On mine the number is midway between the bonnet hinge and the end of the channel where it joins the mudguard on the passenger side. The number is viewed from the front of the car.

Simon - I can understand your reluctance to remove paint so I guess it comes back to how inquisitive you are. This area is usually out of sight and originally had a rubber strip across the channel to absorb vibration from the trailing edge of the bonnet (part no. HYA3925 according to PUB 1056M) so if you carefully removed the paint, took a photo and touched up again I'm guessing no-one would know the difference. If I were in your shoes I would do it simply to satisfy my curiosity. Then again, you might find something you didn't want to.

Confirmed.

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"Show me the Mini!"

Thanks. I should've checked my parts book before posting. I've now updated my original post with the part number.

I have a mid 1970's Mini K and the number is stamped on the fire wall above the clutch master cylinder. Nothing in the gutter on this one.

The S of the same vintage may also have it above the master cylinder and not in the gutter. Check there before you remove paint.

My 1969 Mk2 has it in the gutter.

yeah, mine has it on the firewall near the MC's, but I gather it was stamped in both places - maybe

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

I'm pretty sure you'll find it's one or the other - I think (from the numbers I've collected) that they swapped the stamping position sometime around Feb/March 1970.

I'm sure I won't find anything I don't want to find.... and there is plenty of paint missing already, so it doesn't worry me too much - we'll see how enthused I get



d'oh - mine is July! the S's I've seen (several lately!) around the July '70 mark have had them on the firewall - no verification of the gutter - bloody inconsistent sausage makers BMC were

so it was the series of same number as on the firewall - IE the body shell number, starting at 1

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Yep, ours is a July plated car as well - and has the number on the bulkhead, NOT on the drain channel.



That's what I'm lead to believe - and the numbers I've collected back this up - the 500-ish difference between the body and chassis (rad cowl) numbers is maintained whether the body number is on the drain channel or the bulkhead.

Mine with numbers in the gutter is a 10/1970 MK II S. Assuming the date is correct it challenges some of the theories about the timing of the change from gutter to bulkhead.

Guess your car again goes to show that there were no hard and fast rules regarding what 'they' did when they were putting Minis together

Just as a test of the numbers I have collected - is your cars' radiator shroud number somewhere in the 2500 - 2550 range, winabbey?

YG2S4 2668

Another VMCI member has an ex-NSW Police 10/1970 MK II S with a body number close to mine and the same original colour (Kelp Beige). I'm guessing a batch of cars were built to SPO 41 (reversing lights, handbrake indicator, two-speed wipers, tacho, engine mods, etc.) and went down the production line together.

I have often wondered with little things like that (similar with the 850's) whether the person who stamped the numbers (as an example) went on holidays soon after the location was changed and whoever took over from him didn't know there was a change . Might have taken a few weeks for someone to pull him aside and say the stamping location has been changed 9or in the case of the 850's they've used the wrong container of engines and the numbers are running backwards for 5,000 cars ...) .

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Aah - yep, I guess being a police car could explain things. . .by my list, I would have expected 2668 to be a November or possibly even a December plated car. . .possibly they yanked a batch of shells off the 'normal' production line to do the police mods to them, placing them out of order. . .

One other thing , how many lines were there and how many different people did it ? I can't imagine only one bloke 24 hrs a 7 days a week stamping them

Well, I certainly know for a fact that they were using some really dodgy trainees when they stamped the bulkhead number on our Mk2 S. . .have a look at it!!



These numbers were under the factory colour code stickers (you can see the outline of there the stickers were), so they are certainly original!