Ok 68delux..
Here goes.
There are basically 2 different width wheel tracks available on a mini.
First, when minis first came out, they had no spacers on the drums and the standard rims and it all fitted under the gards....easy
Then the Cooper S came out, and with the disks on the front, to make it all fit they had to widen the track of the car some 40mm (20mm each side). To keep the rear the same track width, spacer drums were used.
Now before you ask....they are fairly easliy spotted as a 20ish mm extension of the drum....just take a wheel off and have a look.
Now....2 different track widths, mean 2 different offsets for the rims.....lost you yet
Lets call them standard and cooper S offset
Standard
Almost all the steel wheels you will find lying around....even on the later clubmans.
Cooper S
The genuine steel ones are very rare. Can find Contessa wheels without too much trouble. When you use this type of wheel with the wider track, you generally don't require flares
Now for the fun bit.
I am going to put a standard offset wheel on a cooper s....... Hey the wheels stick out and now I need flares
So the question is what type of wheels and offstet do you currently have?
As drmini has already eluded to.. if you have standard drums, you could convert the front with Honda disks, and not put in a spacer(this will keep the standard track width).......... buy a standard offset set of 12 x 5 minilites and it
should fit under the guards with no flares
.............................But if you convert to cooper S disks, then the contessas that you have on the car now will need to be replaced, as they will only have a standard offset and would require flares. Also you will need the spacered drums for the back.
Also just to add a little confusion. The clubman has a standard track width......no flares.
The clubman S has a cooper S track width (via spacered drums front and back)......flares.
Clear as mud no doubt.
I know I haven't taken into consideration different rim widths, but hopefully you get the general idea.
Anything to add anybody????????????? Minimad