Classic 70s Mini cooper as a quirky hobby car?

[targa911S]

We didn't have off street parking at my apartment when I had my Mini. People would pick it up and move it on the sidewalk as a prank.

[J P Stein]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

If you found handling quirks in a car that was first released in 1959, imagine you would have become very dead in any contemporary car trying the same manouver. Those things would run rings around other cars, and because they were so short, you didnt need to worry about what the tail end was doing, you just concentrated on getting the front round the corner which with good throttle control ,was a relatively easy thing to achieve

Yeah, right.....
Wet day, doing a blind corner at Mini speed. Had to brake hard for something and here comes the rear end.....on a mission I guess. Fortunately, no one was following at thru the corner at Mini speed.

Hello, WTF is this?????......didn't do that no more....

[gary1101]

Had this one for a couple years. I did a nut and bolt restoration on it. Rust is a problem but all parts are readily available at Mini prices (not Porsche prices). Replaced all suspension with poly bushings. Bought a rebuilt 1380 power unit from Mincomp Racing in Costa Mesa, CA pulling 116 hp at the flywheel. Big HP gains can be made by working the heads. At 1,400 pounds this thing could beat any hot Civic ricer.

[Aerkuld]

Well, I finally went ahead and did it. After looking at car after car here in the US and not finding what I wanted at the right price, I decided to go looking abroad.

Consequently, I have a car on a ship as we speak heading from Europe towards our shores.

A 1965 Morris Mini, export model (LHD from the factory), and former FIA Historic Rally Car. That should do nicely. As long as it really is as good as it looks in all the photos I'll be very happy. It looks as though it's been really well prepared, so fingers crossed.

[targa911S]

Wow!! Very nice! Is it a 1275? I have a haynes workshop manual for it. PM me your address and I'll send it to you.

[911 Rod]

Happy ending! Nice!

[VincentVega]

x2

Good luck with it, looks great from here

[stomachmonkey]

Watching a friend deal with the rust on his right now.

Not fun but the car is so worth it to him

Do it

[petrolhead611]

Hope you got a photo of the rear subframe. If it is shot, buy a beam axle from the UK and fit that instead, its much lighter.
Handling tip(for the track,it simply shouldn't happen on public roads or you deserve what you get ), if the back comes round, put your foot down

[J P Stein]

My father passed away & left me a 65 Cooper S. It had over 200k miles on it and a newer (but stock) motor. Another car I shoulda never sold. It taught me about "drop throttle oversteer"

[Aerkuld]

Originally Posted by petrolhead611

Hope you got a photo of the rear subframe. If it is shot, buy a beam axle from the UK and fit that instead, its much lighter.
Handling tip(for the track,it simply shouldn't happen on public roads or you deserve what you get ), if the back comes round, put your foot down

Ha, yes I did! The entire underside of the car is painted body color, and the subframes appear to have been powder coated. Everything looks in very good shape. I even got photographs from inside the front wheel arches looking back up at the corner panels on the scuttle. They're clean, solid, and you can see the shape of the panel flanges so I'm pretty sure they're not patched. I'm pretty confident I know all the usual rust points on a Mini and could find them in a dark room. There's not much on one of those that I haven't fixed, changed, or removed at some point.

I'm reasonably aware of the interesting handling characteristic of the Mini. Realistically the back wheels are only there to stop the ass-end dragging on the ground. The front end does all the work. With afew exceptions, the car's pretty much going to go where they're pointing if you keep your foot down.

[porsche930dude]

Very Nice! Iv been looking for one aswell. Looking for a project car and im not afraid of rust. Seems all the ones that come up for sale are restored already and way out of my price range. There is one near me thats been sitting in the guys driveway with 4 flats for 10 years or so but his son wants to fix it up someday. We all know how that goes

[Joe Bob]

These guys have all the schizzle......
MG, Triumph, Austin-Healey, Jaguar, Classic British Car Restoration Parts & Accessories - Moss Motors, Ltd.

[Joe Bob]

https://www.minimania.com/Cars4Sale_List.cfm?adtype=Mini

Ones for sale.....

[Paul K]

They suck. Poor workmanship, very low quality steel, no A/C, shifts like an old fram truck, horrible in any kind of wreck, noisy, rough ride, and unreliable. Most folks in the UK when I grew up there had a Mini as their first car. There's a good reason why they don't have one any more.

That said, they are an absolute BLAST to drive. 30 feels like 80, you can turn on a dime, and you'll get lots of attention. Drive a 911, and 1/3 don't notice, 1/3 like it & 1/3 hate you. Drive a classic Mini & everyone loves it.

My wife DD'd one for a few years. She loved it, but eventually the novelty wore off. She now drives a BMW 335Xi.



FWIW, in this photo the rear ends of the SC & Mini were lined up perfectly...


Corbeau seats and thousands of dollars worth of Dynamat really helped...



Right before we sold it...

[epbrown]

Love the shot with the dog for scale.

[Don Plumley]

Fantastic. On my short list (ha!) of possible projects in the future.

[HardDrive]

I was looking at modern mini's on craigslist. Amazing how cheap they are. Evidently not a nice car for long term ownership.

[Paul K]

Originally Posted by epbrown

Love the shot with the dog for scale.

Tara is small for a GD!

[1990C4S]

I doubt you will be happy with a 1,000 cc model. They were slow when they were new.

You will want more power within a few months.