Peter Manton's 997cc mini Cooper as raced in 1964

Many years ago I bought a couple of decal kits to convert the Tamiya cooper S into two of Peter Manton's mini's ,



I've eventually gotten back to them again (started several months ago though ) and after more research have found that while the decal sets are pretty good , they are generic of the schemes used by Manton and all up there were 5 different mini's in 6 different colour schemes . I figured I might as well start at the beginning so this will be the first of his mini's that raced under the Neptune team colours and was a UK built 997 cc cooper .

Through yet more research I was given these photo's by "Watto" , the owner/editor of "the Mini Experience" (shameless plug > it is THE best magazine on mini's and specifically features Australian mini's and history ... plus he's published a couple of my articles) along with the article on this car and what it looks like today .

This show's the quick colour change that the mini had from it's original Empire Red as the wheel wells weren't painted as well ...



Much the same as the still red engine bay , also showing the "lightweight" battery , odd looking SU carbs and manifold (longer carb body or a spacer , not sure yet) and other unique details .



Now to the model , I started with the Tamiya 1967 Monte Carlo Rally mini as the decal instructions say that Manton only used minilite wheels (now I know he used widened/reversed steel rims on this one , minilites on the next and cooper "rosepetal" rims on another) so will have to change wheels later . To convert the cooper s into a 997 cooper I've had to remove the S badge on the boot , the right hand fuel filler boss on the body and the door handle locating posts at the front edge of the door handles ,



I've also cut the heater from the lower dash section , removed the demister vents from the top dash rail , removed the hideously oversized vent from the firewall and started shaving down a resin battery (from unlimited scale auto) to match the "lightweight" battery in the engine bay , only sitting there at opresent to check for scale .



There's a long way to go with detailing and weathering (somebody say oil leaks ...) the engine yet so it looks basic and bright .

There are a few things that I can't change yet that will probably bug mebut I don't have the skill or facilities to fix . The main one is the hydrolastic suspension lines under the rear of the mini , hydro suspension came in around 1965 in the UK and 1966 here , the 997 cooper had rubber cone (dry) suspension which didn't have these lines ... I am trying to teach my youngest to say "Daddy want's a Dremmel for Fathers Day" but since all he can say so far is dadadada , mumumum and nananan I don't think it will work ...



Long way to go and the biggest hurdle is my own anal-ness at trying to make it all correct and wanting to super detail it

great to see someone else building the migthy mini's

You might be able to carefully shave the moulded in lines off with a sharp knife and then sand it smooth.

Mmmmm, that green engine and red floor pan looks like I chose the paint...

I will be watching this build I have the same decals for years and the mini kit just have not got around to doing it yet. The carbs are twin Stromberg SU the standard Rover V8 Carburetor used in Rover V8 and Land / Range Rover V8 Till the 90's ish good carbs till they play up hard to tune.

They are the normal twin SU's (well the carb body and air bell are) that a host of British cars got but there's something odd between the carb body and the manifold , or the carb body has been really worked over and extended . Looking at the mounting studs I think they are 1 1/2" carbs instead of the standard 1 1/4" but they've had some serious work done as well . The photo's just not clear enough for all the details though (was taken from a screen shot off a 1964 Neptune promotional film) and the original racing spec are lost in time (other than the cams logbook saying twin SU's but not listing the size or mods ....) . Happy to share any info with you on the mini's when you decide to build yours Kynan , did you realise there was a LHD/RHD version as well ? Manton had a special steering rack made with two pinions in it so he could drive from either side depending on the track layout . Apparently it took about an hour and a half for him to swap the pedal box , master cylinders and steering collumn over and it changed the balance for certain tracks .

Zenrat , I'll have another look at the lines and see what I can do , the more I think about it the more they annoy me ....

Thank's Allan , your's will be finished long before mine though .

On another note I'm trying to find out what Manton used to tow this one with but no luck yet . The later version (yellow) was towed by a matching yellow Austin 1800 ute so I'm searching for a 1:24 scale Austin 1800 as well to convert to a ute but there only seems to have been one 1:24 model made and it's hens teeth material ...

Looking at the carbies i'd say that they're on longer inlet runners.
I think that the bit that looks like an extra between the carby and the manifold is a throttle butterfly housing.
Like on this pic I stole from Wiki (OK, so it's on a motorbike but the design would be the same - only bigger).

Austin 1800 ute? You mean a Land Crab ute?
One of these?

Never seen one kitted.
You might find a die cast but the chances of it being the right scale...

This is a wonderful thread - brings back many memories of the Neptune racing team and Manton's Mini magic. I have a simple 1:24 scale Austin 1800 plastic toy that is reasonably accurate, but I've never seen a kit version. I suppose it would be possible to make a resin casting copy of the body??? I'll dig it out and post pics soon.

By the way your Mini model work is damn good.

tezza43 wrote: I have a simple 1:24 scale Austin 1800 plastic toy that is reasonably accurate, but I've never seen a kit version.

That is the one I was referring too and as far as I have been able to find out it is the only model/toy of an 1800 of any form larger than a die cast . If you could look at getting a resin body made from it I'd love to buy a couple . Would be a lot easier to make a sedan into a ute than build one up from scratch .

Zenrat , that's it exactly , it's an earlier h2 carb as opposed to hs2 which is what mini's were fitted with . Don't know why I didn't twig to it earlier , the manifold is different too from standard , maybe the whole assembly was taken from a sprite or some other longitudinally mounted A series engine instead of transversely mounted as in the mini . Yes , it was a land crab ute painted in the shell yellow colour like the mini and with the same stickers on it . There are a couple of photo's about of the combination but just can't find them at present ... A friend in Melbourne who also has a Nota Fang (sad yellow thing in my sig) tow's his around behind a landcrab ute too , he reckons they make a great tow car .

zenrat wrote:Austin 1800 ute? You mean a Land Crab ute?
One of these?

Never seen one kitted.
You might find a die cast but the chances of it being the right scale...

By the way , off topic I know but check out this 1800 conversion in Wollongong http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=46806 The original poster first put up some obscure photo's asking what it was , hence my 1800 hearse comments .

Ya I would bee interested in a 1800 resin ute,

Cool - where'd you get the decals from?

I got them from a (long gone) model dealer in Lismore close to 20 years ago , they are branded "Appendix "J" decals" , the yellow one is AJ009 , the blue one AJ007 . No idea if the company is still making them or of anyone else who makes them now though (apart from the sheet from RooDecal which will make the mini or the Cortina) . Anyone know if Appendix "J" Decals still produce decals ?

This is almost finished now ,I'll let the pictures do the talking ,








Just got to get the right number for the year for the doors and bonnet . The decal sheet comes with a number 2 but the photo's I have of this version show it racing as number 1 ....

Yes , it is a little known fact but all Peter Mantons early mini's had the oil cooler mounted below the front bumper




I have also been thinking of how to display it so came up with a diorama idea of a rural Neptune servo/BMC dealership (based on E W Collins which was the BMC dealer in Maclean up till the mid 70's) . More work to do yet , I had the chev kit and decided this would be a good place to use it .





Note to anyone painting acessories outside , keep them well above dog height .... Took a week of filling and sanding before I could reconstruct one of the bowsers that the dog thought looked like a bone

There will be another mini in the shop yet , a sign in the window advertising "Peter Mantons team Neptune mini on display this Friday" , tools and a blown fanbelt scattered around the kerb near the front of the chev and a lot of other stuff inside .

looking good so far,I got a cat that tryed to eat tyres

well its looking good but you are missing the ram extension tubes in the middle of su and manifold thats wot that extra bit is you refer to a year or so ago sorry i wasnt around then lol but i only know of this because i brought some off peter brock about 7-8 years ago for my datsun and he said they used to run them on the coopers back in the day it may not be the same thing im not sure but looks the same otherwise i love it and wont one
whats the name of the the kit if you remember lol

It's looking great Ian. I could never bring myself to detail the almost unseen engines on my Mini's so a for that. I like the idea of the servo as the display, but won't all that good work be hidden?

It will sort of be hidden , the bonnet will be up (still have to make a wire bonnet stay) but the detail will be a bit hard to see . I'll know it's there though

A question about the decal set you used for your manton mini though Shawn , what numbers are on it for the doors ? The set I used only gives two numbers and neither one was used on this version I'm after the number 1 (or 38) in the same type as on yours .

I used the same decal sheet as you, I just had to modify it to suit my needs.
Here's how I did it.
First I cut a roundel from a white decal sheet using a circle cutter.
Then I applied that to the model. Then I cut the black ring with the outer white ring off of the decal sheet and applied that over the roundel and then added a 1 cut from an old bit of black stripe decal. As long as you have a circle cutter you'll be ok. This is the cutter I use http://www.hlj.com/product/OLF57B
Cheers SS

Thank's Shawn , I'll have a go at that . I thought you used the "Red Roo" sheet ? Mine is an old "Appendix J" sheet that only does one mini .

sports850 wrote:
On another note I'm trying to find out what Manton used to tow this one with but no luck yet . The later version (yellow) was towed by a matching yellow Austin 1800 ute so I'm searching for a 1:24 scale Austin 1800 as well to convert to a ute but there only seems to have been one 1:24 model made and it's hens teeth material ...

Here's a couple of photos of my plastic toy model Austin 1800 Mk I. It's roughly 1:24 scale and fairly simple curbside stuff. Maybe it's possible to make a mould from it?





Tezza

What do you reckon Ian, is making a mould etc something you can do ?

I too would like one of these so I had asked Tezza if any had been done.

Cheers
Steve

Out of my skill level I'm afraid Steve though there are a few people on here who would be capable .

It looks brilliant Tezza and is perfect for what I'm after , would you be willing to let it be used to make a mould and if so any suggestions as to who would be the best to do it ?

I read an article recently about making copies of plastic model car bodies. It might even be an old ModelArt magazine? I'll see if I can find it.

As for loaning it out, it's a huge ask as this is a very rare toy. It will depend on the person who is going to do the job I guess, before I make a decision.



Tezza

That's what I thought you might say actually (I'm the same with my collection) , I will leave all the decision's in your hands without any pressure at all tezza .