Talk to me about classic mini's

Talk to me about classic mini's

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Discussion

Nuttah

Original Poster:

566 posts

171 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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I spotted a really nice one today in the petrol station, no idea what model it was but from up close it looked great tastefully modded had wide arches and wheels and bucket seats. Its a car ive never really looked twice at before and strangely enough pretty sure its the first time i remember ever seeing one up close.

I never thought i would even be considering one but it looked like a lot of fun, something funky and different.Anyhow i know absolutely nothing about them other than they are pretty old and very small.I am 5ft11 would i fit in one and basically just after any general useful info from anybody that's clued up about them.

Nezquick

1,453 posts

125 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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I had two Mini's as my first two cars and you're right - they're a hoot to drive. It's not about power or speed, it's about owning a car that everyone loves, a car that puts a grin on your face every time you drive it and something which you can modify/change to your heart's content.

If you live anywhere near the North West (near Blackpool/Preston area, PM me and i'll give you the details of a dedicated Mini garage - I think he had over 1000 last time I checked).

They do cover all price brackets though. A snotter will be a few hundred quid and will need loads of work such as welding etc. A pristine example can be anywhere up to £25k. If you want something semi-reliable, I'd go for one of the later ones (i.e. circa 1998 - 2000), one with a 1.3i engine as opposed to one with carbs. If you want a Mini to play with and modify, I'd go for something a bit older - around 1990 or so with a single carb engine. The 1275cc's are great. If you're into modifying them, they can quite easily be bored/stroked to 1380/1430cc and there are literally thousands of ways to get more performance out of one both in terms of engine/gearbox and suspension.

For instance, the second one I had I rebuilt from the ground up. That was a 1989 Mini Checkmate. The shell underwent a full restoration (after someone crashed into me), new subframes suspension arms, fully poly-bushed, Spax adjustable dampers, negative camber and hi-lo suspension, Cooper S brakes with braided hoses, 10" Spectrum Split Rims with Group 5 arches, I bored the engine to 1340cc with a Kent 276 cam, fully lightened and balanced crank, flywheel and clutch assembly, straight cut 5-speed gearbox with s/c drop gears, 1.5 roller rockers. All in all, it came out with just over 100bhp when put on the rolling road which I was very pleased with. The gearbox sounded simply fantastic as well with the s/c drop gears.

Be warned though - it can get addictive modifying them. I ended up spending thousands on mine and just didn't see it back when I sold it (I never should have done though to be honest!).

Get yourself on the Mini sub-forum on here and start buying Mini World and Mini Magazine. Some great tips in those mags and a classified section at the back too.

Rayy

126 posts

140 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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They're terrific fun. But I feel must warn you of the drawbacks. They rust furiously: with ours, I swear you could actually see the rot as it worked into the body, it seemed to go bad that fast.

Bodywork can be replaced - all panels are available - but this will be v. expensive unless you can weld and so DIY. But even keeping a restored one rust-free will be a battle, especially if you plan year-round use.
The other thing - pretty obviously - they are a 1950s design, and so offer levels of crash safety from that era. Late ones do have airbags and door beams but they won't really save you.

Rayy

126 posts

140 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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They're terrific fun. But I feel must warn you of the drawbacks. They rust furiously: with ours, I swear you could actually see the rot as it worked into the body, it seemed to go bad that fast.

Bodywork can be replaced - all panels are available - but this will be v. expensive unless you can weld and so DIY. But even keeping a restored one rust-free will be a battle, especially if you plan year-round use.
The other thing - pretty obviously - they are a 1950s design, and so offer levels of crash safety from that era. Late ones do have airbags and door beams but they won't really save you.

James19181

237 posts

111 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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I had an '80s Clubman 1098. Horrible on the motorways, a hoot on b roads.

I found it actually taught me a lot about driving (it was the first car I had bought and funded by myself, so was young) - it was so slow that you have to maintain as much speed through corners as possible, not just slowing down and blasting down the straights.

I'd have another one, but not for the prices they're going for now

Don't crash one.

Limpet

6,293 posts

160 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Had one as my first car.

A laugh-a-minute to drive, and it's not about speed. They are not quick cars. What they are is tactile, balanced and so immediate in their responses that most other cars feel like there's a gallon of custard between the controls and the mechanical bits.

Mechanical reliability is generally good. The A-Series is a tough lump and soldiers on forever given half decent servicing.

They rot like hell. Rear subframes, floors, inner wings, you name it. Front subframes generally fare better because engine oil leaks offer some protection.

They are surprisingly spacious. I'm 6ft 1 and fitted fine.

They are a pig to work on. Simple mechanicals, but in a very "compact" engine bay.

I'd like another, but simply am not prepared to pay today's asking prices. One of those cars I wish I'd bought a few years ago when a good one cost a grand.


ARH

1,222 posts

238 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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If you have only driven modern cars say up to about 10 years old you will not like it much. Noisy, bumpy, slow and they will need far more looking after than a modern car. That said on a good day when everything works and you don't have to go near a motorway or duel carriageway your face will ache with the amount of smiling you are forced to do. Nothing better than a windy country lane in a well sorted mini.

datum77

470 posts

120 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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In general, people of a certain age remember mini's as their first car - and looking back remember them with a great deal of affection. They WILL self destruct around you if you don't keep a check on everything. Rust prevention and safety were not even considered when Mr Issigonis designed the thing. But fun they certainly are. Traffic light grand-prix's are NOT to be tackled. I started in the motor trade working on mini/1100/1300/allegro/1800/maxi etc and none of them were engineered very well.

vx220

2,689 posts

233 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Get over to The Mini Forum

As said, will require lots of preventive maintenance and care.

Are you DIY capable? I'm not, and it's this that holds me back from buying one, absolutely adored my first one

OllieC

3,816 posts

213 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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as people have said, rust rust and more rust !

I haven't had one but the old man has had a few, it is an itch I feel I must scratch one day.

Por911T

461 posts

218 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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I'm a huge porsche fan, now on my 6th 911 never thought I'd look at anything else - a good friend who was a mini fan was getting divorced and had to cash in his chips thus had to let his mini go . After some negotiation I bought the car, prior to that I had absolutely no desire ever to own one . I'm so glad I did . I bought a 1995 Mini Cooper 35th anniversary model in almond green with cream roof , 1.3i Japanese import with air conditioning (!) travelled 32000 kms form new . Sooooo much fun to drive and a car than everyone loves and warms to . Someone once said to me " if you've never driven one you probably won't understand " ...... never a truer word spoken . A beautiful contrast between having this and the 911.

Edited by Por911T on Monday 19th January 21:38

Who me ?

7,455 posts

211 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Nuttah said:
I am 5ft11 would i fit in one and basically just after any general useful info from anybody that's clued up about them.
Great fun to own and drive. As for size- I've seen six foot blokes get in with ease .I owned a H suffix mini van( first one of type with MINI badge on the bonnet) from new and apart from the brakes,( which might benefit from discs on the front, with harder pads and a servo system) it was simple to maintain. OIL was changed every six thousand miles ,with filter. Car filter is easy as the front grill came off to access filter ,but on the van ,it was a fiddle to take off the metal housing( separate paper filter ,though no doubt there's now an all in one canister available) and remove without getting an armful of oil.Mine had points which had to be set +/- 1 thou ,but distributor was on the front-great for maintenance, but bad for wet weather,unless you fitted a screen in front of the grill .Some folks used an old rubber glove with the fingertips cut off to allow lead access to keep coil dry. BMC/BL solved the damp weather problem on the MAXI series with a custom plastic screen which fitted over the engine and grill . Fan belt replacement was easy ,even on the roadside. I remember that the steering joints had grease nipples which needed lubrication.
I a lot of rear noise on my van by laying noise reducing material ,with a layer of carpet over it, and I added an old vacuum cleaner joining pipe to the exhaust end as I suspected I had fumes coming via the rear doors. On long trips, the rear was ideal for bedding down for a nap in a sleeping bag.
BUT, the anachronism BMC ,jokingly stood for Badly Made Cars, and rust was a built in feature.
On the engine side, although I found the ignition system adequate, I'd consider a decent CDI electronic ignition system ,with contact less points a necessity if used daily and the owner has problems with points gap setting and timing .
The original screen wash system was a pump affair. I changed mine for an electric pump bottle combination, which worked far better. ( EX scrap Moggie 1000 van) .

OllieC

3,816 posts

213 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Nuttah said:
I am 5ft11 would i fit in one and basically just after any general useful info from anybody that's clued up about them.
forgot to add, yes you'll fit fine.

I'm 6' and there's as much headroom as in my crapi, the old man is 6'2" (or was before he started shrinking)

apart from some bumps to the head when pressing on he was fine too

Batfink

1,032 posts

257 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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from the ones coming into the workshop. Rust is terrible. Also its quite scary how many people are happily ringing them to build a good one with high value once restored

iacabu

1,348 posts

148 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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I used my Mums to learn in and after passing my test, a 1990 Checkmate. Awfully slow but I didn't know better at the time...it was so much fun to drive.

Used to be 4 up regularly, I'm 5'11" and no problems fitting in it for me...can't say how comfortable the rear passengers were. Only complaint from passengers was hitting their heads on the roof through the bumpy country lanes.

Engine mounts went, rear subframe replaced, rust everywhere and wiring issues to name a few problems, but my Mum and I would both take it back in a heartbeat.

I'm currently helping persuade two people to get one (each, they are unacquainted)

roystinho

3,767 posts

174 months

Monday 19th January 2015
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Had a 1.3mpi 1999 cooper. Loved that car. It rusted like nothing else though even with it's yearly waxoyl treatment. Easy to work on, tremendous fun. I'll definitely have another. I'm thinking almond green with cream roof, no wide arches (mine had the sportspack and it grew to not liking it, simple is best), some decent seats to hold you in, then really go to town on good mechanicals, brakes, suspension etc. Basically something that looks very original, but has a carb'd engine running 100+bhp. I once saw one for sale running 150bhp which must've been a hell of a lot of fun.

The alternative is to get a mk1 cooper in original condition to restore over time like on programme Phillip Glenister did in Channel 4, For the love of Cars. That finished article was perfection for me.

Whatever I end up with it's going to live inside, heated garage, and only come out on sunny/dry days

vx220

2,689 posts

233 months

Tuesday 20th January 2015
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Don't restore it over time, you'll get to one end and have to start again! They really do rust, even heard reports of the brand new Heritage shells rusting, so the design must have humidity/water traps?

I have been tempted by the various fibreglass shells, but there are a couple of problems (for me, at least...)

1, IVA

2,You lose the external seems, any mini without seems is WRONG!

3, Most are "sprinted", and they look slightly odd to me...

...not as wrong as deseemed though!


roystinho

3,767 posts

174 months

Tuesday 20th January 2015
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If my numbers came up I'd have the panels made up in carbon fibre and galvanise the chassis etc so it didn't rust in a Singer 911 sort of way

MCBrowncoat

864 posts

145 months

Tuesday 20th January 2015
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You will fit easily, don't let that hold you back!! I'm 6ft 3, mine had cobra buckets and there was, I'd say, 3-4 inches of headroom...seriously.

oldboyracer64

209 posts

237 months

Wednesday 21st January 2015
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Look on internet and find a mini club near yourself go along any mini driver would be happy to let you sit in to see how you fit and most will jump at the chance to take a newbie out for a blast knowing that when you get back you will buy one asap lol