Old Mini

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Old Mini

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Well yesterday the GF dragged me along to her friends she was at a barbeque at, he showed me a mini he had for sale, dam im in love, the looks, the noise, i could barely talk, its my dream car. Now im going back today and was wondering what are the main bits to look out for on the mini? hes a Mini restorer and it needs finishing of on the interior and MOT and TAX but looking at it and chatting to him it seems in excellent condition.

Any tips or the such appreciated.
 

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my mates mad on these! got loads in his family!

looks in really good condition. you dont see many in that sort of nick!

big thing is rust. look EVERYWHERE. my mate is always replacing panels. apart from that just check it over in general. the good thing with a mini is if your capable with your spanners anything can be done! ive seen my mate have his engine in and out more times than i can count!

what size engine is it?
 
Thanks for that, the car has been done to the highest standard, hes currently got 1969 minis for sale at 4-5K+.

Its pure sex it is, its a 1991 Mini Cooper 1275 Carbed Engine With buckets, no back seats (ill harness it), Mini Superlites. Wide Arches (as you can see lol), Sports exhaust(no one knows which one as it came with the car?). Dont know much else, will find out more today when i go :yum:

I love minis and if i got it which i hope i do id never ever get rid of it.:slayer:
 
Thanks for that, the car has been done to the highest standard, hes currently got 1969 minis for sale at 4-5K+.

Its pure sex it is, its a 1991 Mini Cooper 1275 Carbed Engine With buckets, no back seats (ill harness it), Mini Superlites. Wide Arches (as you can see lol), Sports exhaust(no one knows which one as it came with the car?). Dont know much else, will find out more today when i go :yum:

I love minis and if i got it which i hope i do id never ever get rid of it.:slayer:
got a quote yet? ;)
 
no more than my pug, now thats expensive for a tractor :eek: so we shall ust be changing the car over the the policy, dadknows what to do plus ive had a chat to the master of car changing, he gave me a bit of advice :D :p


Hmm of there for 11.30, cant wait to see it again :D :eek:
 
im a bit of an old mini fanatic aswell., just love them and that one looks to be in very good nick, i love the arches on it., thing to look for is rust underneath the car, and on the floor inside the car, particularly in the corners where your feet would be if you were sitting in the rear.,
 
bit of rust just above bonnet below window, but that will be sorted. if we get it, which it loosk like we are ( :D ) , its gonna have a complete respray once ive saved up for it (y) . theres no interior in atm and looking it shows no rust whatsoever.

just pricing up some bit n bobs im gonna need to finish her of before we say yes to them :eek: :D
 
Double check the rear subframe mounts on the shell - if they've been welded, they need to be welded absolutely square otherwise the shell will crab.

The whole floor (including boot) can and does go.

Sills (inner and outer) can go.

Door bottoms can rust as with classic Pandas.

The scuttle panel (as you've found), the tops of the wings, the A panels and where the front panel and wing meet can rust very easily.

But looks very tidy.....7x13 'Lights (going off the dish) - the lock will be reduced compared to standard and the car may tramline slightly (remember the suspension was designed for 3.5J10 whels originally ;))
 
Most major things mentioned, I had one of these when I was 17, (y) Check the radius arm bearings on rear suspension, rear subframe and mounts, rust in the 'A' posts, the by-pass hose if it has the old A-series motor, not a big deal but a bugger to swap as its outa sight behind the head/thermostat housing. Check for jumping out of 2nd gear on the over-run, possible worn g/box or slack engine mounts and watch for oil burning at cold start up, remember the engine and g/box share the same oil. Usual clicking from worn drive shaft CV's on full lock, drive-shaft do-nuts can rot from oil leaks too.

Great fun car tho... Memories of wheel spacers and flared arches, seat fixing extenders and droppes steering column to drive with straight legs lol! Oh and Big bore zorsts! Peco was my fave, Burgess did another meaty sounding growl too. :yum:
 
if its been restored so chances are it will be okay

depending how much the restoration cost him

ive had 2 minis now and as has been said rust and subframes !!!!!!

rust on a-panels, scuttle, floorpan, and most definatly sills

but to be honest the car looks well done and i shoudlnt worry

the only thing id question is id he has replaced the subframes and if he has, did he buy genuine ?

the pattern subframes are cheaply made and for some reason rust through really quickly and there also given a thinner layer of paint than the ferrarif40!! (laughs to self)

ive brought pattern before

NEVER AGAIN !
 
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