Anthony Shaughnessy asked about Mini wheels and carbs.
The wheels should have an offset marking on them. I don't know off hand
what the standard offset is but that should be on your current wheels.
Coopers came with a built in spacer on the rears and of course disks on
the front which have a greater track than drums. You can put spacers
on the rear of yours but you may need to fit heavy duty wheel bearings
which is not a problem. On the front however if you use spacers you
will be increasing the wear on the hub bearings. The only real
solution to this is to fit a disk brake assembly. Try finding out the
offset of the new wheels and phone up a reputable Mini specialist and
ask what spacers you may need. You should check both the wheels and
tyres carefully. If you don't notice a bad tyre by eye then you probably
will once it's on the car. Cracked alloys can be very dangerous so
check them out thoroughly especially if the car they came from has been
crashed.
The tube you refer to on the inlet manifold is probably where the heater
pipes connect to. Ever seen a 'water heated inlet manifold' advertised?
Standard cast manifolds, especially if it's joined to the exhaust, can
get too hot and for better power you want cold (dense) air to go into the
engine. The water heating is there to prevent carb icing in cold weather
but many people don't bother to do all the plumbing. You may need to
change your carb needle and spring to take account of the new application
but you may be OK. Get your car down to a rolling road if you can afford it.
May be worth checking out what camshaft and cylinder head the car had and
whether it was running standard rockers or high lift.
Steve
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