15 replies to this topic

[Spannerhead]

Well, after much deliberation I've bought myself a 'W' reg Cooper Sport in Tahiti Blue in fabulous condition, and I'm really chuffed with it. Everything is working fine on it, except it needs a new clutch (it's done 60k miles) and a service.

So, I'll be wanting to upgrade it over the next year, can anybody point me in the direction of a good thread or help me out.

I'll like to know what the best mods are for say £1000-1500, where to spend the money first - suspension, engine, gearbox, brakes etc for a good balance approach. I've built kit cars in the past and had mini's in my youth (over 20 years ago) so am happy spannering.

Thanks

[Guess-Works.com]

If it's in original condition and not already 'messed' with...

Save your money

Anything you do to it, will devalue the vehicle, and I suspect that you've already coughed out enough on the original purchase.

[Spannerhead]

If it's in original condition and not already 'messed' with...

Save your money

Anything you do to it, will devalue the vehicle, and I suspect that you've already coughed out enough on the original purchase.

Cost me £4100 which I thought was a good price - know what you mean on devaluing - maybe I'll just leave it be then

[Guess-Works.com]

However, things to watch out for on Mpi's...

The gearboxes are made of cheese, and are notorious for shooting the diff out of the back of the box...

Good idea to get it up in the air and check for excessive lash ( free play ) in the diff, excessive amounts will usually mean a worn diff pin, replacing the diff pin for a competition grade item is a worthy upgrade, however better still is replace the unit for an x-pin diff.. unfortunately you need to remove the engine to do this...

Other things to watch on them is the condition of the scuttle area ( around the bottom of the windscreen and under the wide rubber strip )

Then it's just the usual things, check ride heights, if it's sitting low at the front then it probably means the suspension cones will need replacing, 10 years is about the average life span...

[Spannerhead]

Thanks for the pointers, the previous owner already replaced one A pillar and both door skins, so the rust is in check for the moment, though the other A pillar is just starting to bubble now. I have a really good look around the scuttle area, seemed ok to me as was the rest of the car. Though I'll have a good look when it's up in the air for the clutch.

I've just found a great local specialist Mini garage down here in Shoreham with an ex-John Cooper mechanic - Tony Franks - running the place and a forecourt full of gorgeous Mini's, it's booked it with him for the clutch (don't fancy doing it outside in January ) and I'm getting him to check everything else whilst he's at it, and give it a service too. I've read about the pin in the diff, I'll get that checked too.

Cheers

[l_jonez]

as above check the scuttle my mpi seems to have less metal on it every day

[Spannerhead]

as above check the scuttle my mpi seems to have less metal on it every day

Is an external check ok, or do you need to look from the engine bay? because externally it looks perfect.

[Sprocket]

as above check the scuttle my mpi seems to have less metal on it every day

externally it looks perfect.

Fresh paint over filler always does. Not that yours is.

Unfortunately if you do not have access to an endoscope to look at it from the inside, from the engine bay, you wont really know. One thing to look for is, with the car jacked up and the front wheel removed, look up inside the wing towards the scuttle. If there are signs of corrosion, particularly holes, its needs sorting.

[Spannerhead]

Cheers, I'll have alook at that ...

[jamesmpi]

Going back to your original question about upgrades....

If your not too bothered about devaluing the car, (which shouldn't be too much of a concern seeing as £4k is a good price for an mpi in good condition) is to fit a stage 1 kit. Most people will tend to add this upgrade so should't affect the value. Typically this involves replacing the exhaust for a larger bore diameter, upgrading the air filter and changing the manifold to an LCD type. Most mini specialists sell them (minisport / minispeed etc)


Fitting a stage 1 kit will increase the bhp slightly and from a personal point of view makes the car look and sound better )

Edited by jamesmpi, 19 December 2009 - 02:27 PM.

[Spannerhead]

Just spoken to Minispeed, they recommmended the Stage 3 kit, which is new head, rockers, LCB, exhaust, air filter, for about £800 .... takes it to 90bhp which is more like it I can always put it back to standard if I sold it, but to be honest they're pretty tame mods.

Edited by Spannerhead, 22 December 2009 - 11:16 AM.

[MiniBonkerz]

top color bot that i am bias;)

[Spannerhead]

top color bot that i am bias;)

Tell me about it, I LOVED that colour when it first came out, really glad I can afford one now! Just waiting for the grit to get washed away from the road and I can take it out for a spin, it's been in the garage tucked up since I bought it last week

[skaterava]

To be honest, Minis, even the best of them, don't fetch high prices, and the ones that are restored aren't very profitable. They're just for pure driving enjoyment, so apart from the oldest examples (say, 1959-1973) i think modifying them is a fantastic thing to do. Unless you completely remove the classic element of the car by, say, putting Mazda Mx5 lights in the rear, a BMW 3 series front end, roof scoops and the like (anyone remember a Mini like that? )

If i had an MPI, i'd probably removed the Sportspack arches (i never liked the shape of them) and replaced them with Group 2's/5's. Get some anthracite ultralites/superlites too. Underneath the bonnet, i'd try and pick up a Stage kit from Minispares. They're expensive for SPI's and MPI's compared to the Carb kits, but the power increase is substantial.

Edited by skaterava, 22 December 2009 - 11:45 AM.

[LukeH]

Welcome to the MPI club! I purchased my Cooper MPI about 5 months ago and I am still loving owning it everyday.

There has been a few comments about the reliability of the gearbox on the MPI, I can give first hand advice that they aren't great. Mine had a problem with the idler bearing which mangled the whole box but fear not as you can pickup complete MPI engines for around £200 (what I did). My new engine had only covered around 25K and I even got all of the ancillaries included.
Happy driving!

Luke.