lovely people, like everyone we met in Japan.
Here's the parts haul:
Look at the difference in quality between the British Leyland (I think XJ6 or MGB) part and the Japanese part!
And here's everything fitted to the car:
By a quirk of fate shortly after getting the Mini my wife was booked as a speaker at a conference in Tokyo. With flights and hotels partly paid for we flew off for an amazing couple of weeks around Japan.
We saw this lovely backdated 90's car in Naoshima:
As we were in Japan it would have been rude not to take advantage of the situation and not buy Mini bits, so one day we went car shopping.
On an unassuming side street in a suburb of Osaka you encounter a surprising thing: A British phone box. Getting closer you see a very stripy Paul Smith Mini parked next to it.
This is the premises of Mini Delta. They had some very tasty stuff in their workshop:
There was nobody around, and it all looked a bit closed apart from the workshop door, but we were very brave, and armed with Google Translate, we ventured inside, followed voices to an office and with a cheery 'Konnichiwa" we asked if they would sell us some Mini parts. Turns out that yes, they were very happy to do so. Totally lovely people, like everyone we met in Japan.
Here's the parts haul:
Look at the difference in quality between the British Leyland (I think XJ6 or MGB) part and the Japanese part!
And here's everything fitted to the car:
Small update. A local village has a new café opening (well, new people are reopening an old one) and one of my friends lives in the village and organised a classic car/motorbike gathering there to generate some trade and publicity for them.
The café owner's daughter was totally besotted with the Mini and declared it the car of her dreams. A journalist was there from Charente Libre and my car made the paper. Happy days!
The café owner's daughter was totally besotted with the Mini and declared it the car of her dreams. A journalist was there from Charente Libre and my car made the paper. Happy days!
Not too many weeks can go by without me wanting to buy more things for my Mini.
The look I am going for with the interior, is to backdate and upgrade it slightly. I don't want it look like an older Mini inside, exactly. I've never liked the central instruments, for example, but I've also no love for the dreadful wooden dashboards that Rover stuck in later ones. Basically I want slightly less of the 80s/90s grey plastic and more of a classic look, with a bit more style. Bit by bit I will get it the way I want.
I've already gone down that road with the sun visors, door furniture and the ferrari-style gearknob, so I ordered some leather trim from eBay, and a wooden steering wheel.
Mini people usually fit a British wheel but I absolutely hate the visible screws and huge centre of the Mountney, Moto Lita etc stuff. So I went for a Nardi. Oh my, it's nice.
The leather trims for the gearstick and handbrake are really nice quality and I think they significantly lift the appearance of those parts.
One last thing is that I've never really liked the winged bonnet badge the car has, nor the crap 'Not a Rover' shield that would have been original to the car.
To me Minis should have circular badges. The only times they actually did were the Mk2, the Paul Smith, and the 40th anniversary. Mk2 Austin badges are unavailable, but the 40th can still be had, and looks kind of similar. So I bought one.
The look I am going for with the interior, is to backdate and upgrade it slightly. I don't want it look like an older Mini inside, exactly. I've never liked the central instruments, for example, but I've also no love for the dreadful wooden dashboards that Rover stuck in later ones. Basically I want slightly less of the 80s/90s grey plastic and more of a classic look, with a bit more style. Bit by bit I will get it the way I want.
I've already gone down that road with the sun visors, door furniture and the ferrari-style gearknob, so I ordered some leather trim from eBay, and a wooden steering wheel.
Mini people usually fit a British wheel but I absolutely hate the visible screws and huge centre of the Mountney, Moto Lita etc stuff. So I went for a Nardi. Oh my, it's nice.
The leather trims for the gearstick and handbrake are really nice quality and I think they significantly lift the appearance of those parts.
One last thing is that I've never really liked the winged bonnet badge the car has, nor the crap 'Not a Rover' shield that would have been original to the car.
To me Minis should have circular badges. The only times they actually did were the Mk2, the Paul Smith, and the 40th anniversary. Mk2 Austin badges are unavailable, but the 40th can still be had, and looks kind of similar. So I bought one.
Bobupndown said:
Not a fan of the steering wheel, to me a leather 3 spoke Motolita is the business.
And centre clocks, what's not to like?
Not to my taste. Can't be doing with all those visible screws or the large centre circle.And centre clocks, what's not to like?
Centre clocks are in the wrong place. Also, a new stereo will be going there.
carinaman said:
Nice steering wheel and screwdriver.
Which Chateau was the car show at?
Thanks.Which Chateau was the car show at?
The chateau was Chateau de la Mercerie https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C3%A2teau_de_la_M...
We left things with the dashboard removed.
The reason I did this was because I had ordered some leather to glue over the top of the grey vinyl dash pads. The grey (officially Granite) vinyl was very late 80's and also full of holes where things had been screwed to it.
From this:
and this:
to this:
At the same time I decided to spray the grey plastic instrument binnacle and steering column cowl with some satin black 'relooking' paint, as they call it here (the sort that can go onto plastic, glass, whatever, basically). The quality of the end result was amazing. Never thought a rattle can could do such a nice job:
So with that all done I had to refit it all to the car today, and return it to driving condition. Boy, that lower dash roll is an absolute pig to get into place, and the switch panel was a total pain in the arse, but I got it in, and I didn't f
k it up!
You can see the bike tyre lever on the floor. Surprisingly useful to persuade the switch panel into place.
So we're up to date. I think the end result looks much better. Smells nice too.
The reason I did this was because I had ordered some leather to glue over the top of the grey vinyl dash pads. The grey (officially Granite) vinyl was very late 80's and also full of holes where things had been screwed to it.
From this:
and this:
to this:
At the same time I decided to spray the grey plastic instrument binnacle and steering column cowl with some satin black 'relooking' paint, as they call it here (the sort that can go onto plastic, glass, whatever, basically). The quality of the end result was amazing. Never thought a rattle can could do such a nice job:
So with that all done I had to refit it all to the car today, and return it to driving condition. Boy, that lower dash roll is an absolute pig to get into place, and the switch panel was a total pain in the arse, but I got it in, and I didn't f
k it up!You can see the bike tyre lever on the floor. Surprisingly useful to persuade the switch panel into place.
So we're up to date. I think the end result looks much better. Smells nice too.
Sebastian Tombs said:
Not too many weeks can go by without me wanting to buy more things for my Mini.
The look I am going for with the interior, is to backdate and upgrade it slightly. I don't want it look like an older Mini inside, exactly. I've never liked the central instruments, for example, but I've also no love for the dreadful wooden dashboards that Rover stuck in later ones. Basically I want slightly less of the 80s/90s grey plastic and more of a classic look, with a bit more style. Bit by bit I will get it the way I want.
I've already gone down that road with the sun visors, door furniture and the ferrari-style gearknob, so I ordered some leather trim from eBay, and a wooden steering wheel.
Mini people usually fit a British wheel but I absolutely hate the visible screws and huge centre of the Mountney, Moto Lita etc stuff. So I went for a Nardi. Oh my, it's nice.
The leather trims for the gearstick and handbrake are really nice quality and I think they significantly lift the appearance of those parts.
One last thing is that I've never really liked the winged bonnet badge the car has, nor the crap 'Not a Rover' shield that would have been original to the car.
To me Minis should have circular badges. The only times they actually did were the Mk2, the Paul Smith, and the 40th anniversary. Mk2 Austin badges are unavailable, but the 40th can still be had, and looks kind of similar. So I bought one.
In late 2016 I bought a 1994 Japanese export Mini Mayfair 1275 Auto from an importer based near Reading which came with a Nardi wheel, air-con, sat-nav (in Japanese, naturally), black painted wooden dashboard with centre clocks conversion, 5''x100' Mk3 Cosmic alloys (early '70s) and various other extras. The shell was totally rot free and was ripe for a Wood & Pickett style makeover, but I sold it to buy something else. I did however keep the Cosmics and the Nardi Steering wheel which are now on my '68 Mk2 Cooper S The look I am going for with the interior, is to backdate and upgrade it slightly. I don't want it look like an older Mini inside, exactly. I've never liked the central instruments, for example, but I've also no love for the dreadful wooden dashboards that Rover stuck in later ones. Basically I want slightly less of the 80s/90s grey plastic and more of a classic look, with a bit more style. Bit by bit I will get it the way I want.
I've already gone down that road with the sun visors, door furniture and the ferrari-style gearknob, so I ordered some leather trim from eBay, and a wooden steering wheel.
Mini people usually fit a British wheel but I absolutely hate the visible screws and huge centre of the Mountney, Moto Lita etc stuff. So I went for a Nardi. Oh my, it's nice.
The leather trims for the gearstick and handbrake are really nice quality and I think they significantly lift the appearance of those parts.
One last thing is that I've never really liked the winged bonnet badge the car has, nor the crap 'Not a Rover' shield that would have been original to the car.
To me Minis should have circular badges. The only times they actually did were the Mk2, the Paul Smith, and the 40th anniversary. Mk2 Austin badges are unavailable, but the 40th can still be had, and looks kind of similar. So I bought one.
Edited by P5BNij on Friday 3rd November 20:12
Spring's finally here and we have booked a 120km classic car rally for the Mini. I decided it needed some upgrades before that. I also spent 7 weeks back in the UK with my Citroen C5 Tourer so bought some bits for it while I was there. For a few things it's definitely cheaper to buy in the UK if you can avoid postage.
The first thing is some additional driving lights for the front. While dipped beam is pretty decent, the main beams on the Lucas European 700 headlights are really quite st, even with halogen bulbs. I have run out of bullet connectors for the wiring loom so I haven't fitted them yet, but I did take the front bumper off to fit the brackets, which gave me a chance to straighten it out a bit.
Then I added a bit more pointless bling to the interior with some stainless vent covers.
I also bought a new stereo, so have fitted front and rear speakers. The fronts are Pioneer TS44 which I chose simply because they have the enclosures which allows them to sit perfectly, albeit sideways, on the front wheelarch panels.
I'm not expecting brilliant sound from these, but they are going to be paired with some Pioneer G670s in the rear which should improve matters.
The stereo itself is an Alpine double-DIN sized unit with touch screen and most importantly, CarPlay. If we are doing rallies we need navigation. It's only 60mm deep so I can fit it centrally, where stereos should live. As there is nowhere to put it, I've constructed a housing for it, out of 6mm ply, the old carpet, and some spare leather from the dash trimming kit.
Again, lack of bullet connectors prevents me fitting it just yet, but I've test fitted it and it looks really good.
I bought a really good quality wool carpet set from Coverdale in the UK, and fitted it, along with some thick insulation, to give us a decent chance of hearing the stereo above the noise. This was a six hour job, mostly adjusting, cutting, and trimming the carpet and underlay.
The first thing is some additional driving lights for the front. While dipped beam is pretty decent, the main beams on the Lucas European 700 headlights are really quite s
t, even with halogen bulbs. I have run out of bullet connectors for the wiring loom so I haven't fitted them yet, but I did take the front bumper off to fit the brackets, which gave me a chance to straighten it out a bit.Then I added a bit more pointless bling to the interior with some stainless vent covers.
I also bought a new stereo, so have fitted front and rear speakers. The fronts are Pioneer TS44 which I chose simply because they have the enclosures which allows them to sit perfectly, albeit sideways, on the front wheelarch panels.
I'm not expecting brilliant sound from these, but they are going to be paired with some Pioneer G670s in the rear which should improve matters.
The stereo itself is an Alpine double-DIN sized unit with touch screen and most importantly, CarPlay. If we are doing rallies we need navigation. It's only 60mm deep so I can fit it centrally, where stereos should live. As there is nowhere to put it, I've constructed a housing for it, out of 6mm ply, the old carpet, and some spare leather from the dash trimming kit.
Again, lack of bullet connectors prevents me fitting it just yet, but I've test fitted it and it looks really good.
I bought a really good quality wool carpet set from Coverdale in the UK, and fitted it, along with some thick insulation, to give us a decent chance of hearing the stereo above the noise. This was a six hour job, mostly adjusting, cutting, and trimming the carpet and underlay.
We're off tonight to a small classic car meetup. Last week we went to a larger one and there was some fun stuff there. We were the only Mini though.
Yesterday, after buying some more electrical connectors and some decent wire, I fitted the new stereo.
I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It sounds fantastic, and I have Apple CarPlay in my Mini. That sort of makes it the most modern car I own.
I also fitted the spotlights to the front, and wired them up.
I wasn't going to add spotlights, but the main beam is pretty poor, so it needs them really.
Yesterday, after buying some more electrical connectors and some decent wire, I fitted the new stereo.
I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It sounds fantastic, and I have Apple CarPlay in my Mini. That sort of makes it the most modern car I own.
I also fitted the spotlights to the front, and wired them up.
I wasn't going to add spotlights, but the main beam is pretty poor, so it needs them really.
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