Hello all,
I just recently bought a MkII mini

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58461956@N03/5366763505/

Through Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...ht_1264wt_1112

It was not running when I got it would crank but no fire. I have grown up around cars that needed a little love so I set about it. Spark looked weak and plugs were black and nasty. So a little over a week later I got the parts I ordered from 7ent.com. New coil, cap, rotor, wires, point, condenser, and plugs the works. So now I can get a little cough then nothing. next the SU which might as well been black magic to me comes off. Now, after taking the carb apart and putting it back together the I can see the design an understand the beautiful simplicity of it. So after thinking the SUs are on tons of old english cars surly there is enough of a market that one local part house it stock it. I find that I need to be real careful the the gaskets. No local gasket source. The good news the mini runs - well. It is brilliant and I love it. I don't like wait for my part to fly over my head to California and then back across the county to me. Does and one know of any closer places to source parts? I see Moss motors has a show room in the east but my guess is that most of there part are in a warehouse in the west.

My plans for the car are fix the body of course. Keep the 998 with a mild tune. Change to Dry suspension, front disc. In general about a cooper S spec but I'm not trying to make a fake or be perfect in replication, just for fun.

Anyways let me know what you think I'm curious if I got an alright deal on the car. It seems to drive fine but my guess is the Wet suspension is shot, as is rest on the bump stops. If anybody is local to me let me know I'm keen to share knowledge.

 

there's a lot to be said about the various forms of shipping available. Many parts places always show UPS ground as their standard and yes from CA to FL that can be a LONG time. Curiously I've found USPS prority to be significantly faster for not much increased cost - if the parts are small....not entire body panels etc. 2 or 3 days is typical to anywhere in the US

Moss actually just recently (last year) moved their east coast warehouse to Richmond VA area and has re-entered the classic Mini market aggresively with US stocked parts. Previously you delt with Moss Europe for Mini parts. So worth a look anyway.

Being in Gainsville I'm gonna also point you towards SUNSHINEMINIS.ORG where you can research this topic and find many opinions and frequent references to http://www.greatbritishcars.com/default.asp

If you want best price you are gonna have to shop around tho. I too recently did an ignition tune up and much to everyone's surprise after checking 10 different sources the best price was from - gasp - MiniMania . . .

carb parts: http://www.aptfast.com/APT_Parts/SU_...components.htm

 

Thanks for the info Capt.

I've been looking all over the internet but had not found the greatbritishcars.com site.

I'm new to the classic mini scene but hope to learn about them. I love how simple they are.

I've peaked in several times on sunshine mini's but it seems more of a MINI club than Mini club. And the Gainesville Ocala chapter doesn't seem to have much going on other than "Tagging" MINIs which I guess means saying they saw one of course they are plentiful.

I hear what your saying about shopping around I was surprised at the price differences I've seen.

 

Maybe you should check out DJMINIS.COM which I believe is in the Tampa area. And although I buy lots of parts from US suppliers, Minispares in the UK has better prices-even considering the shipping cost, and many times the parts come faster than from "local" outfits.

 

Thanks BRGPA,
I checked out DJMINIS.com looks promising and I'll check out Minispares next time I order anything.

 

Hey guys I just saw this on Classic minis United
http://www.minisport-usa.com
Palm Bay, Florida,
I'm so excited!

 

always happy to find a new parts source

especially one just down the road

but a sample quick check:

FlameThrower coil, 3 ohm, oil filled, chrome

MiniSport USA 65.37
MiniMania 49.95
Pertronix Ignition 37.82

I did not check the associated shipping charges . . .

I'm not aware of a new store front or warehouse in Palm Bay .... just down the road from me. I'm thinking this is just a phone number with drop-shipment ala many e-Bay operations . . . . but maybe there IS a new store that hasn't advertised anywhere but CMU . . . if I find out more I'll pass it on. For now - comparison shopping remains the thing to do.

{ http://classicminis.org/ }

 

http://www.customsparesltd.com/products.html