I picked up my new traveller shell on the weekend, and like various others on the forum at the moment I'm trying to figure out exactly what I've got, especially the year. It came with 2 ID plates.

The first is the usual australian plate marked:

THE BRITISH MOTOR CORPORATION
(AUSTRALIA) PTY. LTD.
TYPE YMA2S1
CAR NO. 49555
ENGINE NO. 8Y/U/H 8328
COLOUR 1/SLATE GREY/3

This has confused me a bit. I've looked up YMA2S1 on the lists hanging around the forum and also on various websites which help to decifer the codes

(Here are some, for those interested.)
http://www.niksula.cs.hut.fi/~mdobruck/ ... /11/id.htm
http://www.minimania.com/ArticleV.cfm?D ... ry=General
http://ps.gen.nz/~fritss/mini_car_club/mag.pdf

Both the body type and the engine number point to this plate coming from a standard Morris Mini 850 sedan (2S meaning sedan). I would have expected there to be a W (for wagon) in place of the 2S. Does anyone else here own a traveller? If so, what are the codes?

I was also surprised that it had an Australian plate at all, thinking that travellers were only produced in the UK. Yet this plate has the australian Y code. Does anyone know if some were manufactured here as well? I'm beginning to think that perhaps the plate didn't come off the car, since it's not actually attached.

The other plate is from Larke Hoskins in Sydney which I believe was a distributor for imported cars. They still exist in the form of a Honda dealership but haven't kept the old records so I doubt this plate will be of any use. It shows a serial number 8503144 which is specific to Larke Hoskins I believe. The rest of this plate is just an ad for Castrol Motor Oil.

There is also a number 3818 stamped into the firewall and another 3310 stamped into the radiator shroud. What do these mean? The car came with 2 wiper motors, one which is too faint to read and the other marked 3-68. Either or none of these could have been the original so it's not much help for figuring out the year.

Any help interpreting the BMC plate would be very much appreciated.

Thanks
Simms

3818 on the firewall (BIG letters) is the proper bodyshell number.
The number on the radiator shroud is a Production tracking number- on early cars it is close to body # but not the same.
But on Clubbies, that IS the body number.

Note these body numbers are not unique to body type. eg my MiniMatic is a 1970 model, and is only body # 1385 because few autos were made.

It is true that travellers (and pickups) were NOT made here, but some vans were converted when new to have a rear seat and side windows, which I think were fixed.

That ID plate is definitely off an 850 sedan. It's been swapped- the proper one should bear the same number as the shell number stamped into the firewall. All Oz made Minis got a firewall plate like that up to 1968, 1969 most got SFA, 69-1970 on got a proper VIN plate. But many plates have gone missing over the years, for shady reasons or otherwise.

Hope this helps.

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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.

http://www.hotbricks.org.au/files/engine.txt

Hope that helps.

Lots of ??? and gaps in there.... no Clubbie vans for example. Just like most other lists.. (Mini Kingdom, Mini Car Clinic)

I

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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.

Thanks for the info Doctor. Yeah, it looks like i've been screwed with the id plate then but maybe i can find out the year by asking around UK forums, using the body number from the firewall.

redfive: yes i had stumbled across that page during my search. It seems most lists give slightly different information so most models can be worked out but traveller numbers are nowhere to be seen.

Does the roof drain at each front corner of the gutter have a slot, or 2 holes?
Slot= UK, holes = Ozzie, mate!

<Edit> If roof drains are holes and there's a big body number stamped in the firewall, I'd say it's a converted Oz van.. not too hard to do..

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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'll check the roof drains when I get home. Fairly sure it's an original traveller - it has the slightly raised back floor and tyre well, and the same hinged back seat, side pockets and sliding back windows that are seen on UK travellers.

Yep - roof drains are slots.

it's a pommie car
makka

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Anonymous moderation means the agro that is built up towards the mods isn't aimed at an individual (fewer "Makk" attacks). Less stress for mods means less moderator "retirements".

So, does that mean holes is always Aussie.
I have two minis clubmen, both holes, one good one rubbish And i just had a look at the plates on them. They are both '72. One says made by British Leyland the 4/72 one (the good one) the other a 10/72 just say made by Leyland- the area that said British on the other one is left blank
hmm

So that was pointless

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Sir Namibian CAMEL of MONGOLIA !!!
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Asparagus: Experience the versatility

All OZ made cars had drain holes, (2 per corner) not slots..

_________________
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.