Where to look, where to post?

Ok, not sure where to post this, here or in the restoration forum, so I'll begin here. I too am owned by my car - a 1963/4 Mini Traveller. I have been told that it may be a 63 because it has a floor mounted starter button. However many components - ie wiper motor, horn - are stamped 64. Any thoughts?

Things I need help on:

1) Production stats. Does anyone know how many Trav's were built in 63/64 and also total production?

2) My car still has it's orig british plates. They are a tad dishevelled - which is to say they are dinged and dented. What options do I have to restoring or repairing them? I'd really like to maintain as much orinality as possible.

3) The duct tube for the heater needs help. The outer casing is in reasonable shape but the inner coil is shot. What have others done to repair/replace this tube? I have contemplated sliding a smaller flex tube inside the original outer sleeve....shhh, don't tell! LoL

4) My car is positive ground. I do drive it a bit and am thinking of changing to negative ground. Pros, cons? This would be done more as a matter of modern convenience - ie radio, plug in for the cell charger, etc. I enjoy my car and wish to make it more user friendly...

And of coursee any other suggestions or things others have done to make their cars more drivable.... and NO, throwing a tow rope on to a passing Semi is not acceptable!!! LOL

Ok, thanks in advance, this ought to be an interesting discussion for a while!

Peter

Hi,

I don't know a lot of traveler specs so I can't answer a number of your specific questions.

1) No idea. There are a number of books out there with that kind of information but they may mix sedans, vans, and travellers together. You may want to email Chuck Heleker
cheleker-at-aol-dot-com and ask him.
2) Treat your license plate like any other piece of sheet metal on the car and restore it by stripping, rust treatment, primer and paint.
3) I assume that the fresh air duct for the traveler is the same size as that used in the sedan. Unfortunately, the sedan part is NLA. My original fiberboard/coil one was not on the car when I bought it and had been replaced by a plastic one. I suspect you'll either need to sleeve the one you have as you're suggesting, or you'll have to make some adapters to use a more commonly available size... say 3" diameter like a shop-vac uses. Very few people will know it's not original.
4) Changing the ground on a Mini is very easy because there are so few components to worry about. The decision to change is purely personal. I don't think retaining pos. ground should be part of maintaining originality... but only you can decide. For info on the process, see:
https://www.minimania.com/web/SCatagory/E...81/ArticleV.cfm

As for other changes, replace the generator with an alternator... but this won't look original. Install braided brake hoses in place of the rubber ones. Install a new wiring harness. (If you're on a budget, completely go through your car's existing harness and thoroughly clean EVERY connection, coat the bullets with dielectric grease and reassemble). Consider fitting a Pertronix ignition to the distributor. (It either works... or doesn't. There will be no points to give you questionable performance and/or close up with use. ) Install headlight relays so you're switches in the dash aren't carrying all the lamp current. Install a horn relay for the same reason. At the moment I can't think of others. However, I think if you look through what I said above, most of the changes are aimed at the electrical system.

For car production dates, there are several things to look for/at. You've found some, such as the date stamp on the wiper motor. Check the headlight dimmer switch also. The glass has dates that can be decoded. On sedans, the boot latch has a production date on it... I don't know about van/traveller doors. I'm also not sure which year the fresh-air heater replaced the recirculating heater. Vans/travellers were different anyway so I don't know when (or if) some of the sedan changes such as the floor-mounted starter were changed on the vans.

Basil... don't get p.o.'ed

I found this thread about the availability of some of the heater hose related components. These won't be 100% right for your application but you may be able to find the hose and the adapters by contacting some of the people mentioned in this thread:
https://www.minimania.com/web/threadid/82699/InfoID/1/SiteMessages/9/msgthread.cfm