12 replies to this topic

[nev_payne]

Am buying an MPi next week and justl ooking for some pointers for good upkeep - this particular one has had a gearbox rebuild so the 2nd gear choclate sychro is fixed, but would like to know if there are any other common failure areas to look out for that differ from your average stanard carb model. For point of reference the model is a 2000 Mini Knightsbridge.

Cheers

[minidaves]

rust repainting and rust

so look at sills, around screen apanels, doors, front wings, boot floor and rear valance.

clutchs are an issue too so check that thats nice and strong

and the front suspention is not close to bumpstops

think thats about it

dave

[rovercooper98]

Parts seem to be harder to get hold of and when you do you may find them a bit more expensive.
For example a oil seporator on a older mini you can buy for about £15 but on a mpi its £120 as its a part of the cover. Headlamp bezals are more expensive.
There is no dizzy, but the ignition module costs about £100
I think you get the picture, Everything is more expensive.
Wish i had looked into it more before i fell in love.

[Wiggy]

Scuttle pannel (between the windscreen and bonnet) seems more susceptible than older Mnis. Costs a fair bit to fix so avoid one (if you can!!) with rust there.

How many miles does it have on it?

Oh, Waxoyl it to buggery when you get it. Seriously!

[nev_payne]

It's 44000 on the clock at the moment - and there is a 1/4" buble of rust on both far corners of the scuttle...suspension looks good, and I agree on the waxoyl - one of my first jobs when it gets home!

[mambaman]

If find that mpi's are a bit overpriced normally, remember some are upto 10 years old now!

They traditionally have problems with gearboxes and earlier ones have plastic Throttle bodies which can crack. The former is about £300-400 to repair if the engines out, if u cant do that then a garage would charge £200-£400 to do this aswell. If the Tb's are cracked your looking at around £120 IIRC to replace, again if u can do it yourself look at £100 to change at a garage.

Check for wiring problems, as these can be insanly problematic and expensive to fix! So be checking everything works as it should. Also worth checking that the engine is running sweet and that the fan is automatically switching on, another common problem, it should turn on when the engine is idling at standstill.

[Wiggy]

It's 44000 on the clock at the moment - and there is a 1/4" buble of rust on both far corners of the scuttle...suspension looks good, and I agree on the waxoyl - one of my first jobs when it gets home!

In that case you have to decide if your gonna get it fixed or not. I had a tiny patch about the size of a 5p creeping from under the window rubber. Within a year it had more than doubled in size! It's one of those things that you vow to get done, but the longer you leave it the less likely you are to do it.

Open the rear windows and look for rust as well. Water gets trapped under the shat window rubbers there. Mine had a patch there too.

[nev_payne]

In that case, whats the best viewpoint to see how badly the rust is form underneath the scuttle? Behind the dash, or from the engine side of the bulkhead? The window seal rust problem appears to be fine at the moment there isnt any to be seen, however the worst area it has is under the passenger-side headlight...not crusty, but theres a line of rust showing none-the-less.

[Wiggy]

In that case, whats the best viewpoint to see how badly the rust is form underneath the scuttle? Behind the dash, or from the engine side of the bulkhead? The window seal rust problem appears to be fine at the moment there isnt any to be seen, however the worst area it has is under the passenger-side headlight...not crusty, but theres a line of rust showing none-the-less.

I don't really know if you can check under the scuttle. I don't think you can, but I'm no expert. Now as for the front end, it's only gonna get worse. But you will find it with 99% of all Minis you look at. It's one of those things.

In a kind of fortunate way, I dinked mine into the back of a Corsa. Meaning I've got a new front end now. I'm gonna take bloody good car of it as well!!!!

[nev_payne]

right - looks like its time to empty halfrauds stock of waxoyl then...if I was to get the front end sorted out say...would heritage panels be any stronger than the standard rover MPI variety?

[Sprocket]

right - looks like its time to empty halfrauds stock of waxoyl then...if I was to get the front end sorted out say...would heritage panels be any stronger than the standard rover MPI variety?

They are thes same but the quality of the finish is no where as near as good and the guy opperating the spot welder must be pissed all the time

[nev_payne]

errr so not exactly a good resort then? Considering that, I'll keep it up to scratch until a panel looks certain to die.

I take it you had a rought time with a spot welder then Sprocket?

[Sprocket]

Not realy, its just that the wings, although genuine and suposedly the same as what the factory produced, i think the skill level has dropped and maybe the tooling is a little worn. There is noticable splashing from the spot welds and also some of the spots in the areas where they are exposed, such as the two seams around the head lights, bulge out. Its almost as if the guy operating the spot welder either doesnt know what he is doing or doesn't give a sh!t. In my experience both usualy go together.

They may be genuine, but there is no substitute for the original factory items. Then again there is no substitute for good solid metal instead of rust.

If its blistered from beneath the paint, its rusted through from the inside, if its the scuttles then the closing panels are well gone and should be able to be seen from under the arch with a torch, its basicaly a complete front end, but the wings are normaly not far behind rusting through as there is no stone chip on the wings, only a very thin coat of paint, its almost as though rover built in a time bomb for these areas to rust out in around 8 to 10 years, this as well as the sills. The car was in production for 40 years and still, with all this modern technology they never managed to reduce the rusting as much as modern cars, and i dont think it has anything to do with design, its just a reason for buying a new car, if its rusty, get shut and buy another. Cars are designed to die.