37 replies to this topic

[Minigirlracer]

I'm in the middle of updating mine to be more modern as its a 1979 daily driver. One of the most important things im doing is changing the brakes over from drums to discs with a servo to make it more safer. Other than that my heater is lovely and warm, love driving it in winter as its all cosy and warm lol. Also my wipers aint that bad so if it does need updating just do it as and when needed

[Leroy Boyce]

Hey! This person wants a modern car that looks like a classic mini - horses for courses, eh?

I have quite an awkward drive and often think it would be handy to have a rear wiper... I just don't think it'll look very good!

If your car is a bit cold, sling a wedge of cardboard down the side of the radiator!

[MiniMonty]

Hi

With regard to the classic mini's i was wondering what various mini owners have done to update the following problems i have found effect the mini. Pictures and comments welcome!

1. windscreen wipers cant cope with extreme weather conditions making visibility poor.

2. No rear wiper

3. Lack of internal lighting. Especially the dash lights which arent the best.

4. Headlights arent very bright.

5. Heater doesnt give of much heat.

6. Demister isnt very good and windows steam up.

1. windscreen wipers cant cope with extreme weather conditions making visibility poor.
Thats just true. You can change the blades, you can uprate the motors but it won't make any difference.
It's part of the charm. In "extreme" weather just put your foot down.
You're driving one of the most successful rally cars in history.

2. No rear wiper
What ?
There's a rear wiper on my wife's massive box shaped Land Rover and that makes sense.
But on a Mini ?

3. Lack of internal lighting. Especially the dash lights which arent the best.
Sort it out then - easy to do. You can run a cable across the roof and put another internal light on the driver's side in four minutes.
You can make those lights as bright as you like. See a scrappy and pay sixpence for the internal lights from any car you fancy.
12 volts is 12 volts and you can have the internal lights from a nice fat Jag, a 99 Peugeot, or you can rig up the cirque du soleil
on your roof and under your feet if you have the inclination.

4. Headlights arent very bright.
But they can be... Sooo easily.
Search the forum, talk to any mechanic and spend small money. Well worth it it my opinion.

5. Heater doesnt give of much heat.
If yours doesn't then it's broken.
So fix it dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry.

6. Demister isnt very good and windows steam up.
And ?
Your car is twenty odd years old mate - what do you expect ?
Replace all the rubbers around the windows and it won't leak tiny moisture as it does today.
Then it won't steam so quickly - but it still will.
If you want the "Clio" experience then buy a Clio - you'll get one for the price of your Mini.

It's an OLD car. It's BASIC. It has qualities that have never and (I think) can never be reproduced.
But it doesn't have air bags or side impact bars or air con and it doesn't tell me (via a computer) when
one of my brake light bulbs has failed.

You can update a Mini - up to a point.
But there comes a point when you see the point.
It's a Mini.
It's not a Clio, it's not a Golf and it wasn't built last week.

Love it for what it is - and if you can't - just go for something else.

Best wishes
Monty

[jmetal88]

6. Demister isnt very good and windows steam up.

You might want to check your heater core. My car was doing this, and as it turns out, my heater core had a slow leak, so I actually had moisture from my cooling system coming up through the vents.

[mdickson]

Hi

'It's an OLD car. It's BASIC. It has qualities that have never and (I think) can never be reproduced.
But it doesn't have air bags or side impact bars or air con and it doesn't tell me (via a computer) when
one of my brake light bulbs has failed.'

How come my mini has a drivers airbag and side impact bars in the doors.......
But then mine is an MPi, And the one I nearly bought had aircon.......

But yes I agree that I love my car for the things it doesn't have as much as those it does.....

[MiniMonty]

Haha !

I wouldn't mind one of those Japanaese imports with aircon myself

But for now I'll go with steamy Autumn windows.

[robtheplod]

Mine has two speed wipers - seem to work fine. I have fitted a later MPI heater which has two speeds which works well and also have a high level brake light and new halogens headlights. I do need to look at the dash as it is very dim at night!

[Pavel]

Woah easy there.. My mini was much better and more reliable in most of the points mentioned than my 1998 clio ever was!!!

I think the points you mention apply to older minis but as has been said the later ones don't actually suffer much from most of these.

The wipers won't be able to keep up with a monsoon, but modern cars' wipers wouldn't either! I think somebody mentioned rainex and I agree totally (actually I just waxed it), makes a big difference at motorway speeds, below that the wipers cope fine.
Heater, wiper stalk and interior lights on a 1990 Mini are all perfectly suitable. Rear wiper is unnecessary but a working heated rear window is handy!


One thing that nobody has mentioned which I think is VERY IMPORTANT, is sound deadening. My mini sounded like a tin can inside. I completely deadened the entire car using basically bitumen ali-backed flashing tape... It absolutely transformed the car. Felt much more solid, so much quieter and more comfortable. I don't advise ANYBODY to use flashing tape, not because it doesn't work (because it DOES), but because it deosn't stick well. On a warm day, anything that's not on the floor gets unstuck and very messy. The floor can be done with a layer or two of flashing tape and will remove a surprising amount of road noise. If you can afford dynamat or a brand-less ebay equivalent, I would strongly recommend it.

[jaydee]

You cant imagine how good the dessicant type de-humidifiers pooky mentioned are. Definately try them, they cost just a few quid.

[Leroy Boyce]

It can also help if you take your rubbers off your wipers and soak them in warm water and washing up liquid.

Inexpensive, and can (often) give them a new lease of life...

[dsgoody]

You cant imagine how good the dessicant type de-humidifiers pooky mentioned are. Definately try them, they cost just a few quid.

I will try a few of them since I know I have a leak in my door and it does get foggy inside very easily. Where is the best place to get them?

[dsgoody]

You cant imagine how good the dessicant type de-humidifiers pooky mentioned are. Definately try them, they cost just a few quid.

I will try a few of them since I know I have a leak in my door and it does get foggy inside very easily. Where is the best place to get them?

Anyone?

[newdawn1st]

Mini Magazine did a feature on these (de-humidifiers) in their Aug 2009 edition, they put Dry-Bag 1000g as their Best Buy, available at www.groveproducts.com

edit: above link doesn't seem to be working try this one, Amazon seems to have them

Edited by newdawn1st, 17 October 2009 - 11:16 AM.

[stonemonkey]

just to add a few things. if you want to take it to the extreme you can fit HID lights led bulbs or `back lit` diles. i have a heated front screen and intermitent wipers fitted. its a doddle to fit a rear wiper but it realy isnt needed on minis. the heater and front wipers should cope fine if kept in tip top condition. at the end of the day, minis a great fun and full of charm. almost any mods are poss even air con but it depends what you want and how much you want to spend and how much you can do yourself.

[Brams96]

I'm adding a second internal light by using the light bracket from a scrap car and screwing it in place. Also I'm adding a couple of 24 LED strip lights under the dash rail, they only cost £2 each from ebay and are simple 12V type plug & play. They will go on with the internal lights. Simples!