Zincanneal sheet is good too- easy cut and don't rust. Don't use S/S, it's a bastard to work with by comparison...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

There's a picture and dimensions of the rear toe adjusting shims in the Dark Blue cover OZ workshop manual TP832 page h-1 (1971).
Not sure if they were used when the car was built but the shims are referred to as "Non standard" in the manual.

If no shims are already installed you can only reduce excessive toe in.

The important bit is that the toe in on each wheel MUST be set independantly of the other so that each wheel has 1/16" toe in. You cant measure the total and if it's 1/8" assume its equal on both sides. eg. You could have one wheel parallel and the other with 1/8" toe in and still have 1/8" total toe in. The total is correct but the car will crab down the road and the handling will be different depend on which way you are turning.

The next important bit is that the toe in must be measured at a wheel/tyre diameter of 14.5" at a height of 9.4 " above ground. If you are directly measuring using ruler, tape etc and don't take this into account the final setting will be wrong. If you measure the toe in/out at a larger diameter, say 20", and adjust to 1/16" it will be less at 14.5" diameter.

If you are using a wheel aligner that measures in degrees,minutes and seconds the rear setting should be 7min.30sec toe in per wheel.

A bit of history. The first UK Minis had no toe in at the rear, the rear wheels were set parallel. This wasn't a good idea for road use as the cars were very twitchy and oversteered like crazy when backing off the throttle around corners. Rear toe in was quickly introduced to make the cars more user friendly. Good for the track. Not so good for normal road users.

Hope this helps
RonR

Toe out on the rear leads to excitement. As a rule toe out causes instability in corners or under brakes. Minis have static front toe out but dynamic (while driving) most probably changes to slight toe in.

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Chris

Everything I like is either
illegal, immoral or fattening.

LOL at Poeee's car, i have noticed it does have some excessive crabbage action going o n:D

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Is that Cabbage Action

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

yeah H0nk, best to get an alignment done - if you hit something sharply with a front wheel, or wrenched the steering wheel past full lock, then the steering rack may have moved over on it's mountings. I don't think the rear end would get itself out of alignment unless it took a hit from something

I think it's factory crabbing!

Ya look at the rear right, and it looks like it points in... but look at the other side, and it looks straight. Now because the sides of a Mini slope in at the back, that means that the rear is crabbing to the left, meaning you can see the right side of the car more.

Having said that, it drives in a perfect straight line sitting on the freeway with your hands off the wheel! Doesn't wear out the tyres, either!

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Yeah... it'll run `straight' anyway, but if crabbing you'll find it handles better turning one way than the other.
Squint along sides of rear tyre from behind, look where on the body/front wheel it lines up with. Then check other side. You might be surprised...
If it looks suss definitely go get a rear wheel alignment.
One problem lately is many tyre shops have upped their equipment for monster wheels, and can no longer do proper Mini 10" ones.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I reckon... the bloke I used to go to was great, he shut up shop and I went to another guy, and he actually modified his setup while I waited so he could get them to fit my wheels. When I was still in Ballarat (8 years ago now) John Dellaca (mentioned in the bathurst Mini Experience write up) who used to race minis ran a wheel alignment shop - pics of his race cars on the wall, always one of his minis in the workshop... he knew mini steering

Rare Bread now

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Stop Licking the Dog...I Don't Care Who Started It

Allan Ross at Springwood in the Blue Mountains is a bloke that can do a mini wheel alignment.

Morris 1100's come with toe-out on the rear.

That's because they understeered like crap. A bit of rear end oversteer has gotta help.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

I bought a Clubman with accident damage in the right rear corner and the wheel was pointed in at a crazy angle. The previous owner and I both thought the subframe was bent, but on getting it home and replacing the trailing arm & hub, all the distortion was in the hub / axle.



I checked it by getting a 1.5 metre length of 20mm tube and drilling two holes in it for the wheel studs. I mounted it on the undamaged left hub, and it pointed slightly in, more or less directly at the centre of the front hub. Popped it on the right side and it was about the same. Fiddled with the shims and Bob's your auntie's live-in lover. Job done. Just the panels to sort out now.