Discussion
Well the Micra daily is up for sale (previous thread) https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&... and has been reaplced by the MINI. Back story is I was enjoying the Micra and was happy enough to keep it until it died either by rot or write off. Then a few months ago it started an intermittent misfire which cured itself and started again on and off. Curious I thought. I took the approach of no diagnostic work whatsoever to try and pinpoint the problem and presumed that either the leads/dizzy/rotor arm were to blame. £55 later with ECP and it was still misfiring. Irk. Had it looked into and no 3 injector was dead. OK cool got a fuel rail and 4 injectors, swapped the duff item over and all was well, for about 24 hours, another misfire started. This time I changed all 4 injectors and the problem has been solved. However it got me thinking about a replacement. This coincided with one of the boys asking re the MINI D for his Mrs and I had a look on Autotrader to see what was about for him.
It was at this point; driving home from Cardiff on 3 cylinders in the Micra that I saw it. 'Ohh' I thought, that little black MINI One is cute, 'Ohh' I thought, that's quite close, 'Ohh' I thought, that's a pretty good write up on the car, 'Ohh' I thought, that's cheap for what it appears to be! 16 hours later I was driving home in it
An 02' Mini One in black, the Salt pack which is pretty much bottom of the range and with a 1.6 90hp Tritec (?) engine. It's from a small dealer in Gloucester and the conversation with the chap there reassured me that it wasn't a 'you won't find cheaper in the UK' car supermarket type place, rather a very well presented small indy dealer in a quiet industrial estate in Stonehouse. The car had been sold by them previously and had come back with a misfire (irony huh). This turned out to be a stuck lifter in the head which killed the cam so the head has been completely re-worked, new valves lapped in, new cam, new head gasket etc. The car has 96k, full service history and is pretty immaculate inside and out other than the swirling of the paint from numerous dodgy washes no doubt. The MINI has a great history with lots and lots of reassuringly expensive bills for services, a clutch 20k ago, discs/pads changes in the past, a new steering column early in its life, suspension components being changed etc etc, a great history to come with the car. The car comes to me having just had a major service, new pads all round and 4 new Pirelli Cinturato P7 - nicer to see than Barums et al and speaks that someone somewhere was happy to spend above minimum on the little thing.
The test drive and the drive home revealed its a great little car! It handles superbly and is eager to rev, it even has a gruff little induction roar on acceleration between 3-5k. Discs all round is great to see and it stops as well as it goes and handles, I'm super impressed. I was never overly keen with the interior when they first came out, the column mounted rev counter and huge center speedo were hideous I thought but now, I really like the interior. I like it also because you sit in the car rather than perched up high like some others. The door skin comes up to your shoulder when sat down and you feel 'hugged' when driving, I really like that. The standard seats are pretty st though.
It needed/needs (wants) a few things, quick list
front discs, well worn
new mats (horrible generic things in there that dont fit atm)
new gear knob to replace the awful standard thing (some may think the replacement is just as bad)
new stereo
So for some pictures! The weather has been terrible since picking it up so no glamour shots yet, maybe some tomorrow. (I really really like the wheels for some reason)
Untitled on Flickr
Untitled on Flickr
Good wad of history and service info
Untitled on Flickr
st mats
Untitled on Flickr
Soon to be replaced by these from some online company
Untitled on Flickr
Standard tape deck! removed
Untitled on Flickr
and replaced by
Untitled on Flickr
roughly 1000 times better than the original. To be fair the standard speakers in the MINI sound very good, 6X9s in the rear I believe so bass is not lacking. The sound stage is quite rear biased but I can deal with that.
and the new gearknob, needs modification to the collar to fit so not in yet
Untitled on Flickr
Discs waiting to be replaced, I stumped for Pagids after the eternal 'Eicher vs Pagid for the daily' dilemma with ECP
on Flickr
Weather pending the idea tomorrow is to give the car a very thorough valet and change the front discs. I will return with pics if that happens..
Thanks for reading
love this MINI!
It was at this point; driving home from Cardiff on 3 cylinders in the Micra that I saw it. 'Ohh' I thought, that little black MINI One is cute, 'Ohh' I thought, that's quite close, 'Ohh' I thought, that's a pretty good write up on the car, 'Ohh' I thought, that's cheap for what it appears to be! 16 hours later I was driving home in it
An 02' Mini One in black, the Salt pack which is pretty much bottom of the range and with a 1.6 90hp Tritec (?) engine. It's from a small dealer in Gloucester and the conversation with the chap there reassured me that it wasn't a 'you won't find cheaper in the UK' car supermarket type place, rather a very well presented small indy dealer in a quiet industrial estate in Stonehouse. The car had been sold by them previously and had come back with a misfire (irony huh). This turned out to be a stuck lifter in the head which killed the cam so the head has been completely re-worked, new valves lapped in, new cam, new head gasket etc. The car has 96k, full service history and is pretty immaculate inside and out other than the swirling of the paint from numerous dodgy washes no doubt. The MINI has a great history with lots and lots of reassuringly expensive bills for services, a clutch 20k ago, discs/pads changes in the past, a new steering column early in its life, suspension components being changed etc etc, a great history to come with the car. The car comes to me having just had a major service, new pads all round and 4 new Pirelli Cinturato P7 - nicer to see than Barums et al and speaks that someone somewhere was happy to spend above minimum on the little thing.
The test drive and the drive home revealed its a great little car! It handles superbly and is eager to rev, it even has a gruff little induction roar on acceleration between 3-5k. Discs all round is great to see and it stops as well as it goes and handles, I'm super impressed. I was never overly keen with the interior when they first came out, the column mounted rev counter and huge center speedo were hideous I thought but now, I really like the interior. I like it also because you sit in the car rather than perched up high like some others. The door skin comes up to your shoulder when sat down and you feel 'hugged' when driving, I really like that. The standard seats are pretty st though.
It needed/needs (wants) a few things, quick list
front discs, well worn
new mats (horrible generic things in there that dont fit atm)
new gear knob to replace the awful standard thing (some may think the replacement is just as bad)
new stereo
So for some pictures! The weather has been terrible since picking it up so no glamour shots yet, maybe some tomorrow. (I really really like the wheels for some reason)
Untitled on Flickr
Untitled on Flickr
Good wad of history and service info
Untitled on Flickr
st mats
Untitled on Flickr
Soon to be replaced by these from some online company
Untitled on Flickr
Standard tape deck! removed
Untitled on Flickr
and replaced by
Untitled on Flickr
roughly 1000 times better than the original. To be fair the standard speakers in the MINI sound very good, 6X9s in the rear I believe so bass is not lacking. The sound stage is quite rear biased but I can deal with that.
and the new gearknob, needs modification to the collar to fit so not in yet
Untitled on Flickr
Discs waiting to be replaced, I stumped for Pagids after the eternal 'Eicher vs Pagid for the daily' dilemma with ECP
on Flickr
Weather pending the idea tomorrow is to give the car a very thorough valet and change the front discs. I will return with pics if that happens..
Thanks for reading
love this MINI!
CarsOrBikes said:
So, if you're keeping it, consider getting a remap (Autologic I know works) which will give you full throttle and 125hp haha, the only difference between this and a Cooper!
Yea few of the boys have said that already, the only difference is the One is limited to 75% throttle apparently, 90 to 125 is pretty good VFM! CarsOrBikes said:
You could also ask them to raise the isle by 100rpm, and go buy a Kent cam to go in, which will keep you happy passing things on motorways etc.
Kent cam is tempting but daily means it may have to stay mild haCarsOrBikes said:
Have a look on forums and stuff for sports seats for sale, now and again they come up in cloth which are the best as unlike leather they keep you still haha
Certainly will do, seats a rubbish so if sports seat are a notable improvement I'll consider it CarsOrBikes - Sounds good dude, might look into that in the future
Mr Tidy - Great to hear, and can't agree more, great cars, I can see me sticking with the marque as long as funds allow etc.
Busy day, not the best of conditions, the forecast was optimistic. Cold and very windy with the odd shower thrown in was the reality Got the brakes done. Lots of pics of what's a pretty mundane job, enjoyed it nonetheless though, was nice to spin a few spanners again, I've missed it since I was in my last place with the garage set up well, more of that in a minute.
I'm always apprehensive about jacking a new car up, finding the points and feeling it out as it moves up is mildly nerve wracking. One thing I noted is the MINI is extremely stiff, jacking up the front near side had the rear wheel off no probs almost to the point that I could put a rear stand on without need for additional jacking. There doesn't appear to be a central front jacking point which a pain! I like to jack up in the centre of the car front and rear meaning the stands can be easily placed on the side jacking points but no such thing here, at least on the rear for sure.
Anyway, up with it using the chassis rail either side and then jack stand on the point for the jack pad
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
All looks pretty standard under there, nothing alarming
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Breaking off the retaining bolt. Used GT85 and a few taps with a hammer to break the rust free. Nothing was copper slipped at all so everything went back together with taking apart in mind in the future
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Jumping from side to side a little but caliper tied up out the way, brakes really are so easy to work on; even I can do it..
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Brands new pads on the front as per the service history, nice to see they're Brembos too
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
New discs cleaned with brake disc cleaner
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Disc on and retainer bolt torqued up with my fav wrench from Tekton
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Everything came apart as it should have and went together easily, all to torque specs
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
as per
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
All back together and a few miles done very gently. Interesting to see the coating being wiped off but showing the mismatch between pad and disc face
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
So that was the oily work done. The plan was to decontaminate the body work of the car from whatever the dealer used as wax and apply my own. As it was now about 3pm and very windy and rain starting to spot I decided against another 3ish hours of detailing and just give the car a quick wash to get all the sand off it from the recent stormy thing from the .. desert somewhere
Just a snowfoam and wipe over with a MF mitt
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
This is a 'after' a pic as I took, dried it off but by that time I just wanted to finish and get in the house
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Paint is now showing quite a few imperfections and quite a few stone chips on the bonnet but nothing out of the ordinary for a 96k car that's 15 years old
Got the mats in too, very pleased with them, fit perfectly and look great.
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
They're from www.carmats-uk.com, these are the luxury set for £25.99 plus £5 delivery, really pleased for £30.00
Ohh, had a go at the wheels too whilst they were off. Jeez the inner barrels have probably never been washed, my Valetpro non acidic wheels cleaner just isn't powerful enough to shift this baked on dust
before
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
After two applications of near neat wheel cleaner
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Well that's that. Overall happy with the days work. I think I'll invest in a digital vernier caliper to see if the discs actually needed replacing they had a hell of a lip on them so I'm guessing so, but I have been wrong before. Next? hmm not sure. Maybe a remap!
I mentioned my garage at the beginning I recall, this is what I'm dealing with atm, spent as long looking for tools as I did working on the car
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Mr Tidy - Great to hear, and can't agree more, great cars, I can see me sticking with the marque as long as funds allow etc.
Busy day, not the best of conditions, the forecast was optimistic. Cold and very windy with the odd shower thrown in was the reality Got the brakes done. Lots of pics of what's a pretty mundane job, enjoyed it nonetheless though, was nice to spin a few spanners again, I've missed it since I was in my last place with the garage set up well, more of that in a minute.
I'm always apprehensive about jacking a new car up, finding the points and feeling it out as it moves up is mildly nerve wracking. One thing I noted is the MINI is extremely stiff, jacking up the front near side had the rear wheel off no probs almost to the point that I could put a rear stand on without need for additional jacking. There doesn't appear to be a central front jacking point which a pain! I like to jack up in the centre of the car front and rear meaning the stands can be easily placed on the side jacking points but no such thing here, at least on the rear for sure.
Anyway, up with it using the chassis rail either side and then jack stand on the point for the jack pad
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
All looks pretty standard under there, nothing alarming
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Breaking off the retaining bolt. Used GT85 and a few taps with a hammer to break the rust free. Nothing was copper slipped at all so everything went back together with taking apart in mind in the future
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Jumping from side to side a little but caliper tied up out the way, brakes really are so easy to work on; even I can do it..
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Brands new pads on the front as per the service history, nice to see they're Brembos too
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
New discs cleaned with brake disc cleaner
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Disc on and retainer bolt torqued up with my fav wrench from Tekton
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Everything came apart as it should have and went together easily, all to torque specs
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
as per
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
All back together and a few miles done very gently. Interesting to see the coating being wiped off but showing the mismatch between pad and disc face
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
So that was the oily work done. The plan was to decontaminate the body work of the car from whatever the dealer used as wax and apply my own. As it was now about 3pm and very windy and rain starting to spot I decided against another 3ish hours of detailing and just give the car a quick wash to get all the sand off it from the recent stormy thing from the .. desert somewhere
Just a snowfoam and wipe over with a MF mitt
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
This is a 'after' a pic as I took, dried it off but by that time I just wanted to finish and get in the house
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Paint is now showing quite a few imperfections and quite a few stone chips on the bonnet but nothing out of the ordinary for a 96k car that's 15 years old
Got the mats in too, very pleased with them, fit perfectly and look great.
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
They're from www.carmats-uk.com, these are the luxury set for £25.99 plus £5 delivery, really pleased for £30.00
Ohh, had a go at the wheels too whilst they were off. Jeez the inner barrels have probably never been washed, my Valetpro non acidic wheels cleaner just isn't powerful enough to shift this baked on dust
before
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
After two applications of near neat wheel cleaner
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Well that's that. Overall happy with the days work. I think I'll invest in a digital vernier caliper to see if the discs actually needed replacing they had a hell of a lip on them so I'm guessing so, but I have been wrong before. Next? hmm not sure. Maybe a remap!
I mentioned my garage at the beginning I recall, this is what I'm dealing with atm, spent as long looking for tools as I did working on the car
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Cheers
To give some context; before the split with the ex (I split with the ex) I had a pretty organised garage, I don't seem to have any decent shots of the whole thing but this gives some idea
DC5B1953-ED3F-4E9D-B9F5-E4F0CDE6F739 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Floor was sealed and painted white, pretty much immaculately clean, compressor in the attic space etc etc. I've just moved into this place so it's a work in progress. Should look like my previous garage by next spring or so.
To give some context; before the split with the ex (I split with the ex) I had a pretty organised garage, I don't seem to have any decent shots of the whole thing but this gives some idea
DC5B1953-ED3F-4E9D-B9F5-E4F0CDE6F739 by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Floor was sealed and painted white, pretty much immaculately clean, compressor in the attic space etc etc. I've just moved into this place so it's a work in progress. Should look like my previous garage by next spring or so.
J4CKO said:
Sold a pretty much identical car to this for a friend the other day, it had a checkerboard roof but same wheels, colour year etc, amazing condition for 15 years old, they seem to wear well.
Love the fact a remap will turn a one into a Cooper power level.
They do indeed seem to wear well despite the less than luxurious interior plastics. I've emailed Celtic Tuning re the map! Love the fact a remap will turn a one into a Cooper power level.
jamiebae said:
That does look tidy, I’m not sure I’d want a car without a/c though! The gearboxes on these are made of chocolate but there’s not much you can do about that other than buy an 05 on facelift version.
I’ve had a couple of them and they’re great fun to drive, they’re also easy to modify and tinker with, and I guess there are lots of them being broken for parts now so there’s a ready source of shiny bits.
Yea I noticed it didn't have a/c on the drive home, the fact that I didn't notice before hand means I'm not that bothered I guess ha. Might be uncomfortable if we have a hot summer but it's not the end of the world for me.I’ve had a couple of them and they’re great fun to drive, they’re also easy to modify and tinker with, and I guess there are lots of them being broken for parts now so there’s a ready source of shiny bits.
I'll treat the gearbox in a manner that is concurrent with it's fragile nature, the car won't be getting driven hard and if it does i'll be mechanically sympathetic! Maybe it'll go, maybe it won't.. I keep looking at shiny bits but have to remember this is my economic daily
Mine certainly wasn't looked after in the paint dept, maybe it's because it's black but boy does it show the swirls. Nothing excessive really but I do think the black exacerbates the issue. Nothing a good detail won't clear up.
I do like the ratio's of the Midlands box, no idea if they were the same as the getrag but I like that it's tall geared (the Cooper had shorter ratios I read?) and it's very snicky, a lovely positive change. The revs sit at about 2750rpm I'd guess from the rev counter @ 70mph in 5th which I really like, means good economy if I decide to sell the Porsche and take the MINI to NBR next year.
A remap is also on the cards, have spoken to Celtic Tuning and been on the Lohen site, £300 with Lohen for a panel filter, a flash and iridium plugs seems the best vfm, plus a relatively consistent 125hp+ from 90 is a very impressive gain.
Enjoy the Cooper S!
I do like the ratio's of the Midlands box, no idea if they were the same as the getrag but I like that it's tall geared (the Cooper had shorter ratios I read?) and it's very snicky, a lovely positive change. The revs sit at about 2750rpm I'd guess from the rev counter @ 70mph in 5th which I really like, means good economy if I decide to sell the Porsche and take the MINI to NBR next year.
A remap is also on the cards, have spoken to Celtic Tuning and been on the Lohen site, £300 with Lohen for a panel filter, a flash and iridium plugs seems the best vfm, plus a relatively consistent 125hp+ from 90 is a very impressive gain.
Enjoy the Cooper S!
Identical indeed GISW. That was a lovely profit you sold it for, I'm still surprised that they're so cheap atm. A real bargain. I'd like to experience the S but as with my boxster I'm more than happy with the potential savings that come with the 'budget' model. An S of either marque would be great but I'd be spending more and I wonder what my ROI in terms of extra fun would actually be? Map will be done at some point on the MINI for sure.
Hi SM. I was actually turned on to these by a friend buying a One D for his wife, he seems to really like it!
Hi SM. I was actually turned on to these by a friend buying a One D for his wife, he seems to really like it!
SebringMan said:
I cannot keep track of your cars these days however!
I can; barely. I got asked last week if I buy and sell Micras for a living by a new neighbour.. Hmm not really no, not for any profit anyway Cheers Alias218, took me 3 attempts turned up the first time without any of my documents inc' my provisional licence oops ha.
Not much of an update but sorted an issue I didn't know I had until recently. I mentioned at the beginning of this that the MINI had a great induction noise as standard. I queried this with myself and thought I'd investigate. I found this
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
You can see the mastic sealer and the large gap at the back the air box lid. Not sure how someone managed this but it's snapped off totally from the air box body and was letting vast amounts of unfiltered air into the intake. Great for sound, not great for filtration.
So a call to a local breakers and £15 later a replacement was sourced
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
I cleaned up the flies and other debris from the air box and gave the filter a shake of further flies and other debris, other than that it's a clean filter in no need of replacement
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Oooooh Mahle
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
One thing that still vexes me is the air box still doesn't seem to mate to the lid all the way around, am I missing some clips
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
It's secured on the side that has the bolts of course but not on the other side as pictured. Better than before but not air tight
Whilst I was there I thought I'd have a cursory clean up of stuff and make the engine bay look a bit better, by no means a good job but better than nothing
from
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
to
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Lots of large black plastic surfaces that respond well to AG vinyl and rubber care
Not much of an update but sorted an issue I didn't know I had until recently. I mentioned at the beginning of this that the MINI had a great induction noise as standard. I queried this with myself and thought I'd investigate. I found this
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
You can see the mastic sealer and the large gap at the back the air box lid. Not sure how someone managed this but it's snapped off totally from the air box body and was letting vast amounts of unfiltered air into the intake. Great for sound, not great for filtration.
So a call to a local breakers and £15 later a replacement was sourced
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
I cleaned up the flies and other debris from the air box and gave the filter a shake of further flies and other debris, other than that it's a clean filter in no need of replacement
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Oooooh Mahle
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
One thing that still vexes me is the air box still doesn't seem to mate to the lid all the way around, am I missing some clips
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
It's secured on the side that has the bolts of course but not on the other side as pictured. Better than before but not air tight
Whilst I was there I thought I'd have a cursory clean up of stuff and make the engine bay look a bit better, by no means a good job but better than nothing
from
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
to
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
Lots of large black plastic surfaces that respond well to AG vinyl and rubber care
Got the tracking done on the One today, bit impromptu, called 'my' garage at about 10:45 stuck in traffic knowing they shut at 12 but they accommodated thankfully. Reason being is I'm driving to the West Midlands tomorrow to take a mate to pick up a new car and it's been pulling to the left quite notably since I bought it, wasn't a huge priority until today when I realized I'd have to be steering right for 2 and half hours each way keeping the thing straight on the motorway which I didn't fancy.
up on the ramps
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
and it was toeing in by 5° (I neglected to clarify which wheel but I'd wager the RHS as it was always trying to turn left) tolerance is 1.5° to 2.5° so it's within that somewhere now; drives better.
In other news the drinks section in the new house is coming along
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
That is all
up on the ramps
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
and it was toeing in by 5° (I neglected to clarify which wheel but I'd wager the RHS as it was always trying to turn left) tolerance is 1.5° to 2.5° so it's within that somewhere now; drives better.
In other news the drinks section in the new house is coming along
Untitled by Kaeser Devon, on Flickr
That is all
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