My Wife has always wanted an old Mini. We finally bit the bullet just over 2 weeks ago and purchased one. The car in question is a '97 Rover Mini with the 1275cc engine, fuel injection and fully electronic ignition. The car has 70k on the clock and came with a bucket of history including regular oil changes, although the oil and filters used are unknown.
The car is totally solid with no rot. There has been a few small patches done on the floorpan to a reasonable standard. It's been resprayed at some point in it's past but still in it's original Flame Red. The paint job isn't the best and is flaking in some areas. I also don't think the roof was resprayed as it's suffering badly with clear coat failure.
The interior is all there. It's still maintains it's original Balmoral interior trim with red carpet and walnut veneer dash. Some of the veneer is cracked and flaking off the dash and there's a few small marks in the leather interior. Unfortunately I found a LOAD of cigarette burns in the carpet once I'd removed the seats. Weirdly, the car doesn't smell of cigarettes so I have to conclude it must have been very early on in it's life.
The engine generally runs well. There is some oil leaks, I think the majority stem from the rover cover gasket. There's a small amount of sludge in the head (viewed from the oil fill hole) but the valvetrain seems to be squeeky clean. The car is desperate for new engine mounts, there's banging and clacking going on when you're on/off the throttle. I also need to find a way to interrogate the ECU as it's not OBDII compliant.
These were two pictures from the seller prior to purchase...
We drove the car ~170miles home without a hitch. Well, I say WE, I mean my Wife. I was comfortable in my bigger, more comfortable and air conditioned car.
We got it home and made a Mini-sized hole in the garage in which it will live...
The next day we introduced the kids to it, they absolutely love it!
The plan is to get the car as close as we can 100% mechanically, tidy it up cosmetically and just maintain it.
Work is well underway, I'll add more as the day progresses.
The car is totally solid with no rot. There has been a few small patches done on the floorpan to a reasonable standard. It's been resprayed at some point in it's past but still in it's original Flame Red. The paint job isn't the best and is flaking in some areas. I also don't think the roof was resprayed as it's suffering badly with clear coat failure.
The interior is all there. It's still maintains it's original Balmoral interior trim with red carpet and walnut veneer dash. Some of the veneer is cracked and flaking off the dash and there's a few small marks in the leather interior. Unfortunately I found a LOAD of cigarette burns in the carpet once I'd removed the seats. Weirdly, the car doesn't smell of cigarettes so I have to conclude it must have been very early on in it's life.
The engine generally runs well. There is some oil leaks, I think the majority stem from the rover cover gasket. There's a small amount of sludge in the head (viewed from the oil fill hole) but the valvetrain seems to be squeeky clean. The car is desperate for new engine mounts, there's banging and clacking going on when you're on/off the throttle. I also need to find a way to interrogate the ECU as it's not OBDII compliant.
These were two pictures from the seller prior to purchase...
We drove the car ~170miles home without a hitch. Well, I say WE, I mean my Wife. I was comfortable in my bigger, more comfortable and air conditioned car.
We got it home and made a Mini-sized hole in the garage in which it will live...
The next day we introduced the kids to it, they absolutely love it!
The plan is to get the car as close as we can 100% mechanically, tidy it up cosmetically and just maintain it.
Work is well underway, I'll add more as the day progresses.