Stanleysteamer · Thursday at 11:24

landowner said:
I once changed a Mini steering wheel for an older lady who was struggling with parking, I replaced it with one from a Stag I think, bigger wheel made steering so much easier for her at low speeds.

The Mk2 Mini's had the switches set further back and an extension ring on the ignition switch so as they were easier to reach when wearing a seat belt, early seat belts weren't inertia reel so you were fixed in place when strapped in

Re the seat belts, my first one came with a weird arrangement where it had seat belts that were inertia reel but only diagonal, not lap. I think whoever fitted them did it wrong. When I gutted that one to do up my second one I had to drill holes in the floor to fit the inertia reel and fitted penny washers. So they did not come at all as standard! Still saved me from killing myself when I crashed the second one into a small tree. Just banged my face slightly on the wheel and broke my glasses. Still managed to drive it back to Bath from Castle Combe. Bent the subframe so it had to be scrapped.

My second one came with no seatbelts at all as they weren't compulsory back then, although the mounting holes were there.

It did however have Morris 1100 seats which were SO much more comfortable. I managed to get a reasonable sum of money for the wreck as I flogged it to a mech who raced them, he dived onto the seats to take them out with a big grin on his face!

Stanleysteamer · Thursday at 11:26

DanClarke said:
Yes, I know. I am puzzled as well. But, I cannot deny that it is really running a great deal better.
Pulls well in all gears now, whereas before you really had to drop a cog to get acceleration. It is now very responsive.
I cannot critique the outcome, only the price paid.

I think i speak for us all when I say that I am very happy for you and if it is running smoothly that is a great outcome. It sounds to me as if they sorted the vacuum advance properly. :banana:

landowner · Thursday at 11:39

Stanleysteamer said:
I found it hard almost to buy a Mini with its original "Bus" type wheel, which would have done your old lady OK.
It was almost the first thing many owner's changed. But my first Mini had one.
The switches I am talking about were the original flick type, (not the rockers that came late)r, like this
View attachment 339092
I had the devil's own job finding a picture of this, in fact I only managed to make this by taking an image of the whole of the front of the interior of an early Mini and cropping it down muchly! So the extensions you simply shoved down over the original toggles.

The starter button was on the floor and I am not sure that you didn't dip the lights by pushing a switch on the floor.
Finally found an image of exactly the model I had. Even the same colour scheme.
View attachment 339094

So it shows all I mentioned and YES, I had to dip the lights via a foot button. (The starter is hidden cos it was right next to the central tunnel just in front of the driver's seat on the floor. It even has the dangerous pull cord to open the door with!
Note also the pump action windscreen washer, to the right of the switch panel. Pretty useless thing after a few years of use!

The only difference between this one and mine was that mine was a "de luxe" so the instrument binnacle had a separate oil pressure gauge and one other, apart frorm the central clock etc similar to the one in the image, temp maybe? It also had lights to light the dash shelf area on the side or sides of the central clock. (You can just see the right hand one, just above the left spoke of the wheel.) Those huge door pockets were SO useful. Really missed tham on my last Mini. The locks on the sliding windows were chrome steel the very early ones were black and whit plastic, my mother had one of those, so old it wasn't even called a Mini, it was still an Austin seven! The first Minis, introduced in 1959, were initially known as the Austin Seven and Morris Mini-Minor.

I kept that old bus wheel for years as a memento as my first Mini had so many fond memories.
I came home one day to find my Dad had cleared out his garage and thrown out a box containing not only some of my tools but also my old wheel. I was furious. Didn't speak to him for a week or two.

Yes, the early mk1 had the chrome push button window catches, changed to plastic arround 65. I had 62 Austin Mini de lux in 1966, it had lights in the rear bins as well as under binicle on dash same as the Cooper. I also had a 66 Cooper in atound 68 , it had the plastic window catches

Stanleysteamer · Thursday at 13:29

landowner said:
Yes, the early mk1 had the chrome push button window catches, changed to plastic arround 65. I had 62 Austin Mini de lux in 1966, it had lights in the rear bins as well as under binicle on dash same as the Cooper. I also had a 66 Cooper in atound 68 , it had the plastic window catches

I had forgotten about the lights in the rear bins!
And yes only my ma's had the chrome catches, although my first one was a 1963 de luxe it had the placcy ones. I could never afford a Cooper, or, more importantly, the insurance. I had a bad habit of running into things in my first few years of driving so I never got a no claims discount for a few years!! I had to learn how maintain and tune up cars myself. It was all I could afford.

Dippypud · Thursday at 14:15

landowner said:
I once changed a Mini steering wheel for an older lady who was struggling with parking, I replaced it with one from a Stag I think, bigger wheel made steering so much easier for her at low speeds.

The Mk2 Mini's had the switches set further back and an extension ring on the ignition switch so as they were easier to reach when wearing a seat belt, early seat belts weren't inertia reel so you were fixed in place when strapped in

I think they were based on aircraft seatbelts ...

Stanleysteamer · Thursday at 19:38

I can remember when seat belts first came out my ma, being a doctor, and very safety conscious, was mad keen on them so we had three point fixed ones, i.e. not inertia reel fitted in the front of our Morris Minor while in the rear we two had to wear lap belts.
In those days there was no upper mounting point on the B post so the belt had to come up over the back of the seat, through a metal loop at the top of the back and over the shoulder.
There was at the time still a lot of debate as to whether 4 point harnesses, (far simpler than what we now think of as one) were a good idea or not. They were a lot fiddlier to put on and fit. Of course women grumbled about them creasing their clothes.
I have tried to find pics of these 4 point ones, with no success.
I still have fixed 3 point ones in my Marlin and TBH I prefer them. When I was an air cadet and being strapped into Chipmunks really tight, the feel of being part of the aircraft was inescapable. I get the same feeling in the Marlin. And it doesn't stop me operating any controls. We'd hardly need airbags or seat belt tightening devices if we all wore fixed belts.

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