'98 Cooper MPi
Discussion
Some may recall my "12yr old with a Jag" thread from some years ago. Long story short, that project stalled as life and uni got in the way and I've very much lost interest in it. I went to the ACA auction last month and came home with lot number 104.
It stood out to me as it hadn't been messed with, chrome arches aside, like so many classic Minis have been, and it was first registered only a couple of days before I was born! Its got some rust in the usual places but it doesn't appear to have been patched/welded in the past which hopefully means I won't be fixing anyone else's poor workmanship.
The car was retained by its first, second registered, owner from 1998 to 2015 and has had one owner since. From what I can see from the history that came with it, it did 10,000 miles a year until 2005 and has done 2000 miles since 2006 with a lay up between 2007 and 2015.
Once it arrived home, a sizeable order from Rimmer Bros followed. It had a few mechanical foibles in the form of a leaking heater matrix and the inability to start when hot which turned out to be an inlet air temperature sensor - it was disconnected and someone had bridged the connector - with a new one fitted its been starting perfectly since. Its also had a damn good service and a couple of the tyres needed resealing as they were leaking around the rim.
I've got a few small jobs left, sort out the tappets, replace the leaky rocker cover gasket and fit a new coolant temperature sensor. This should see it sorted mechanically sorted and I'll hopefully be able to reliably run it to work and uni on dry days.
The plan for now is to run it around for the summer and if its still with me by winter sort out the bodywork with some new panels and a respray.
Pictures from the auction below and one from this morning when someone decided to change lanes into me in the city traffic. Luckily only knocked the arch trim which was almost convenient as I wanted to get rid of the chrome arches anyway so a new set of black arch trims is in the post. The scuffs buffed out.
It stood out to me as it hadn't been messed with, chrome arches aside, like so many classic Minis have been, and it was first registered only a couple of days before I was born! Its got some rust in the usual places but it doesn't appear to have been patched/welded in the past which hopefully means I won't be fixing anyone else's poor workmanship.
The car was retained by its first, second registered, owner from 1998 to 2015 and has had one owner since. From what I can see from the history that came with it, it did 10,000 miles a year until 2005 and has done 2000 miles since 2006 with a lay up between 2007 and 2015.
Once it arrived home, a sizeable order from Rimmer Bros followed. It had a few mechanical foibles in the form of a leaking heater matrix and the inability to start when hot which turned out to be an inlet air temperature sensor - it was disconnected and someone had bridged the connector - with a new one fitted its been starting perfectly since. Its also had a damn good service and a couple of the tyres needed resealing as they were leaking around the rim.
I've got a few small jobs left, sort out the tappets, replace the leaky rocker cover gasket and fit a new coolant temperature sensor. This should see it sorted mechanically sorted and I'll hopefully be able to reliably run it to work and uni on dry days.
The plan for now is to run it around for the summer and if its still with me by winter sort out the bodywork with some new panels and a respray.
Pictures from the auction below and one from this morning when someone decided to change lanes into me in the city traffic. Luckily only knocked the arch trim which was almost convenient as I wanted to get rid of the chrome arches anyway so a new set of black arch trims is in the post. The scuffs buffed out.
p4cks said:
JJ55 said:
Love it! Will be even better when the arches are swapped out
Genuine question, but what purpose does the word 'out' have in this sentence?On topic - Love this OP, I just wish I could fit into one, I'm way too tall!
New arches look great op!
Great car...looks way better with the black arches....maybe even better if they were matched to the body colour ....? Just a thought !
Has this got the Metro 1.3 engine ?
Our family had an MG Metro which was really good and sounded great.
Enjoyed reading about your Jag so looking forward to your tales with this one.
Has this got the Metro 1.3 engine ?
Our family had an MG Metro which was really good and sounded great.
Enjoyed reading about your Jag so looking forward to your tales with this one.
I believe the sport pack Coopers, certainly the later ones, came with slightly wider fibreglass arches which were body colour. I generally prefer cars as they came out of the factory so I think the arches will be staying black, for now at least 
.
The 1.3 in it is an A series, same as Mk1 Metros I believe. With this being a later car, it is slightly different in that the radiator is at the front, the ignition is coil/ECU rather than distributor and it gets a couple of injectors rather than a carb. This makes it look slightly different under the bonnet than a "traditional" classic Mini.
. The 1.3 in it is an A series, same as Mk1 Metros I believe. With this being a later car, it is slightly different in that the radiator is at the front, the ignition is coil/ECU rather than distributor and it gets a couple of injectors rather than a carb. This makes it look slightly different under the bonnet than a "traditional" classic Mini.
Yes sport packs had the wider bigger wheel with the bigger body coloured arches. Standard Coopers had the black plastic ones although my H reg Cooper RSP had body coloured ones in the same size you have. It was black and I think was a special edition.
Yours looks good, I'd love one again as I've had 2. Keep hold of it forever as decent examples are either crazy money or hard to find. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with it.
Yours looks good, I'd love one again as I've had 2. Keep hold of it forever as decent examples are either crazy money or hard to find. Looking forward to seeing how you get on with it.
Fantastic car. Absolutely love these. My first car, and one I learnt in and took my driving test (!) in, was a 1991 J Reg Cooper with the Carburettor engine. Same colour as yours here, bar the interior which was a bit more spartan!
Mine had those black arches on which does look much better. I never liked chrome ones. I did like the wider body coloured ones that came on the late sport pack editions, but it is all personal choice.
Enjoy driving and owning it, I wish dearly I still had mine (rust and all!)
Mine had those black arches on which does look much better. I never liked chrome ones. I did like the wider body coloured ones that came on the late sport pack editions, but it is all personal choice.
Enjoy driving and owning it, I wish dearly I still had mine (rust and all!)
Love it that looks stunning in red, and much better with the original arches too. I inherited one myself last year, one owner and 42k from new but with a lot of rust. Hopefully yours has no hidden horrors it’s amazing where the rot can take hold! I stripped mine to a complete bare shell and it’s away getting welded at the moment. Hopefully get it back and rebuilt over the summer.
I’d love a Mini! When I was sixteen I bought one from a bloke that lived around the corner. It was a non runner and my mates and I just didn’t have the know how at the time to figure out what was wrong with it, so I ended up selling it to a guy that ran a scrap yard and did Mini stock racing 
I’m probably going to sell my XR2 race car that I’m never going to get round to sorting out so might use the money to buy myself a Mini
I’m probably going to sell my XR2 race car that I’m never going to get round to sorting out so might use the money to buy myself a Mini
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