Teach me about classic Minis

Anyone here into classic Minis? I have a friend that has asked me to help them locate a good one for purchase. As big a British car guy as I am, I must confess I have only basic knowledge of them. There seem to be so many variations and models, and then add in all the modifications you often find, I'm not sure how to mentally start sorting them out. I know the basics...A-Series engine, some had hydrolastic suspension, rust prone, etc.

What are the preferred years and models? Any to stay away from? I think we'd be looking for a sportier version with flared wheel arches and such. Also, what kind of prices are these changing hands for nowadays? From a cursory look at hemmings and eBay prices seem to be all over the place.

 

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No year really stands out over any other IMHO. The changes over the years were kinda subtle up through the late 70's. The early cars (1959 thru the late 60's) had sliding window, external hinges, a little bit smaller back window, a 998cc motor (The "S" had a 1071cc) hydrolastic (wet) and shocks and springs (dry) and no creature comforts. The late 60's thru the mid 80's saw a couple of things change (roll up windows, internal hinge doors, disc brakes, 1275cc but retained the 10" wheels (love them!) the mid 80's thru 2000 saw the biggest changes. Bigger wheels (12") fuel injection, air conditioning leather and the sportpack model.

The electrical and the rust are real issues on these cars.

This is a generalization of the changes but you should get the idea.
You can make any year into what ever you want, but it sounds like you are looking for a sportpack. There are many MY2000 cars in the US but most (if not all) are titled as 1990's or earlier.
I own 2, a 1968 Cooper that's heavily modified and a 1974 Mayfair with a blower and a 5 speed trans.
Pop over to minimania and poke around there is a ton of very knowledgeable people over there.
Figure out what you want and shoot me a PM I know of several solid cars for sale.

Hope this helps.

 

REALLY do your homework before buying one. Mine was the biggest money pit I had ever owned... Fun cars but they are British in every sense of the word...
Edit: Mine was a 84.

 

I never owned one but I drove a buddies turbo mini. It is a blast to drive. quick and fun to flick around. own alot of cars and I would say it is up there in fun driving.

My freind had good luck with his when he owned it.

Wish I knew more

Lee

 

Rust rust and more rust. I have owned many over the years and all of them rusted away. They even introduced a colour for the Mini, called "Russet Brown" which was rust-colored to hide the rust.

Quite a lot of tasks on the Mini need special tools, ie special suspension compressor, reamer for the trailing arms, clutch replacement tool etc etc. The rear suspension does wear out very quickly if not regularly lubricated which is often not done.

Hydrolastic suspension well worth avoiding. The others had simple rubber cones which are very hard but do give great cornering.

Plus side is very cheap parts (at least here in the UK). Everything is available including all body parts, subframes etc at giveaway prices.

 

Mini's are great fun to drive on a cool spring day with the Abarth exhaust (a must have mod) bellowing and the gearbox making it's siren sounds (ok so the gearbox does sound like a siren literally, but that's part of the charm)..

But... both I and my good friend when I was in high school had Mini's, both had 1275 "S" models, His was a 66 IIRC, and mine was one of the last two to get into the country before the fed's shut the door in 1968 (had the square edge grille of a 68 but was titled as a 67, since it came off the boat in December of 67) so they were the "pinnacle" of early Mini-ism. Since these cars were (relatively) new at the time and I lived in south Fla, I don't have any experience with rust, so I will leave that issue to those who have already attested to the propensity that these cars have to revert back to their natural iron oxide state.

I did spend a huge amount of time keeping these two, at the time relatively new cars on the road, and the reliability and maintainability of these cars is legendary, and I don't mean in a good way.. Mini's are a living testament to the term British "bulldog determination", because that's what it takes to live with and maintain one for any period of time..

If you are thinking about a classic Mini as being a modern car in any sense of the word, , a car that you can drive, keep the fluids topped up and enjoy, wipe that thought out of your mind. Time has really passed these cars up, much like BMW Isetta's or Messerschmitt bubble cars, they are best kept as a toy and not a real car. (I know some will chime in and say they had a Mini for xyz years and it was a great car, and yada yada yada, but there are always a few outliers that had a good experience, the reality is that these were miserable cars and a prime example as to why the British motor industry eventually went TU). I would suggest that a Mini has a half life of about 20,000 miles. Expect to replace half of the parts that can or should wear out every 20,000 miles and by 40,000 miles you will have replaced everything at least once and the more common items twice...

The water pump fails, often, and can spit the fan right into the radiator when it does. The cabin comforts (things we now take for granted) like windscreen demisting and a good heater are almost non existent. Forget about A/C, none of the classics had it. The rubber doughnuts that the Brits used on the inner half shafts because they were too cheap to buy CV joints fail.. Often. The gearbox shares its oil with the engine (the reason for that siren sound), which means neither will last that long. The engine has three main bearings and the carbs are SU's, which stands for "Stumbles Usually", although by now most cars will have had those replaced with a DCOE Weber if the person has any sense at all.

The electric stuff is all Lucas (three position switches, dim, flicker and off), need I say more? And on the Mini they put the miserable Lucas distributor right in the side of the engine, facing the front of the car, behind the grille (the radiator is to the side, not behind the grille) where water is then routinely splashed, through the grille, onto the distributor rendering the car immobile, and yes there's a rubber boot that fits over the distributor, it is believed that it was put there mostly to trap whatever water could get into the distributor and keep it there until it flooded out....

To remove the brake and clutch master cylinders you are required to put your head in the footwell (where all the fluid that leaked from the aforementioned junk cylinders has pooled and ruined the carpets and dissolved the paint under them) and try to remove the circlip for the actuator rod (that won't fit up through the small hole in the cowl because they were too cheap to drill one big enough) while the last few drops of fluid that the offending cylinder contains tries to drop into your eyes.. Oh, and in those days folks had smaller hands.. At least that's what I've come to believe since nobody whose hands are normally sized has a prayer of getting into numerous places on the car where there is a rusted or over-torqued fastener.. Anyone who has spend any time working on a Mini is a firm believer in the supposedly unfounded rumor that Sir Alec was a direct descendent of the Marquis de Sade (I for one firmly believe it)...

While they are and were neat cars, unless you want to make a career of maintain one, I have one strong suggestion.. DON'T....

 

I drive my classic Mini every week, it was a basket case, 69 Shell that I bought a late model donor and swapped everything, the late model 1275 motor and gearbox are really solid. I live in Southern California where it can be in the 100's easy in the summer (has been) and it does not over heat since adding the tropical fan and just keeping the cooling system in good shape is a must. I love the car, and did a complete custom build for the SEMA show last year on it.

That being said, make sure you don't need to drive it. Because if you do you will spend weeks just waiting for parts from US suppliers. No one seems to stock anything, I just had to do the sub-frame mounts on my car and to get all 8 bushings/mounts required ordering from three catalog suppliers that specialize in Mini. Expect back orders, and expect to be shocked by crazy parts like rotors and drums being crazy expensive (for what they are) a good set of solid front rotors for a Mini will be $189. My Lexus RX front rotors were just $80 the other day. I have put over 25,000 miles on my car.

Another thing to watch out for is a lot of late model Minis are back dated to older models. If you want a car for its collector value buy a MKI-MKII model if you want a driver get a newer one late-80's-90's they are reliable (Japanese Models had AC) and they are really cheap to buy, just watch for rust no matter what year you buy.

 

hahaha - brilliant writing

I loved my 998cc mini (cost me £400 - lasted ~9 months before Lord Lucas struck and the wiring smoke all escaped rendering it useless). The Moke I owned prior to it (1275 model with front disc brakes) was brilliant fun too (as a uni student )