Classic Mini

Matt Sayle

Matt Sayle

2017MSA Young Photographer of the Year(Motorsport)
Suspended / Banned
Messages
18,976
Name
Matt Sayle
Edit My Images
Yes
What are the chances of getting a classic mini for <£1000 that doesnt need a heap of work.

I dont mind a bit, just not a lot!!

Thaskn
Matt
 
my grandad has 6 on his drive, 2 clubmans, one estate, one traveller, and one that has done some rallys and has a fibre glass front etc.
 
Matt Sayle said:
What are the chances of getting a classic mini for <£1000 that doesnt need a heap of work.

I dont mind a bit, just not a lot!!

Thaskn
Matt
Click to expand...

None, have you seen how much they are in decent nick?
 
Yantorsen said:
I don't like the rear headlights on those ones, too square
Click to expand...

The main thing with a Mini is to ensure it is structurally sound, to get the rounder lights you need to go back to the 1960s and you'll get nothing from back then that is anyway half decent for £1000.

You can actually buy "repair" panels to fit the older lights to a newer shell. Add the older-style grill, 10 inch wheels, paint it red and white :naughty:
 
Last edited:
I wish Matt hadn't posted this thread, all that looking at ebay and I've just found an Austin Metro I want to buy :bonk:
 
Get some decent artwork on the front:
mini%20cooper%20paint_1.JPG

(Image coutesy of GoogleImages)
 
The only Mini I ever owned had no brakes unless you pumped the pedal several times, a hole in the passenger footwell, and a huge orange fibreglass aerial from front to back, which i swear was the only thing holding it together. Oh, and I had to change the gearbox before I could engage 3 or reverse :D

That said, it was about 30 years ago and i got as much from the scrappy as i paid for it, albeit 9 months later :lol:
 
hepburn said:
The only Mini I ever owned had no brakes unless you pumped the pedal several times, a hole in the passenger footwell, and a huge orange fibreglass aerial from front to back, which i swear was the only thing holding it together. Oh, and I had to change the gearbox before I could engage 3 or reverse :D
Click to expand...

It's not often I come across one of my old customers on t'internet :lol:
 
Minis are great fun.

However - finding one that doesn't need regular dollops of cash spent welding will get increasingly difficult.

You could pick up a Ford Ka very cheaply - I've driven lots of cars ranging from supercars downwards and the most fun I've had in a road car recently has been my wifes Ford SportKa. The steering is fab (although the turning circle is rubbish), but the handling, steering and gearbox are just right.

Or you could get a Corsa like every other 17yr old and then spoil it with aftermarket alloys, low profile tyres, and a catering size backed bean tin to use as a rear silencer.
 
But why choose a modern rustbucket instead of an old one?

Specialist cars in malton used to have Kas as loan cars. Possible the worst back to back contrast I've ever had. (although the one I had came complete with faulty power steering)
 
andrewc said:
Minis are great fun.

However - finding one that doesn't need regular dollops of cash spent welding will get increasingly difficult.

You could pick up a Ford Ka very cheaply - I've driven lots of cars ranging from supercars downwards and the most fun I've had in a road car recently has been my wifes Ford SportKa. The steering is fab (although the turning circle is rubbish), but the handling, steering and gearbox are just right.

Or you could get a Corsa like every other 17yr old and then spoil it with aftermarket alloys, low profile tyres, and a catering size backed bean tin to use as a rear silencer.
Click to expand...

Hmm, sportka. Will look into that!

:gag: I hate cars like that. They need to turn there music down as no one else wants to hear it. Remove the horrible exhaust and replce it with something quiter. If you want something that sounds sporty BUY SOMETHING THAT IS SPORTY
 
I learnt most of my formative mechanical skills on minis, a pal of mine bought a lime green (nice...) 850cc for £50 as his first car. No MOT, had a quick look and chucked it through the test. Straight pass! LOL.

Then we set about it, We`d bought a 1300cc convertible mini as a project only to find it was rotten once we really got down to it. However, it had cooper S brakes on it too. Stripped and swapped everything over to the 850, it made it a real street sleeper. Turned out the engine had been played with, on a dyno it put out 96bhp at the wheels.

I had an XR2 at the time, it absolutely murdered it up to around 60 and then the fiesta had the edge due to a lack of fifth gear in the mini.

Then the rear subframe started to pull out of the shell on the mine, I wonder why.... LOL.

Scrapped it in the end. Oh happy days!

Oh, don`t have an accident in one, I recovered one that ran into a parked cherokee jeep. He was incredibly lucky that he didn`t have a passenger!! We took it off of the back of the truck with a forklift.
 
Have you tried the owners club for a spares or repair job. Also what about the veteran cars sales on the a41 heading towards Whitchurch only up road from you. If any of the pepes here live by Whitby theres another veteran de3aler on the road to Cayton just after i think is the Pickering turn off. Might be able to point in a direction of use.Flash i.t.p. is right though structure has to be good spent my youth learning how to be a contortionist on them earning xtra cash welding after work.
 
Everyone should own a classic Mini at some point, but I'd avoid any restoration projects, I've been there, done that, they can be bottomless money pits. The age of the car doesn't really matter, it's the structural condition that is most important. Get one with a good shell and treat it as a rolling project (ie do it up as you can afford it) and you'll learn a lot about cars and driving.

I got my first Mini when I was 18 - a reshelled 1968 Cooper S, bored out to 1380cc. Nowadays it would probably lose a race against a 1200 Corsa, but what a hoot it was to drive - 30mph felt like 100 and 100 ( so I've been told :naughty:) felt like......:eek:
 
Matt Sayle said:
Hmm, sportka. Will look into that!

:gag: I hate cars like that. They need to turn there music down as no one else wants to hear it. Remove the horrible exhaust and replce it with something quiter. If you want something that sounds sporty BUY SOMETHING THAT IS SPORTY
Click to expand...

Sportka - great hoot. 1.6 engine and 'Sport' in the title may mean insurance is a bit on the expensive side.
 
The thing to watch on all classic minis are the rear subframes, they rust like a chuffer. It's also advisable to steer clear of auto gearboxes unless you want to be in 4th by the time you get off your drive.
 
ChrisMClark said:
The thing to watch on all classic minis are the rear subframes, they rust like a chuffer. It's also advisable to steer clear of auto gearboxes unless you want to be in 4th by the time you get off your drive.
Click to expand...

Or indeed if you want to survive the first junction you try and pull out of. I once raced my mate's Mini Auto from a standing start and beat it. I was running.
 
A mate of mine has an old mini. He bought two of them and built one from the 2, he replaced the auto transmission and his next project is dropping a 1.4 lump in there from an old metro, it will require an extra 2" welding into the chassis and a new custom front quarter building :eek: good job he's a mechanic! It's also possible to put a 1.6 16v Honda VTec engine in a mini, by putting it in the back and driving a modified rear axle straight off the box by a chain :nuts:
 
Sounds a bit drastic....we used to put Allegro 1300 engine and box assemblies in, ut with the shorter ratio diff from an 850 Mini box. Top end speed was awful, but it would spin the wheels in the first three gears :nuts:
 
Beetles - awful things.
Likewise 2CV's but they at least have some charm about them.

If you want something cheap and reliable, VW Polo or Golf. Fairly cheap parts. Alternatively Ford Escort or an Astra. Cheap as chips, plenty of easy obtainable parts and almost certainly a Haynes manual available.

You don't want to be spending your weekends fixing the blooming thing when you should be at Oulton Park. You don't want your car taking money from your 1d Mk III and big lens fund as rapidly as you put into it.

However, a basic set of tools and a hands on approach should be taken - a huge amount of jobs can be done DIY which not only saves a lot in labour but also teaches you a lot along the way.
 
Last edited:
andrewc said:
Beetles - awful things.
Likewise 2CV's but they at least have some charm about them.

If you want something cheap and reliable, VW Polo or Golf. Fairly cheap parts. Alternatively Ford Escort or an Astra. Cheap as chips, plenty of easy obtainable parts and almost certainly a Haynes manual available.

You don't want to be spending your weekends fixing the blooming thing when you should be at Oulton Park. You don't want your car taking money from your 1d Mk III and big lens fund as rapidly as you put into it.

However, a basic set of tools and a hands on approach should be taken - a huge amount of jobs can be done DIY which not only saves a lot in labour but also teaches you a lot along the way.
Click to expand...

Good point. May get a tranny van :lol: Nothing ever goes wrong with them :D

Think the releaible option is best. :D
 
Matt Sayle said:
Good point. May get a tranny van :lol: Nothing ever goes wrong with them :D
Click to expand...

I had one of those too :lol:

Actually it was a crewcab breakdown wagon - great fun to throw about, you just had to remember that sometimes there was a car hanging off the back :naughty:
 
minis (NOT CLASSIC MINIS, THEY ARE JUST MINI'S---- they need no prefix) are great fun but definetely not transport for someone who isnt prepared to carry out regular (if not constant) preventative maintenance, they rust like its going out of fashion.


they are fantastic fun and great cars with loads of character, i still have one but i dont think they are particularly good as everyday transport
 
whitewash said:
minis (NOT CLASSIC MINIS, THEY ARE JUST MINI'S---- they need no prefix) are great fun but definetely not transport for someone who isnt prepared to carry out regular (if not constant) preventative maintenance, they rust like its going out of fashion.


they are fantastic fun and great cars with loads of character, i still have one but i dont think they are particularly good as everyday transport
Click to expand...

As Canon Bob suggested, a Toyota Yaris. Relabilbe, cheap, going to take me to Oulton and back.
 
Beetles rust horrendously, all where you can't see, everything is available, from the floorpan up, but you really don't wanna go there. Get something thats a monocque, if there is critical rust you'll see it by sticking your head underneath.

I reckon you'll find an early astra g 1.4 (keeps insurance down) for little cash, you wont go wrong with that. Alternatively a corsa c 1.2
The problem with old cars is they are old - carb needs adjusting, points need gapping, tappets need messing with etc.. pain in the proverbial.
 
whitewash said:
minis (NOT CLASSIC MINIS, THEY ARE JUST MINI'S---- they need no prefix) are great fun but definetely not transport for someone who isnt prepared to carry out regular (if not constant) preventative maintenance, they rust like its going out of fashion.


they are fantastic fun and great cars with loads of character, i still have one but i dont think they are particularly good as everyday transport
Click to expand...

If you want to be pedantic then the BL car is a Mini, the BMW one is a MINI - that's how BMW distinguish the two...
 
Craft said:
Beetles rust horrendously, all where you can't see, everything is available, from the floorpan up, but you really don't wanna go there. Get something thats a monocque, if there is critical rust you'll see it by sticking your head underneath.

I reckon you'll find an early astra g 1.4 (keeps insurance down) for little cash, you wont go wrong with that. Alternatively a corsa c 1.2
The problem with old cars is they are old - carb needs adjusting, points need gapping, tappets need messing with etc.. pain in the proverbial.
Click to expand...

You still need to watch the insurance for a new driver. The difference between a 1.0 and 1.2 Corsa C can be £500 and you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between them performance wise
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top