My nephew is looking at a 1990 mini as his first car. Its not a car I have any experience of (beetles are my thing!) so I'm pretty much useless advising him..

Does anyone know of any good buyers guides on the net, or sites advising what to look for?? Any pointers would be most welcome.. .

Thanks..

No idea on sites but one thing to look at is the sub frames, think it was more on older ones but they weren't lined up properly so the car would crab along.

Thanks Rob.. I remember seeing them crabbing along! I'll add it to the list.. Cheers.

If you know Beetles you will know about 23 year old Minis.

Everything mechanical is easily replaced and not expensive, so.

RUST, then RUST, and look for RUST,

Back below the bumper first, then seams and door bottoms, then wings, inside wings, inside sills.

You start to know if its metal , rust, filler or Cardboard, wire mess and filler.

Then you get underneath and Subframes and underbody.

If it looks really really good and is not rusty, then start looking at the V5,

look for receipts, then start checking the Mechanical bits and pieces.

While looking for Rust and leaking Fluids.

Have fun, its a Mini, do not look at it when its raining.

But look under the Mats and Carpets and Battery etc.

george

Thanks George.. Some good advice.

Having one myself I now know of stuff I should have looked at before I brought my 87 mayfair! The first thing to advise him is that if he intends to keep it he will never have any money but will have a constant smile on his face while driving it (as long as its working!)

A good idea is to take a magnet and in some of the key areas mentioned above give it a poke and you will soon find if it is full of filler. Area not mentioned to look out for are the top of the wings near windscreen, under the headlights and sills. Steer away from a car that has been over-silled as it is likely the new sill has gone on straight over the rust and will soon start crumbling away inside and take the replacements with it if fitted badly. Look out for doors that drop down or require lifting to shut as it likely the hinge panel is shot which is a pain to replace as requires new a-panels to do it, Check the floor to see if it is wet in the middle not just near the door as heater matrix' commonly leak and if left wet for long enough the floor will soon be infected with the dreaded tin worm.

As said above all the mechanical things are easily and cheaply replace, not much left on my car which hasn't but i do like shiny new bits! Check subframes for rust and the rear one where it bolts to the shell to make sure that is solid. All panels are available whether be genuine or pattern parts, at the end of the day if the car is not needed straight away then it could be a good project and learning experience for your nephew. If panels are replaced don't overlook the cost of a respray unless you have the equipment to do it yourself. The only thing that wasn't completed on my car by me and the old man was the respray.

Quick check on the engine is to unscrew the oil filler cap and check for lots of mayo like sludge as head gaskets are common on poorly maintained engines, however cheaply and easily fixed with a few tools. i could probably go on forever but the best thing to do is not rush into buying the first mini you see. Don't presume a 90s mini will be less rusty than an earlier one as I believe after rovers takeover a lot of sheet metal that went into the shells was stored uncovered outside in all weather until more buildings were eventually built!!! This means you may find a well looked after 80s model in far better condition bodywork wise.

The best online resource has to be http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/ plenty of advice already there. Use the search function or ask away in your own topic. Plenty of minis in the classfields too. Join a local club, easy way to make lots of friends for life and get advice and help fixing stuff if needed. Most importantly have fun with it and don't let him sell it if it starts going wrong, most things are easily fixed and after a while you will iron out all the problems and can have many happy miles motoring Any questions just ask.

Jordan

Edited 25 March, 201313 yr by Kartman

Everyone is very nostalgic about them and beetles. They were in reality, crap. I can see the appeal, retro cool and classic insurance. Makes a Saxo look safe.

Thanks Jordan.. Great reply. His plan is to keep it and learn as he goes, bit of a project. He wants tp join a local mini club, sees it as a hobby hopefully. I've passed on the contents of the posts here..

I drove (and sorta helped to restore in a very small way) an original 1971(?) Cooper S recently. Everything looked pretty simple to work on within reason, and it was sooooo much fun (if somewhat scary) to drive it.

As Aspman said, I dread to think what it would be like in a crash and that alone would put me off using it daily, esp. as cars get bigger/stronger in comparison. That said, I would love one as a toy!

Totally agree with the age thing, I saw one of the last brand new mini coopers in the local dc cook rover dealers, looked really good in British racing green apart from the rust bubbles on the wings and around the headlights lol

Sent from my Galaxy S3, not a Crapple!

Thanks Jordan.. Great reply. His plan is to keep it and learn as he goes, bit of a project. He wants tp join a local mini club, sees it as a hobby hopefully. I've passed on the contents of the posts here..

No problem. Have a look here for a local club: http://www.miniworld.co.uk/clubs/uk-mini-clubs. They are definitely a hobby (can be an expensive one) but definitely worth it. Tell him to pick up a copy of MiniWorld or Mini Magazine for a few ideas, cars for sale and handy tech/tutorial sections.

Totally agree with the age thing, I saw one of the last brand new mini coopers in the local dc cook rover dealers, looked really good in British racing green apart from the rust bubbles on the wings and around the headlights lol

Sent from my Galaxy S3, not a Crapple!

I really don't know what Rover were thinking in our climate especially! Cars basically left the factory rusty, never a good start for any car!

Everyone is very nostalgic about them and beetles. They were in reality, crap. I can see the appeal, retro cool and classic insurance. Makes a Saxo look safe.

The purpose of your post is what? To help?? No. So why waste your time on this thread. I didn't ask for opinions on beetles and minis ...

This place certain was its fair share of p***ks..

Rust is one of the big problems with the old mini. My mate's wife had one. It rolled down their drive and hit the garage wall at walking pace and demolished the front end. It was so rotten it was written off! Problem is even if you get ua good one your chances in an accident of escaping unharmed are frightenly low due to their complete lack of safety technology. IMO they are death traps that are best avoided especially as the driver is young, making him more likely to have an accident.

My last Mini was a 1986 Mini 1000 Automatic 10 years ago, Swapped it for a BMX.

replaced by a Z Car, just a different experience..

(My 1.1 Picanto actually drives and feels exactly like driving a standard old skool Mini only safer and faster around corners, doing the same keep on the throttle, but with disc brakes front and back that work)

Never driven a Mini since the Zcar, but think i need to look at them again. a V-Tec maybe

they are something that might interest him once he learns about Minis by working on them.

http://www.zcars.org.uk/mini.php

george

I have a 1979 mini pick up & i use "The Mini Forum" its a great forum with lots of helpfull people on it,id tell him to become a member on there,they will keep him in the right direction.

I think most people have already covered the basic's of what to look out for in regards to rust. I work for one of the larger Mini Part's supplier companies on the engineering side and have owned several Mini's over the year's. They are really easy to work on and very good cars on how to become rather handy with a spanner as your always sorting little problems out with them,

Part's for Mini's are very cheap when compared to other car part's and there is no shortage of people who sell them so most are readily available. One bit of advice I will give is keep the ignition side of things in good nick, new plugs, leads, dizzy cap, points/condenser and rotor arm every few months and spray them with damp start and also fit a weather shield

With a lot of hard work and time, effort and money you can turn a shed into a minter of a car. I know I did with mine and I regret selling it as the lad who has it now doesn't look after it anywhere near as much as I did :(

From this....

To this.....

Oh and it wasn't all show and no go, went from a 998 engine upto a Stage 4 spec'd up 1380 pushing 100bhp and 90lbs ft with a straight cut gearbox and lightened bottom end.

One of my naughty tricks when I was younger was to open the bonnet on a mini and disconnect the coil lead on the dizzy cap and put it back on really loosely and sit back with my mates and watch the fun begin when the poor owner returns. So I'd suggest if he gets one to invest on a lock for the bonnet lol

I was young and immature at the time and wouldn't do owt like that anymore lol

Sent from my Galaxy S3, not a Crapple!

My nephew is looking at a 1990 mini as his first car. Its not a car I have any experience of (beetles are my thing!) so I'm pretty much useless advising him..

Does anyone know of any good buyers guides on the net, or sites advising what to look for?? Any pointers would be most welcome.. .

Thanks..

Hi,

If you need any help with insurance please feel free to give us a try. We have special schemes for young drivers on classic shape Minis.

Regards,

Dan.

The purpose of your post is what? To help?? No. So why waste your time on this thread. I didn't ask for opinions on beetles and minis ...

This place certain was its fair share of p***ks..

You did ask about minis, beetles have a similar nostalgia around them. And it's you kid, if he crashes or gets hit it'll crumple like a can of coke.

When I was building mine in the 80's I came across The Mini Bible...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Modify-Your-Mini-David-Vizard/dp/0863430414

Probably the best book ever written for modifying the Mini?

It certainly helped me to get from a knackered and rotten Mk1 to turning it into a similar beast to Southy's.

Don't know so much about Minis, but one thing I know about is to watch out for water splashing against the distributor in heavy rain causing tracking/bad-running. It's up front and there's not so much protection for it, the radiator being at the side. I think an old trick was to put a rubber glove down over the distributor and have the leads poking through holes in the ends of the finger tips. Anyway, I hope your nephew manages to find a good one and has a lot of fun with it. It's good to read about young folk having an interest in classic cars. Oh and keep any drain holes at the bottom of the doors and sill seams clear. If it's in good condition, get the Waxoyl into all the nooks and crannies.

Don't know so much about Minis, but one thing I know about is to watch out for water splashing against the distributor in heavy rain causing tracking/bad-running. It's up front and there's not so much protection for it, the radiator being at the side. I think an old trick was to put a rubber glove down over the distributor and have the leads poking through holes in the ends of the finger tips.

I bought a new Mini 1000 in 1970 (registration was WUT 495 J - I'm sure it's long gone now) and I bought a shield for the HT electrics that all car accessory shops had back then, as the first time I was out in the rain or behind traffic on a wet road, the engine would misfire or cut out altogether.

I drove to Switzerland in it the next year and the heater tap on the top of the engine that was rather crudely opened and closed by a cable from the dashboard started leaking. As it was summer time, I blanked it off by flattening an old tin can and cut out a shape to fit under the tap and made a couple of holes for the stud. It got me home and lasted a couple of more weeks until I got round to buying a new one!

My word what a topic to find.

Mini's aren't hard to work on, although they are not plug and play

Some good parts suppliers around, although do your homework, and work with the Mini show's

There's a good one over the first bank holiday in May in Newquay Cornwall (Riviera Run)

Another good one is Castle Combe at the end of September.

With a Mini join a local Mini club - I'm a member of http://www.m4minis.com - you have to register to see the forum, but it's free as long as you don't want to start a topic or sell anything - other than that it's £10 for the first year and £5 after.

Any parts. advice can always be found on the forums.

I did the Italian Job in 2002 and 2004 - this is Italy and back in 10 days, raising funds for Children's charities - NSPCC in 2002 and NCH in 2004. Raised in excess of £5,000 overall. The event is at http://www.italianjob.com

My kids then came along then, and I had to give up.

I kept the Mini as a toy, running on spare change for petrol and £300 a year tax and insurance it was nice to have a fun distinctive car when the weather was nice.

I had a good run - Mini finally threw me an MOT failure in 2011. I could have welded some plates in, but think I'd be chasing the rust. I was fancying a bit of a change, so now turned into two projects. Misses is fancying a 6 seat stretched limo mini. I'm fancying a fibreglass mini shell http://home.freeuk.net/tdkracing/FRA.htm with the vauxhall red top under the bonnet.

Here's a random pic I found of the Mini - apologies it's not looking at it's finest

I own 2 classic minis. I can vouch for the fact that 90's minis seem to have been made from a much poorer quality metal as I have had to replace the bottom half of my later one but my my 70's mini is still going strong. They are really starting to hold their money now and to get a good rot free one you are prob looking at 2.5k. They rust everywhere but mechanically they are cheap and easy to run and repair. They def put a smile on your face and you get the courtesy nod from all other mini drivers (and recently bikers as well- not sure if this is in recognition of the fact that you are prob as much at risk as the are on the roads!!!) it's worth trying theminiforum for advice and sales. Very friendly bunch and willing to help. Good luck.