13 Jul
2011
13 Jul
'11
1:38 p.m.
> (here, the mini is sold by BMW and is a
very high price car. There are
On Wed, 13 Jul 2011, Tony Duell wrote:
Ah no, that;s the 'new' Mini. And if you
think that's areal mini, you
probably also think the the HP Officecalcs are real HP calculators....
The real mini, which first appeared in 1959 IIRC, is a somewhat smaller
car.
The REAL Mini, unlike the BMW MAXI-cooper, has 10" wheel rims with 145x10 to 165/70x10 tires (like the Honda N/Z 600s),
transverse engine over
transaxle, etc. They corner GREAT! With an aftermarket cam, 4 Weber carb
Odd feature.. The engine and transmission (wether manual or automatic)
use the _same_ oil. I am told the automatic was none-too-reliable, but
geting it to work at all using engine oil as the hydraulic fluid was an
achievement.
Also note that the radiator is alongside the engine in the original Mini.
Air comes in through the front grille, goes over the engine, then through
the radiator matrix and out under the wheel arch. Chanign the fan belt,
or even worse the bottom radiator hose, is 'fun'
-tony