Hey NAM, it's good to be back. This time with a proper Mini

These things have pretty much always been my favorite cars since I was a kid. It was for sale on Craigslist for 11 minutes Thursday before I scooped it up for an insanely low price.

It has pretty much been sitting since 2007. It had to be trailered to my house because it didn't run. It does need some work and probably a paint job but it only took 2 hours to get it running this morning. Unfortunately something is messed up with the linkage and I couldn't use first or second gear - I had to drive it down my street in reverse. If anyone has any input on this I'd appreciate it!

Ordered a couple parts tonight, it should be on the road in a few weeks.

My plan is to get it roadworthy for the summer and start tearing it apart in the fall. VTEC swap coming soon...

How I found it:




Home:




Cleaned up:




Big guy in a little car (not me):

 

Welcome to the classic Mini club!


What motor, 998?

 

Good looking MINI.

Can I ask how insanely low of a price you got it for? If you're having issues with just 1st and 2nd, sounds like a problem with one of the forks. I'm probably wrong though, just a guess.

VTEC swap? Nooooooo...

 

Yes sir, 998

I paid $850 including the seller trailering it to my house.

I will check out the forks, thanks! I'm going to pull the whole shifter mechanism out of the car this weekend and see if I can pinpoint what's wrong.

I'm not sure why so many people hate on the engine swap though. It's a cool little toy and it's fun to drive but it has 38hp... lol

 

Wow, decent price after getting it to run in 2 hours.

Yeah, but VTEC nooooo.... just Honda 4-cylinders in general.

 

I have a friend who has done well over 20K on his D series Vtec P'up with no issues.....just do it if you want to - it's your car!


$850 is a steal!

 

Yeah, it's a personal thing. I'm half joking. That is a really good looking car you've got there anyway.

 

Little update: New battery and battery cable ends, dropped the gas tank off at Hamburg Radiator to be flushed and redcoated, put a new fuel filter in, fixed the choke cable, started pulling the black checker vinyl off the roof and hood. The new carb should be here by Friday and if I can figure out the shifting issues, it should be on the road next week!

You're not the first person to say this to me haha so I understand. But you have to admit that the motors that came in these things weren't exactly anything special.


I still can't believe what I got this thing for

 

Yes, of course. Have fun!

 

what a waste with Vtec swap....aseries in the heart of every mini why not invest in a good A+ engine there are many state of tune to look at from std 1275cc to fully worked 1460cc with several types of heads from 5 port 7 port and 8 port or the KAD 16 valve head...

 

Can't wait to see this driving around the area. Sweet find

 

I know I already p.o.'d you with a pm but I'll hang this comment anyway

One of the first car shows I ever went to I ended up parked next to a Packard hearse that had been hot rodded ... had the interior from a Tahoe and a blown V-8. My Mini could have fit inside the back ...

I thought COOL CAR

And the Packard crowd probably has a contract out on the owner's life ....

your car

your call

some want to preserve

some don't

have fun

 

I knew I had a pic . . .





duh ... it is my SIG pic!!!!!

 

My unsolicited 2 cents worth is, you got it for $850 but, swapping engines will make it worth zero $$$.

 

Couldn't you just build the mini motor up, that would be cool.

 

I don't really care about the value, at all. But the swaps that are done well are actually worth quite a bit of money. Go look at the cars for sale on minimania.

Are those the windmills on the lake in your signature? I can see them from my house...

The motor that's in the car has 38hp haha, so even if I spent some time and money on it I'd end up with... 50? not worth it IMO. It's not like I'm looking for huge power gains but I don't want to have to drive in the bicycle lane with it.

Anyways, the issue with 1st and 2nd is in fact inside the gearbox, I will have to pull it and look into it. Hopefully this weekend I'll have a better idea of what's going on. The motor runs very well but it does not like taking off in 3rd gear.

 

What a major steal! Let us know how we can help, we have 40 years street and track experience with Minis

Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

You will be getting a lot of my money very soon I've been very happy with the purchases I have made from you so far.

Responses like this are exactly why I have no interest in attending any car shows with this car. What a turn off to the car enthusiast community. If the car was a gem and had a 1275 I would be all for keeping it the original drivetrain. But, it isn't. There's a reason it was $850 LOL and I never intend on it being "perfect." I just can't believe how many "classic" guys have given me negative comments about my car already. Give it a break.

 

hence we have a Packard hearse with the interior from a Tahoe and a blown Chevy V8

I can link you articles of a guy who is a TOTAL Mini freak &

took a nice MK1, built a frame and mounted a Nissan V6 ..... he calls it MiniSan

curiously he hates new MINI because they ain't original ......

point being Mini lovers are seldom sane ....

SO

what ever rocks your boat


**************

btw ... when I was buying my 79

the 'community' warned me about the unexpected costs of a 'classic'

they did not want to see another one go by the wayside. Even the seller was VERY critical of my plan to buy it as he doubted my ability to preserve it . . .

that was in 2004 . . . .

you see NEGATIVE comments .... we see CONSTRUCTIVE

or hence we have a Packard hearse with the interior from a Tahoe and a blown Chevy V8

but as I said ... your car .... do your thing


+++++++++++++++++

if you were not slightly interested

you wouldn't keep coming back here . . .

 

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Drive Hard. Drive Safe. Keep Grinning.

 

Nope different windmills, they are at the Wethersfield wind farm which is 5 mins from my house. I live in the country outside buffalo. Can't blame you for wanting more power, your mini makes me wanna find a classic.

 

Haha, too bad that doesn't work on the D swap kit! I don't think I'll be buying anything else for the car until I'm at the point where I can complete the swap.

I started stripping the paint off the roof tonight, I didn't think it would take so long with my orbital sander but I gave up after an hour and a half. I'll try some stripper tomorrow. Not totally sure why my car has the roof antenna, none of the other cars I've seen have had it.

 

Roof and the hood are done, this takes forever!

 

If you're going back to bare metal, maybe consider using paint stripper instead? It's messy but if you have plenty of newspaper down it's not too bad to clean up and saves a lot of time......"Aircraft Paint Stripper" is the best stuff you can buy to do this.....

 

If you're going to strip it all I'd suggest using paint stripper instead, lay down plenty of newspaper and it's not too bad to clean up afterwards. "Aircraft Paint Stripper" is the best stuff to use and works a treat!