93 replies to this topic

[THE STIG]

I have a MK3 that was made in 1974/5 but is registered as an old P, therefore was sold one year later and hence i still pay tax. Can i arguee that the car was made a year before reistered and get the tax-free status? Mine has all the points mentioned except the rear ashtrays in the bins and hole in rear seat? It is worth mentioning that my model was an auto.

phone gaydon museum ask for the arcihve department give them your chasis number will be able to tell you date of manufature

have done this several times most minis around that time where sold as soon as made but there have been a few that sat in dealers a while befroe being registered

[scoticus]

This has just given me the biggest head ache ever...

I recently looked at the log book, the car was registered on the 1-1-1977

Which means it is actually a 1976 car, however, looking around him, he has a few of the features shown, but not others

Example:
I have the oval exhaust tunnel
twin cable hand break and bracket as shown
twin bolt holes, but the gard sheild doesnt have a hole
I havent noticed a depression in the bulk head, never looked...
I also have the drip rails
I have the rotodip
The passenger bins do not have a weldered in ashtray, although the is one on the floor on the exhaust tunnel.
and i have the 5.5 gallon tank with support bracket (what i can remember anyway)

So, what on Earth is going off..

have i got a mash off 1976 and 1977 styling

I know the car is original, and hasnt been messed around with

[mk3 Cooper S]

This has just given me the biggest head ache ever...

I recently looked at the log book, the car was registered on the 1-1-1977

Which means it is actually a 1976 car, however, looking around him, he has a few of the features shown, but not others

Example:
I have the oval exhaust tunnel
twin cable hand break and bracket as shown
twin bolt holes, but the gard sheild doesnt have a hole
I havent noticed a depression in the bulk head, never looked...
I also have the drip rails
I have the rotodip
The passenger bins do not have a weldered in ashtray, although the is one on the floor on the exhaust tunnel.
and i have the 5.5 gallon tank with support bracket (what i can remember anyway)

So, what on Earth is going off..

have i got a mash off 1976 and 1977 styling

I know the car is original, and hasnt been messed around with

There are a lot of variations around the time of changeover. I think they were using up parts in the supplier chain.
E,G I have a 76 1275 GT with a solid mount 4 bolt subframe, no drip rails, a rod change floor with rear astrays etc!!!
bUT MY 71 mk3 has all of the early features. I think if it is genuinly a TAX exempt car with the correct shell(registered pre 73) it will have all of the early features mentioned in this accurate thread.

[scoticus]

This has just given me the biggest head ache ever...

I recently looked at the log book, the car was registered on the 1-1-1977

Which means it is actually a 1976 car, however, looking around him, he has a few of the features shown, but not others

Example:
I have the oval exhaust tunnel
twin cable hand break and bracket as shown
twin bolt holes, but the gard sheild doesnt have a hole
I havent noticed a depression in the bulk head, never looked...
I also have the drip rails
I have the rotodip
The passenger bins do not have a weldered in ashtray, although the is one on the floor on the exhaust tunnel.
and i have the 5.5 gallon tank with support bracket (what i can remember anyway)

So, what on Earth is going off..

have i got a mash off 1976 and 1977 styling

I know the car is original, and hasnt been messed around with

There are a lot of variations around the time of changeover. I think they were using up parts in the supplier chain.
E,G I have a 76 1275 GT with a solid mount 4 bolt subframe, no drip rails, a rod change floor with rear astrays etc!!!
bUT MY 71 mk3 has all of the early features. I think if it is genuinly a TAX exempt car with the correct shell(registered pre 73) it will have all of the early features mentioned in this accurate thread.

oh right,

so with it being registered on the 1st January 1977, it was obviously manufactuered in 1976.. so does this make it a mk3?

daft question I know... just intregued.


just thought actually, there is a possibility of my car being a ONE off lol.. if they used bits from all over the place

[Goopster]

Great post, very useful - Thanks!

Scotius, if it helps you feel better - In addition to mk3_cooper_s, I also have a car with similar oddities, mine was registered on 1/3/1977, on an R registration, and I have bits of MKIII (no reverse lights, vinyl seats without recliners, older type brake master cylinder) but some MKIV parts (later subframe mountings, wipers on stalks, hazard lights etc). We owned the car when it was new and so know that it has not been messed around with during its life. It seems Leyland used up all of their old parts to save costs before using the new ones, so just as mk3_cooper_s says, there are lots of occasions when some of the cars around the MKIII-MKIV changeover have bits missing or some that you might not expect them to. I think it was the same with the MKII-MKIII changeover too, with some trim and electrical items (ignition key on steering column etc)

To answer your second question, I always (unofficially) used to look for the internal switchgear and subframe mountings to distinguish a MKIII to a MKVI - i.e. Hazard Lights, Wipers on Stalk control etc, along with the front subframe mounting type etc. But as you have discovered, there are many times when it's not quite clear which model you have!

Regards, Goops

Edited by Goopster, 28 April 2009 - 02:53 PM.

[mk3 Cooper S]

This has just given me the biggest head ache ever...

I recently looked at the log book, the car was registered on the 1-1-1977

Which means it is actually a 1976 car, however, looking around him, he has a few of the features shown, but not others

Example:
I have the oval exhaust tunnel
twin cable hand break and bracket as shown
twin bolt holes, but the gard sheild doesnt have a hole
I havent noticed a depression in the bulk head, never looked...
I also have the drip rails
I have the rotodip
The passenger bins do not have a weldered in ashtray, although the is one on the floor on the exhaust tunnel.
and i have the 5.5 gallon tank with support bracket (what i can remember anyway)

So, what on Earth is going off..

have i got a mash off 1976 and 1977 styling

I know the car is original, and hasnt been messed around with

There are a lot of variations around the time of changeover. I think they were using up parts in the supplier chain.
E,G I have a 76 1275 GT with a solid mount 4 bolt subframe, no drip rails, a rod change floor with rear astrays etc!!!
bUT MY 71 mk3 has all of the early features. I think if it is genuinly a TAX exempt car with the correct shell(registered pre 73) it will have all of the early features mentioned in this accurate thread.

oh right,

so with it being registered on the 1st January 1977, it was obviously manufactuered in 1976.. so does this make it a mk3?

daft question I know... just intregued.


just thought actually, there is a possibility of my car being a ONE off lol.. if they used bits from all over the place

Good question and not one with a single unanomus answer I should think.

In my opinion Mk3's have solid 4 bolt front subframes and remote type oval gearchange tunnel and probably drip rails on the gutter.
No doubt some may disagree

Cheers

[Boycie]

I'd agree that during the mk3/4 changeover, details were changed as and when the factory ran out of various bits!

I think the solid-mounted subframe is about the most significant change, therefore if your internal door-hinge bodyshell has a twin-bolt subframe, it's safe to say it's a mk3.
However, the oval exhaust tunnel was phased out in 1973, along with the alloy remote-change gear change when the mk3 went over to rod-change, so a square tunnel, rod-change car can still, of course be a mk3.

Scotius, your car is quite typical of a changeover 'shell and sounds spot-on for it's year.
I also have a 1976 Mk3, which has the drip rails, twin-bolt frame etc etc.

You say it has the rotodip, but I'd be surprised if it had the big hole in the rear seat back as pictured here- evidence suggests it should have a solid rear seat back, but as mentioned- parts and panels got used up as and when!

[scoticus]

I'd agree that during the mk3/4 changeover, details were changed as and when the factory ran out of various bits!

I think the solid-mounted subframe is about the most significant change, therefore if your internal door-hinge bodyshell has a twin-bolt subframe, it's safe to say it's a mk3.
However, the oval exhaust tunnel was phased out in 1973, along with the alloy remote-change gear change when the mk3 went over to rod-change, so a square tunnel, rod-change car can still, of course be a mk3.

Scotius, your car is quite typical of a changeover 'shell and sounds spot-on for it's year.
I also have a 1976 Mk3, which has the drip rails, twin-bolt frame etc etc.

You say it has the rotodip, but I'd be surprised if it had the big hole in the rear seat back as pictured here- evidence suggests it should have a solid rear seat back, but as mentioned- parts and panels got used up as and when!

thanks, this clears it up for me

I HAVE A MK3

last night i had another look at the rear seat, and it has a big hole, but looks as though its been weldered up at the factory, as the orginal paint has been sprayed on it.

I think my car has been used to get rid of spare parts from the factory

explains alot actually....

[blackbelt1990]

I think my car has been used to get rid of spare parts from the factory

explains alot actually....

We've all been there! ha... could start a thread...

my current mini... 1994, injection shell...... ecu brackets the lot... but.... it's a carb..

Rover's decision..... "oh... we'll make this a Limited Edition"

LOL!

[scoticus]

I think my car has been used to get rid of spare parts from the factory

explains alot actually....

We've all been there! ha... could start a thread...

my current mini... 1994, injection shell...... ecu brackets the lot... but.... it's a carb..

Rover's decision..... "oh... we'll make this a Limited Edition"

LOL!

haha

why dont we

i swear, with the way these cars are made, not one is the same...

all the different parts they use lol

what could we call the thread though???

hmmmm *thinks*

[minim@t]

First of all sorry to drag up an old post,

I came across this thread whist gooooogling how to spot a mini that had been re-shelled,

I'm currently restoring a 69 super and wanted to make sure the shell was genuine, it appears to be all correct bar later sills but there rotten as a pear so will soon be replaced,

I've been away from the mini scene for quite a few years and last weekends Gaydon mini show was my first in a long while, whilst wondering around I noticed alot of MK1/MK2 minis and many were obviouse reshells,

will get to the point soon, whist now knowing the tale tale signs of a re-shell, its the so called 'drip rails' that have me puzzelled, my mini has them many other mk1's and 2's do, but whilst wondering around the show admiring the minis on display i noticed that the first mini 621 AOK was missing these rails,

so, has this car been re-shelled? had them removed? or were they added later?

regards Matt

[bobs]

I think my car has been used to get rid of spare parts from the factory

explains alot actually....

We've all been there! ha... could start a thread...

my current mini... 1994, injection shell...... ecu brackets the lot... but.... it's a carb..

Same with my 1993... used to be a pain when trying to find parts away from the car, used to it now.

My brother has a genuine 1969/70 early mk3, with we think, hydrolastic suspension brackets factory fitted, after asking about it was quite common in mini production to just use up anything that was lying around, even mk2 shells it seems, a few cross mk oddities on it.

[bakker110]

I have a 1971 registered Clubman. Should the front subframe be mounted at the front against the front panel as it is solid mounted at the top and rear, and I have never seen mounts at the front. I have restored the car but never had it mounted here. No teardrops or anything.
Would be great to clear this up.

Thanks

[mini-man-dan]

Basically, the way to tell a genuine tax exempt shell from a non genuine one is from the roof rails. If they are complete with 4 U shaped slits to let water out then it's genuine, if there are separations of the roof rail directly above the seam strip it is not genuine.

It's the first thing to check anyway.

Dan

[mini-man-dan]

Here we go...

Later shell (ie not a 1972 or before)



Genuine earlier shell


Some 1959 Mk1s had no holes atall, and early mk1s had a square hole in the complete gutter, but that was only until about 1961 or 62.

Dan