On Thu, 10 May 2018 15:14:54 +0100, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

In article ,
Bob Eager wrote:
The original Mini had battery in the boot (a sod to top up). Of course,
the cable didn't have to be all that long to reach the front...!

(to get guaranteed weight over the back wheels, which tended to lock up
when braking)

Or more because there simply wasn't any room under the bonnet. Mini vans
had it behind the driver's seat.

But away from engine heat is actually the most sensible place for a
battery.

There was a specific decision to move it from the engine compartment, as
discussed here (by a close friend of Issigonis):

"...he (Griffin) made some calculations based on facts about wheelbase,
weight distribution and centre of gravity which proved that really hard
braking could result in locking teh rear wheels and complete loss of
control. This being an incontrovertible argument it led ... to the
transfer of the battery from the engine compartment to the rear luggage
locker, so as to transfer some weight from the front to the rear, and to
the introduction of the rear-brake limiting pressure valve."

So clearly the battery *was* originally in the front. This is also shown
by an early photograph of the engine compartment, which shows the battery
(note that this particular version has the engine oriented the other way
round - later changed due to carburettor icing).

Photograph he

http://www.ancientgeek.org.uk/misc/mini_engine.jpg






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