New mini owner and some questions

[davebem]

New Mini owner here, always wanted one and ended up getting a 99 John Cooper LE, so thought I would introduce myself to fellow mini owners and also ask 2 questions!

My mini shows paint code WEF on the vin plate, according to Rover system this is Brooklands Green with Old English white roof. However ive tried 2 different paint suppliers and brooklands green appears to be metallic but my Mini is a flat dark green (Id say darker than British racing green), does anyone know a good paint supplier for older cars? It appears you could get Audis in brooklands green! Is this the same?

Secondly any tips for filling up with petrol, I knew that pumps clicked off due to the small tank which is an aged old mini usse but at my local shell garage I cant get any petrol in at all!

[davebem]

Thanks for the info, ill try a local paintshop. My fueling issues are now assumed to be faulty sender unit in the tank. When the gauges shows empty the tank is still 2/3rds full, the general consensus is that all minis have innacurate fuel gauges?

Yes they get under your skin, ive had so many nice comments and people waving at me, already thinking of getting another (preferably a van, older model with carbs!).

[davebem]

I connected the sender wire to the earth and the gauge climbed all the way to the top, but Ive heard if both the fuel gauge and temp gauges are acting up its due to the voltage regulator in the cluster. My coolant temp gauge never goes above half way and ive only heard the fan come on when idling in traffic. My oil gauge got up to 150 a few times in the summer which is quite alarming as ive had a few different performance cars/done track days with other cars and never had oil go as hot as that! Since flushing coolant and oil it stays around 120 now but the weather is cooler.

[davebem]

That’s a great idea putting the 12v socket there, a previous owner fitted one but it’s on a bracket under the glovebox. I’m missing a front fog light switch but have them fitted so will try and get a 5 switch panel and move the socket there at same time. Does your fuel gauge go to top if you connect the sender wire to earth?

[davebem]

This might be of some help, now my mini is off road over winter I took the fuel sender out of the tank while the petrol was very low. I noticed that the wiper arm that runs along the resister track inside the fuel sender was not properly aligned so it would of always been under-reading. I managed to re-align it with a screwdriver so the top and bottom of the float travel aligned perfectly in relation to the track and its working fine now, I havnt put any petrol in but when I move the float the gauge now shows correct reading. When I refitted it I made sure the seal was in good condition and the float was able to move freely.