1968 Hillman Minx Estate - 08/10/21 - Road Trip!

[Seth]

Well, a week after purchase I guess it's about time I started a thread about this one here.....



Bought from its original owner of 40 years, around 100K on the clock but I think very few of those done in the last couple of years. Its a povo spec 1500 with about 60bhp and 86lbs' of torque, four speed (non O/D) and 4.22 gears in the back end.



Some funky one owner features include original handbook/workshop manual, Rootes keys, receipts, tax disc holder, oh and crossply tyre on the spare Factory equipment includes synchromesh on all forward gears, two speed heater motor, moulded rubber flooring but no wing mirrors. Or overiders. Or reverse light. Or.....



Back seat folds down leaving a totally flat floor - great for something called Dogging according to Pogweasel. I wouldn't know.



The last week has seen it as primary vehicle here so its been commuter, furniture delivery vehicle and Ace Cafe transport, clocking up 400 miles with very little in the way of problems. The only "major" issue was the discovery of it piddling while I was trying to tune the carb.



I knew the rad was on its last legs so had got Stealthstylz to send down the one from the car he broke for parts. It was in much better condition and it only took me 15 minutes to swap over.



Other than that I've started collecting parts for a bit of a makeover. Hoping to got a bunch of work done before the Spring Riot at the beginning of May ;D

[les509]

Always thought these looked better in 'Minx' form rather than Hunter. Looks very 'Eastern Block' don't you think? Gets the thumbs up from me Seth.

[leigh]

Looks good, i have high hopes for this one (but low center of gravity i hope!)

[grizz]

Nice one Seth.

Sets you appart once again.

What sort of stuff do you need ?

[ironmighty07]

I'm seeing this with an XUD/LDV pilot box combo, lowered and thats it. A cool and practical daily!Although somewhere in me is the shame to mod such an original car!Eeek!

[arthurbrown]

I am loving this car, big style.

Are you coming up this week Seth? We can have a "wagon-off" ;D

[Seth]

Thanks people

ironmighty07 said:

I'm seeing this with an XUD/LDV pilot box combo, lowered and thats it. A cool and practical daily!Although somewhere in me is the shame to mod such an original car!Eeek!

It's probably going to stay pretty stock mechanically. If the engine does go bang then I'll find a 1725 for it obviously Its not so original as probably half the paint isn't 40 years old and its in a couple of shades. I'm not cutting the interior up to fit speakers though!

arthurbrown said:

I am loving this car, big style.
Are you coming up this week Seth? We can have a "wagon-off" ;D

Yep, should be barring a disaster. Bet mine is slower than yours!

[dollywobbler]

Not sure I want to see you two "wagon-off" in the car park...

Lovely looking car though. Look forward to seeing how this one pans out.

[bazzateer]

arthurbrown said:

We can have a "wagon-off" ;D

Isn't that where the dogging comes in?

Looks good Seth, when Madge is back on the road (too much rain over the weekend to do the head swap : it'd be good to park 'em up at The Ace. Your round headlamps will make going Halogen much easier than mine - nightmare!

[Odin]

[sensible hat]

That's a fantastically practical motor! Vast load area with the seats folded. Very nice!

[/sensible hat]

[Seth]

Picked these up from mrabody earlier in the week.



Not played with a car on Struts before so its all a learning curve! Having a spare pair to mess about with means the car won't be out of action while I work out how to do things.

First problem was getting teh top mounts off. The nut is buried inside but you need something to go in the slot and keep the rod from rotating while undoing the nut.



I haven't got a fat enough screwdriver as the slot is very wide and the first bit of scrap metal I tried just twisted...so I ended up filing an old scrap bolt to fit nicely. Made of good stuff these HT fastners!



There we go, spring compressed and vice grips set to "bloody tight" and it worked ;D



WIth the spring out the way I can see how the parts relate to each other and what movement I've got to play with. Could go the Jonnysomerset patented route and just cut the springs this short



Shock rod goes right the way in which is good. I was concerned it might bottom out with a couple of inches still sticking out.



So I'm now investigating parts and considering the best route to go. I think the top mounts are going to get some severe attention as it looks like it means I could leave the rest of the strut pretty much as it is.

[bazzateer]

Seth,
Out of (self) interest, are the coils 'flat' at both ends or is one end 'free' making it easier to cut a coil off without affecting the seats?

ie is it like this: ll///////ll or like this: ll/////////

[xbo11ox]

I have got a real horn for one of these old Grootes-mobiles now having seen Seths singer. Theres a nice one on ebay now, but its right on the south coast so I think i'll be giving it a miss.

[rowleyclassics]

what a 1725 cc engine for it

[reanimation]

Still think its a nice purchase. Great to see that nice old man bought it and kept it for 40 years
what's wrong with all these new-car-every-few-years types? i dunno! Respect to you and the old man, recycling and looking after your pride and joy FTW

[Oldbus]

Nice one Seth,

i think the estate looks a lot better than the saloon, especially when it´s a bit closer to the ground.

Nice bit of inginuity on the struts, like your way of thinking. ;D

Looking forward to seeing this develop.....

Are they mechanically a Hunter and just optically a Minx, (i´m not really up to speed on Rootes), what were the differences or was it just a bit of 60´s badge engineeering?

[qwerty]

Love it!! Huge fan of the hunter and Minx and a Wagon takes it to a whole new leve

[trg1984]

looks brilliant, id love to see it on some cream space saver wheels, slat flat racer wagon!!!

[Seth]

bazzateer said:

Out of (self) interest, are the coils 'flat' at both ends or is one end 'free' making it easier to cut a coil off without affecting the seats?

Baz, coils are flat both ends I'm afraid. The seats aren't very deep either so they'd really need the coils re-shaping or they'd be a strong likelyhood of them popping out.

xbo11ox said:

I have got a real horn for one of these old Grootes-mobiles now having seen Seths singer.

Glad you like the ol' Talbot RegBo11ox!

rowleyclassics said:

what a 1725 cc engine for it

Hopefully not for the time being but....

reanimation said:

Respect to you and the old man, recycling and looking after your pride and joy FTW

Yeah, cheers. But I'm not sure he'll fully appreciate what I plan!

oldbus64 said:

Are they mechanically a Hunter and just optically a Minx, (i´m not really up to speed on Rootes), what were the differences or was it just a bit of 60´s badge engineeering?

Early Hunters had the same round lights and I'm really not sure what the difference would have been. There's no badges other than "Hillman" on the estate so could be either! Perhaps the interior trim was more basic? Maybe they didn't do iron head 1500 Hunters? Don't know really. Minxes were only produced until '70 when all the base models became Hunters.

trg1984 said:

looks brilliant, id love to see it on some cream space saver wheels, slat flat racer wagon!!!

I've got a pair of 15" rims of an earlier series Minx in my mum's shed. Being very tempted to go down that route for a giggle! ;D



I've not been able to do any more yet this weekend but have had plenty of time to think. Reckon I know what's going to happen with the struts now. Gonna have some maths to do and see if there's some "other factory" parts I can use....

[wilko]

trg1984 said:

looks brilliant, id love to see it on some cream space saver wheels, slat flat racer wagon!!!

I've got a pair of 15" rims of an earlier series Minx in my mum's shed. Being very tempted to go down that route for a giggle! ;D[/quote]


Interesting... what sort of minx had 15's on it? All the 60's ones that have passed my way have had 13s or 14s on them & I thought the old bubble shape 50's minxes were some sort of weird 3-stud pattern?

Dunno if it helps but some modern Peugeot steel rims (same PCD as Rootes) are pretty much just pressed steel with very little in the way of cut-outs, and look quite old-skool if you squint?!?!

Les, I am quite suprised to find you have a secret passion for these cars!