20 replies to this topic

[paul_s]

My mini (97 non-Sportspack Cooper) has been been through the MOT. It failed on a few things but nothing out of the ordinary (e.g. brakes, ball joint and tyres), they're all done so it's all good for another year.

However there are a fair few advisories, mainly rust:
- NSR 1/4 panel rusting at sub frame mounting
- Rear subframe rusty
- NSF windscreen scuttle under windscreen very rusty
- NSR radius arm bearings have slight play.
- OSF suspension balljoint has slight play
- Front - rear brake pipe slightly corroded
- oil leak (surprise!)

Now, I'm after some advice as to what you'd do in my position. The mini is my daily drive, and i don't have space / money at the moment to garage it and get a second car to use.

I'd love to get a welder and learn to do it myself. Unfortunately we have no power in the garage and are renting at the minute so it'd be a couple of years minimum before I could do anything about it anyway. I also know that once I start digging for rust in those areas I'll find a lot more so garage bills will get large quickly!

Really, it seems in my mind I have two options:
1 - keep the car, and sell it next year if (when) it fails on rust
2 - sell it now, with a year's ticket on it and use the money to buy another, more solid car (hopefully another mini)

I'll put some photos up when I get a chance but any thoughts what I might get for her either now or in a year, even just a rough guide, would be helpful.

Moderators, if it's best to set up a valuations thread I can do that?

Sorry for the essay!

[Shifty]

If you don't want to spend a load of money on it then sell it. Theres some very big bills heading your way next year.

[mini*mad]

NSF windscreen scuttle under windscreen very rusty
shouldnt really be a fail

i'd sell up with with a full ticket
although its not too bad

rear subframes are easy to swap, and would have to be removed anyway to repair the rust
depending on where you are some freelance welders could get that fixed for under £100

get some pics up, could be done in under a day

saying that im interested in it

[Badboytunes]

Id be inclined to agree with Shifty's comment.....

[paul_s]

That's what I'm thinking. It's really do I sell now or in a year..
For the price of those bills I was was thinking I could probably get another mini and put off the bills for for another year or two, by which time I'll hopefully be able to do more myself.

[craig 1010cc]

The thing to look at is teh sort of value a rusty (but MOT'd) MPI mini is V's one without a MOT? as they break for good money, even without a MOT they get good money, and because they rust so well, a rusty but MOT's one isn't worth that much more. As said, the scuttle wont fail a MOT unless there are any sharp edges (gaffa tape will sort that for an MOT pass). the rear 1/4 should be cheap enough to get sorted for a further MOT but the issue will be any further rot that delevops. I would keep it if your happy with the mechanical side and try and rust proof the shell as much as possible to slow down the grot until you can take on the resto.

[littlemissmagic]

I would also say that you should sell it now. That way its got the years MOT for people and sell it before it gets any worse.
Then buy a more solid mini :)

I am in a similar situation with my mini. It was rusty and my daily driver so no option to repair at the time. We patched the worst of it the best we could and now its off the road outside at my uncles waiting for the repairs that have got alot worse.
Most people think my mini isn't worth saving and from their viewpoint I guess I can see why, but selling my mini was never an option for me :) It doesn't sound like yours is too bad now but if its left it will be.

But from my experiences now, next time I get a mini, the most important thing for me will be a solid shell with very minimal welding needed! Its all do-able just time consuming and if you have no where to do it, its a nightmare!

Edited by littlemissmagic, 05 April 2013 - 12:29 PM.

[se_juggles]

I have a Clarke gas/non gas welder I'm looking to get rid of. It's good for practice but there not amazing welders and then if you feel your confident enough buy a better welder and do the work yourself as a project. You will save a lot of expenses doing the welding yourself.

[Cooperman]

Once you start digging about you will fine a great deal of rust. The screen scuttle end (very rusty) indicates the need for a complete new scuttle panel, which means the wings will need to come off and it will probably need new front wings as well.
That model year does indeed go very rusty and the cost of re-building the bodyshell can be huge. My Grandson bought that model year and it looked just 'slightly rusty' Once we pulled it apart it was as we expected and typical for that year and we ended up welding on new wings, new front panel, new inner & outer lower screen scuttle panel and rail, new A-panels, new inner & outer sills, repairs to rear quarter panels, repair to front bulkhead where the scuttle panel is joined to it, new boot floor section, new rear valence and one new door skin. Then it had to be re-painted. We did all of the bodywork ourselves to a high standard but the re-painting had to be put out to a body-shop (a friend of mine). The entire body job, including panels and materials and painting cost around £1700 (no labour included except for painting), so cheap it ain't. It has since had an engine & gearbox re-build, all new swivel ball-joints, new suspension bushes and solid front sub-frame mountings (old ones were in poor condition).
As my Grandson needs a daily driver he go fed up with the need to constsantly 'fettle' a classic car and now has a Fiesta which has everything he needs like power steering, air-con, good overall reliability, low tyre wear, excellent road performance and a lot of miles between services.
These days a Mini is really just a Classic Car and one has to be very dedicated to use a Mini every day.

[splitpin]

Is it really that bad or is mr mot just covering himself belt and braces?

It may go through another 2 mots without welding.....if it was bad he would of failed it!

[Cooperman]

A 1997 car, unless the body has already had fairly extensive re-building done, will almost certainly need a lot of new body panels.

[tiger99]

Yes, 16 years is a very long time for any Mini. Even modern cars, with better paint processes and significant efforts at rust prevention at the factory are usually deteriorating badly by that age.

The good thing about the Mini is that it can be rebuilt, always (while the panel suppliers such as Heritage remain in business), whereas many more modern vehicles are just scrap once they fail the MOT.

My opinion is that it is best to sell it to someone who will restore it, and get a cheap modern car until you are in a position to be able to maintain a Mini properly.

[Ipod]

Keep it, its a mini thaaang
whats to say you sell it, and then buy a nice looking one, with other faults.
Do a bit at a time.

[sonikk4]

I think the general consensus is to sell it now. Is the best thing to do?? well as you have limited facilities etc etc this is going to be the least painful thing to do.

As mentioned by Cooperman there will be other rust areas that although not an issue right at this very minute will be lurking waiting to surprise you. the build quality of this era of mini was very poor with a lot of areas not protected properly etc.

The rear quarter for example i think if you start to dig could turn into a heelboard end, inner sill issue within the companion bin, arch closeout and the rust damage to the quarter panel itself. Having just done all of this from what looked like surface rust on my mates Mainstream Cooper this rust could just be the tip of the iceberg.
Scaremongering some may say but speaking from experience here maybe not.

[Tamworthbay]

Sell or keep, up to you. The only thing not to do is a quick bodge and then either think its ok and keep, or sell on to some poor sucker.