Project Leyland Mini Clubman
Simon Goldsworthy postpones a decision on the Mini’s bodywork that could really change the course of this project and concentrates on sorting out some small but potentially critical niggles.
We start work on improving our 1976 Leyland Mini Clubman automatic, with electrical fixes and a refurbished wheel.
Ihave some big and potentially expensive decisions to make regarding the bodywork and paint on this low-mileage and very original Mini Clubman, but we’ll make a start on addressing those issues next month. For now, there were a few little jobs that needed doing before it was ready for regular use, together with a bit of specialist help that would make it a more pleasant experience behind the wheel.
Before we get to the details of those jobs though, I received an email from reader Roger Sykes, who clearly knows a whole lot more about classic Minis than me and has shared some interesting thoughts on the car. Roger says: ‘ The Clubman certainly looks original, and I note the curse of the black underseal that everyone did back in the day, but which probably did more harm than good! I note it is a crossover Mini in the sense of having the nylon seats, but the Mk1 grille and steering wheel. I’m wondering if the marks on the steering wheel are indicative of the car possibly being fitted with hand controls in the past? Automatic Minis were a popular vehicle for this, many bring privately owned and not necessarily registered as disabled or motability vehicles. It’s an unusual colour combination as I’m sure that pale interior didn’t survive to the 1977 spec. Your Clubman was also the final year of the chrome ‘automatic’ script badge being fitted as it was deleted from all Minis in 1977, though a black plastic ‘automatic’ square type of font reappeared under the rear number plate when the range changed to just the City and HL.’ Thank you for that information, Roger!
OK, onwards and upwards. The first job was to adjust the inhibitor switch on the gearbox that stops the engine from starting unless the selector is in neutral, because you had to waggle the stick to find the sweet spot. I was a little surprised to find that this screwed into the back of the selector box, as I would have thought it would be simpler to operate if positioned
on the side so that it could be triggered by the gear stick as that went past. Being at the back of the R- N-1-2-3- D gate means that the plunger switch only has a very short section of travel between reverse and first when it will allow the starter to turn, which explains why it has to be spot on. I took the switch off the car and tested it on the bench using the resistance setting on my multimeter so I knew what tolerance I had to play with, and adjusting it carefully got things working properly again.
Moving on to the battery, this did not seem to be holding a charge properly as it had died once, and the engine was slow to turn despite having a healthy reading on the voltmeter. So I had the battery tested properly at the garage, and they confirmed that it was indeed breaking down under load. This battery was relatively narrow at 22cm x 13cm, which was not necessarily a problem, but it had been wedged into the battery box with two blocks of wood.
I checked on the forums and they reckoned that an 075 type battery was the biggest that would fit in the box of a classic Mini. Remembering that this is an automatic so there will be no push-starting should it go flat, I decided that in this case biggest would be best and got a Type 027/075 62AH battery with a stonking 540CCA and a four-year guarantee for a reasonable £45.90.
With the new battery in position, I had to figure out the clamping arrangement. Since this is not the original size of battery, I couldn’t just get the regular clamp and assume it would fit either the battery or under the millboard cover. However, I did have a cheap and cheerful generic clamp going spare. This was far too long for the Mini, but I cut everything to length so that there was no excess protrusion and ran a die down the J-posts to cut a new thread where it was needed. The next job was to sort out the earth cable, which was too long to sit comfortably under the battery cover. It had a screw- on clamp on the end which is not ideal as it can damage the wire strands of the cable, but in this case had the advantage that I could remove it, shorten the cable and then reattach it. I used a pipe cutter to get a neat end on the insulation, and that finally had everything held securely and neatly in place and tucked under the cover. Turning next to those reversing lights that had been fitted in the rear valence, I was surprised to find that they were genuine Unipart items – surprised, because they had been fitted so badly! The NS one had been secured to the rear valance with sheet metal screws, but one was a Philips head and the other was slotted. That sort of thing offends my sensibilities. Also, the cable to them had been wrapped several times round the rear subframe to shorten it, yet still hung down below the car. Hadn’t these people heard of cable ties and wire cutters? However, I did have a plan. Ultimately, I would like to get an inhibitor switch for the
gearbox that also incorporates a reversing light switch – I believe these were used on later cars, but I need to investigate if they are the same fitting and if they are available. However, I don’t really see the need for two reversing lights, so I found an old fog light in the garage, cleaned it up and fitted that in place of the offside reversing light. I think that having this fog light hanging below the bumper looks a little clunky and I’m unlikely to take the Mini out in the fog too often, but a plan is forming in my mind that suggests it won’t be on there for too long. And at least the wiring is now much neater. For the time being I also cleaned the glass from the nearside reversing light (what a transformation that made!) and refitted that without wiring it in. It is not needed for the MoT.
Talking of neatly wired in, while I was tidying up the wiring at the switch end, I spotted a random black wire coming from the steering column and ending in a disconnected Scotchlock connector. These are terrible things, breaking the wires to create a very unstable connection. I took off the steering column nacelle to trace the wire to its source and found it had been soldered to one of the terminals on the ignition barrel. It was connected to the light green/ white wire, which my wiring diagram said led on to the radio (if fitted), heater switch, wipers and washers. I hate random and loose wiring, but this was disconnected anyway and everything still worked, so I removed it.
Finally, while I was messing about near the steering wheel, I decided to bite the bullet and have this refinished. I have no idea why the rim was so scratched, but it was spoiling the period feel of piloting the Mini via its thin Bakelite wheel. Funnily enough, when I called Steering Wheel Restoration ( www.
steeringwheelrestoration.com, Tel: 01843 844962) and explained my problem, they said they had just refinished another Mini Clubman wheel with similar issues. Removing the wheel was easy enough, though you do need a large socket to get in there and remove the nut. Then it was just a matter of packing it up, sending it off to the experts and paying up when it was done. The total cost including delivery and the dreaded VAT was £198, and I think it was money very well spent – they made a super job of the repair, and driving the Mini is now such a pleasant tactile experience.