Hints and Fixes - as published in our NewsLetters
NB. The ideas, tips and hints expressed, and any opinions expressed, in this web site or any other ‘publication’, are made in good faith. Each reader/member/owner is responsible for ensuring the safety and legality of any modifications made, whether as a result of information provided by the Register, or any member of the Register, or not. Any reliance placed on articles published by the Register is at the reader's own risk. Although the Register tries to ensure that information printed is correct, the Minari Owners Register excludes any responsibility for any negligent statements. The Register will not accept any responsibility for injury, loss or damage caused to anybody, however caused, as a result of reading or following articles printed here, or in the News Letter.

A few Minaris have suffered failure of the subframe attachment point for the front crossmember. Fortunately, this is rare and has not caused any serious accidents. Equally fortunately, incipient failure is easy to check since the component is clearly visible with the bonnet raised. Repair is a relatively simple welding job. Details can be obtained from the Register.

Elbow room in door trim See NL 2 & NL 4.
Phil W.

Garden Hose on Springs
Soften the plastic hose in warm water and use washing-up liquid as a lubricant. Doing this alone may enable you to get the ends of the rear springs covered as the metal is not as thick as the front ones. To do the front ones, I needed to file off the burrs on the spring ends to make sure the ends were smooth. I then polished the springs with silicone furniture polish. This made the crucial difference."
Neil L-B NL3 (I used plumbers silicone grease. DAS)

* I had difficulty fitting the doors until I weakened the strong detent on the big hinge by some judicious grinding. This introduced sufficient play to stop the hinges pulling the door out of line when the hinges were tightened.
* The brake and clutch pedal return springs should be fitted. My donor lacked the latter and when I changed the clutch, the release bearing had worn quite a grove in the pressure plate to which it had become firmly attached.
* Be bold and go ahead and relocate the top mounting of the o/s/r shocker. Alan B NL3

Like most builders, I have made a few departures from standard:
i. Vauxhall Nova inner door releases set in the top of each sill to operate the bonnet locks.
ii. Modified window winders from a VW Polo Mk2* (Now in NL11)
iii. High level brake light on the rollover bar
iv. Perforated stainless steel mesh radiator grille (looks great, and cost me nothing!)
v. Welded the rollover mounting bolt heads to the spreader plates, avoiding the need for a helper when fitting the roll bar, and allowing its removal without disturbing the petrol tank.
vi. Ribbed rubber kick protection on the sill tops are simple to make and look well.
vii The rigid plastic screen wash bottle and pump from a Ford Fiesta (or was it an Escort) bolts neatly to the top of the engine bulkhead, beside the offside subframe top mounting, and behind the offside carburettor. (So will the rear screen washer bottle from your donor! DAS)
(Remember to obtain the Ford loom plug for the pump.)
Bruce M. NL3

To fit the steering column, I welded pairs of bolts to a spreader plate and then pulled them into position with string, not forgetting the P40. Thus the bolts are now effectively captive and the column can be unbolted, without the hassle of getting a spanner into the box sections.
Another problem encountered was the rear spring falling out every time the car was jacked, one solution is to find shorter or adjustable shocks (expensive)?, another would be to raise the top mounting point of the shocks (not very practical), or lower the bottom mounting point with a spacer. On Sud based cars this is very easy but on 33 based cars I don't think it will be. Mine is lowered about 2 inches, this is too much as the suspension travel is now very limited. It also looks a little weird because the shock sticks out the bottom of the rear axle, but the spring does stay seated when jacking.
Adrian S. NL5

Door release problems. Run cables through the body into the inside of the car and use metal clips with small nuts and bolts. See NL 6 and latest build manual.
Fit the boot lid gas struts horizontally, more boot space
Neil S. NL7

Side Windows Vaseline, don't use this stuff to lubricate the side window channels as suggested in the last Newsletter - it eventually rots rubber. Better to use silicone grease or pukka window glass lubricant.
More rubber! I have made sill protectors (820 x 170 mm) from ribbed rubber sheeting, glued to the top of the sills. The paintwork at the front of the sills is easily damaged by the pointy end of the catch pins when opening and closing the bonnet, so I tailored 180mm square pieces of this rubber to fit to the front end of each sill. The bonnet pin and the two bolts for each catch pass through holes in the rubber, and where it starts to turn up the vertical face of the tub, it is secured with a horizontal strip of metal screwed into the GRP. When the bonnet is opened the unsecured rubber above the metal strip simply falls down and outwards to cover the horizontal surface and an inch or two of the outer (vertical) part of the sill, providing excellent protection from damage. When locating the bonnet pin to close the bonnet, just push the loose rubber out of the way. Cheap, simple and effective!
Sound-proofing Reliant used pads of (fireproof) loft insulation encased in polythene in the voids in their late and great Scimitars. I've used a similar ploy in the sills and torsion box of my Minari, and it's working well.
Spare Wheel A search in my local scrappy's turned up a Fiat Tipo diesel with an unused 135 / 80 B 14 spacesaver, which is a good match for my 185 / 60 R14tyres. The outer edge of the mounting holes in the wheel had to be filed out v. slightly to avoid damaging the threads on the wheel bolts. For "get-you-home" purposes at low speeds, I am pleased with my find.
Boot Release Getting the cable operated boot release to function properly has been a continuing problem. For a bit of fun, I installed an internally switched central locking motor (from the donor car) behind the rear bumper, operated by a neat spring-loaded On/On switch, to open the boot. Fine adjustment is via a cable connector block built into an overlap in the operating rods.
All from Bruce M. NL 9

Ref. the rear spring coming out of the cup on the body, make a strap to go from the bottom damper bolt to the side of the body, high up, to limit axle droop.
Clive S. NL9

Dash front edge. To hold the front edge of the dash down nice and snugly to the body , one screws a length, suitably cut and shaped, odd legged U channel plastic (J shaped from B & Q perhaps), then the dash just slips under this and thereby is held snug to the scuttle. As the plastic is thin and ‘plastic’, if the body is drilled and countersunk, the screws which hold the U down will pull the plastic into the countersink and the screw head will be sufficiently low not to obstruct inserting the dash.
Neil S. NL 10

If you lose the oil filler cap, get one for a Nissan Sunny. It fits in perfectly and is extremely cheap.
From the internet 33 discussion page.

If you are changing the hand brake cables, on a 33 based car, there is no need to use the normal pair, use two from one side as they are different lengths, choose the correct ones and save your self a few pounds.
Keith W. end 2000

If you have Alfasud inboard front brakes, check the allen head bolts which secure the driveshaft to the gearbox regularly. Mine unscrewed themselves so that the disc dropped out leaving me with no brakes (or engine braking!).
John H 2007