2001 - Y Reg Mini Cooper

[HorneyMX5]

I've got quite attached to Modern Minis of late and I fancied an R50 Cooper to join my R55 Clubman Daily and R53 Sprint/Hill/Track cars in the fleet. I wanted to do this without taking too much of a bath should I need to thin the fleet down quickly, so there hunt began for a Y reg car. Why a Y? Because they are the earliest of the early cars as almost of all them were dealer cars, customers cars being delivered post August 2001 and on a 51 Reg. They have a few things that are different to the cars built after Aug/Sep and therefore are deemed a little collectable.

If you want to dig into the nerdy fact you can find them all on the Y Register site. Here's a good part of that site to get you started: https://miniyregister.co.uk/blog/history/yobl/

So I found one and it's number 387 off the line, built 18th May 2001. Two months before you could order one. Here's the pics from the advert:

Screenshot 2020-01-06 at 09.38.43 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Screenshot 2020-01-06 at 09.38.49 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Screenshot 2020-01-06 at 09.38.56 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Screenshot 2020-01-06 at 09.39.04 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Screenshot 2020-01-06 at 09.39.11 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Screenshot 2020-01-06 at 09.39.24 by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

It was up for £550 and I haggled off £50. So what's wrong with it? Well:

It's done 138,000 miles
None of the LCD panels work
It has a mark on nearly every panel
The plastic arches are badly scuffed
The filler flap is loose
It has 4 odd tyres
The airbag light is on
It feels tired and baggy
It has a not so slow puncture

On the upside:

It was cheap
It runs
It has MOT
The AC works
The sunroof works

My plan with this car is to simply tidy it up without spending lots of money and enjoy driving it for what it is.

I got it up on a ramp for a nosey and I swapped the wheels for some S spoke my mate had that had 4 reasonable tyres on. £100 for the wheels was a bargain.

I took some pics which make out look a lot better than it does:

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Total costs so far - £600.

[HorneyMX5]

The ordering and delivery/collection of parts has commenced.

Oil
Oil Filter
Spark Plug
Leads
Fuel Filter
Sump Plug
Used Rev Counter to fix LCD not working
Used Central Speedo to fix LCD not working
Free replacement exhaust from a mate because the current one is falling apart
Exhaust hangers
Exhaust gasket


Total spend: £720

Short term fixes/jobs:

Service
Fix LCDs not working
Fix heater panel illumination not working
Fix rear wiper not working (Motor makes a noise though!)
Replace crappy looking exhaust that is falling off
Replace black plastic wheel arch trim that is scuffed
investigate vibration only apparent at motorway speeds (suspect worn CV)
Wheel alignment
New speakers in doors (current ones blown)
Fix loose filler flap

Edited by HorneyMX5 on Tuesday 7th January 11:30

[HorneyMX5]

Thanks for all the tips folks, I'm pretty up to speed on Gen 1 Minis but all advice is always welcomed. This is my other one:

74705033_10162509711805322_2815740740615798784_o by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Thread here: https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[HorneyMX5]

irocfan said:

seriously jealous about your temp gauge

How so? Does yours not work?

[HorneyMX5]

J4CKO said:

Hmm, so the new Mini is now verging on classic status, wow, 20 years old next year, makes me feel old.

Has it got any rust ?

Passenger door has some from a previous repair, other than that just the normal surface stuff on the subframes and arms.

[HorneyMX5]

Ah right, yeah! My 2014 R55 Clubman D doesn't have one either.

[HorneyMX5]

It was indeed, yes.

[HorneyMX5]

I've been using this car more than any of my others over the last week, it's slow but so much fun!

A small update as I tackled a few jobs over the weekend, only got one pic though.

I changed the oil, oil filter, air filter, spark plugs and leads and the car now runs much smoother and feels more responsive. I may also have drilled the airbag for a bit more induction bark because I'm 41 but wish I was 18.

I also swapped out the speedo cluster so I have a working LCD display. I need to find someone who can code the mileage to match what it should be. Clocks read 111,000 but the car has done 139,000.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

I've also managed to find some replacement used front struts which I'm going to try and see if that cures the front suspension knock/clunk on slow speed cornering.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

I'm waiting on the replacement rev counter to arrive still and I have bought a replacement heater switch panel as the lighting is broken on the current one.

[HorneyMX5]

Time for a little update. I ordered some replacement number plates in the earlier pre 2001 font and spacing. I also got the supplying dealer name and number printed on them.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Next up, the sounds. The front speakers sounded like a fart in a bath and I knew they were past their best. Turns out they were properly FUBAR.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

£25 for some speakers and adaptors off amazon and the tunes are now pumping as the should!

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

On Thursday I'm going to fit a replacement exhaust and the front struts I picked up the other week.

Total Spend: £825

[HorneyMX5]

Ha ha, auto correct strikes again. Airbox Obvs.

[HorneyMX5]

Next up was sorting the front suspension and replacing the exhaust for a newer one with a chrome tip.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Ever since I bought it in January it's had a really bad clunking and banging on the front when using a bit of lock. It felt like a spring binding. Turns out whoever replaced the top mount re assembled it all wrong and the spring is not seated and has smashing into the top mount.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

As mentioned earlier in the thread I picked up a set of used front dampers with springs, top mounts and drop links still fitted for the princely sum of £55. Swapped these on and problem solved, clunk free steering!

The exhaust on the car was tatty, missing the chrome tail piece and wonky. I was given a free, barely used, standard exhaust by a friend who'd upgraded. It's only a cheap after market one, but it's a vast improvement. The old one had knackered mounts so this one was fitted with all new rubbers and gaskets.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Very happy with that for a couple of hours work.

Here endeth the update.

[HorneyMX5]

Still loving this little thing and using it for the weekly shop at the moment. Not got any updates as such as I can’t do anything to it. Might give it a proper good wash and a polish though.

The current state of the world means I will have to sell some of my fleet in the coming months. Hoping this one will be able to stay as I’ve really grown to love it.

[HorneyMX5]

I'd love a classic Cooper on a Y reg to go with it!

[HorneyMX5]

The Y Reg is 19 today, having rolled off the line on May 16th 2001. Gave it a wash, took it for a hoon and took some snaps.

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

I actually had a reason to go out, needed some shopping. Practicing good social distancing:

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

[HorneyMX5]

Ray at Minitopia sorted me out with some replacement bits to tidy the car up. I got:

2 x bare doors
1 x bare bootlid
2 x rear arch plastics
1 x drivers side headlight

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Untitled by Nicholas Horne, on Flickr

Bootlid and arch spats done today and I've ordered genuine Cooper letter badges to go on it as if I reuse the old ones it will 100% end up with all the letters wonky.

Tomorrow the doors and the headlight!

Total Spend: £875

Edited by HorneyMX5 on Wednesday 27th May 22:09

[HorneyMX5]

I've replaced the doors and the bottled now and the replacement doors are not quite the right shade of silver. I have friend with a bodyshop who is going to fix this for me while sorting out the terrible previous repair it had to the NS rear quarter.

I also went and fitted a sports exhaust. It was £150 delivered brand new. Too cheap not to!

https://youtu.be/ksXBZhEtVBQ

Total Spend: £1025

[HorneyMX5]

alec.e said:

Looks great! What is the fasination with it being Y reg though?

The Y reg cars were all press cars or dealer demonstrators as customer deliveries stated in August with 51 reg cars, there were some 600 cars registered on a Y.

All the Y reg cars have bits that are not on the mainstream cars. They have different front seats, MINI embossed in the pedal rubbers, different washer jets (requiring a different bonnet pressing), different front top mounts and drop links and probably some other bits.

All that aside for me it’s all about it being one of the first dealer demo cars. It’s kinda cool thinking that many people have bought one or more MINIs after their first experience of the revived brand was driving this very car.

[HorneyMX5]

Mr Peel said:

This is ace. Top Mini geeking. Having noticed there are some tidy-looking pre-facelift Coopers around for £1,500ish I'm starting to think about sorting the garage to make room for one.

Do it, well worth picking one up. Remember when we used to tut at them? Especially the dealer fresh delivery miles cars being entered in to concours competitions. You coming down for National Cooper Day at Beaulieu this year?

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Just seen you linked this thread on the Mini 20th Birthday thread - any updates on the little thing?

Been a bit of a financial rocky sea for me during the last 12 months due to redundancy etc so I've not done thing really. It was always going to be a rolling project. I'm hoping one day to get my mate to completely refresh the body with a lick of paint.

[HorneyMX5]

well it is 20 on may 16th so I'll be sure to give it a proper wash and take it out for a trip and some pics.

[HorneyMX5]

It’s currently off the road sadly. It’s throwing up and oil pressure warning and I’ve not got round to properly investigating it. Hoping to get on it in the morning and change the filter, oil and pressure switch.