Riley/Wolseley Rear Window

I would just like to know about the rear window on these cars. Did any of the Mk1,2 or 3 of either version receive the larger rear window as the later Minis?
The reason I ask is that my South African Mk3 Mini has the smaller rear window and according to facts, the body presses for the Elf/Hornet were sent here to South Africa so does this mean that they also had the smaller rear window?

The Elf/Hornet retained the smaller rear window all the way through production. It is the same as your MK 3.

The early Wolseley 1000 also had the smaller rear window. I'll have to ask Ryno whether that stayed the same for the later, "Mk II", version of the W-1000.

And what hoodlining did they use, the 2 piece or the single piece with the rods?

Mk I and II (sliding windows, external hinges): two piece
Mk III (roll up windows, no vent wing windows, internal hinges): One piece. I haven't had the headlining out of mine so I do not know if the set up was identical to the standard saloon Mk III rod set up. Remember, these cars came out in August of 1966, several years before any other English built cars had the roll up windows, so they were sort of pioneers, and one must be cautious about thinking parts were the same. For instance, not all the door hinges of the Elf/Hornet were the same as the standard Mk III saloon.
There is also confusion with the Mk III Elf/Hornet because their production overlapped both Mk I and MK II standard saloon time so that the Mk III E/H had some characteristics of either depending upon when built. I call them Mk IIIa and MK IIIb cars. Mine, with only 11,500 miles from new, is a good example of a IIIa.

Oh ok I see, that makes sense yes. So it could be a possibility that the hoodlining was unique to the Mk III cars? Or that it was the same as the later cars albeit with a little extra material at the lower section of the screen and with slightly larger C pillar covers?

Here's the best I can do from the cars I've owned and seen, and from the factory parts lists.

The E/H Mk III C post covering was the same material as the Mk I/II E/H and standard saloons of the same vintage. It also looks to be the same size as the Mk I/II E/H and standard saloons; however, the part numbers did change for the C post covering when the MK III E/H came out, indicating that the size changed. I'd have to get the tape measure out and head to the garage to make a size comparison.

Time out for trip downstairs to the garage. Trip and tape measure show that the MK III E/H C post coverings are slightly different (wider) than the Mk I/II E/H C post coverings.

Is the MK III E/H C post covering the same size as the Mk III standard saloons. No. As you pointed out, the rear window size is different so the Mk III E/H C post covering would have to be wider to match up with the narrower rear window.

As for the rod support system for the headliner, the MK III E/H part numbers are not the same as those for the Mk III standard saloon. Whether this is just an "update" to the part numbers or a real change in the rod system, I don't know. Someone familiar with both types of cars would have to answer that question. I'm betting they are different, but I'm not taking my headliner out to see!

Of course, the material for your Mk 3 would be different from the English built E/H. Both of my W-1000s (built before the Mk 3s) have had something unlike the English "crackle cream" as it is often called. I believe the material was one of the "locally sourced" items for South African cars counted towards satisfying the local content laws.

One day I'll have a Mk 3 (I've been looking!) and maybe I can do some direct comparisons between the Mk III E/H, the Mk III standard saloon and the Mk 3.

So to make things simple for myself, should I want to get a new hoodlining (my car needs one), I would have to get a custom made item to the size of the one that came out of my car? Obviously this would mean that a different material would be used and thus authenticity lost. Obviously I have never seen a UK car so I can't comment on the materials looking and feeling different to SA cars. Your theory does seem logical though as much of the later SA cars was produced and sourced locally for the content program of the time.

If you ever need help sourcing a Mk3 you could always give me a shout and I'll help you out.

Newton Commercial do a kit especially for the Elf/Hornet:

Newton Commercial Elf headlining kit

Thanks for that. Its at a reasonable price as well. That's before I include import costs though.