!976 when they went to single bolt sub frames is when the switch to metric occurred afaik.

I think it was early 1976 the switch metric

If anyone has a daily driver with imperial threaded original springs.....it must be one hard ride....lol

I currently have a mid to late 80s classic in with just over one finger between tread and wheel arches. Fronts just clear steering with his 165/12 s on Rover 4.5 s. His new 165 s on 5.5 s won't steer at all. Having just had the car painted he would like to avoid cutting the wheel wells. New springs and Hi Lo s will allow us to raise the car to around three fingers. Learning to replace front springs without folding the inner fender panel on late classics takes awhile. The right rear is a quick change if the spring and cone will separate. The left rear requires rolling the fuel tank over to access upper shock mount then should be no worse than the other side. Unlike the front where the upper control arm has to come out with the aid of a spring compressor the rear swing arms should stay in place. I must have 100 or more used rubber springs and I have only seen two rears without nuts but they do exist. I have two spring compressors both having metric and fractional adapters. If you think about it there is no way to use a compressor at the rear. Steve (CTR)

PS always a surprise when some knuckle head pop rivets the grille in place. 

Not really.... as previously stated..

Some (but not all) rear cones do have threads  ..... but these are only of concern if you are fitting them on the front....

Cheers, Ian

Yes Lotus, you will likely need to lift the rear hub/drum assembly and block it because the trumpet & cone will not be long enough to stay put.  Your only issue is freeing up the rear dampers - to allow the trailing arm to drop - if you have a sedan with one or worse 2 fuel tanks.  Not an issue with Vans.

You said "reassemble".  Therefore, you should be using "new" replacement cones which will be metric, M14x2.

For the rears - none needed. Bolt size depends on the year of your mini. early minis 1/2 X 20 NF thread. Late minis 14mm. I forgot the cut off . someone else will have to chime in.

I need to have the bolt size to compress the rubber cones to reassemble the rear suspension.  What is the thread pitch, is it metric?