Well today was the day
Take the engine out to freshen it up
The issues i found were
1- the Hardy Spicer uni's wont slide back far enough to release from the diff flanges due to the bolt length
2- where the remote gear shift bolts too is rather long and required a reasonable tilt of the engine to get the lot out
Other than that is was just a lot of small fiddly stuff and the brake booster in the way

**With problem 1 it is best to remove the bolts before fitting the engine back in so the uni's can be re-fitted easier

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1970 MK2 Cooper S

I simply undo the top ball joints on the hubs and rock them out a little. That allows enough spline to slide the unis over the bolts.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

I must have the wrong end of the stick.... The HS uni flange unbolts from the diff output flange and the diff just slides straight apart???? Splines don't come into it....

And yes, the engine needs to be tilted right back. Lifting lugs fitted into the spark plug holes provide the perfect angle... It is annoying that the distance between the subframe and top front cross member is EXACTLY the same as the distance from the top back of the remote mount to the bottom corner of the gearbox.

Would it really hurt to give us a spare 3 or 4 mm.... Years ago I had a Close Encounter of the Marsupial Kind. When we put the front end back together we made the crossmember removable. Makes things much easier.

Cheers, Ian

I find you need to remove all 8 nyloc nuts, lift engine slightly then slide motor to one side. The other side uni flange will then clear the studs.
Some folks I know punch the studs/bolts out for quicker assembly.

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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.