Description
Nut & Bolt restoration
This early 1275 Cooper S was first registered in August 1964 by Gilbert & Son in Lincoln with the registration XVL 24 that it still wears today. The BMI Heritage certificate shows that the car was originally tartan red with a black roof and red, gold & grey interior. The original buff log book lists 8 owners up until the mid-70s and there is a photo of the car in its history file from this period wearing a white roof, flared arches and large spotlights, apparently when used by 'Jumping' Jeff Williamson for road rallies. By the early 1980s the cars then owner sent it to a well-known Mini specialist for a rebuild. The car was stripped, the shell repaired with new sections of metal and then primed for paint. At this point the then owner lost interest/ budget and in lieu of payment left the disassembled car with the garage who put it into storage where it remained until the closure of the business some 30 years later.
It was around this time that the retired specialist, a friend of mine, agreed to sell me this project that he had been sat on for over 30 years. Although technically retired he agreed to undertake the rebuild himself and did so over the next 2-3 years. My plan was to restore it with a nod to the 1964 Monte Carlo winning car including some rally upgrades to make the car both authentic and useable for modern roads.
The shell was shot blasted to remove some light surface rust that had accumulated in storage before being repainted in its original colour of tartan red but with an old English white roof and the correctly positioned number panels painted on the doors. The underside of the car was painted with ‘Raptor’ tartan red paint for extra durability. The cars original 1275cc engine had already been over-bored to 1310cc and was stripped and rebuilt with the cylinder head going to Swiftune to work their magic. Numerous other Swiftune parts were used including an ATB Quaife differential, SW5 camshaft and duplex kit, electronic distributor and ARP head studs and con rod bolts. The result is a lively and road-friendly engine with excellent torque and power.
All running gear and suspension was built up from a combination of reconditioned original parts and new parts from Minispares with enhancements including quick-rack steering and Bilstein dampers for the dry suspension system. The new red and gold brocade interior was supplied by Newton Commercial and fitted by a local trimmer along with the correct headlining and red carpets. The dash binnacle chosen was from Nippy Cars and includes the rev-counter protrusion and is fitted with an accurate Smiths electronic period look speedo. The gearbox was also rebuilt to original specification of an A series 3 syncro with the new parts required coming from Guessworks. The wheels chosen were the off-white ‘steel-look’ alloys from Minisport and fitted with period style Blockley tyres.
The car has been fully fettled and setup so that it drives and handles superbly. The ‘rally upgrades’ include twin fuel tanks, a heated front and rear screen, dash panel with map light and rally tripmeter plus a pair of Smiths stopwatches. This car is perfect for general road use, tours or historic road rallying. The new V5 recently issued by the DVLA shows the correct date of first registration being 04/ 08/ 1964 and a ‘Historic’ taxation class.
The paintwork on the car is very presentable but as a bit of a perfectionist with cars I would have to say that the bonnet and roof are less than a perfect finish and if you wanted the car to ‘show standard’ I would say these need re-painting but as a car to use and enjoy it is perfectly fine.
The extensive restoration folder includes photos of the job in progress and a complete list of works carried out, parts fitted and associated invoices.
