Thanks guys. Who would have thought there is so much learning in a simple 20$ fan belt replacement. It's why i love the forum. Goodie thanks for the tip. I have now replaced those, as they were weeping and were definitely frayed at the connection points. You saved me a stop on the side of the road for sure.

On that note, could someone post up a picture of the alternative to hooking up the fan belt as suggested by Winabbey? I am struggling to understand what the set up is.

I don't have a picture but the method is nothing fancy. To visualise it, if you have the old broken fan belt or even a piece of hose or rope of the same length then have a go at positioning it close to the engine block behind the water pump and down behind the crank pulley. From memory I used a couple of the timing cover bolts to hold some simple clips or thin wire that keeps the new belt away from the rotating bits. You only need to wire it in three or four places. It's nothing fancier than that.

Another rally mod for a non-hydrolastic Mini is to cut a hole in the rear seat back panel adjacent to each shock absorber top mount and fabricate a hinged flap to cover the hole. This enables the top shock absorber bolt to be undone without having to remove the fuel tank, which is a real time saver when doing work on the rear suspension whilst in competition.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

An old Works lurk that I thought really worth trying when the engine was out of the car. You just have to be really careful when positioning it. Next engine out (years later:) I was a bit surprised to find that the reserve belt had strayed into the path of something rotating and was almost sawn in two....

Thankfully I'd not needed the backup.....

And with the shock hole...no need for hinges ..a couple of self tappers will do... Just file off the ends in case there's a wire or two about. No one can see the mod after all.

Cheers, Ian