Vehicle Owner

Member ID: balex581984

Location: Alachua, FL

Vehicle Info

1972 Austin Mini

Bragging Rights

  • 1/4 Mile0 sec @ 0 mph
  • 0-600sec
  • Top Speed0mph
  • HP105
  • Weight-1lbs

Major Upgrades

  • turbo
  • nitrous
  • bore increase
  • port and polish
  • supercharger
  • extrude honed
  • stroke increase
  • engine swap

Modifications

Performance Parts

Interior

Exterior Styling

  • Custom Lighting 

Car Audio & Video

Ratings

    • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
    • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.
    • Currently 3.0/5 Stars.

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Last updated: Jun 29, 2009

Hits: 12,521

Balarama’s Austin Mini
“MiniZinho”

  • Currently 2.9714285714285 /5 Stars.
9 guestbook comments

If you are a mini enthusiast or if you would like to know about them a little more please visit my website at

balex581984's 1972 Austin Mini

Click here: WWW.MiniZinhos.COM

Thank you for visiting.

This mini started out as a plain stock silver Mayfair, the mini was in great condition but the previous owner already had in mind to completely modify this mini to a fast sports mini to soot his son�s dream. So one day this man and his son started to completely rebuild the car and immediately set about stripping everything away to reveal the bare shell. The first thing they got their hands on was a six-piece full-roll cage from a grasstrack Mini, and so they prepared the shell for it. Putting this massive roll cage in meant the rear seat had to be sacrificed, but for a good cause.
The wheelarchers were trimmed and finished off with a Rover Sportpack arch kit. After that, the shell, complete with new front wings, A-panels, bonnet and front wings, was ready for a new coat of paint.
The steering geometry was enhanced with a new subframe, steering rack and ball joints etc, and while they were at it, they also fitted nylon front subframe bushes, adjustable Hi-Los and spax adjustable dampers all round. The car was really coming together, and serious power hikes began creeping onto their agenda. They also updated the front breaks before bolting on the 7x13 inch superlites, so they put a massive Metro turbo vented discs and four-pot calipers, assisted by a Cooper servo unit.
A 1275cc engine bored out to a 1310cc was drafted in from MiniSport to replace the old engine. The bottom end featured a �bullet proof� crank to slice, rather then wade, through the oil in the sump. Along with the crank, the clutch and flywheel were lightened and balanced, then coupled to Hepolite pistons via MG Metro con-rods.
The unleaded head-also from MiniSport-is a stage 2 big valve effort fitted with 1.5 full roller tip rockers, which get their marching orders from a Kent 286 cam enforced by a Vernier Duplex timing gearset.
A combination of single 1.75 inch SU carb and K&N air filter deal with the induction, plus a four-branch manifold and an Ashley competition center-exit exhaust system get rid of the waste products. Other advances include heavy-duty oil and water pumps, a four-core radiator, a Mocal oil cooler and electronic ignition.
Their favorite gizmo seems to be the gearbox, though, or at least the noise it makes. It�s a straight-cut, the main case is Metro turbo, but the whine, of course, comes from within. The principle behind straight-cut-as opposed to helical-cut- gears, is that less power is consumed between the crankshaft and the final drive. Still a four-speed unit, it�s a $1.300.00 package that comes assembled, straight from MiniSport. The first and second gears have higher ratios than standard, and they modified the transmission further with the addition of Timken idler gear.
Looking inside the car you�ll find the aforementioned roll cage now assembled and painted sickly Yellow to match the head and block.
The seat comes from a Ford Escort (MKIII) RS 1600i leather Motorsport seats make up the bulk of the furniture and plenty of attention was given to the subframes and mountings so that they still tilt and recline.
Comfort was very important to them because at 6 ft 5 inch tall, space is at a bit of a premium in the old saloon shell. The seats were mounted as low as possible in the interests of maximum head room, and the heater box was junked to free up his legs. Sabelt three-point harnesses keep anyone strapped in.
After this man and his son completed this massive project this mini was featured in the march of 2002 MINIWORLD magazine with 8 pages filed with pictures and words from the son telling their amazing adventure.

These pictures bellow shows how the mini looked when they had finished the project.

balex581984's 1972 Austin Mini


balex581984's 1972 Austin Mini


balex581984's 1972 Austin Mini


balex581984's 1972 Austin Mini

Go to next page for the second massive restoration.

Guestbook

Displaying entries 1-5 of 9

KLZEYA  

Posted by: KLZEYA

05/11/2009 11:28AM

thats one clean ride!! most definately 5*s!! come check out my 93 Probe GT with the Jap KLZE Mazda motor swap and much more!! dont forget to rate me too!!

geilesAuto  

Posted by: geilesAuto

09/08/2008 01:45PM

Hey, you should help out a fellow cardomainer and vote for my car! Here's the URL:

http://texacocarofthedecades.com/CarDetails.aspx?CarDetailID=81&Decade=2000

you just have to register to vote... Thanks a ton!

geilesAuto  

Posted by: geilesAuto

07/30/2008 03:33PM

i love your ride, 5 stars for sure! come check out my ride

ruffryder_nyc  

Posted by: ruffryder_nyc

01/27/2005 02:47AM

it's a pretty nice mini. you could switch it to lefthanddrive � if i saw it right it's a rhd mini. check out my mini too.

chevelleboy_64  

Posted by: chevelleboy_64

01/21/2005 04:11PM

thats awsome , a buddy of mine has a wagon with 135 hp , mini are awsome , love yours

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Vehicle Owner

Member ID: balex581984

Location: Alachua, FL