Newsletter 04 - August 1998

Minari Owners Register
News Leer Number 4
New Members for this N.L.
No 34. RM from Ludlow OTR
No 35. JG from Co Galway. Potential
owner. Undecided. See Musings.
No 36 JH from Tiptoe Ser. 1 OTR
No 37 SF from Bickerstaffe OTR
Editorial Notes.
Yes another change to the layout and the
Logo, now complete with ‘Motorcycle trials
tyre’ tracks as per the Minari brochure.
After the last N.L. had been prepared, I
received a nice letter from Phil Walters, with
yet more ideas on the “elbow room” saga, see
Musings for the letter and his idea. I do
wonder when he will finish - finish his car.
The answer is probably never, (sorry Chriss, I
know that is not what you wanted to be told).
I suppose the same applies to all builders, me
included. We are never happier than when
working on (playing with) our car. The best
bit must be repairing or replacing parts we
have worn out, because that means we have
been using and hopefully enjoying our cars.
No 38 CW from Netherfield. Planning!
No 39 JP from Gnosall OTR
Contents
Editorial Notes 1
Latest News 2
‘Musings’ 3
Who’s a really sad old sod? 8
My Trip to Switzerland 10
Odd Pieces 14
Request for Info. 15
New use for Minari 15
Alfa Day Report 16
Product Info 17
Contact/Helplines 18
Diary 18
Good Ideas 19
Help Wanted 19
Speaking of enjoying your car, don’t forget to send me interesting photos of
your car on its travels, I can include them in the future N.L.s.
Which Minari/owner combination is going to be the furthest travelled? And
who has visited the most interesting place (in their Minari?). I suppose Phil
Walters is in with a good chance having done the Stoneleigh show from near
Elgin, Scotland.
Something I have been asked on a number of occasions is just how many
Minari (what is the pleural of Minari?) are there. From conversations with
Page 1

Chameleon, I can report that, as of today, 22 nd May 1998, 109 series 2 kits /
completed cars have been sold. Chassis number 120 is sold and is ready for
collection as I write, and is included in this number. Being bright, I am sure
that you can count back and see that the first 11 were not ‘used’.
Unfortunately at this time, the number of series 1 cars is unknown.
This leads me on to the obvious question. Does any one have any knowledge
of a series one car? I would be very interested to know about, and perhaps
even see one as I have only ever seen series 2.
Since writing this, I have been told, that there is a series 1 car in captivity, whose
owner is considering membership.
From all of the above you can see that I am working well in advance of
anticipated publication date. In fact I am working on N.L. 5!!!
1 LATEST NEWS ON SVA
Well, the waiting is over folks! SVA started on 1 st July and only one extra station
is planned (Taunton) in addition to those already kitted out. The increased flow of
personal imports which triggered the plans for additional stations won’t happen
now so we, like many other owners, will need to travel miles for a test.
Unbeknown to us they have also sneaked in some new changes to the Test
Manual; most are beneficial but some not so. We found out when we requested
updates for our copy. A new class of vehicle ‘constructed by a manufacturer
using parts from a registered vehicle’ has been created which covers builders like
us.
A new exemption has been created for any affected vehicle (including those
purchased after 1 st Jan. 1998) regarding interior fittings. Until 1 st Jan 2000 the
requirements of this section only apply to the “Head Impact Zone” and not the
whole vehicle.
They have removed the exemption for ‘Amateur Built Vehicles’ regarding the
need to fit ‘E’ marked lamps but this does not affect the Minari which already
uses such lamps. A range of other changes have been made which clarify,
simplify and improve the test procedures.
Incidentally one Minari owner was told by his Local Vehicle Licensing Office that
the Minari doesn’t need to have an SVA test because it uses all the parts from one
Page 2

I saved this just in case there were no letters for N.L.4.
On Saturday 9 th May, I received a letter from the much-travelled Phil
Walters. Written on the back on the envelope was a cryptic message
“It’s the rear door inner handle”.
Dear Dave
It was good to meet you at Stoneleigh last Sunday. I trust Monday
was just as good with some more Minaris turning - up.
Chriss and I had a good trip back to Blackpool area in 2hrs 5mins!
On Monday we did the long trek back north but took it reasonably
gently. All in all a very enjoyable round trip of 1000 miles in
comfort and style. Talking of which, can I use your column inches to
thank Sean and Andy, Dave and John and all others involved in
designing and developing the Minari for a superb piece of
engineering in a good looking and stylish package.
As you do, I’ve found my mind wandering as regards
elbow cut outs. During the long trips south and return I found myself
using my angled door pull as an armrest, so I thought about a revised
elbow cut out.
How about an angled forward shelf with an indented pull in the shelf.
If you look at the interior of an original Mondeo you’ll see what I
mean. A rough drawing is below.
2
All the best
Phil
Page 3

I hope the cryptic message on the back of the envelope has now become clear to
all.
Phil, it was good to meet you and the other Minari people at the show. Let us
hope that we can have more of the same over the coming months and years.
Thanks for the letter, and the sketch, (I have even managed to capture some of
Phil’s handwriting), you are obviously an ideas man.
I agree with your expression of joy with the Minari. It’s not a bad bit of ‘plastic’
is it???!!!!!
I must find and look in a Mondeo. Would it be more comfortable with the arm
rest horizontal? (Again further to the above I met a potential member at the Alfa
Day who is working along the same lines, now that must be great minds etc.)
Though I won’t be doing the elbow room till the winter, the ideas are all being
logged and allowed to mull over in my mind so that when I get round to doing it,
the arm rest should be well thought out.
Well thought out but probably poorly executed.
Thinking of that little bit of extra comfort. I submit ‘Who’s a really sad etc.’, for
your amusement and pity. See page 8.
Dear Sir/Madam,
Please find enclosed a bank draft for £10 for membership.
At the moment I am not the owner of a Minari, but I am contemplating building or
buying a part built model. I would be very grateful if you could send me
information on the above. Also I would like to correspond with Minari owners on
the construction and reliability of the car. Any information would be gratefully
received.
Thank you,
Yours sincerely,
Jimmy Gleeson
Thanks for the Sir/Madam, Jimmy, (the envelope was correctly addressed!)
Should I feel insulted? No, I am sure it wasn’t inten#onal. If it was inten#onal, it
was wasted as I have been insulted by experts. Anyway, welcome to our small
band, as you will know by now there is a member in Co Down. I had prepared a
small request for informa#on from Ireland. I must admit to being totally ignorant
as to the Kit Car scene over there. You have forced my hand, I will include the
piece and widen the scope by making it Eire/Ireland.
Thank you.
Page 4

Dear Dave,
8th June 1998
The day out at Stoneleigh was very enjoyable with lots to see. 1 was pleased to
meet you, Dave, together with David Rutherford and the other Register members.
(Yes Dave, that was my younger son John who incidentally did all the paintwork
on my car.)
When we set out from Watford with the hood down the signs were not good as it
was already spitting with rain. With misty rain sweeping across the Vale of
Aylesbury memories of the soaking we received on the way to, and at Goodwood
last year became very vivid. Fortunately by the time we reached Buckingham the
rain had stopped and the weather improved from then on. The initial rain did
however remind me of one of the advantages of the Minari - with the hood down
one doesn't get really wet - provided one keeps moving! Inspired by the show we
had a fairly rapid journey home, this time along the A5 which is a pretty good
road apart from the bottleneck at Dunstable.
Number 3 Newsletter was a bumper issue with plenty to read. I was particularly
interested in the references to windscreen breakage's. I would (and perhaps other
members would as well) like to know in more detail how these breakage's
occurred - not to gloat but to be able to learn lessons for avoidance in the future.
Perhaps we might have a section on Do's and Don'ts to avoid minor disasters. My
car suffered a shattered side window resulting from, I believe, an over exuberant
slamming of a door by a friend. (Ugh!) Minari Engineering thought that the
breakage might have been caused by a manufacturing fault in the glass and they
kindly sent me a replacement piece. Anyway, whatever the primary cause it
seems a good idea to remind unwary passengers not to grip the top of the glass
when closing the doors.
The suggestion of fitting a Subaru boxer engine into a Minari filled me with mild
horror. No doubt the Subaru engine is a very worthy unit but when I think of
Minari I instinctively think of Alfa as well. Although the Minari body is very
attractive it was the use of Alfa components which really sold me the kit. If
Marlin had specified a kit with say Alfa 75 engine and running gear then I might
have gone for this instead. The idea of an Alfa V6 Minari does sound very
exciting. Also, how about a Minari with the Alfa transverse in line 4 Twin Spark?
Alfa engineered this unit into the 145 which originally incorporated the boxer
engine so anything is possible. 1 look forward to reading a letter from somebody
whose doing it.
Best Wishes,
Michael Waterman
Page 5

Thanks for the letter Michael, I had begun to wonder if, this time, there would be
any more than the two letters above, you have saved me. You jammy s_d, your
own, in house car painter, do you have a trimmer or engine tuner in the family,
what about gearbox wizard? How about MOT tester? We know that you are the
(logo) designer. As for not getting too wet, see my ‘report’ of Christmas days
outing last year in NL 1. I was subsonic and the inside of the screen got very wet.
Perhaps I wasn’t going fast enough, or shouldn’t have slowed down.
Yes, NL 3 was a biggie, but it was mainly as a result of letters received, so keep
them coming please.
A do’s and don’ts section, doesn’t this come under the umbrella of ‘good ideas‘.
It is a good idea to do …. It is a good idea NOT to do …
I forget who it was, sorry, but someone I was talking to, said that trying to settle
the screen too far in to the aperture caused his screen to crack. Perhaps the
answer is to put it in just enough and don’t try too hard. Almost just rest it in
place. I don’t like the idea of side windows breaking on shutting the door, no
matter how it occurs, you could be miles from home on a holiday etc. (He’s not
going to mention Switzerland again is he?)
I must admit the Italian engine was an advantage to me, but purely on the novelty/
exclusivity aspect, I had no prior experience of Italians. When considering the
Minari, it was the shape mainly for me. But, yes, the engine from a 145 is a very
nice thought. That would make the Minari go like a…like ….. a very fast thing.
With that engine layout could a turbo be fitted, or am I being silly?
Talking to Andy Borrowman at the Alfa Day he said they would prefer to go the
inline 4 at the front route with a gearbox/transaxle from a 75. But this would
require a LOT of remodelling of the front and rear of the body. A longer front
being required to accommodate the engine behind the front wheels and of course
the rear, to fit the gearbox. Thus a proper set up, with drive where it was intended
to be i.e. Behind you. Pushing you along.
15th June
Another post card from ‘wings’ Walters, the much travelled, (at our expense, but
for our safety) Minari owner from, the #p of the ‘civilised’ world, Scotland.
Thanks Phil and keep them coming. What no bare boobs this #me?
His card reads as follows.
‘Back in horrid places again. Stopped at Key West, Florida
on the way here. It’s a bit s@nking hot but much more
suitable for Minari’s than Gibraltar. Flying funny hours but
the beach is super as is the snorkelling.
Page 6

What sort of plane is a ‘funny hours‘? I am not sure that I like having the salt
rubbed in the wound, s#nking hot, beach is super, snorkling. Not funny Walters!
I bet there was nothing to drink either. Not only is Phil much travelled, but the
card has also seen a bit of the world. Posted by an English man who lives in
Scotland, from a island off Porto Rico and printed in Ireland. Small world isn’t it?
Dear David
16 June 1998
Thank you for speaking to me at the Alfa Romeo Owners' Club day at Stanford
last Sunday.
Despite everybody's reasonable and sensible advice, I have totally ignored this
and am prepared to blow a huge amount money I can't afford on building a Minari
and would be interested in joining and receiving information from the Minari
Owners' Club.
I enclose the largest envelope to my name and postage for your reply.
For a bit of background, the whole family have been Alfa nuts since my fathers
purchase of a 1964 2600 sprint in 1970, since then another 2600 sprint (1966) and
164 Lusso has been added to the collection. My brother has prepared a series of
Alfasuds for stage rallying and is currently on his third shell - a 1.5 TC. This
incorporates bits of my mothers 'sud that dissolved in the rain overnight.
Rather than building together a kit of parts supplied by Minari, I have been
gradually sweeping up my brothers 'sud bits over a long period of time and
recycling them, on the basis that when it comes to buying the tub, it will be less
painful on the pocket, and I can get it onto four wheels and mobile quickly. There
is no donor car although two number plates and chassis number survived the last
excursion into the trees.
Look forward to hearing from you, sorry for the typed letter, my writing is
appalling and I've run out of red crayons.
Kind regards
Clive Wilkins
Clive it was good to talk to you also. But we must stop this mutual admira#on,
people will talk about us. See the reference to male company in ‘My Trip To etc‘
on page 10. As I suffer from Minarii#s I don’t think that your ignoring
inconvenient and unpalatable advice is wrong. But you must take care of your
Page 7

pennies so you can throw some at the car when you get it. (Use 2nd class post).
Thanks for the stamp for the envelope. It sounds as if your background of garage
sweeping should come in handy when building. It should be noted that the Minari
body doesn’t dissolve the way you describe, I thought that was reserved for
the east German Trabant.
Please don’t apologise for typing. I scan le=ers into the computer and then play
with them to make them fit the pages, though I don’t alter the wording.
It sounds as if your car will have a Mummy, no Daddy, just lots of ‘Uncles‘!
Do you propose to colour (in) your car with the crayons? See also Page 19!
Who’s a really sad (old) sod?
Latest purchase for my little car will probably cause consternation amongst some
of you, but it had to be done. I have bought a cruise control. Yes one of those
things you find on cars for softies and old fossils, well there is the reason for me
to have one after all. I suffer with dodgy knees, I blame building a kit car, which
tends to involve crawling around on the cold concrete floor, especially in winter.
Also riding a motor bike in all weathers, snow and ice included hasn’t helped.
But as I enjoyed both of those, I think that I will blame the Fire Brigade for
making me do drills involving carrying some one down an escape ladder. If I sit in
one position as when driving, for any length of time I get a pain in my right knee.
I had a cruise control fitted to my Laguna and found it invaluable on the drive to
Morocco a couple of years ago.
I thought that a cruise control would be a worthwhile addition to the comfort I
have tried to ensure I have in the car (seats, heater, hood, radio etc). Don’t laugh,
you will get old one day. It just comes earlier, age wise, to some than to others.
Take the p..s and I will hit you with my stick, or set the dog on you. Except she is
also old and probably wouldn’t even look up at you from her position guarding
the drive to make sure no one steals it, where she loves to be while I am working.
However, try as I might I have been unable to make the thing, (the bloody thing)
work properly. I have narrowed the non-functioning down to a defective solenoid
in the throttle cable actuator servo. Next weekend I will try to swap parts from
the Laguna on to the Minari.
Swap I did, and work it did, after a fashion. On the Laguna one can accelerate by
pressing the set/accelerate button. With the Laguna bits on the Minari, though a
set speed would be maintained it wouldn’t increase when requested. Not quite in
desperation I sent off a letter asking for an electronic cruise control, with a cheque
for the previously agreed price.
With a first class stamp on the envelope, I posted the letter to catch the 4.30 p.m.
Monday, collection from the local post box. At about 10.05 am at work the next
Page 8

day I got a phone call from the suppliers. What command module did I want?
Not only had the post office delivered the next day, it appeared to be the first
delivery, but, the suppliers had opened the post and were actioning the order. I
was told that I should have the kit (where have I seen that word before?) the next
day.
That is what I call service and what we should all be able to expect when paying
good money for a service, not the more usual ‘delivery in 28 days’ nonsense.
That just gives the supplier a month of interest on our money for free.
When I got home from the fun factory on Wednesday evening, true to their word
the new control was waiting for me. It must have been delivered in the morning
after the family had left for their various days outing (I cant say work as daughter
No 2 is at Uni.), and before Andrea came home from Uni. at about 12.30. At the
weekend I started fitting it. Late start due to shopping. I fitted most of the parts
and connected the actuator up to the wires to test it out and guess what, It worked,
well pull was applied to the carburettor cable.
As the actuator wasn’t connected to the carbs. I have no idea if it will work on the
car but I am most hopeful. Sunday is for visiting, so Monday (rota leave day) I
will make up a bracket to mount the thing properly, then we shall see. Oh! I do
hope this one works.
Oh! Yes. Yippee, whoopee, cap in the air time! We have success at last! There
is a very slight adjustment to be made, but that is just fine-tuning. There is the
facility to change the rate of pick up, sensitivity, or gain, at the moment it needs
backing off a bit. The control tends to snatch slightly, but as I said a minor
problem. 90mph on cruise control, (sorry that should read 4,500RPM otherwise I
was doing an illegal speed), no problem.
The adjustment worked and though there is still a slight snatch on take up it is
more than acceptable especially at SPEED.
To further ease my knees I found that sticking my rather large camera bag under
my right knee helps to support it, keeping it in a more upright and straight plane.
So, rather then use the camera bag, I have made up a small cushion to go between
my right knee and the side sill. Quite sad really. But it works.
Roll on Switzerland.
Sod work
for a liAle(?) while!
Page 9

And right on cue.
My trip to Basel,
Switzerland. (& beyond) 1998.
I know I have been banging on about the trip for some time (since N.L.
No. 1), but I have done it now, so I am now able to bore you
with a two part report on the journey (Groan).
As the Minari hasn’t the comfort of the
Laguna, my wife refuses to travel with me in
the little car, so I had space for a ‘companion’.
I shall miss Eileen’s ‘unfettered knocker’, ‘big
boob’ spotting ability, she is good to me. Crumpet is
a bit thin on the ground, for me, (will the Minari
change this? Perhaps.). Also as I was to visit a friend of
long standing, a ‘bit on the side’ would have probably caused considerable
embarrassment to all concerned. More importantly a report may be sent back to
OiC Domestic. So a male friend it had to be (isn’t that worse?). Bro.-in-law,
David, is a bit of a p..s head and is good for a laugh, and, being felt to be a safe
and appropriate companion, was invited to join me. His working life is hectic and
he doubted if he could get the full 12 days off, but was able to join me for the first
few days at least. Well that was the plan but as the best laid plans of mice and
men etc. David was unable to come with me at all. Shame, but being a miserably
sod and a bit of a loner, I am quite happy on my own. So everything worked out
nicely.
I thought I had better phone Ruedi before I left, just to check that he would be at
home for the weekend. There was a message to say that the phone number had
changed and that I should add a ‘9’ and then a phone the number that quoted. So I
dialed that number and got an answer phone but I couldn’t understand what was
said so, I then added the ‘9’ to his old number and got the ringing tone but no
answer. Finally I phoned his shop and got the answer phone there, and I could
understand this one, so at least if I could find the shop I would be OK. I
eventually got through on the Monday before I left. The number quoted as above
was his new number, he was now living opposite the shop having split from his
wife. This whole thing was going down hill. But it is booked and when on
holiday one has to enjoy ones self.
I had booked the Hovercraft for 0800 on Friday 10 th July, so that meant a fairly
early start. The start was quite uneventful, well not a lot happens at 6.00AM. The
drive to Dover went off without a hitch. I booked in well before the due time, as
is my way. Thus I had time to peruse of the duty-free, (before some really
miserable killjoy finishes that off) and buy some cans of Coke for the journey.
Page 10

Fortunately the Channel was calm, I am a bad sailor, but that doesn’t matter too
much on the Hovercraft as it is more like being on a roller coaster. I hit the A26
motorway right outside the port at Calais, shortly before 0900 or 1000 French
time, the idea being to get some quick miles, or kilometres on the clock, to
slightly warmer climes, then to get on to the route national roads for the second,
more interesting part of the days journey. So 270k (160 miles) of A26 then Route
National 44 and others for the rest of the day.
Guess what, it rained and thought the hood is quite good at ‘in town’ speeds, the
aerodynamics of the pulled the hood header rail away from the screen top rail and
I got a shower. The only time the hood was down the whole day was from home
for the first 30 miles.
At about 3.30 I was in Nancy and found a ‘Formule 1’ (yes, that is how it is spelt)
hotel for the night. Mustn’t spend too much, mustn’t rub salt into the wound of
those left at home. Though cheap, these hotels are absolutely ideal for touring.
You spend most of your time in them with your eyes shut anyway! When you
have seen one you have probably seen them all, they appear to be all built to the
same design.
I stopped early because I was thirsty and hadn‘t eaten all day.
The rooms are clean and have a double bed with a single bunk
bed above, all have a wash basin in the room, they even have a
TV in the room. Automatically cleaned toilet and shower
facilities are just down the corridor.
One very small step up from these are the Etap Hotels, from the
same chain. They are the same except for en-suite facilities.
When first seen, the showers are a little strange, as there is no
shower curtain. You have to be a bit careful when showering
because you will easily splash the toilet floor, and your towel if
you haven’t hidden that from the shower water. Hanging on the back of the toilet
door is a squeegee to clear the floor of splashed water. Quite clever really.
You can stay in one of these overnight, and not see a member of the hotel staff.
You can pay with your plastic to gain entry at virtually any time. No keys just a
number
for the keypad entry system. Ingenious. Basic, but clean, dry
and absolutely beat the poo out of camping any
day, as far as I am concerned, and they
don’t cost a lot more than camping
Dinner?
Yummy!
either. Breakfast is a buffet,
continental style affair i.e. bread
butter and jam plus a selection of
drinks .
There is no restaurant for the evening
meal, though there is usually one near
by.
Page 11

So after a good meal and a few beers in a local restaurant, I had a very welcome
and comfortable nights sleep. Before bed I booked in, by phone, with the
appropriate authority of course. (OiC Domestic).
Next morning after a leisurely breakfast I started off on phase two of the journey
to Switzerland. I had prepared a number of routes to take, eventually settling on
A26 (motorway) to St-Dizier, then a mixture of roads before crossing into
Germany, where I was able to take the hood down for a short, but concentrated,
unrestricted, blast down the A5 (motorway). The unrestricted blast was one of the
unofficial reasons for this journey, big numbers seen on the speedo? No, max of
only 110 seen, and I tried three times. I turned off the A5 back into France at
Junction 65 then on to Basel/Mulhouse for another ‘Formule 1’ hotel.
Basel/Mulhouse is the location of the Swiss airport for Basel, but is, in France.
For those French speakers among you, the name Bâle is possibly a more familiar
name.
The first time I went to Switzerland, in 1967, (say ‘That was before I was born’
and get wacked with my walking stick) the different spelling in the two languages
caused me problems. The town on the road signs was the right direction, right
distance and on the right road, but was the name was wrong. About 50 miles
from Basel, Ruedi met me, to escorted me the last bit of the journey, and
explained that the difference was caused by the two languages.
I booked in at the hotel, emptied the car of ‘gear’. Then went into Basel, which is
only about 8K (5 miles) from the hotel.
This set up of hotel in Basel/Mulhouse, France and visit a friend in Switzerland,
was chosen as it has the advantage of the hotel being nice and cheap, and close to
Switzerland, which isn’t cheap. Also it brought me into Switzerland from France,
thus avoiding the problem I had last time I went to Switzerland (by motorbike): -
On that occasion, I arrived at the border with Germany on the A5, the Swiss
customs wanted me to buy one of the motorway stickers which are necessary if
you intend to use their… motorways, I didn’t, I was only going to Basel and
wouldn’t be touring in Switzerland. But this customs post is actually on the
motorway, so to continue I needed the sticker. I declined, so was escorted a short
way down the motorway, crossing the central reservation and onto the exit from
Switzerland
side of the motorway. The German customs officers
wanted to know why I had been ‘thrown’ out of
Switzerland. Once I had explained, they gave
me directions into Basel via a different
route and, away I went.
Page 12
I arrived in Switzerland at about 11, I had
to find my way to Ruedi’s ‘new’ flat. The

town is in a state of turmoil as they are building a motorway under the existing
flats. As a result I couldn’t find the shop or his flat. I stopped to ask in a
motorbike shop, and parked half on the pavement. Just as I was about to go into
the shop a police car turned the corner. Here only 30 minutes and I am about to
get a parking ticket, not a bad record I thought. In for a penny, I flagged the
police car down and asked the way in my rusty German. Eventually the officer I
was speaking to asked if ‘that’ was my car. ‘Yes.’ Switching to English he said
‘Follow us‘. So I got a police escort to Ruedi’s flat and some serious catching up,
before going out for a meal, after which we went in to the town centre where I
saw the ugliest woman ever. It was obvious that she was a he. He was horrible.
On Sunday morning I returned to Ruedi’s flat and after some more catching upand
the English GP, had a very nice meal that he prepared for us. We watched the
first half of the world cup together then I returned to the hotel ….. On Monday
morning, I started the second part of my holiday and hit the road south.
I had two priorities now 1). Get south to the sun and, 2). Ensure that I wasn’t
anywhere near to anything remotely football like, and 3). I wanted to take in
some of the Tour de France. OK so I can’t count.
Unfortunately the Tour didn’t take a route that would have been convenient for
me, if it had, it may have made hotels difficult to find, so number 3 doesn’t count
after all. Nor does number 2 as the football had now finished.
It was Bastille day, every one was out to give the gentry
got as far away from Paris, and the seat of the
revolution, as possible and as quickly as
possible. I don’t want the chop!
the chop. So I
See next time for the thrilling
conclusion to this thrilling report of my
thrilling holiday.
Sorry the pictures don’t look as good on paper
as they do in glorious colour on my screen.
DAS
The Swiss flag is one of two internationally recognised flags that
are square, identify the other one!
Page 13

‘Odd pieces’
Or a combina@on of Bits and Pieces & Odds and Sods.
Bike tax time, coinciding with bike test time. Whose bike needed a new front
tyre before the test. Yes your truly, on the way home from work today, 26 th May
I called in at the Watling Tyres depot in Catford. Yes sir, new tyre, no probs. Oh
yes we can do the MOT at the same time, oh by the way you need a new set of
brake pads on the front. I drove out £92.50 lighter. Not a very nice diet. At least
I can get the tax now. Job for tomorrow. Does the expense ever end?
Whose loving mother described her son and his Dad as ;-
“The two gargoyles on the roof”?
I phoned Adrian Scott on Saturday 30 th May, it was a nice day and I wanted a
purpose for a drive, however as both Mr Scotts were working on the roof of
Adrian’s new house, I went else where and got stuck in a traffic jam, never mind
the sun was shining and I was happy/out in the Minari.
Sorry Mrs Scott the tale just had to be told!
To follow on the GeDng Old theme as in ‘Who’s a really old etc.’, did any one
see the reports from Le Mans on Eurosport? The ‘young man’ who is known as
Momo and started the Momo (Wheels and Steering Wheels etc.) company, has
sold his interests on to an American company, and is star@ng a whole new venture
running a GoKart business in the States. He had raced in a considerable
number of Le Mans. (Should that be Les Mans?) Perhaps approaching 30 in all.,
and this was to be his last. His reasons quiDng include the fact that he is 55. Is
there s@ll @me, or is it really too late for me to start at 53 ?
Contributions are always eagerly and gratefully accepted. If you have an amusing
tale of joy, or woe or a cautionary tale, please let us all in on your adventure. It
doesn’t have to be amusing. As fellow sufferers, we will probably appreciate the
story. If there is something to be learned from it all the better.
It has been said. “ A wise ‘man’ learns from his mistakes, a really clever ‘man’
learns from the mistakes of others.” Will somebody make me really clever
please. Forlorn hope that, me thinks.
* A very warm welcome to all our new members.
New member, No 39 is John Prendergast, yes that John Prendergast. He is the
proud (I hope) owner of the (ex) factory RSR prototype.
Page 14

Unbelievable though it may be, on 18th June I received the membership
application from the previously mentioned series 1 owner. You are most
welcome. However you may feel that you have done the wrong thing, by joining
our little band, because now I will pick on you and beg for information, story and
pictures, please.
DAS
Addressed to our 2 members ‘across the water‘.
With no knowledge of life, motoring wise, in Ireland/Eire, I pose the question,
“What is life, motoring wise, and more importantly Kit Car wise like over there?
Is there an active kit car scene and what about things Minari?” You really are
somewhat cut off from the rest of the Minari world, (the N.L. should go some way
to redress that I hope, but there’s no substitute for direct contact). Are you far
from good Minari roads? What about the problems of getting a kit home?
Transport alone must have considerably increased the overall cost. Addressed to
‘AT‘. How far from completion are you?
Well that is enough for you to be getting on with, sorry to drop that on you, but I
am interested.
________________________
To everyone, no matter where.
Consider the above addressed to you also. Has anyone made a careful log of the
number of hours spent on their creation? It took 11 months for my car to be road
legal from collecting the kit, but another 9 months later I am still finishing off.
Again at the Alfa Day Ray Miles said that he had kept a careful log of his time
and took 1000 hours! Anyone else got their times please?
New use found for the Minari.
My wife wanted a pot plant taken into school, however it was too tall to go in the
Rover of wife No 2. I volunteered the Minari. Result Brownie points for me, two
happy teachers, one windswept pot plant, and a message form daughter No 2 on
the answer phone when I got home. “Dad, the front brake on the bike has fallen
off, the bolts are missing and the brake thing is hanging on by the wire!”
She had bought a new front tyre and had it fiAed to her bike, the fiAer had
apparently forgoAen to @ghten the brake calliper retaining bolt. Fortunately
Andrea hadn’t needed the front brake un@l she got to Uni. and was parking the
bike. Daddy to the rescue.
Watling Tyres Depot. manager was most apologe@c, as he should have been, and
would be speaking to the fiAer. He was well aware of the poten@al for problems,
but I reminded him anyway.
Page 15

NB. The wire referred to on the answer phone was the brake hose!
I understood, fortunately.
The National Alfa Day at Stanford Hall 14 th June 1998
After being invited to attend the Alfa Day whilst at the Stoneleigh show this year,
the first job was to get permission from the boss for another ‘awayday‘. This was
not withheld, fortunately. However there was a slight problem. Wife No 2 had
invited us to a Mess Dinner with her regiment. That in itself wasn’t the problem,
but the anticipated hangover could well be a fly in the ointment. The mess
dinners are very formal affairs, Mess Dress / Kit for serving personnel, D.J.s and
long dresses for non serving members, are to be worn, (no I didn’t wear a long
dress). The wine, Port and Madeira flowed like water during and after the
excellent food. Of course there was a drink before and one or two after the dinner,
who fell asleep in an arm chair? It was the dancing not the drink! Providing I had
plenty of water before I went to bed I should have been OK. That was the plan
and though the toilet called me a during the night, because of the water, I hadn’t
drunk enough water and wasn’t exactly fine in the morning. The drive up was
totally uneventful, though I lost count of the number of Alfas that passed me, I
only passed one (with Green ’L’ plates). I stopped for a loo break and put the
hood up, for security whilst in the toilet, then fortunately left it up, as I went
through a couple of heavy down pours after the stop. On arrival I was directed to
the allocated Minari spot. Wot Spot? There wasn’t one. David Rutherford found
a space for us, he put up the Minari Owners Register Banner, and we settled our
selves in. We left a gap for Michael’s car but the idiot Sud drivers thought it was
for them to drive through even though there was half a field two cars further
along. I had no idea what to expect from the day, other than there was to be three
of us, in our Minari’s. David Rutherford, Michael Waterman and I. Ray Miles
came too, and then there were 4. David had tried to drum up interest among fairly
local members. But at least there would be a Minari presence, plus from the
telephone call I received on the Monday before the event, a ‘sans Minari’ Ron
Kellow. When Ron phoned he said he would be in a ‘normal’ car. Thanks for the
call Ron, define normal please.
He wanted to pick a few brains about the MOT, and the sport of ‘beating the
SVA‘. By the time you read this it will be too late, but I was told by a very
friendly, Alfa fanatic, MOT tester wot done mine, that with no screen there was
no need for wiper or washer! Still may be useful to know, one never knows.
Another thing that Ron has s@ll to do, is the wiring , like me and I expect a few
others, having heard that this was one of the worst jobs imaginable, he has been
puDng it off. When I finally bit the bullet and started the wiring, I found that it
was almost easy.
Page 16

To return to the report on Stanford hall. The direc@ons received from AROC in
the Magazine, which arrived two days before the mee@ng, were excellent and
though I ended up by followed a small train of Alfas, I got there no problem.
I arrived at about 10.30 and the place was already packed with Alfas. By lunch
@me the grounds were almost solid. Unfortunately one had to watch where one
trod as the field/fields had been freshly manured by some grass ea@ng muck
spreaders.
The day was not like any Kit Car show I have ever been to. There were a few new
cars on show, but the main interest was the Auto version of a ‘car boot sale’. If
you are running an old Alfa this is probably THE place for you. There was a
concourse compe@@on for car polishers, an auto gymkhana. There were model,
manual, clothing & food stalls, the obligatory beer tent, AROC tent and even a
creche, now that is a good idea. Very well organised, but sorry, not for me.
Spoke to lots of interes@ng people, both members and non members. Sorry to
Tony Hughes for not remembering his name, I won’t forget your name again.
Nor young William, with his looks three year old Will is going to break the girls
hearts when he is older. I heard a somewhat sad story whilst there. Carl
Skinner, whose car I men@oned in an earlier N.L. either wants a special rear,
estate body aAachment, for his car, to take his family or he is going to have to
sell it, car not family. Having seen pictures of his car I think I would rather take
the laAer op@on. (Sell the family). I haven’t been officially told of this rather sad
development, but if it is true and someone wants a very preAy car Carl Skinner is
your man. I am very sorry to hear of this Carl, but can understand. What I want
to know is how you managed to keep the car so long, I couldn’t afford one at
your age. I hope that my informa@on is way off the mark.
I leO the hall at about 3.30 just as it started to rain. Doesn’t the car steam up
easily? I must sort out the demister so that it works beAer.
The journey home wasn’t fun. First the M1 was either 70MPH plus or was a slow
moving car park. Then being jealous, the M25 decided to play the same game.
Now I remember why, when I was on shiO, I never used to go out at the
weekend.
It was so bad I stopped on the M1 for a meal to let the traffic free up, it just
moved to somewhere else.
When I got home, I really had the Hump with the world and promptly bit the
3 PRODUCT INFORMATION
Nothing new to report.
Page 17

4 Contacts/Helplines
Members who have volunteered to act as local contacts and help others.
O. Neil Lygo-
Baker
38 Beacon Close
STONE
Bucks
HP17 8YH
Hm:01296-747401
Bruce Marshall
5 Braefoot Grove
DALGETY BAY
Fife
KY11 5YS
01383 822245
Register Secretary
D. A. Smith
59 Penhill Road
BEXLEY
Kent
DA5 3EP
Page 18
Dave Smith
59 Penhill Road
BEXLEY
Kent
DA5 3EP
Hm:0181 303 7110.
Wk:0171-587-4983
Jim Finney
56 Sycamore Drive
WYTHALL
B47 5QX
Wk: 0121-411 3172
Ho: 01564-824375
0181-303-7110 (home)
0171 587 4983 (work)
Neil Stallworthy
7 Ploughley Close
ARDLEY
Oxon
OX6 9PP
Hm: 01869 346385
Chameleon Cars Ltd
Carl Skinner
15 Solent Close
The Bryn
Blackwood
GWENT
NP2 2FT
01495 228964
Alan Burns
Straniland
Moor End Lane
Radwell
BEDFORD Hm: 01234-781887
MK43 7HY Wk: 0171-963 5005
133 The Common
Earlswood
Solihull
B94 5SH 01564-702123
5 Diary.
The classic car show at the NEC Birmingham, is being put on
again, just for us, because it’s our first anniversary! November some time. Well
that is what I have been saying for some time, but now they have now decided
that, despite offering us space, they are over subscribed and can’t fit us in! All in
all a bit off, we came to their rescue when AROC couldn’t fill their stand last year.
Shame as I enjoyed last years show I may go this year anyway!
Latest word is that Chameleon may do Exeter this year.
DAS
(Con#nued from page 2)
donor car. We told him to hurry up and get it licensed before they realise what
the regulations actually say. Our interpretation is clearly that the car does need
the test as it does not carry forward the chassis. This is exactly how Birmingham
have interpreted the law and issued a new reg number for a car we are building,
and a new chassis number. Things seem to change from office to office so if you
have any other twists to this tale please write in.
CCL

Good Ideas!
Had a phone call from Brian Pitt on 3 rd June, sorry I was a bit sharp with you
Brian. (I don’t know why, but I thought you were one of those dreaded telesales
people, or some thing similar). He was phoning among other things, to say that
he had used a ‘different’ fuel filler cap, as the Fiat one supplied in the kit had
leaked on corners. (I feel sure that I read about that a while ago, causing
problems for Minis making the rear tyre slippery and causing them to go off the
road). Any way the cap he used has cured the problems of spillage and with his
set up of different fuel pipe has speeded up the refilling, which I was moaning
about in the last N.L.
His cap is, unfortunately, non locking. For those interested he has used a 3”
aircraft cap from Marlin Motor Sport with the part number CAP 2TF, apparently
it fits as a straight replacement on the Minari. With the 2” diameter pipe he has
used, plus an “S” pipe from Europa makes for a much quicker filler and none of
the glooping problem I have complained of.
Being ever on the look out for items to include perhaps you could send me
drawings/sketches of your set up for publication (and using myself).
Thanks Brian.
Brian said that he had misplaced Chameleons phone number, so I have included
it in this, and will include it in future N.L.s.
26 June. When I got home from that place where money comes from I don’t
like the word work…. I found that Clive Wilkins had sent in his applica@on form.
So welcome Clive. However I feel that I must take him to task because
theboAom of the form had a short note wriAen in red crayon! PS Brother’s Sud
is an SC Not a TC – Just in case there are any anoraks out there! Are we not anoraks
our selves, and if we aren’t, we need them anyway. We need some one to
take the p..s out of don’t we?
Help Wanted.
Every @me I jack the side of the car up, before I can lower the car again I have to
re-seAle the rear spring over its seat. Not a major problem, but something which
niggles, mainly because I forget to do it. Has anyone come up with a fiendish
way of geDng the spring to re-seat itself. If somebody has, please let me know.
I am afraid that I will end up damaging the edge of the sea@ng when it is taking
all of the weight on its edge.
Page 19

BUILD TIPS
Do make sure you seal the fuel tank neck with polyurethane sealer when the
locking ring is installed. This will prevent any fuel seepage into the car interior
during the filling process and fuel surge during cornering. Do clean any surplus
away from the inside lip where the ‘O’ ring sits.
Do make sure you seal the fuel tank neck with polyurethane sealer when the
locking ring is installed. This will prevent any fuel seepage into the car interior
during the filling process and fuel surge during cornering.
Do pay particular attention to cleaning the multiplug connections on the main
loom sections. Bad connections on any of these can produce peculiar electrical
faults
Don’t fit the windscreen until the very last minute. Working on the steering
column and dash area is much easier without the screen installed and fitting the
trim neatly is almost impossible once it is in.
Do check that the heater flange sits correctly on its seat in the body before
installation. The joint ridge along the bottom of the heater can sometimes hold the
heater away from its seat and if so grind away the ridge and any high spots on the
body to allow a good fit before applying sealer as recommended above.
Do fit your soft top first if you are having this and a hard top. The catch
positions for the new soft top are different from the build manual and cannot be
easily changed as the front rail is recessed. If you have a hard top and have not
fitted it yet, the right hand catch centre should be 265mm from the centre of the
header rail. The left hand one should be 295mm from the same point.
Do read and digest all the points about setting up the car for SVA while
building your car. They are an essential part of the build and can, in some cases,
be difficult to rectify at a later stage. If you haven’t already asked for a copy of
our SVA Guidelines call us and we will send one to you.
Note: We said in our original SVA help notes that 55-60 kgs is the target
brake force for each rear wheel. We have re-checked this and another 10 kgs
more should still be fine for the test as long as the front brakes are in good order.
We have also found in two cars we set up that about 16 kgs of weight on the preload
hook for the axle sensed balance valve achieved the right braking effort.
CCL
Page 20