So many people seem to be under the impression that a Cooper S and / or a Clubman GT build number should be exactly 501 more than the body number.

To those who own an S or GT, please answer this poll to determine fact or fiction!

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EDIT: Can't edit the POLL, so to all those with the holy grail '500 difference', my appologies.
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You'll get many more people voting, that think they own a GT or an S

In theory the number should be 500 not 501. The first car with the number 501 should have body number 1.
But as production went on BMC sold replacement bodyshells (Part number for a Cooper S bodyshell, less doors, bonnet and bootlid = HYA3801) So the difference in numbers will change.
Also, there is no reason for the bodys to be used in consecutive order. A body may have sat in a corner while others were completed and given a car number.

My mid 68 S is 508 different.

I doubt if very many minis will have exactly 500 between the car number and the body number.

Remember, Car numbers start at 501.
Engine numbers start at 1001.
Body numbers start at 1.

My 1969 MK 1 1/2 is YG2S 4 1119, number in cowl panel drip rail says 2/06 619, so I am thinking that the build no. is 619 which is 500 more than chassis no.
So, in answer to your survey - neither! because mine is exactly 500!!
regards Gavin

If they are anything like the 850's the difference increases rapidly as the car number increases , they seemed to make a lot of spare bodies that went who knows where for some reason .

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As I am still a noobie I feel confortable in asking what a cowl panel drip rail is and where exactly it is situated.

The way it used to work was that the body shell is just another part and can be replaced to repair damage. If someone rolled a Mini they could just get a new shell and fix it.

Panelbeaters can still get onto their local Holden spares outlet and order a Commodore shell to fix a damaged car.
A few years back they had a clearout of unused shells, they had 6 new HQ shells.

It must be a Tassie thing Clubbie, cos I don't know what it means either
BTW, where are you ?
Peter.

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

People, the cowl panel is the panel under the windscreen that the wipers stick through. The drip channel is the thin strip of metal that water runs off the cowl panel into. On Mini's (S's at least) the drip channel had a rubber strip in it,the strip that makes the rear of the bonnet stick up sometimes if youcan't find the right section of rubber. If you lift the rubber up in the LH rear corner, there should be some numbers (M2/06 followed by the last 3 digits of your chassis no.) stamped in the gutter about 4 - 6 inches from the corner going towards the middle of the windcsreen.
hope this helps, if I was clever enough I would send some pics to help, but I am too much of a technophobe yet.
regards Gavin

Thanks for that Gavin - your description's good enough to not need pics anyway!

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

I am certain that my GT shell was removed from the main production line, to correct an imperfection, then replaced onto the production line out of the original order. This would account for the 507 difference that mine has.

I have talked about this whole issue privately via email with other GT enthusiasts. I think it is great 'Mini nerd' conversation

I have and April 70 with body number 1792. My drip rail says 1292

Soz I've got a 500 difference as well...

EDIT: My drip rail's pretty hard to read, I noted above that he reckons there should be only 3 digits, I think I can see the 1, the 2, the 9, and maybe the 2 after that but I don't think I'm imagining it. The 2/06 bit is there to the right of this.
EDIT EDIT: I reckon I might be losing my sanity, the 129 is easy but the last digit may or may not be visible, I reckon I can see the oblique part of the two, but it's a little hard..
EDIT EDIT EDIT: Bugger this, I'm gonna go get my verniers and measure that little hole under the seat. That oughta be a good nerdy discussion too!

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

Mmm... can't find my body number at the moment ..... but the GT register has the following :

584 61 = 523
763 256 = 507
788 286 = 502
1172 668 = 504
1314 814 = 500
1588 1088 = 500

http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~gavin.agnew/table.html

Ken.

Hiya - mine is the first on that list, but the car number should be 081, not 061. it is very hard to read the m23 number and the stamping is extremely faded, but 81 is far more likely. I have asked Gavin to update his very comprehensive records.
cheers!
jon

My S is has 504 difference between car number and body number. The difference is a "nominal" 500. BMC didn't allways get it exactly correct no doubt for a multitude of reasons.
The 501 number difference idea is because some people don't seem to be able to grasp the concept that the first number in a sequence is 1.
First body number 0001, first car number 501, difference 500!
Are these the same people that decided that the first day of the 21st century was the 1/1/2000 instead of 1/1/2001?

I'll get of my soapbox now.

Edit
It's worth noting that the CAR number was stamped on the body AFTER the car was painted. The BODY number was stamped BEFORE the car was painted.
Not sure if this means anything but COULD indicate that the CAR number was decided after the engine was fitted because the ID plates with the engine and CAR number were stamped and matched to a particular engine. When this engine and ID plate were fitted the car number was then stamped to match. Just speculation on my part but worth noting and/or discussing.

RonR