its come time to change the oil in my car.. however i always seem to have the issue of not being able to fit a standard oil catch tray under the mini.. i was just curious as to how people have overcome this ?

Nick,

jack the car up make sure it is on stands if u intend on getting under it

Roll the car up onto a couple of blocks of wood. (two short bits of plank)

You can also use the blocks of wood to lift the car so that the floor jack will slide under easier.

then wouldnt the oil pool at the back of the gearbox and not drain out propperly ?

I just cut a section out of my plastic oil tray / tub, enough to slide it in under the corner of the sump plug.

I like to reverse my mini onto ramps then jack the front on a bit of an angle so the drain plug is the low point in the sump.

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Dean Hutton's first car was a Mini.

i've got a couple of garden sleepers with angles at one end...

poke each angle under the front wheels and drive up onto the timbers, puts the car 4 inches higher off the ground and still flat, heaps easier than jacking imo....

the reason i've got them is that i needed them to get the jack under my last rx7... found em when moving house and realised they were long enough for both front and back wheels on a mini

My driveway faces downhill. I run the LF wheel up on a housebrick, this puts the drain plug at the lowest point and gives height for the drain tray.

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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.

Always make sure the engine is at running temperature before you drain the oil. It flows out quicker when hot. And you will also know when it is running down your arm!

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DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

I just use ice-cream containers - I use two small 2l containers which fit under the sump. I wait for one to fill, swap it with the smaller one and pour into a bigger ice-cream container. When the next one fills I swap them again.

Yeah, probably more complicated than it needs to be, but cheap and cheerful.

My oil drain pan is one of these...



It is great, you still need to be careful when pouring the oil oil back into a bottle but it is better than any other one I have used. It does need a section for the sump plug to sit and maybe even a spot to sit the filter to let it drain. I might just make a grate from a fridge shelf to drain the filter into the pan.

Yeah,

It's a bugger to find a low enough one. That looks the goods!

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Cooper S Mk2
Cooper S Mk1
ex Cooper S Mk2, various Morris 1100s, 1300s, 1500s, Leyland Sherpa!

Step 1) Buy an ultra low trolley jack...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

All good ideas , another that you could try is to run 1 side up onto the gutter to give you
the height. Just be careful of spillage .

That's what I do too.

The driveway I use is also gravel, so if I spill a little oil, it just helps keeps the weeds from growing through.

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Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2