A mini cooper question.

[simongt]

Way back in 1973, a pal of mine ( who I'm still in touch with ) had a Mini Cooper S. Dropped suspension, spaced wheels & twin Weber carbs.
Went like a s**thouse door in a gale and was a blast to drive - !
Sadly it eventually succumbed to rustosis, but great in it's day and many happy memories of trips out with our respective girlfriends of the time.

 

[Jameshow]

Ford wet belt hell, Nissan 3 pot turbo failure, or Dacia clutch disintegration aren't exactly a breath of fresh air for the wallet, and they're mainstream "affordable" brands.

And the folding nissan navana!

 

[craigwend]

My BMW mini had a variable valve problem common with some BMW's local garage managed to get it working okay, but advised to sell in case it happened again, happend to a neighbours Cooper, somewhere between £3-5k to resolve!

 

[Gunk]

Petrol or diesel?

@Gunk should know I think as he had one.

The Peugeot engine was known to be a ticking time tbh.

Other than that they are fantastically built and designed cars!

Personally I wouldn’t buy another, they’re just far too fragile and unreliable, especially the petrol versions.

 

[DaveReading]

How disappointing - I was expecting a thread about small barrel-makers.

 

[oxoman]

That GT got me drooling. Proper car, sadly highly stressed when thrashed and rotted whilst you watched, Proper fun car. Easy to work on if you didn't mind getting dirty. Wish I'd still got my Proper minis.

 

[Fastpedaller]

Talking of old minis........ I'm into kit cars and last year I found it was still possible to buy a complete monocoque GRP body to which the BL Mini running gear can be bolted - in fact there are at least 2 manufacturers of such a product! It would need to be put through the IVA test, but it brings about the possibility of building a 'new old mini' as I'm told all parts are still available new (can a mini enthusiast correct me). With careful rust-proofing of the metal parts, this could be a 'forever' car, as the body will never rust!

 

[CXRAndy]

Talking of old minis........ I'm into kit cars and last year I found it was still possible to buy a complete monocoque GRP body to which the BL Mini running gear can be bolted - in fact there are at least 2 manufacturers of such a product! It would need to be put through the IVA test, but it brings about the possibility of building a 'new old mini' as I'm told all parts are still available new (can a mini enthusiast correct me). With careful rust-proofing of the metal parts, this could be a 'forever' car, as the body will never rust!

Yes there are many Mini spares suppliers virtually all parts are available, body panels to seals and catalytic convertors- Im ordering one this month for our 99 classic Mini

https://www.google.com/search?q=cla...CCLACAfEFoyoD-e0HGPE&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

 

[BrumJim]

I thought that BMW knew how to build good engines.

Are there any reliable MINI models ?

Maybe when they are the right way round and have 50% more cylinders. Although as noted above, there is a difference between reputation and real world results.

 

[fossyant]

We've had a fair few 'classic' mini's in our household over the years. At least five. My sister had two - a bright yellow one with wide wheels, then a Mini Rose.

 

[oxoman]

Had 6 over the yrs having started with q 70s minivan. Last one was as rebuilt barnfind that started as 850cc then I upgraded to a rebored 1340 ish cc with twin carbs. It's last upgrade was a mullet build with a Vauxhall nova engine shoehorned in. Got the inspiration of a guy in mini world who shoehorned an Astra GTE engine in. Sadly family kids and needing reliability got in the way. The current minis don't really float my boat.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

Serious question as I now zilch. What would he do with a body kit ?

Wear it and play Transformers.

 

[oxoman]

A decent body kit can look nice on a mini, sadly as it would be classed as a mod and potentially load his insurance up. If a youngster, there best sticking to bog standard as young driver insurance is ridiculous.

 

[Jameshow]

Had 6 over the yrs having started with q 70s minivan. Last one was as rebuilt barnfind that started as 850cc then I upgraded to a rebored 1340 ish cc with twin carbs. It's last upgrade was a mullet build with a Vauxhall nova engine shoehorned in. Got the inspiration of a guy in mini world who shoehorned an Astra GTE engine in. Sadly family kids and needing reliability got in the way. The current minis don't really float my boat.

I like the MK1 BMW mini both in cooper and cooper S form. I only drove the cooper S a few times but really enjoyed the cooper I had.
I wouldn't mind a MK2 clubman diesel.
Newer than that I would be interested!

 

[oxoman]

To be fair to BMW they pretty much got the early design bang on and reliability was brilliant compared to the old minis, plus they didn't rot in front of you.