Gday,

Been browsing around for a few weeks with the intention of buying my first mini. The track is my intention for the car, wont be on the road.
I plan to get a 1275/13xx built up for it, adjustable front end, adjustable lca's etc, and dry suspension.

My question is, will buying an 850 over say a k or later model be a disadvantge.
Can I not do certain things to an 850?
Will anything not fit on an 850?
Is buying a later model going to be better?

Only going to buy roundnose btw.

Cheers

Tim

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Tim

an 850 is better because the sliding window doors are lighter.

if you're gonna do a full build anyway then the other stuff wont matter too much.

an 850 wont have a hole for the later gearchange, thats about it.

actually if you find a good rust free shell that should be the main thing, you can always swap the doors anyway.

If its a race track only car I'd look for an uncomplied / uncompliable rover shell.
Body should be in good nick and parts should easy enough to obtain from importers as opposed to harder to find early parts.

You are probably better off with a deluxe or K, they are more universal than an 850 and you can always put clubman dry subframes into it.

That would be about the only thing I would think of, a later Deluxe or Mini K unless already altered will be hydrolastic which may make your modifications more difficult and expensive, particularly if you are new to the mini scene.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Morris 850 = 630kg
Leyland Mini = 643kg

Stick with the Morris 850, if want to keep it as original as possible thats fine as the resale price is better, heavily modified 850's are a dime a dozen and more often than not the owner realises what they have done and tries to return it to original .

As has already been proven , a properly built 850 is more than a match for anything on the road, power to weight ratio , OK that was a 998 block with an 850 thicktail crank and a lot more than 100thou off the top of the block but its not much more than 850cc and less than 998cc and a 4EFTE had a LOT of trouble keeping up , also a genuine Sports 850 with a rebuilt motor with an RE13 than was dynoed at 49HP had no chance

For the new players , if you want to modify thats fine but do it in a way that can be reversed , there is a growing trend that people who have "personalised" their Mini then try to sell it have more than a little trouble doing so

There is nothing like seeing an original early ( pre April 64 ) Morris 850 on the road , van or sedan ( the only thing better is seeing an original early MiniMatic )

As far as a track car goes just get a Leyland Mini shell and put a fiberglass roundnose front on it , just make sure you get a quality cage made and that you only do the modifications allowed for the Class you will be racing in

.

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So basically a hydro car needs a dry subframe swap to run a spring or hilo setup..

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Tim

as Harley Said,
find an uncomplianced rover, as they are worth nothing as a road car. cut out the weight you don't want and go from there.

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yep, absolutely - get a rover shell

If and that is a big if, you can find an early (pre 61, I think) 850 shell, they are some 40lb+ lighter than the later MKI shells.

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you've got two shows of finding one of them here in Australia, that's affordable. none and f*** all.

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Well, I did say IF, however, I do know where there are two and if I looked I'm sure I could turn up a few more.

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It is not a disadvantage, but as others have said it depends on what you want to do.
An original 850 or Nanna car as some call them is a beautiful but slow car.
If you want to personalise your own, you can, but remember what you like might not appeal further down the track if you want to sell it.
You can disguise a fairly quick 850 and do what some others have done, keep the old engine and gearbox. Keep the extras down.
Just a word of warning, when you fit the remote gearbox change make sure you don't hack the opening where the gear lever comes up. I've got a shocker from a PO that is hard to excuse.
Very few 850s have the original trim. The original trim was hard uncomfortable vinyl. Many were replaced by the Deluxe type.
I really enjoyed my black 64 850 with a 1100 balanced engine with waggot cam equivalent to 713 cam, 1.5 SU and extractors, wood dash and twin tanks with aungers and flares. No Cooper S beater, but a good point to point car.
Now my brother has a late 64 850, 850 engine with flat tops. No flares and Deluxe trim. Wooden dash. Not quite a Nannas car but not so fast either. One of the last of the sunset red cars made.
Leave the pre 61's alone. They are very rare and should be left for a complete back to original spec restoration, with all of the faulty bits that were fixed up in the later cars.
My pick would be to get a pre 75 Mini S with original flares, three pod dash, in one of the original colours with the 1100 rather than the 998 engine. Fit extractors and with a dry suspension and the larger single GT tank a pretty good example of a good looking and well sorted Mini without the cost of an S or a GT and none of the hydro problems.

Don't be to concerned with 850 vrs Delux if it is a track car, just get the cheapest & best shell you can get. Get some sliding window doors and you will find some areas that can be trimmed down to save weight (read Vizards books).

Sub frames, wet ones can be converted to dry - My Nc racer has wet sub frames converted to dry - I did however get them converted by Mini Automotive and they set me up so I just bolted fully built front and rear sub frames with all the bling attached (rose jointed stuff, 7.5" disk brakes etc).

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1964 Nb Race Car - big bore short stroke & lots of revs - Sold
1969 Mk2 Cooper S - First Car