My South African Mk3

Hi all,

I have recently acquired a 1971 South African Mk3 [for those of you who are interested, it is the one that was mentioned near the start of the January issue of Mini World (as someone else on this forum asked about) and also (I believe) the South African Mini that was at the 40th anniversary of the mini at Silverstone in August 1999] which came with its original South African plate ND 294 although it has been registered in the UK since 1981 and now has an age related plate.

It is not in a terrible condition given the lack of care it has been given over the last 6 months by the dealer I bought it off (he frequently left it outside) but I think that a bare shell restoration is the best option before restoring it back to its former glory.

However, this is my first ever classic car (and therefore project) and so any advice would be most appreciated, particularly with the specification of the Mk3s as information about the  is few and far between. If anyone who has restored one would be prepared for me to ask them a few questions that would be fantastic!

I hope that I can get it on the road as soon as possible!

I am struggling with getting any pictures a bit, but these will have to do:

Welcome

That's a great little car! I'm busy doing one now. Here's mine :



Anything you want to know, just ask

Yes, Welcome! I'm glad to see the car has turned up. The Mk3 that I imported to the U.S. last June was a one family car with only 23,000 miles on it. A few "shade tree, backyard" things had been done to it over the years, but they are easy to tell, so the car is a good one to help with someone who wants to restore a Mk3. The other one of only two I know of in the U.S., came in just before mine. It went through a long restoration (with minor changes) in Cape Town. Add both of us to your "Help" list.
Another person you'll want on your contact list is Ryno Verster of South Africa. He's been studying S.A. cars for years with the Wolseley 1000 his favorite, and the Mk3 near the top of his list. If you are interested, I can send you his email address.

I guess I have a few questions that I can ask now, but am sure I will have plenty that I will want to know later in the project - I have got Ryno's book already (and I think a contact for him), which has some lovely bits on the history, but I am trying to find out what the original spec was.

I think mine is mostly original at the moment - although given I will probably have to loose all of the paintwork, does anyone know what the original colour options are? - it's currently has (I believe) its original grey with a white roof, but it would be nice to replicate these as closely as possible.

Also, did it come originally with an alternator or dynamo? Mine has an alternator now but given it has no logo on it at all, I suspect that it is newer than the car.

And is the lack of door bins an elf/hornet thing or just the case on the Mk3 - or should I have some!!!

Another slightly different question, with this being my first restoration I will need to be getting a lot of tools. To cut down on space and cost, could you give me an idea as to the main sizes of sockets (and spanners) I will need - I believe they are all imperial, but I'm sure some metric will have creeped in there somewhere!

Are there any other points about them that you think I should know?

Thanks, Lachlan

- Jared - your car looks amazing !!! The upholstery fits the look perfectly!

- Cheleker - you say to add you and this other person to my 'help list' - is he on this forum too or were you suggesting by email?

Being a '71 car, there will be differences between yours and the late '69 and early '70 cars. The doors were changed for "rattle free" ones during '70 or so. Basically, the later cars received doors equivalent to the Clubman of the same era. When this happened, the door pockets were no longer fitted as they had no way of being attached at the factory. The earlier cars, like mine, received doors equivalent to the Elf/Hornet cars with their own unique locking system, the chrome window surrounds and obviously the door pockets.

Originally, they were fitted with a dynamo.

I haven't seen pictures of the car, so can't comment on much at the moment. Any questions, just ask and I'll help where I can.

Ich.

Make contact with Ryno so he can add the Chassis Number et. al. to his ever growing list. He may be able to get a little closer to a build date than just 1971.

Can't help with the color options or details of the paint codes. I have not seen a listing of Mk3 colors, let alone the various codes. Ryno might be able to help. Some of the sales literature he (or others on this forum) has collected may at least give color options.
One paint issue that needs some verification is when was the roof color painted onto the rain gutters instead of having the gutters painted the "normal" way; i.e., the same as the body color?

You have an answer from Jared on the dynamo/alternator issue. Dynamo it is.

Elf/Hornet had door bins on all three versions; including, the Mk III with the roll up windows. Jared's comments are interesting. The few Mk3s that I've seen in my travels all had no door pockets, but I don't know when they were built. From dates on parts on my car my best guess is that the car was built around mid-1970...and no door pockets.

Tools is a tough one to answer. First, anything metric is something added later. I would say that the three most common sizes are 7/16", 1/2", and 5/8". Standard wheel lug nuts (and ball joint nuts) are 11/16" and the oil drain plug is 15/16". That short list doesn't come close to what you'll need, but does cover a lot.

Other points? Many, many pages full!

The other U.S. owner is on the other side of the country from me (about 3000 miles away -- so we have the two coasts covered! He has a lot about his car on this forum. Look for SAMK3.

Like others on this forum, I'm excited to see that the car seems to be in good hands and will get back on the road.