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

[Seth]

wilko said:

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?

Mid/late fifties to early sixties Minx (and associated cars) had fifteens. The later series cars had 13's. This was my '61 Rapier on its 15's

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?!?!

I had thought about finding some newer steels to play with but I've got wheels now.....

[stealthstylz]

16s on the back and 15s on the front ftw hehe. Aren't they super skinny 15x3.5 or something daft?

Matt

[MartinC]

the 15" are still same PCD as Ford. IIRC there were some 16" off something that also shared that PCD, but I forget what...

[Deleted]

i ran a hunter gl estate as everyday for five years with no troubles whatsoever, best motor i ever had for practicality...
miss it like i lost a thumb when she went to scrapyard heaven
to this day never did find out what bent it up outside my brothers house but it must have been bloody big

[Deleted]

I'm running 405 pug steels on the sceptre so they are right pcd..
i ran my hunter on the wheels which came off my mk2 sceptre cause it had all new tyres on !! improved handling no end

[CR500Dom]

Cool wagon Seth

Take a look at Rally design and their coilover conversion kits, should be dead easy on that strut

[Seth]

cr500dom said:

Cool wagon Seth

Take a look at Rally design and their coilover conversion kits, should be dead easy on that strut

All in hand ;D

[trg1984]

seth said:

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

oh please please do it, itd look fantastic

[Seth]

The weather over last weekend meant I wasn't able to make a start on the bits of bodywork I wanted to do but I have found time for a few little bits and bobs. Oh and the credit card has done some work

I continued stripping down one strut - I'm leaving the other in one piece so I've got it for reference. The shock insert is held in place by a threaded bung at the top which is peened by one of the notches to prevent it working loose. So some attention with various hitting/poking devices and I could undo the bung using a hammer and punch to rotate it.



Once that is out all the innards can be removed and dismantled. The glass jar contains the old shock oil. Well to be precise it contains most of the shock oil as it kept coming out of new orifices so went all over the bench and the floor as well



When I put it all back together I'll use some thicker than factory oil to increase the damping. (Slater, this lot seem familiar? ) I'm now waiting for a box of goodies to arrive before I can work out exactly what I'm going to do.

In the mean time I've checked the car over some more by jacking the back up and removing the drums. Rear brakes all seem in good nick but there is a possible weep from an axle seal on one side. I decided to get the hubcaps shiny and then dug out the old trim rings we had on the Herald estate. They're not in great condition but "polishing" with wire wool and WD40 has got them as presentable as the rest of the car.



Also picked up a peep mirror cheap on t'bay which I've mounted on the front of the door as there's no suitable top door gutter and I don't want to drill anything. I would probably have done without but I'm not the only person who's going to be driving this. Small compromises are worth it.



And finally (actually did this first!) a friend from the Sun-tor can now wobble on the dash.

[luckygti]

Nice looking car you have there and looks to be really clean! Will look the biz a touch lower to the ground!!

[kevfromwales]

vauxhallanorak said:

the 15" are still same PCD as Ford. IIRC there were some 16" off something that also shared that PCD, but I forget what...

big 50's austin

nice work seth - my towbar's going to spoil all your hard work to improve the looks though!!

- kev

[les509]

wilko said:

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

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! [/quote]
Don't get carried away Wilko, I just like round headlights more than square ones!

[Tim]

Cool, i've got one of them too :-)

[Seth]

luckygti said:

Will look the biz a touch lower to the ground!!

More than a touch I hope! A great big thwack if plan A works!

[misteralz]

Lovely.

[Seth]

A parcel just arrived containing shiny things ;D



Now the fun really can begin

[leigh]

"And they're off"

[Oldbus]

Go for it Seth,

oh and don´t forget the pics

[sav]

Liking the new wagon seth, looking forward to seeing how things develop.

[hairnet]

shiny stuff wins