Hello my brothers and sisters in the Mini motoring world! I should have joined this forum a long time ago. My 2002 Mini Cooper S was a fun car for 210,000 miles of motoring. I got it in 2002 with 3,000 miles on it--it was a dealer demonstrator car at Mini of Peabody, MA.

In August 2011, the head gasket blew and/or the block cracked (learned this via a failed block test showing hydrocarbons in the coolant). I've decided not to repair the car. I don't want to send my old pal to the scrapyard, so I want see if anybody would like to take it as a parts/project car. Free to a good home.

I replaced all the cooling fans between 200,000 and 206,000 miles, so they are essentially new. Car has some nice Minilite rims. Interior is in good shape with normal wear for the age of the car. There is rust on the driver's door along the bottom edge and around the left rear tail-light. A tree fell on car in 2004 and damaged roof, hood, and windshield. Body work was done to an excellent standard and there was no frame damage. In 2009, had a low-speed accident at a stop sign with the bumper of a Ford Excursion. This damage was also repaired by an excellent body work shop.

Car has been stored in my barn since August 2011 with fuel stabilizer in the tank. I'm in central New Jersey, convenient to the intersection of I-287/I-78. Because of the head gasket condition, car is likely to overheat and thus not reliable for driving. A trailer would be best method to transport it to a new location. A photo from last winter is attached (kayak and roof rack not included in the offer .

Clearly this car has had a lot of wear and tear, and needs substantial work done if it's to run again. It probably would serve best as a parts car.

Let me know if you're interested!

Cheers,
Brian

 

Put me down- my 7 year old (who loves MINI's!) and I have been looking for a project to end up as his first car. My wife says at the speed I work on things, I should start looking now.

P.S.- I have to clear it with her.

Val

P.P.S.- I'm in Seattle. Why are you so far away?

 

I will take it if still available. I am not that far away.

 

Hello Brian,

I would also love to take on a project, Im just a little north and can grab a trailer or flatbed. Im about 45 min from 287/route 17.

Sorry for the news but thank you, Sean

 

I will be getting it picked up this week. Thanks Brian

 

I'll be your second if Bram doesn't show/take it.

Val

 

Well I got it. It has these MINILITE wheels I never have seen. Look at the pics. They have MINILITE, England and 40th Anniversary molded on them.
Its in decent shape and I am very Happy. THX Brian

 

Here some more.

 

Kudos and congratulations to you sir, for arranging to pick it up in a timely fashion and vowing to try and keep it on the road. I like the fact that people are starting to treat the R50/53 models like the Austin/BMC/Rover Mini's are treated. Please keep us appraised of your progress.

And: Roof Rack!

Val

 

He gave me the roof rack and another bike rack I think. I put a new battery in tonight and it is up and running, but it threw 2 codes. One being the P1692 code. Sunday I am doing a compression test and some others to see where it is at. The plugs look good, brakes look to be new EBC green stuff pads all around. Front seat is the only real issue with the interior. Has the HID w/washers. The rims I am trying to get more detail on them. Can anybody help on that?

 

It's nice to see a Mini go to a Good Home!! Congrats Braminator!!

 

Keep us up to date on the project, looks like a nice car

 

Here is some pics with both cars.

 

Bram, the style of rims you have are modeled off of the classic Mini rims. Mine (on the Austin Mini) are kind of like the ones you have. The center cap is the same type that goes on rims for the classics - that have that type of rim.

 

They look very HAPPY together!!

 

Here are the details on the rims (below). I really liked these rims on many levels: made in England by a firm with a direct link to the original Minilites, much lighter than the standard S-Lites that came with the car, and they look good. They're extremely durable as well. Changing from the 17" S-Lites with the runflats to the 16" Minilites with a regular tire really transformed the car's handling. Not to mention it eliminated the need to ever pay the extortionate price to for new runflats! My OEM runflats only lasted about 20,000 miles. Had much better lifespan with regular Hankook and Kumho tires.

In summary, get yourself some of these Minilites!

The wheels--were made in the UK by http://www.minilite.co.uk/.

"Manufactured exclusively at our premises in the UK, Minilite wheels
are ‘Low-Pressure’ die cast, in high grade aluminium alloy; machined
on the latest CNC equipment, 100% pressure tested, and finally powder
coated for maximum protection against the elements."

The new owner had purchased the existing Mini-Lites molds, tooling,
etc. and starting producing new wheels in a range of sizes. I believe
the wheels were purchased and installed in 2004. I got my wheels
through:

MY MINI Contact: Peter Foglia Tel No: 00-1-954-783-0270
Fax No: 00-1-954-783-0280 Email/Website: mymini@bellsouth.net
Address: 1200 NE 48th Street, Pompano Beach, FL 33064, USA

but now there are several distributors in the US, including a guy in Darien, CT.

 

Well I got the car up and running with the new battery. I let it sit idling for 2 hours and then drove it kinda hard to see if I could get it to over heat. No luck or it was good luck.
I will be running a compression test today and another hydrocarbon test. So I will see where it is at.

 

I've got a set of those wheels on my Electric Blue as well. I think they go very well with the car, but they really aren't 'lite'. If any of yours have been curbed, I have a brand new one tucked away. Good luck with this project!

 

Boy, I'm envious; not for your recent acquisition, per se, but because you know how to do this kind of work. Being a city boy (Brookly, NY to be exact), I'm always envious of those that know how to work on engines.

While I don't think I'd try to do anything myself on Hobbes, I'd love to know how to do some basic maintenance (oil change comes to mind). I have an aging VW Passat that's costing me more than I'd like and could be a good "experiment" if I wanted to do any of this.

My issue is more one of confidence than aptitude I think. The few things I've taken apart, fixed, and put back together at home have mostly gone fine, but not always smoothly (took longer than I thought, missing the right tool, ...).

I'm wondering: is there any kind of "self maintenance" schools around where you can watch and learn how to do basic stuff so the intimidation factor goes down?

 

SpicyMaguro I'd say look to your local MINI Club, see if some one there has every done any mechanical work on their MINI then see if once or twice you could be an observer for a day. And then let them be your "right hand man" when you feel comfortable doing those Oil Changes. It never hurts to ask...Good Luck!!

 

I agree with Rj

 

Like the new profile pic Bram. A happy home....lol Sorry I didnt get back to ya this past weekend. Ive been having issues with my heater core and lost my head again. Anyhow, hope all is well.

 

Thx moto. NP contact me anytime you want to cruise.

 

Are you planning on telling the guy you sell it to on Ebay about the blown headgasket/potentially cracked block and that the previous owner recommended it as a parts car?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mini-...item41617b7ee3

 

If that was the problem. We ran all tests and came back with nothing. Problem was the low speed circuit that caused the over heating. I am working with the previous owner. I don't know why that would matter. I had no contract with the owner on what I would do, and it was FREE. I just lost my job after 17 years and now need cash. But hey thanks for caring.