22 replies to this topic

[JesterTiger]

OGL 534X

Black

1982 Mini HL

 

*******

OK. never thought this day would come.. but time to sell the Mini as i can't afford to run two cars.

I Built this Mini to get back on the road after a really nasty Motorcycle accident.

first i bought a 1990 cooper.. "yeah mate it was sound when i parked it up". LIES.. more rust than metal. engine not run since 2004, the list went on.. even down to finding various mushrooms growing in the footwells. so i stripped it clean. bought new panels and started to come to terms with "this is too big a job.."

Looking around online i found a very sweet 1982 Mini HL Shell. with all welding done. i didn't hesitate.. clicked buy now and the chap even dropped it off the following morning.I must of spent 5 days with friends undersealing the shell. layer after layer of stuff, and forced it into various holes and points on the shell. even inside the car..  then started a mass clean up of all the saved parts. both subframes were solid. the front was new in 2004 (something about hitting a curb. must of been a big curb). i have had Mini's in the past as most have. so knew the basics of what needed doing NOW.. Hi-lo's were fitted, rear brakes got a total rebuild. new cylinders, backplates painted, arms painted. new solid lines everywhere. front subframe was also done likewise. calipers were stripped, cleaned and fitted with new seals and stainless pistons. (seezed calipers is never fun). Poly bushes all over the mounts as im not having those old crappy rubber ones floating around.. 1.5deg neg arms fitted to the front to make things feel a bit more happy. it had almost new shocks all round but i got hold of a set of front Spax dampers which is whats up front. Engine wise at first i stuck with the 998 A+ that was inside the cooper when i got it. kinda bad mistake. its the one thing i never really stripped.  ate head gaskets.. anyway. i also dislike the stock fueling system. i changed mine to a rear mounted electric fuelpump and filter, with inline pressure guage up front. normally set around 2.5psi which is ideal for carb. i also used the 1990 wiring loom. but ripped all the old glass fuses out and replaced them with Blade ones. the main fuse box is still on the bulkhead, but theres a 2nd one in the glove box. has extra points in there for the fan and other bits. Head lamps are the Angel eye non LED version.. passed the MOT fine with them on. (as long as you remember to inform the MOT chap that its the Anglo/American Beam it seems to be ok, oh and take out the coloured lense caps.. ), twin front spots are also wired into the HB relay. Interior wise it has Cobra Monaco Bucket seats with 4 point Harness's fitted. no rear seats as theres a Safety Devices Rear cage with cross bar bolted in. Rear seat bins were removed as the roll cage makes it a lot stronger anyway. it has been fitted with a AMP phono lead above the head lining and speaker wiring for rear shelf ones. (whilst it was a bare shell thought it best to add extra's) Dash is a Alloy faced one, with 3 pod Cooper 110mph clocks. retro fitted with the Indiglow dial faces. looks very funky. theres also a Race style Battery Cut off switch with master key. Fuel pump is also on a seperate switch . Its got a MED style Quick shift which turned out to be the fake version from china. didn't fit at first, but the chaps at MED sent me a new correct bush kit and i sorted it out on my lathe. works great for me. my left arm doesn't reach correctly anymore. and a stock one was a real pain. also has a lowered steering bracket with small Mountney wheel. 

OK Engine. as i said it had a 998. but i got hold of, via a friend a late 1098 A+ engine. also a MG metro gearbox and camshaft. During the strip down of the 1098 it was found to have been played with. +020thou pistons had been fitted making it 1115cc. also the crank had signs of lightening and machining. a 1275 Oil pump was also in place. this was all fitted to the Metro box, and the clutch was fitted with a solid center AP plate. no springs to dampen the clutch so its a bit jerky.. Head was cleaned and the valves lapped in. valve guides arnt the best. and dont have the provision for the later oil stem seals. just the doughnut style. its got double valve springs fitted, the rockers are not 1.5 ones. they were just cleaned up. and stoved painted red to look like it. (strange things you do when you'r bored..) the engine was given 3 coats of gloss black. and a Alloy finned rocker cover fitted. painted black with red fins.. its got a few weird bits on the engine. like no fan mounted to the waterpump. instead cooling is done on the reverse side of the rad by a Honda CBR900RRV rad fan. which flows a hell of a lot more air than the stock ones. and is controlled by a temp switch fitted in the bottom of the radiator (late cooper rad). there is also an inline oil cooler. also taken from a Honda CBR1000F. its small enough to give mild cooling but not need a oilstat. (i was doing trips into london at times and every bit of cooling counts).Heater was fitted with a brand new element and the fane given a new lease of life.. nice having hot air from a mini heater. Fueling is fed through a HiF44 Carb mounted on a Alloy Inlet manifold , with LCB and stainless center pipe. rear box is a Playmini Twin DTM center exit. Ignition is the MG metro dizzy with the electric pickup. never had any issues with this. even in the rain. Braking is servo assisted Disc's up front, drums on rear. sitting on 12" x 5.5 Alloy Minilites with good tyres all round. It also has a GENUINE AutoPlas rear Louvre on the back window. fitted with the correct kit too. instructions come with it.. (bit of a rarity to have it complete). Paintwork has never been awesome on it. from day one i wasn't bothered. infact it got mildly abused and painted various colours with poster paint at one point. done for the 2012 Brooklands day theme of 1960's, it turned up as a full on HIPPY CAR. was bloody good fun..(won Runner up Best club stand) and then stayed in the colours for a trip to the Isle of wight on the pier during its reopening celebration. its been given a rough spray over with black to make it look a bit more happy. but after so many pristine mini's have been stolen recently, i was kinda glad mine kept being over looked. People love to Personalise their car's so paintwork being an easy canvus is not a bad thing.. its got twin silver center stripes too. although the bonnet ones got wrecked with an incident with a car polishing mop.

I have tried to give as much details as i can.  i'm moving on to Toyota MR2's now. its easier on my arm to do gear changes. nice tunnel to rest it on. Mini sadly has to go. It's just been down this week 10-07-13 and passed its MOT. tax wise its currently sorn. 

it's a lot of car in such a small thing.. the amount of blood thats gone into building it i shudder to think about.. (it really did.. almost lost my left eye to it at one point, well the bungee holding a cover on to it anyway)

I'm Based in Horsham West Sussex if anyone is interested. and i have done a small vid of what it looks like on youtube :

Oh and it also has DIXIE Airhorns under the front RH Wing.. 

 It's been a part of the NSMOC for the past year. will miss it when it goes. 

Heres some pictures of it. 

1st: this is when it got Hippyfied.... was lots of fun.. 

 

Dash:

 

Exhaust:

 

Front right:

 

Rear left :

 

Engine Bay:

 

Engine during rebuild :

 

Brakes:

 

The shell during priming:

 

I'll try and find more pic's if needed. Any questions please ask.  

 

I'm asking £2200 for it, Reduced to £2000 ono 

Edited by JesterTiger, 15 July 2013 - 09:13 PM.

[mathomas3]

wow... nice mini... Wish that i had the $ to spend on it... but alas it's the wrong year that im looking for... good luck on the sale...

[Yoshii]

I could be interested, I just have a few questions as this would be my first mini and I'm a bit if a mini noob
With all these modifications will it make much trickier for me to learn how to maintain it?
I see it has a tool cage, I think I would like to actually have back seats, anyone know roughly how much it'd cost to get back seats in? And I'm thinking I'd have to take the roll cage out for that? So that might not be worth it...
As cool as it is, is it easy to change the noise of that horn? Ha

[Yoshii]

The more I look at it the more it seems like its a bit much to take on plus its a long drive away.
But something's pulling me towards it aha
So, although i am hesitant I guess I am still interested so please do answer the questions above :)

[mathomas3]

tell you what... its a very nice mini for a good price...

MOD Edit: this is not a discussion forum, please only post if you are interested in buying the car.

[JesterTiger]

right the Roll cage is a BOLT IN affair. so yes it can be removed if you really want too. i still have the original back-seats which i can throw in with it.  Air horns are on a relay and theres another horn on there at the moment for the MOT. (Low tone Train horn.. well they wanted a single tone horn fitted.. so i obliged.never said it had to be quite..) the only downside with bucket seats that are fixed back, is even with rear seats, getting into them is a pain in the neck.  ok if you'r small. but its why they got removed. 

as for learning how to maintain it. its simple. its a MINI. most of whats fitted is Mini based. the odd bike part's are there but its simple stuff. its down to you at the end of the day. do you feel up to playing with something? or do you just want a show car and leave the work to a garage? 

[Yoshii]

Thanks for your reply.
I'm looking for the best of both worlds I guess, I'm looking to use the car as a daily driver so I'm trying to buy one with the least rust and as good runner as possible., but obviously if it looks fancy then that's a bonus.
I can always add stuff to it at a later date and improve it's looks, I don't want to buy one and have to be fixing things straightaway.

I want to learn to maintain one and be able to do the simpler jobs, the really hard jobs ill leave to those that know what they are doing.
I prioritise how well it functions over how good it looks

[JesterTiger]

Yoshii. there is NO Rust.  all the normal places you find rust on a mini, there isn't any.  its all under sealed with Shutz body under sealer. and quite a few coats.. had a BBQ one day and roped in help to get it done.. theres a pic somewhere of 4 of us painting the under side whilst it was tilted on tyres and propped up with a broom handle (dangerous but it was fun). even being sat for 6 months. stuck fuel in. pulled choke. it groaned a bit, very slowly turned over. switched it off, then tried again and it fired.. almost like being kick started. its good in the wet. not let me down yet. (theres always a first time for a mini though). No points to worry about though.. its all electric. 

as long as you can use a grease gun. and use a spammer. you can drive a mini. keeping on top of greasing the ball joints and rear arm's is a must. i preferred to do them at least every 4 weeks. Dashpot oil, you end up knowing when it gets low. but check it regularly like the engine oil and coolant and it becomes 2nd nature. when the cold weather comes back. the heater in it is quite amazing for a mini. had a new matrix in it from a newer model and made a huge difference.  single speed motor. so its either off or full blast. but its a mini.. people do kits for multi speed fans.. its an added extra.  if you want music. the wiring is all in for a head unit and 4 speakers plus sub. i have the under-rear seat board for the 6x9's to go with it. (dug it out yesterday). if you really wanted too i have the original seats front and rear for the car. i was going to throw the backs in anyway but the fronts are there too if needed. theres no seat belts for the back since its a 1982. you would have to retro fit them if you wanted them. and im not sure where the original front ones are. need to look around.. i will go out and do a from cold video. and point out what needs what and when.. like an instructional vid almost. that being said theres plenty of very knowledgeable chaps on here that can help too. and a hell of a lot of them are up your way,.

[Yoshii]

Thanks for your reply, slight issue I asked a friend how far of a drive it is to Horsham he said about 1h 30 but according to google it's 2h 30! I'm still interested just thinking how I'd tackle that.

Ignoring that for a second though, more questions sorry (total noob)
You said about it'd be jerky cause there's no springs dampening the clutch? How jerky and what way will it be jerky? I've only ever drive modern, standard cars so not sure what it'd feel like
I don't mind the bonnet clips, but those straps at the end of the bonnet could they be taken off? Or would the bonnet then fly open?
And how hard is it to fit a grill on it? As it doesn't seem to have one, unless that mesh counts as a grill
I do apologise if any of these questions are common sense but there's a lot to take in about these so there's still a lot I don't know

[Yoshii]

Also I'm rather tall, 6ft 2 ish I should be fine with leg room?
If I'm correct, I'm sure those cobras actually add a bit more space

[Yoshii]

I cant tell if its me or not but is there a dent on both doors?

[JesterTiger]

yes theres a few small dents. the drivers ones caused by some lout who though it was funny to kick it. never got round to pushing them out. its not creased.. the jerky-ness isnt so bad. its just not like a normal mini clutch. as for the bonnet. it was put onto those springs and pins as the under catch snapped whilst on the motorway and the bonnet flew up. vowing never to have that happen again i fitted the springs and pins. theres no hinges or original catch under it. (well apart from the internal pull bit). as for leg room. im 6'2" myself. even sat in the car you have about 4 inches head room.  i built it for me.. so it had to have leg room and head room.  always said its not a perfect car. it needs tinkering.   but the main bits were done.  i will try and do more intense video this evening.. been hot and working on bikes all day.

[Yoshii]

Ah okay, I'll have to look into how much it'd be to get rid of those dents and how I'd get around having the those springs on the bonnet.
I like the idea of having to make a mini better but there's certain things I don't want to do.
So yeah, I'm going to have to look into sorting out those dents and that bonnet. Apart from that everything else looks fine, is there anything else I need to know?

It's rust free and mechanical it's fine and wouldn't need work?

[Yoshii]

Mechanically*

[JesterTiger]

just done a quick show and tell vid. walk around the car. me getting into it. and starting from stone cold.  for all its imperfections. first turn of the key it starts.  runs sweet. doesnt pop, bang or miss a beat. as for the clutch judder its only cause i built it that i notice it. just tried going back and forth gently and its fine. its just the way i drive.. you will see from the vid that theres loads of head room. and the gear changes are short and sweet. i have size 12 feet and i dont have issues changing gear or using the pedals.