Took the car to an autox yesterday.  I have never liked the site as it is bumpy which throws the car around.  Was fun and the car did well.  Gave me another chance to learn how to handle front wheel drive at speed. Course had two big right hand sweepers which makes the right wheel light and reduces cornering speed.  Never got to try the parking brake turn.  Car is really a kick to drive.

Look on M'Spares site for the ridiculously priced little metal cam that you can install to convert your handbrake to "fly-off" mode...

Or... push the button in, place a dime over the button and tape in place holding the button down using some 100mph tape.  

You won't be able to use the handbrake normally with this quick fix so pack a few small wedges in case you need to park on a slope.  Its no real hassle to tape it up at the start of the event and remove at the end....

Cheers, Ian

Going to a Porsche club autox this Sunday also.

Thats called a fly-off handbrake - fitted to the 60s Works cars.

Once upon a time, one could buy and aftermarket handbrake handle for Minis that operated like your Triumph.

In general, the handbrake turn can be fun, but it is very seldom it will help at autocrosses.

I'm going to an autox next month on a large area at a logging mill.  Thought I'd try the parking brake turn.  Years ago I had a triumph that had the parking brake that you could pull and let go, you had to push the button to hold in position.  The Mini's the other way so not sure how it will work.

With my first Mini, a Countryman, I used to do a hand-brake slide approach to our driveway, on snow of course. About 70 feet away, I'd cut the front wheels left and apply handbrake to induce a slide. The car would then be moving sideways in the same trajectory until it came to rest in front of the driveway. Gave my Aunt Jean a surprise as she had a great view of the road out the side passenger window. I wouldn't try it now - my Mini has its original rear subframe, which is not pristine, shall we say. I'm not sure it would not stand up to abuse.

Parking brake turning WAS best learned on a large parking lot covered in snow.    They are also very easy to do in a Crown Victoria Interceptor. Stab the parking brake pedal with your left foot and crank the wheel. As long as it's in gear you don't have to release the PB...it will not lock.

Parking brake turning is best learned on a large parking lot covered in snow.

Parking brake turning is best learned in a large empty parting lot with a rental car. 

Thanks for your comments

Your questions as phrased weren't all that obvious as questions. But I'll give it a try.
Bolt-on upgrades to 100 crank hp may be possible, depending on what your setup and engine build is now. You may have room for improvement or it may already be maxed out. You might be able to "bolt on" a supercharger or turbocharger and get the extra power, but would the engine in its current state of build and wear survive the extra work. Nobody can make specific recommendations without knowing exactly what you are dealing with.

Concerning the wheel lift issue, if your car's suspension has been balanced, there would be a natural tendency for the right wheel to unload on a hard right turn. The left side would do the same thing. If your car is left hand drive, with you in the driver's seat the left wheels are carrying more weight, so the right side effect would be more obvious. It might be more equal if your suspension was tuned/balanced with the driver's weight taken into account.

Not answering your specific question (I don't have that expertise), but this article is fairly helpful.

https://www.minimania.com/How_to_Improve_the_Handling_of_Your_Mini___The_Basics_1985

I would advise creating a new thread with your specific question. I think it's getting lost in this fairly long thread.

Well so much for asking questions!

Well Hello to all.  I'm on the forum everyday and enjoy your all's experiences.

Jeremy at Jet Motors has helped me a lot in fine tuning my classic Mini, you all know it's not a 62.  I really enjoy driving her and I'm still learning to drive front wheel drive with virtually no weight on the rear, never thought a front drive car would exhibit so much over steer.

So my question.  I put her on the dyno last summer and it worked out to about 85 hp at the crank. Since I'm a tinkerer, would it be reasonable and bolt on to up that to say 100 hp?

I've only driven her once at an autox and one thing is in a right turn that tire gets light and loses traction.  I wanted to try that parking brake turn to the right and see if it would make any difference.  Keeping in mind I've never done a parking brake turn but it's all a learning process.

Thanks all for your advise.  I found the lower tie bar loose.  Checked the motor mounts and suspension mounts which were all ok.  Test drive was successful, no clunk.

Kent

Thanks guys.  I'll have a look at that today.

In case you haven't figured it out, mini4ever = triggerboy. His post about being an expert is almost as funny as the porcupine-and-BMW joke. (I didn't know he had a sense of humour!)
Minimans is right about the amount of slack and the things to suspect first. Between the crankshaft an the wheel, there are around a dozen gear tooth to gear tooth interfaces. If each one had, say 0.1mm (an arbitrary number for discussion only) between forward and reverse slack elimination, that might add up to 1.2mm total gear slack. Depending on what gear you selected, plus the final drive ratio, the apparent slack may be magnified by the gear ratios. Then, your measurement is observed at the perimeter of the tire - a huge 'lever' distance.

Instead, look at in terms of degrees of rotation. 1.5 at the tire might really be 5 degrees of rotation (again, a guess). Divide that by the accumulation of gear interfaces and ratios and you arrive at a vary small number.... most likely normal gear tolerance.

My first place to look is the stock dog-bone engine steady - all bolts and brackets in place an the rubber bushings in good condition. Your car may have similar braces down low on the transmission. Next would be the motor mounts. Then the tie rods going from the hubs to the front of the front subframe. Next, the subframe mounts themselves: towers, front corners and the 'ears' extending back to the floor.
 

1.5 in travel at the edge of tire? that is not an excessive figure. If the clunk is from driving whilst decelerating then accelerating I would suspect an engine mount or steady bar first, also which type of Inner drive shaft joints do you have fitted? If the rubber cross joint type make sure they are not breaking up. Of course loading and un loading the drive train also effects the suspention as well! so you will need to go around the car and check that as well. As always forums can point you in a direction but bnot having heard or felt the noise first hand all your going to get is uninformed guess work.....................................

I'm a little more familiar with the Porsche trans/axel so I'm a little lost.  How this engine sitting on the trans/axel works is takin me some time to assimilate .  My first thought was that the 1 1/2" is to much to be in the internal gearing , which leaves the the axles or something external.  So I fishing for something that makes sense.