I bought this BRG MGB Roaster in June 2009. It was originally registered in Chichester. It had been taken to Ireland in the 90s and ultimately was brought back to England by a dealer. We therefore did not know any of its history. I was advised to take it to Bill to consider an engine rebuild.

Bill stripped the engine and therein discovered the history of the car. It was apparent that the engine had been rebuilt at least once and the head gasket replaced. He found small cracks in two of the exhaust ports in the head, some wear on the crankshaft and a clutch thrust bearing about to disintegrate.

We discussed about what type of engine that would best suit the car, and settled for a “fast road” engine, engineered for torque and drivability rather than outright power. He replaced the head. Put in stainless steel valves and gas-flowed it. There were many other bits done and the block was finally repainted its original green.

I was given strict instructions about running it in and Bill checked the car and the mixture every couple of weeks. I had it tuned by Peter Baldwin last year, and after a new accelerator cable and fan belt the power output was 106bhp.

The result is a fantastic car with plenty of power and torque. I took it to Le Mans in 2010 and the car drove beautifully. I get immense pleasure from driving it regularly.

I must thank Bill for his advice and expertise. The day spent with him at the workshop doing bits to my own car was unforgettable.

‘This letter cannot begin to express my gratitude for all your help and “dinosaur tuning” advice over the course of building my mini. Its been an exciting process for me turing my 1973 mini – the one I drove to college so many years ago – into a full fledge race car.

Your advice regarding all the “bits” necessary to make useable power without sacrificing reliability, and the knowledge you shared with me regarding assembly, tuning, and setup configuration has been greatly appreciated.

The build, thanks to your help, has been very successful and the proof is in the pudding!

I had a racers dream weekend at Mazda Raceway(Laguna Seca) in California and was blown away by how strong the new engine felt. We put on a great show and would have come in 8th out of 58 cars if my hood had not popped open in sight of the checkered flag (hood strap on to buy list). This past weekend I also completed a local hill climb event (54th Knox Mtn Hill climb) and got not only a personal best – better than last year by more than 5 seconds – but also took the first place Trophy in Vintage class! (Against V-8 Sunbeam Tigers,TVR’s and Datsun 510’s.)

Again, thank you for your helpful advice, excellent service and for taking all my calls and hundreds of questions. I look forward to working with you on many more projects to come.’

For the 2011 season we wanted to make a car that would challenge for top places and yet still be reliable. Again taking Bill’s advise we have built the car to be a very balanced and nutral to help Robert develop his driving style. The new engine is all Bills design and sounds awsome but most importantly Robert has full covidence in it, and it feels a lot more free reving than last years engine, the gearing has been setup using Bill’s expertise.

We go into the season full of confidence and we are sure with Roberts driving improving all the time, and the knowledge of having Bill’s engine under the bonnet good results are not far away.

Many Thanks to Bill and his team

Recently Edgar was approached by a model who asked whether she could use the Mini for a photoshoot, well of course, how could he refuse…

that’s a very nice mini !

 
“After going through head gaskets every 6 months or so, I finally decided it was time to take the plunge and give the engine the attention it really needed. Having already gone from the original 998 to a 1275 many years before, I wanted that little bit more! I rang around a number of engine specialists, but based on the customer feedback both here and in mini forums online, and the successes of Bill Richards Racing, there was only one option.

 
 
 
 
With Bill’s advice and after discussing the various options we settled on stripping down the 1275 and boring it out to a fast road 1380 with a straight cut gears. Having only ever driven mini’s between 850 and 1275 cc’s in the past, i was in for a bit of a shock at just how much of a difference it could make.

It took a few months to run the new engine in and complete the set up, but since then I have done a rolling road session to find out the power output was upto an impressive 97bhp. I also thoroughly enjoyed taking the car out for a couple of fast lap sessions around Castle Combe race circuit.

Many thanks to Bill and Lee who gave sound advice throughout and their level of expertise is second to none. To anyone considering an engine upgrade I would strongly recommend Bill Richards Racing, as you wont be disappointed.”

“Rover SPI Mini Cooper purchased nearly new from John Cooper Garages in Ferring. Fitted shortly after purchase with the John Cooper ‘S Works’ engine conversion. After around a dozen years daily use the car was looking a shade tired both bodily and mechanically. Bodywork restoration was entrusted to Wood and Pickett with panels replaced as necesary and a full respray given.

Bill Richards was asked to rebuild the engine to his ‘Fast Road’ spec. The engine was bored out to 1330cc, fully balanced, new crankshaft and a Piper camshaft fitted.  The large valve head was modified and polished to give a compression ratio of 11: 1 and the 1.5 rockers replaced. Finally a 3.44:1 ratio differential was fitted. Performance wise the engine is just about at the limit without upgrading the ECU and remapping.

The engine now pulls like a train but thanks to the balancing work is beautifully smooth and is proving to be both reliable and tractable. An excellent result.”

Simon had asked Bill & the team to restore his old Mini into a Mr Bean replica. They completely reworked the whole car with a fantastic new paint job, large full length sunroof and many uprated and reconditioned parts.

And of course Bill worked his magic on the engine building a beautifully torquey power unit.

Now if only everything in life was as reliable as a Bill Richards Mini…

The car has a Bill Richards Racing built 1380cc engine with an Arden 8 Port head fuel injected with Jenvey throttle bodies all controlled by an Emerald K3 ECU producing over 120 bhp at the wheels. Simon spent time with Bill Richards Racing in the workshop during the final assmembly of the engine as all customers are welcome to do. The car also features superb 10″ MB split rims, a unique side exit under floor exhaust, carbon fibre front end, boot floor, boot lid, custom trimmed leather seats and interior, rear alloy beam axle, KAD radius arms, rear anti roll bar – this list goes on. For further details of this superb machine click here .

It works fine until you hit the loud peddle then it pulls like a train from 3800-7000. With the straight cut drop link gearbox fitted twin pin diff. It purrs with the power on time.

Everytime it makes me and Karen smile, everytime we take her out it’s as though she isn’t so humble anymore, it’s a bit of an eye opener.

Many Thanks to Bill Richards Racing Team for the good friendly advice every time

So the decision was made for Bill to build me one of his race 1380s, spec to include full race cam, 1.5 roller rockers, one of Bills 5 port race heads and an ultra light flywheel and race paddle clutch.

This was all fitted to my straightcut gearbox to which Bill had added a Quaife diff and a 3.7 final drive to handle the new power. Lee then set about the suspension and expertly dialled in all the correct angles. When the car was finished it was taken to Peter Baldwins rolling road were we saw 127bhp – Bill had suggested that it would make between 125hp and 130hp, good guess Bill ?

The car is great but I think I might need some of Bills tuition with my driving as I’m not quite a racing driver at the moment. I would describe Bill as a can of beans – “you get wot it says on the tin” I AM SO VERY HAPPY – thank you Bill.