Hey all,

Let me first off start by introducing myself a bit. I am 17 years old, hail from State College, PA. And I most definitally love to play/tinker/work on most things mechanical. I come from a background of prototype machinest, etc. And over the past year have been working on a cool rebuild of a 1975 Honda cb550 (cafe' style now...)

NOW that you at least know where I am coming from.. I have been in the market for a "new" car. I use the term new incredibly loosely. I have been searching for a car that has some character!! That's number one in my book, and a classic mini definitally fits that bill.

I have found a 1976 Mini with a 998 that is being sold fairly locally. Honestly, details on it are fairly vague at this point. I talked to the seller via phone and did get the following...

1. One of three cars he had imported from New Zealand when he moved here
2. Right hand drive, Classic plates, starts and runs very well...
3. Shell is in excelent shape with little to no rust...
4. Owner has since replaced a few parts... IE. brakepads, water pump (cant remember what else..)
5. Claims to have a 1290 if I decide to go that route.

Okay - now for the fun part. I know everyone here has said time and time again that a classic mini is no first car. Safety, reliability, etc. BUT - I have no problem working on the car and getting it to spec persay for a driver my age.

My questions to you..

1. How incredibly under-powered is a 998 vs. a 1290?
2. How well will the car handle highway driving, etc after being tuned up and replacing what parts need replaced?
3. The buyer says $6,000 "firm" but said he would most likely be able to sway on the price... What would be a reasonable price for a mini this age? I am working to get more information on mileage, etc.


There will most definitally be more questions as things are answered, etc.


I really appreciate any feedback/responses I recieve.

Thanks!!
-Aaron

 

Aaron you are incredibly articulate for a 17 year old. I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but after reading your post I had to comment. Don't make any sort of offer without checking the car out well. $6k is a lot to spend on a 32 year old car, Mini or not. Try to find a Mini club near you and get someone experienced with classics to go take a look at it with you. Heed their advice! I once ignored a more experienced mechanic's advice and wound up putting a transmission in my "new" car. Good luck!

 

Go out and see it in person. Print out the guide at the top of the forum and check it out real good. Honestly 6k is on the low end for a drivable rust free car as he claims.

In terms of it as a first car, I know what I did to my first car and that being said you will spend more time fixing it than driving. As for safety no matter what you do to it you're still not really any better off than riding a motorcycle.

If this is the guy in Plum, PA I had emailed him about the 1290 and he wants 1000 for it. I am either looking for an engine that's already built up or a parts engine so I didn't bother to pursue it more anyway.

Try to get some pics of it to post and some of the experts here can immediately point out flaws. If he has had it at a Pittsburgh Vintage grand prix I may even remember seeing it in person. You may be able to persuade me to go look at it with you if I am not doing anything at the time. I have quite a bit of experience on the rust aspects of these little monsters.

 

If you have fundamental mechanical ability, tools, a place to work, time, money, and mostly motivation there's no reason why you couldn't use a Mini as daily driver.

As far as highway driving, figure your traveling speed will be limited to 60-65. For PA I'd opt for the bigger motor. I'm originally from Youngstown OH but spent a lot of time driving in & across PA. You'll want the additional torque from the bigger motor to maintain speed up your PA hills. I can't think of a prettier place and better roads than PA - I'm jealous as I'm in flat and featureless Tampa...

 

I would definitely take Stratman's advice, take the guide with you, get some good pictures of EVERYTHING. Engine, interior, lift the carpets, open the boot(trunk), under it if you can. you want to know about brakes, take a picture of the VIN plate get everything you can. Post them here or send them privately to a few of us.. we can point out any indiscretions.

 

Well thank you for the compliment. I am here to get advice, otherwise I probably would have gone and bought it by now!!

AH YES! You know of the exact mini I am talking about. I would love to take you up on that offer of checking it out. I am actually taking a trip down to Slippery Rock, PA to visit my sister for the weekend. I was thinking I would head over towards Plum either saturday or sunday morning and check the car out. If you are free at all over the weekend let me know and maybe we could get together. I'd feel 1,000 times better getting an opinion from someone whose been around these cars before Call my cell if you want to get something put together.. 814-574-7736.



As for "fundamental mechanical ability, tools, etc..." My basement is a machine shop and my father has been a self-employed machinest/bicycle frame manufacturer since the womb... People tell me I'm incredibly lucky to have such resources at the tips of my finger, and I've been working to take advantage of them fully

On the subject of the motor's power... The "plan" in my head is to get the car in good enough condition to drive it throughout the next two-four years, from there I would love to do a v-tec or similar conversion with a powerful motor. But if I don't play the cards right, I could be in for some very sketchy years in the future.. being my only car and all. (at that, there are cars in the household I can drive whenever needed, but I still would like to keep this as my main car, otherwise the thing wouldn't be a wise decision.)


And I plan to take the camera with me this weekend... I'll need it to help convince the parents to let me get it

 

In my personal opinion which you don't have to take. I would suggest you get something very reliable for a daily driver. But it doesn't have to be pretty. If you get something you can count on to get you from A to B, you can work on the Mini in your spare time and enjoy it when you want. You won't always have other people's cars to drive if yours decided to take a dump all over the road.

At the same time, if you have a cheap car you can rely on, you'll be able to save up money to work on the Mini. If it's in somewhat rough condition, you'll be fixing it too often.

 

Thank for the suggestion, but I can't afford two cars. I have my motorcycle and parents car to use as I need while I refurbish the mini...

 

Sounds like you can make it with the mini. A friend of mine bought a 70s car and sold his daily driver. Lets just say he had problems and got stuck a lot. He didn't have any tools or a place to work on it, it was a nightmare. Since you have other cars to drive and have tools, I think you will be fine. The only thing I didn't see that you would want is a garage to work on it in bad weather. I have never driven mine is bad weather but when there were new I am sure people did. Drive it and have fun !!!

 

I don't know where you live, but that car cannot be registered in California.

 

While any car can have problems, if it were me, I'd buy a cheap and reliable Honda or other "boring" car for about $2k-$3k, then use the remains of your $6k as the seed of a savings account for a mini down the road. If you're so tight financially tyhat you cannot afford a second car, even a cheapie beater daily-driver, then I'd hazard that things like leaking fuel pumps, busted CV joints, fried points, mashed bearings and any of the other myriad of things that can go wring with a classic will tend to happen to you at the worst possible time financially-speaking.

Factor in the fact that when these things break you can't just take it to a local garage - you'll have to take 2-3 days to diagnose the issue, another 1-2 weeks to order parts than another 1-3 days to do the repair yourself. If it's -20F outside, you'll have to wrench in the cold.

Just saying...

 

That was also my point. Car parts arn't cheap. And downtime will be long with a car like these. The local auto parts place won't carry anything for it.

If you can't afford two cars you can afford to fix a daily driver toy.

I bought a 1969 Camaro in show car quality when I was 20 years old (I'm 25 now) because I was wise with my money. I bought a daily driver that I didn't have to repair and while working I saved up enough money over time to afford it. Now I'm saving up some money to buy a classic Mini. I have a '03 SVT Focus for a daily, a '69 Camaro hot rod, a '09 Mini Cooper, and soon a Classic Mini. Because I've been wise with spending. Trust me from someone who is still young and waited. It's well worth it!

 

I recommend you invest in a subscription to MiniWorld

Then you'll quickly see that ANYTHING is possible. I mean one of the folks down here just got done putting the engine from a 300ZX in a MK-1 shell.....

http://www.miniworld.co.uk/

You might find it on the shelf at Barnes and Noble or Borders...

and if you think the monthly cost of this mag is too much....my suggestion is don't buy an old Mini. My average parts bill for the month exceeds this amount.... I think a classic Mini is a bad choice for a 17 yoa on many levels including, at the top of the list, SAFETY.

Buy an A series Miata and at least have the advantage of airbags and side door beams.... 6 to 7 K will get you a nice one and it is known for its reliability. Not a term that will often be applied to a classic Mini.

 

This is a very interesting discussion if somewhat disappointing. I am in the market for a classic Mini myself and my intention was to use it as a useful car not only just a novelty. A vehicle that can take me to where I need to go with reasonable reliability and dependability (every machine is prone to failure at on point or another). Even thought as my memory serves me the Mini I hade 20 years ago was not that bad, reading all the above posts is leading me to believe that this may not be possible with a classic Mini. I say disappointing because; one of my vehicles is a 1977 Toyota Land Cruiser that I own for about 5 years now. It has over 170,000 miles, has never missed a bit and personally, would take to the end of earth and back.

 

Anything is possible https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=119730 yes its mine.
Check out minimania dot com they have a buyers guide, print it take it with you and go over EVERYTHING! Then make your decision.

 

You are comparing a 4x4 vehicle built for strength and durability to a car that was marketed as the cheapest car you can buy at one time or another. You don't buy a mini for its reliability you buy it for its fun factor. If it wasn't so much fun to drive they would all be rusting away in a junkyard next to a dodge omni or a yugo, instead of having a pretty decent size community of enthusiasts. In my opinion the repairs and maintainence required are a distant second to the novelty and the fun of driving one.

 

I guess I am making a comparison between the 2 vehicles, if somewhat unfair one. After all the TLC is one of the most dependable and durable vehicle out there.

Based on the Mini I had 20 years ago, I just do not remember it being such a problem prone vehicle. I thought that if I get one and give it a good go over (such as the original poster intends to do), the Mini will be a practical vehicle. The impression I am getting from this thread is that, it is not and maybe never will be.

Thanks, Doron.

 

I use my '92 1275 Mini as a daily driver. I put about 4k miles on her just this season, and almost 10K since I picked her up last year. This is a significant percentage of the miles I drive every month. My classic IS a valid daily driver.

But...

My classic is also down right now, and has been for nearly 3 weeks. Why? because the fuel pump's kaput, and I can't get a wrench into the back-side of the engine to remove the old unit. Plus it took me over a week to find a replacement pump - GBCarparts had to special order it and I ended up doing a deal with another NAMmer for his spare (thanks again, man!!).

Before that, I needed tires, and had to order them from the one store online that carried my size of 12-inch rubber. then whrn they arrived, I had to make an appointment at a place that could mount them on such small wheels. Another two weeks down. If Fiona had been my only car I would have been FUBARed.

I'd say that the Mini would be a valid daily driver, IF:

IF you have the liquid cash to drop $200-$500 several times a year on the drop of a hat for parts and repairs, and...

IF you have mechanical knowledge on repairing cars (since there are few garages that will work on classic Minis), and...

IF you're OK with driving a car with no impact protection (no door stiffeners, no air bags, no ABS, just thin sheet metal between you and the Range Rover t-boning you at 45 MPH, and...

IF you're OK subjecting British mild steel to rain and damp, and...

IF you're OK with wind noise and straining to go 70 MPH on the highway...

THEN the Mini is viable. Me, I'm perfectly fine with all that, and that makes the daily round of waves, honks and smiles I get all that much sweeter.

But I'm also glad that I don't have to rely on Fiona. As much as I love her (and I do, believe me) I'm glad I have my 2005 Cooper S as a reliable backup.

 

At the risk of recieving the wrath of Mercy, the only Mini I would trust to use as a daily driver (at least for the 30K+ miles I drive) would be one of the more recent (late 90's to 2000) cars that snuck through before customs started clamping down on re-VINs. Even then only if I had a back-up car (or two) to drive. And since I live in the Northeast (salt-belt), having a winter beater. Mini's can rust under the best of circumstances... and IMHO, subjecting one to the abuse of Winter driving would simply be stupid.

I'd want a newer one mainly because it's simply a newer car. Newer parts. Newer body. Driver's airbag... And so on... Basically: A used car. However, I would still do modifications to one of these to make it more liveable in the US - mainly, replacing the MPI electronics with a Megasquirt system. Not because there's anything inherently wrong with the OE MPI, but simply because MS would be easier to DIY trouble-shoot here in the States (although I suppose importing diagnostic equipment from the UK may be possible).

The only reason I've thought of this is because I pass by a Lotus dealer every day that happens to have a gorgeous MPI Mini on the lot right now... if something catastrophic were to happen to my current daily driver...

 

"Wrath of Mercy", well as funny as that might seem, my wrath is a lot less than those you would find in jail, the fines you would pay and the potential for your car to be crushed leaving you without your investment, losing your freedom, your money and to have a felony on your record is not worth any car. Why in the world would you encourage a 17 year old to break federal laws?

 

I know a guy who has driven his mini since new (78) year round and his just taken it off the road this spring to freshen it up. it was just well taken care of.

 

I have driven my 1960 for 30+ years with very little trouble, and if it had trouble it was a lot easier to fix that what a SPI pr MPI would ever be.

Jolt... what does it cost to do the brake conversion you make. And can you keep the 10" wheels?

 

here is in my opinion a good way to referance you get what you pay for

if a mini cost:

under 4k , expect to spend 1 to 2k to get it running efficently and replace the neccesary issue's (parts, panels, and such) and keep in mind you'll pob wanna restore it within a year

5 to 6k, should be running where you can at least get in and drive it, expect typical rust issues, might not be drastic but you'll find it, and interior should be in OK shape

7 to 9k, minimal rust, daily drivable, interior should be in pretty good shape, good first mini if you have no prior experaince with classic minis or are not very mechanically talented

10k + Should have little to no visable, interior in really good shape, runs like a champ, all components in working condition ( prob a mini that has been restored within the past 3 years)

remember this is a guide that i go by and there are some other variables that i go by that are personal ways i review a vehicle....im a nit picker and pay close attention to detail....which in return, give me leverage when purchasing because i can point everything out to the owner that im trying to purchase from.......key to the whole thing, do your homework and know what your getting into

 

If we were talking about bringing an illegal car over, I would agree with you, but once the car is here.. and has been titled... does it really matter?

Plus, it might help to understand the inspection laws in PA.

 

Does it really matter? Unfortunately it does, it is still an illegal import and is subject to the same laws whether it is caught at the border or by a DMV inspector. The DMV inspector carries a weapon and has the authority to arrest you on the spot, impound your car, crush it and put you in jail. A Mini savvy police officer could do the same. It is not worth a felony on your record the rest of your life even if you serve no jail time, and the loss of your precious Mini. Just because it sneaks past customs and DMV the first time is no guarantee and you still may be driving a stolen car from the UK. I would never be able to sleep.