Due to the two day delay in getting my registration for this forum "you" are a bit behind the story, but hey this is mini territory and the other two are not.
By the way how do I post photos here? I clicked on the "Img" rectangle but it didn't then give me the option of importing a photo.
Yes I am in touch with Lindsay Byron as he was the first person on my list being the one I bought the car from and he is having a look to see what he still has in his possession in the way of photos, etc.
Here is a post and my reply from the IPRA forum this evening:
Sound like you have suddenly become very popular amongst the blokes
Sorry to hear of your recent loss ....
I ran an mini importing business for 17 years and aslo raced histrorics for a mumber of years in a Mini Cooper S. Owened 26 before even comming to Australia in 1981 so have what one could discribe more than your average ownership
What is very important would be the original body compliance plate still being attached or at least in your possession. This would also need to corrispond with the N'o stamping on the fire wall and radiator cowl etc.
Your husband like many including me ( as it was my life for nearly 20 years full time ), was obviously an enthuisiast and worthy of you selling to the right person if that's important to you !
So .... Firstly best of luck fighting off the vultures, and let's hope a true inthusiast like your husband finds the opportunity to restore it correctly.
I am in touch with many racers who will no doubtedly know about the history of this car so if you choose PM me and I will provide their details.
My reply:
Thank you for your sympathy (he had been very sick for a long time and the last three years were even worse) and also your advice.
My husband always promised to restore Paddy so I could drive him again. We even had a sump guard to put on as we have 9kms of dirt road to get to our place plus a steep and rough driveway, but I knew that was not going to happen. I don't have the expertise to do it myself but do have some very good people around me that I could call on to do a lot of the work and it was very, very tempting.
I had a major meltdown yesterday when I went up to the shed and saw them both sitting there. They have both been part of my life for a very long time and are more like family now.
However what I don't have is the necessary spare money to do a proper job and would much rather the car goes to a genuine enthusiast who, if not doing a full restoration, would do what was best for the car. OK I'm amazed at the sort of money being thrown at me right now and can't deny that it would be very handy right now but money alone will not buy Paddy from me.
Everything that was on or in the car when I bought it is still in my possesion. Nothing on the body has been changed or altered. There have been changes of wheels and tyres (of course) but I'm pretty sure even the original wheels (for me) are here somewhere. There have been at least two engine rebuilds that I can remember and probably some changes made there but all the orginial (again for me) engine parts will also still be here.
Both my husband and I knew what we had was a very special car but apart from that my husband was a compulsive hoarder so there is a lot of everything here!!! It is going to take me a long time to get everything sorted and catalogued.
I haven't even started on "Wendy" (my husband's race Mini) yet but want to put some sort of history on it too. He bought it as an ex-police car and ran it in competition for a few years then decided to turn it into a full race car. He loved the long distance 6 hour relay races and loved Wakefield Park, Amaroo, Oran Park and several others. This was all before I met him but I have the photos and a lot of other memorobilia.
Now back to what I've been able to find out so far:
Here is a bit more to the saga - courtesy of Paul Merry one of the previous owners. He was also issued a CAMS log book when he bought the car and he still has that log book. It all just keeps getting better and better. Now I'm wondering what other information is still out there and am hoping to hear back from Biran Foley sometime soon.
It was quite a surprise getting your phone call yesterday about the ex-works Cooper S that I owned between 1969 and 1973.
As you know, the car started its racing carreer with the BMC works team at the 1967 Gallaher 500, as the Bathurst race was known that year. Driven by Paddy Hopkirk and Brian Foley, it was no. 28C and finished 8th overall and 4th in class.
After the race it went to BMC dealer Vaughan and Lane in Bondi Junction and was apparently bought for Brian Lane's son, Harvey, who owned it for a year as a road car. Being a good friend of Harvey's, I was able to buy it from him for $1800 at the end of 1968, with my own modified Mini Cooper as a part swap, so that Harvey would have less money tied up in a road car. Brian Lane made a brand new set of Dunlop all weather race tyres available to me for an additional $100.
I have to say I just loved the Castrol Green / white roof colour scheme and couldn't wait to get the car onto the track! It seemed unreal that as an impoverished, part-time architecture student I was finally going to get there...
I joined the AARC, got a race licence and went racing at the first national open meeting of Warwick Farm in May 1969. The car was a delight to drive at the limits of my ability and ended up with an official practice time of 2'1.9", putting it on about the 4th last row of a large grid for the Series Production Touring Car race. It clearly was, nevertheless, not as quick as the top mini's in the field, which is why I suspect that the race motor from Bathurst may not have stayed in the car when it was sold to Brian Lane.
Two more races that year saw the practice time improve to 2'1.2" but the car was having problems with oil surge on right hand corners (particularly coming on to the Northern Crossing) and it was necessary to install a competition oil pick up to overcome this problem. I think I must have also had the engine rebuilt at the same time so that in 1970 the car became definitely more competitive, with a blue-printed head and block, everything balanced and crack-tested but still strictly legal and 1275cc. The car was being prepared by Varsity Auto Centre in Kingsford alongside Alan Cameron's very quick Series Cooper S.
In practice for the May 1970 open meeting the car did a 1'57.9", so the work had been worthwhile. At that meeting it also ran in a mixed, Improved Production / Series Production race and finished ahead of several Improved minis. Had my passing move on Paul Gulson come off, the car would have finished 10th outright but the late braking attempt cost me a couple of places. Still, it was good for 2nd in class behind Gulson and fastest lap in class at 1'56.0", equalling Alan Cameron's previous best time.
In the main Series Production Touring Car race that day, the top quality field was led home by Alan Moffat and Bob Morris, and my car finished 15th, just behind the Max Douglas Falcon GTHO.
That turned out to be the last open meeting at which I raced the car because in July it ran a bearing in practice and couldn't be fixed in time for the race the next day. The priorities of a house and family (not to mention a young wife aggrieved at how much money I was spending on the second rebuild) prompted me to henceforth limit myself to club events, including those of the AARC at the club's Warwick Farm short circuit. At club level the car was pretty much unbeatable in its category (usually Improved Production Touring, since the events did not cater for Series Production).
It regularly proved to be the quickest under 1500 cc improved touring car around in club lap dashes at Amaroo, Oran Park and Catalina, as well as at the Lithgow Hill Climb, where, in early 1972, Dennis Cooke told me that my time was an unofficial record for 0-1500cc Series Production Tourers.
By mid 1973 my wife and I were getting as much money together as we could to build a house so even club events had to be put aside and my beloved Morris Cooper S, (I car with which I had come to strongly identify myself) was sold. You know the rest of its history better than I do.
I have three Lance Ruting photos of the car at Warwick Farm which I will send you as soon as I have had a chance to get them scanned.
Cheers, Paul Merry
But I am extending my home loan to restore my Cooper S and hopefully sell my house soon.......
. I think you have every mini lovers dream mini there. 
. I'm sure you would have a masive list of people willing to give there time and expertise to help you if you decided to go down that path (myself included). I hate to see any car restored and put into museum, as i think like it was said earlier, it kills them. I'd love to see pics of you behind the wheel cruising around in it.