Hi Guys,

I've been stalking out the forums lately as I've been in the market to pick up a classic mini. I ended up picking up the one listed on MiniObsession and have started the journey of familiarizing myself with the car :D

Although the previous owner was not the most well versed in Mini Tech, it seems as though someone once loved this mini, and it shows in some of the more tedious mods performed to it. I was curious to know if anyone on here recognizes this mini. I was also curious to know if any of you are from NY, as I could always use a hand when it comes to these things.

I had a couple of questions (actually a million once I sit down and collect my thoughts), but wanted to start here:
1) Metro Turbo Oil Filter? I heard the Bosh 3330 might fit
2) Oil weight? I was going to run Shell Rotella 15-40 synthetic (walmart blue jug)
3) I seem to have something that looks like it was a brake booster which is not connected to anything, it is on the radiator side of the car by the firewall.
4) Dependant on how I shut off the car (wait 2 minutes for turbo to spool down, turn key off a undetermined amount of clicks which makes the car "run" for a split second even after the key is out), the mini may or may not burn oil upon the next start up with a small plume of blue smoke (My gut says turbo seals)
5) How far up should I fill the dashpot oil?
6) recommendations on where to order a new throttle cable? (Or any parts for that matter?). For a reasonable price of course.

Anyway, I'm sure I have plenty more, but as we all know, this thread would be worthless without pics:

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Sorry about the brain dump with the questions, I figure I should get the questions on paper before I forget to ask, heh.

-Len

 

You have a beautiful Mini. Sorry I can't answer your questions though but I'm sure some of the other guys around here can.

 

Congratulation on the new Mini, it looks great. Where in NY are you? I am on Long Island. Check out http://www.limeny.org for some more info.

Will get back to some of your questions soon. Some quick answers:

Places for parts...all www.
gbcarparts.com
heritagegarage.com
minimania.com - check the forums there too. Dedicated to classic Minis and the board members are very helpful with any questions you may have.
7ent.com

I am running 20-50 CAstrol and using ATF in my dashpot (fill by watching still mixed on performance) careful not to cross thread the top.

 

I'm on Long Island as well! I took those photos out by the Ikea in Hicksville, and I'm about 10 minutes from there. LIME seems pretty interesting, I might check out their next event

I know of another guy out in Mineola with a green turbo mini and a lotus yellow turbo mini, but he's a bit hard to reach, and I'm not sure how receptive he is of my many questions that I have for him, hahaha.

Thanks for the links, as searching the internet for parts on google doesnt always yield the best results, and almost all of the guys over at turbominis are based out of the UK, which isnt exactly helpful for me.

I've heard I might as well be ordering parts to be shipped from the UK to the US if I can handle the shipping time, as US mini parts suppliers are a bit on the pricey side of things.

 

checkout turbodave who posts on minimania..there's a turbo oriented Mini website about....

 

Did you buy the car off of miniobsession or did they just sell it for someone else? I had my eye on a few of their cars before I got mine. I just wondered if their cars are as nice in person as they are on their website. I think your car was for sale on their site at least a year ago. Anyways, welcome!

 

Miniobsession was listing the car for sale for a private seller. The car was pretty much as advertised with a couple of minor flaws that werent mentioned in the ad. The paint job is about a 3ft job (looks great from that distance), but upon close inspection, needs a little bit more, although I am pretty particular about my paint.

I wish there was more service history attached to the car, however, seeing that the car is of a certain age already, with a number of modifications and likely quite a few previous owners, I had my expectations set accordingly.

I will likely be taking additional photos when I'm in the garage again.

Thanks for the info! I've been lurking on http://www.turbominis.co.uk/ lately, and its been like culture shock, as there are so many variants of the mini, its hard to find exactly which threads are relevant to mine, lol. Seeing that mine is a Metro/Mini mutt, its hard to find specifics.

I guess thats what the search button is for, lol