SHED RACING - 1959 Mini update

John has made really good progress on the 1959 Austin Mini, which Ivan explains in this video. He also shares his plans for next steps.
Thanks to our followers for all their suggestions on appropriate modifications for this car
Plus a snippet of Ivan driving the Ferrari back from Italy in heavy rain!!

[@martinda7446]

''And he always makes a noise halfway through the video''. Unbeatable this. Greatest KZbin channel.

[@mcstaal]

"Not another Binky". Looking forward to BOMs reaction.

[@ladamurni]

That made me burst into a laugh!

[@martinda7446]

@@ladamurni Me too. Ivan is just something else! We are so lucky.

[@simes205]

Love that!

[@4272005]

Perhaps BOM have some "demon tweaks" in the pipeline?

[@SLAPPERG]

I have been looking forward to another progress report , ha ha , brilliant.

[@petermetcalfe6366]

I had the use of a 65 850 that my cousin had lost interest in and she offered it to me in the late 70's for next to nothing and i past on it and bought a hillman avenger instead, what can i say, i was young and never realized what i could of had, massive life lesson, great channel ivan, just love when you go off at a tangent with one of your stories.

[@notrut]

Don't fret, I had a '66 D Reg 850cc ... my 1st Mini and never wanted another after the hours & £££s I spent wasting my time on it. LWJ 862D

[@glynluff2595]

Your comment on carbs was interesting. I knew the gentleman briefly who did a lot of the bronze welding on the Connaughts; not that I realised it but commented upon it being a work of art. He just smiled and said ‘ Yes I did that’! He did a course with Webber’s at their factory and made the comment that they we a lovely carburettor but a complete pain as they were totally susceptible to weather, humidity and atmospheric pressure as to where you were when climbing mountains such as the Alps. He considered the SU carburettor for sports racing to be the best carburettor going as it accommodated these variable dimensions far better than fixed jet carburettors and was much easier to set up. It did not vary on a daily basis as the Webber did. This did not make them a bad carb but much more difficult to set up for high performance. They were quite fun to set up and fiddle with and I once gained great credit in cleaning out a C type Jag with three of these on a road run because a local garage had water in the petrol and none of the other drivers knew how to drain them. My sole claim to fame!

[@andremac4040]

Classic😂

[@rogerpritchard]

Wonderful to hear your story.

[@boydsargeant7496]

Rust in all the normal places. Great pragmatic job, quick turn around, all your own work, fab!

[@chinbin2006]

I had a 61 Mini in 1968 , no mods, just Cooper S reverse rims. I once got the thing up to 73 mph!! It was just a little slower than my brothers slightly newer Riley Elf ( on Cooper S Rims) but only just. Them were the days!!!

[@tonycamplin8607]

I like the way that you're doing the mini, although I appreciate all of the work involved I dont like concourse cars, they're just new ones. Your racing days were 10 years after than mine, I gave up in 1963 after Broadspeed entered the fray with their S. There was no way that we could complete with that sort of competition. My lap records were completely smashed by the likes of them and their "professional " drivers. If you want to tune her as in the day your best guide to that era's tuning is Clive Trickey's book Tuning a Mini, made up from a series of articles that appeared in Car and Car Conversions magazine. .

[@Ogma3bandcamp]

Legend Ivan! I wish an ex-girlfriend hadn't 'aqcuired' my old Mini. Paid 80 quid for it, welded on a new front end, bucket seats, alloys, paint job, speakers, great fun car.

[@karensavarese5684]

The 59 looks great. A cam and 30 over pistons really wakes them up. I had a scary fast 948 bugeye like that. Keep at it boys,,,Izzy,,,

[@Radioman1937]

Thanks Ivan for keeping us out in the wilds on the boil. Always appreciated.

[@michaelguerin56]

Excellent video. Thanks Ivan, John and Tanya. I like the approach.

[@paulrobinson3528]

Sadly the days of finding 1959 Mini's that have been tooked away for years are coming to a end now, yeah the very very occasional one will pop up but that's it. Always enjoy watching Shed Racing 👍

[@shedbythetracks]

Always a joy Ivan. Cheers from a shed in Iowa

[@andythorne1261]

i had a September 1959 red mini sold it in 1975 no rust seals were part of the floor pan, and foam filed, it was our daily driver,

[@roberthocking9138]

Another great mini update, I look forward to the engine rebuild. Keep up the good work

[@TomRiches]

Ivan, I remember sitting in the back of the BMW 2002 you were talking about, you driving and Tim in the passenger seat . Flat out along the A40 towards RAF Northolt. Happy memories of my childhood in the 70’s. Best Wishes and keep up the good work.

[@raychambers3646]

Don't cover it in filler like the americans ,love it . Had a 62 mini when in college.

[@MartinBaldock]

I always look forward to your videos Ivan, thankyou for this one. Minis were a big part of my early motoring as my first job on leaving school was in the used car dealership of Ansteys in Maidstone, Austin distributors. My boss was Paul Martin who raced Coopers for a while in the early 60's

[@denishoulan1491]

Small Partin was still around Ansteys successor in the 90's.

[@MartinBaldock]

@@denishoulan1491 thanks for replying, not sure I understand your reply. Do you mean that Paul was still around in the 90's? I know Ansteys was taken over by Dutton Forshaw, I also know that Paul lived in Bearsted near Maidstone...

[@russ1046]

Great update - and interesting stories. I look forward to hearing more about the A35 👍

[@kelvinhealey9907]

Thanks Ivan , Bloody enjoyed that one

[@JockMurray-v1o]

Thanks for talking through the Morris. It was good to see that it has inner spray guards on it. It was another question mark on mine as everyone here was saying not original. The amount of sealer behind ours was madness. Two fist fulls on the a pillar joint! Thanks for showing the interior. Not what I was expecting. Great video again.

[@BokorRider]

wow you got away with not much rust on the 59! cant wait to see it painted all the best

[@superseven7947]

My First mini was a '73 998cc engine totally clapped out 45mph flat out up hills. Next was another ' 73 in beautiful harvest gold 😅that had an austin 1300gt engine in it built by guy I worked with.. It was a well sorted quick little car.

[@markhandley7665]

love your footage keep it up

[@Darklightbeam]

About carbs, there’s a guy in US ran a V8 on a lawn mower carb! Surprisingly, there was not a lot of difference. The engine sucks in what it wants, give it too much and it coughs a lot. Love your show. Gpx

[@philtucker1224]

(Those windscreen wipers on the Ferrari were very limited in travel), now I understand why Jag fitted three on the early E-types!

[@peterminartz4992]

Just love this series! Just finished my Mini, and its back on the road again. Lovely little cars!

[@garypoulton7311]

Ivan, your the dogs, l hope I can half as sharp as you, if I ever get to be your age. Thanks for taking the trouble

[@ChrisPlow]

Absolutely fascinating love all the details I could easily listen to Ivan all day long what great stories

[@DavidA877]

Thank you Ivan “Hard to explain that magic “ love it kind Regards to all over there

[@johnmorrow7080]

Looks canny even though Mini's are not my favourite car I have done a few A panels in my time and rear hinge panels sills and the like over the years I restored my sisters automatic Mini in the 90's that was a pain to drive as it did not know what gear it wanted it was up and down like a yo-yo , I was asked to go have a look at a Mini from my boss anycase got the job then my boss said when it came in I don't no why you took it on I thought you would have fobbed him off , I said I thought he was your mate , no not my mate I just know him , the kid made out he was the bosses mate if I had known I would not have done in LOL . Keep up the good work you are a joy to watch , love your stories .

[@Roger.Coleman1949]

Wonderful content Ivan , could listen to you reminiscing all day !.I'm recommisioning a ' 61 Austin Seven unused since 1974, too good to restore and many of your suggestions I have carried through as well rather than replace.Your subscribers will soon be multiplying - you just wait -in my top five favourite channels !

[@Eaglekeeper1958]

This was the highlight of my day!😃Thank you all for keeping us updated! Keep the videos coming! God bless!😃

[@burlatsdemontaigne6147]

Nice one Ivan and Tanya!

[@drstrangelove4998]

Good to see again Ivan! Did I you in an old Bentley at the Scramble recently?

[@robinstewart4729]

great video.thankyou sir

[@jorgefernandez-mv8hu]

Thanks for explaining the Mini to us. I just saw one on the highway I was driving ving on in the US. Tiny, but cool nonetheless.

[@umvhu]

I was a biker for a very long time, I just didn't see quite enough 😉 In the days of the Lee Enfield rifle, the MK4 was "mass-produced" yet there were big variations in performance in the finished product, so much so, that a few were designated "marksman". Consistency is hard to achieve.

[@geoffburrill9850]

Mini looking good, look forward to your engine rebuild.

[@mikeowen9667]

Great video, Did you know Downton Engineering? they did a tubular intake manifold for the 1 1\4 carb and a very good modified head for it. They designed the cooper head for BMC.

[@daviddjerassi]

Love your videos thank you all Team Shed Racing.

[@paulvernon4160]

One thing I found using twin SU's on my old mini was that I needed to fit an inline filter near the carbs due to crap getting into the float jets and causing the carbs to flood

[@andyday4535]

In 1960 you had a Black and Decker drill! 1964 I was that eejit, porting the head on my Dads MG Magnet ZA. And there was a place down at Water Lane in Watford could skim the head,I balanced the combustion chambers, fitted a Half race cam. Did it drive better? Buggered if I know! I was 17!

[@richardgreen847]

Green and weatherly

[@iantheman2468910]

Wish I could bring my mini around for Ivan and John to work on.

[@alexanderevans6456]

You can add Ivan himself to the Ferrari and Bugatti list of "hard to explain magic".

[@paulboyle6857]

Balanced,flowed,twin S.U,s and away you go!

[@jimclarke1108]

Great little cars the mini, i owned a 1964 Mini Cooper, 997, later years i owned a 1970 Mk 2 Mini Cooper s, bit different to yours in England, oi oi oi

[@jimeditorial]

Interesting Ivan! I see that the cowl doesn't have the extra holes for left hand drive wipers...owned three myself in the 70s, but they were all rod change....leaked like a sieve past the gearbox seal at the rod linkage

[@derekhughes9274]

You're right about the twin carbs a friend of mine, John Leffler who raced in Australia told me the exact same thing when I was a lad.

[@josephbarker5883]

Nice post Ivan 👍❤️ thank you. Once stripped the paint from a 1970 Ford Cortina down to the bare metal due to the top coat reacting with the under coat and peeling off. l was advised before I put any paint on to cover the car with vinegar and leave over night. Resulted in a nice brownish car. I rubbed it down with thinners and completed the re-spray job with no problems.

[@philtucker1224]

Great tip (also lemon juice is popular for the same reasons) I think it was discovered as so many car guys enjoyed fish and chips at lunchtimes and it was actually accidental!

[@lanceneuman9528]

thanks for that

[@BobtheYob-up9sv]

So looking forward to know more about what's goin on under that A30 bonnet, can't wait, had a 1098 in a 57 A35 for 15 years, A series best engine engine ever made for everyday use in my opinion. Single carb info is always interesting, thanks for sharing

[@orbwheelsandwatches]

You should bring it to the Blyton Park mini track day next year.

[@MrGig2010]

Not another Binky ! Excellent.

[@garyevans9509]

Cheers Ivan your a legend , we need mor vids

[@philread386]

Going from memory people wanting to tune their mini engine we're advise to try a bigger su first. Remember Car and car Conversions. John Aley used to sell mildly tuned minis in the sixties.

[@charliemansonUK]

I found my minis and metros ran best in standard format. Always wanted an 850 and was eventually offered one in 87 or 88 but got a Mk1 Metro Turbo instead for the space....kids 😂 Living in the Lake District they where awesome on the backroads...drive it like you stole it 👍

[@gazzafloss]

Ivan, my first road car was a very used 1952 Austin A40 ute. I "hotted" that up by taking off the original muffler off and fitting a "gutted" empty Triumph Speed Twin muffler, (so no muffler). Didn't go any better but it sounded faster. My old Dad was going to kill me.

[@simes205]

Lol at Binky reference……brilliant!

[@northstar1950]

Interesting how production methods seem to be slightly different between Longbridge and Cowley.

[@lilianecasner3336]

Fabulous ivan, well worth subscribing,

[@lancerbiker5263]

Lovin the minis ! Any exhaust mods coming ? Drag race perhaps ?

[@odl21]

It’s actually a bit more complicated than just “‘59 cars”. They didn’t change everything on jan 1 1960. Instead lots of these ‘59 features were slowly phased out by mid ‘60. For example, my feb 1960 car still has a ‘59 body shell, straight gear stick and clear speedo needle along with a lot of other ‘59 features. Some ‘59 specific features were already gone before the end of 59.

[@kevinharms7578]

Always look forward to a new video. Period correct aftermarket parts installed on a refurbished car, here in the States, we call it a " Day 2 Restoration". When someone purchased the car new, would take it home, then install the aftermarket parts.

[@A2CVMAN]

Love it, thanks

[@aleddavies770]

God bless you sir

[@johna1160]

Guessing a lot of us are now curious. What happened in 1972?

[@tommoso55]

Oooohhh motorbikes 🏍️ I spy, are they John’s?

[@ianaristotlethompson4186]

Nice Fantic in the background.

[@garchompy_1561]

looks good, we need to do a new front end on our 83 mini, hoping to build a garage this winter to do it in, then itll be getting a tig welder and learning how to do that. that being said, can you attach the front wings and pannels by brazing them instead of welding them? would be a fair bit easier using for us to do that than having to spend all that on a tig or mig setup and dealing with the gas for it.

[@keithjohnson3550]

A small mig welder would probably be the best bet for repairing car body work. They have enough power to mend the mainly thin metal. Are probably the easiest to use , versatile and for £100 to £200 quite affordable for most people. Good luck with your repairs

[@philtucker1224]

Hello Ivan! I was working at Piper Cams in 1972 to 1976 but I don’t know if we crossed paths maybe at one of the tracks or did you ever use any Piper stuff in those days?

[@gerritleemburg6777]

Lovely Austin Seven en Mini Minor. What is the chassis number of the Seven?

[@nigelroberson8911]

My build would be 1293, SCCR box, LSD, 45DCOE roll cage and sump guard. Ivan go rallying.😂

[@tedcorey3054]

Good stuff .

[@leighhaberl981]

Did you compete against David Vizard when he was punting Chryslers?

[@matthewhodder3029]

I agree Ivan, they are only original once

[@malcolmcroll7556]

this will last a life time -great job ;;

[@barryphillips7327]

ALL classic cars have one thing in common; they RUST!!!!!!!!! The old English engines Do Respond to good changes improving breathing etc, modern engines come from the factory already breathed upon!

[@zeusapollo8688]

Thank you

[@halsoriye135]

What is hiding behind the 59 Mini?

[@billie_Dutton]

On the left is a frogeye and on the right Lotus Seven.

[@propulsar]

I'm on the boil!!!!

[@russellwhite7407]

🇦🇺👍

[@mikemccarthy1398]

[@austinblanch1715]

Man after my own heart... can't stand wing mirrors and white wall tyres.

[@johnmorrow7080]

I was a Escort man myself I've rebuilt a few but disliked the mk5's so went to a Jetta now there's proppera car .

[@seanhammon6639]

You're a treasure!