There seems to be a few different mounting plates holding the starter motor solenoid.
I am trial fitting one the the Mk2 to get the wiring positions.

Does this look right for a Mk2? And is the solenoid right way up?




Mk1 and Mini K both have different plates and they all point in different directions.

Bill, I had the same issue last year, I had to choose between 2 different solenoid mounting plates, I ran with the one shown in the first photo as the plate was the same as the one on my 69 Mk2 S.The second photo shows the orientation of the solenoid, I found this in a Mini Experience magazine.

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Clive G
1969 Mk II Cooper S
1970 MK II Cooper S
1963 Triumph Spitfire
1982 RX-7 Series 2

Hi Bill. I have looked my database and found 3 styles.

The first style was used up to around YG2S4 1950 and the bracket used was this type.


There was a bracket change which was fitted to cars from around the YG2S4 1950 to YG2S4 2800 and this changed the angle of the solenoid. Its hard to get an exact change point because there are not many unmolested cars still getting around. This change point might have been by engine number but I haven't gone that deep into it.


The last style had its bracket bolted under the top engine steady like the clubman/leyland mini which raised the solenoid to give room for the washer bottle. This was on the flappy handle cars from the early YG2S4 2800s.


Here are a few of the cars I have used to work out the change point from photos I have. Some of these have been restored and the owners might have changed the brackets over.

First style
1485, 1514, 1590, 1540, 1576, 1598, 1654, 1659, 1663, 1675, 1681, 1685, 1707, 1710, 1734, 1732, 1738, 1749, 1757, 1762, 1766, 1790, 1792, 1814, 1851, 1857, 1866, 1929, 1946,

Second style
1853, 1956, 1974, 1991, 2031, 2036, 2058, 2064, 2072, 2083, 2164, 2225, 2260, 2262, 2286, 2295, 2311, 2341, 2352, 2360, 2362, 2375, 2393, 2423, 2435, 2449, 2462, 2499, 2501, 2506, 2524, 2554, 2593, 2598, 2644, 2653, 2662, 2762, 2700, 2797, 2891,

Third style
2821, 2851, 2855, 2859, 2869, 2871, 2876, 2883,

From gto's list it looks like the bracket on my car is correct for its sequence (2375). It has always been on the car since I bought it in1975 and it isn't the sort of part that was a popular go-faster modification that was commonly altered.
Cgo's car has the first style bracket used on the Mk1 and, as gto's list indicates, carried over to early Mk2,

This started with something I read, very recently, that said Mk1 had its solenoid oriented to 12 o'clock and Mk2 at "12:10" - meaning 2 o'clock I assume.
Nothing about minis is ever 'cut-and-dried'.

Thanks for the replies.

It appears I have one of each. The repainted one (later type) was on #1715. Two questions : 1. Should it have a large hole under the solenoid ? 2. What colour should it be?

My later type one was satin black (scratched & slightly rusty) - so I sand blasted & repainted as such.

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1970 Mk2 Cooper S under restoration

This photo of the MK1 S shows the bracket was fitted when the engine was painted. I would say the actual bracket was black from the manufacturer before being fitted to the engine.



Here is the bracket from car 1732. It has the remains of the metallic green engine paint and if you look at the bolt holes you will also see the original black as it would have come from the manufacturer.

So, is this solenoid mounted 180 degrees out?

I don't have many period photos of the MK2 S engine bay. These 2 pics are from road tests and show the solenoids positions.

Early solenoid position from a car built before YG2S4 1614.(it has a lockheed booster)


Later solenoid position. This car is between YG2S4 2500 and 2800 (it has a beehive heater)

gtogreen1969 Thank you for showing your photo's. The last two photo's which appear to be from road tests? also show's which way the bolts run on the alternator for attachment.

Yeh the nuts were on the radiator side.

Minisport show different bracket for Cooper S and standard Mini.

https://minisport.com.au/mini-solenoid- ... t-cooper-s

https://minisport.com.au/mini-solenoid- ... per-s-type

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

The first reference is for 12G326 and described as for Cooper S. It is triangular. Examples from owners and gtogreen's list show it used on Mk1 and early Mk2.
The second reference is 12A369 and described as for all other minis - it is a 4-sided plate. This seems to be the plate used on later Mk2 Coopers as listed by gtogreen, above.
Perhaps it was an Aust'n content part or introduced when/if the solenoids changed?

The 2ST changed to the 4ST on the Cooper S at YKG2S2 3966 but the bracket didn't change for another 2 1/2 years.

It could be linked to UK built engines Vs aussie built engines and then in 1970 the UK stopped fitting the bracket to their powerplants before sending them out to Aust.

Here is a pic from the hot run testing of a MK1 S and the bracket was already fitted and painted. Sorry its blurry from the zoom in

Many thanks to GTOGreen for the info - a wealth of information.

I am more interested in the early cars (Cooper, 970 and 1071). Since we are on the subject of solenoid brackets, does anyone know when the solenoid (type as shown above) button changed from a reddish brown to black?