Ok so I'm looking into getting this 1968 Mini Cooper S I've become aware of.
seller says the car is in great condition, Id be going to look at it soon. Just one thing is that it needs the engine harness to be re-installed for some reason. I'm not a 100% sure why but I'd find that out. regardless.

How much of an undertaking is it re-running an engine harness in an old Mini?
I'm not super inclined in this line of work but I'd really hate to let a nice classic Mini go just because of this. I really want it.
I figure how hard can it be? It's an older car so if I have to take the Interior apart its not like cars now where its like a trillion clips and torx screws and wires and stuff to worry about. I'm assuming its a simply built car.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

-Peter

 

The wiring only runs up through the roof and in the dash. It may be tough to pull new wire through the roof without taking down the headliner which you probably then will need to replace the cloth. If you can wire a car stereo in yourself you probably could do it but if that confuses you it probably won't go so well. If you go through all of that I'd replace the wiring with a new harness.

The thing that troubles me is that you won't be able to take it for a spin before purchase. Theres no way to tell what you are getting into $ wise without seeing how the engine runs and how the gears feel. Anything can be fixed but for how much? Do your homework so you will be able to spot common rust and re-vins.

 

The car is coming from a very very reliable source. he's confirmed it runs by hot wiring it. but of course I'd get him to start it up and go for a drive before buying.
I was studying the Minifinity ultimate buyers guide last night, and I've been looking into them for a long time now. I've always wanted one and I've heard and seen horror stories of how they can be rust buckets. I think this one is pretty good.
The harness is already new, He has it but he's an older man and just doesn't feel like getting into these projects anymore.

I haven't heard of re-vins though, do people try and pull a fast one and give it a vin from a more desirable car?

Its good to hear that re-wiring it isn't super hard, couldnt you use a wire snake to pull the wires across the roof if I didn't want to pull the headliner down?

Thanks

-Peter

 

Yes, Re-vining is a practice that typically involves putting a VIN from an older car onto a newer car. Things to look for are internal door hinges on a "Pre 1970" car or fuel injection. This allows a car that is older than 25 years old to be imported. Just know that in these cases you aren't buying what the title says.

My guess is this car is not one of these cases.
However, is it truly a Cooper S?

You'll want to make sure that is indeed a Cooper S with the proper pedigree. There are a lot of bits that can increase or decrease the value depending on whether or not they are missing or not.
Having the original engine is also a huge plus.

Post some pictures on the Mini Mania forum and you should be able to get some info:
www.minimania.com/msgthreads.cfm

 

The wire through the roof snakes up through the piller along the windshield and then along the dome light side and then back down the rear window pillar I think it may be hard to pull through the windshield pillar without top access but you never know.

Seems like you at least have an idea of what you are getting into. Most people who are looking for purchase advice have some false pretense that they will be able to buy a rust free 30 year old car, park it on the street and expect it to hold up, take it to wal-mart for maintenence, and purchase it for next to nothing.

 

I've been gathering as many resources as I can so that when I go to look at the car I can check it against facts instead of what he wants to say. I am fairly confident in the gentleman's word though. I hope I am not let down though.

One thing I am having a fairly hard time pinpointing is some photos and written details of what an Exact 1968 Cooper S is. I do need to get more information from him first. because there seems to be a lot of variables.

Most people who buy these sometimes probably make impulse buys and no nothing about the car and its history.

 

Re wirign the engine in a mini is super easy. Especially if you already have a harness. Get the haynes manual for the scematics in case you have any questions, but it's pretty straightford. I'm in the middle of this job right now.
The engine is very simple and as long as you have an idea of how to read scematics and a pretty good grasp of how electricity makes stuff happen to an engine, you'll be alright.

If the original harnes sis still in tact and just needs to be reinstlaled you should have no problems. If its a little cracked or hs some broken wires most are long enough to trim a fiar amount off and install new connectors. If you need to build a harnes it's not hard really either, you just need to make sure you plan everythign well before you jump into it.

So far my big pain has been the connectors. If you want to keep everything authentic you will need plastic covered spade terminals and bullets and suck which are only available through a few suppliers. I use British wiring (britishwiring.com). I suggest figuring out how many of each you need and ordering just that many pluss enough to ccover some mistakes, as thoguh not outrageously expensive, the price does add up once you start buying alot. This also goes for color coded wire. Good luck.

 

Thanks! The sellers already has a new harness ready to install. I've found a electrical wiring diagram on Minimania too. I cant wait to see the car this Saturday. I sure hope everything's legit.

 

Post up some pics here, there are plenty of knowledgable folks on this site too.....

 

I will as soon as I get some.
Is it Saturday yet?!

Oo0o nice "Jaaaagggg" Minidave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eWIrBOc3zE

 

if I was installing a new harness I wouldn't bother going 'up and over' but I'm not worried about maintaining a 100% original vehicle. If you aren't either, you can easily run the harnes down the side of the pass compartment to get to the rear and you'd only need 1 wire to up top....for the interior light. A properly labeled - or reference included with color code - harness wouldn't be something I'd be afraid of ... but I dig into my Mini a good bit.....

Your call as to if you plan to enter many concours events . . .

 

i have a bunch of info that my help on my site - http://joltfreak.tripod.com

here's a link to a wiring colour code table that may help:

http://joltfreak.tripod.com//id17.html

 

thats not a bad idea capt, i'll have to see whats up first before I decide how to do it but I'll keep that in mind.

joltfreak, Thanks for the link, there's a lot of valuable info on your site, Great Mini too.

 

I just saw this thread and admit I didn't get a chance to read all replies. That being said, I replaced my entire harness with a Painless wiring harness, not a genuine Lucas harness. It was on a 1973 not 1968, but they're not different conceptually.

If you like detail-oriented projects, and you understand electrical wiring, then it should be no problem for you to tackle, given the time. If you don't understand electricity, as a lot of people done, you may want to have a professional do it since it will be _very_ frustrating for you if you can't get it working correctly. I understand electricity and wiring and I had zero problems with my install.

Here's a link to my rewiring project webpage. Again, it's not 'genuine Lucas', but you can see some of the work I did.

http://tsunami.desertwave.com/galler...g2_itemId=5644

Cheers,
Jeff

 

Thanks Jeff, those photos will definitely come in handy, Nice Mini too.
This will be the first type of endeavor for me. So it will definitely be a learning experience, I will most likely invoke the help of my father and others when needed but as I study up on some basics I don't think it will be so bad. Good thing I'm starting on a simple car instead of getting involved with something more complex
*fingers crossed* for a good Mini!

 

For those of you wondering how things went, I didn't get to see the car Saturday.
There was still no power at his garage as of then.
After talking with him today though I will be trying to meet up with him tomorrow.