65 replies to this topic

[Dom]

today after ringing, arranging and negociating i purchased a 1994 L reg mini cooper white/black for £330. It is for my friend (w/b_dtm_man formaly known as brg) who has garage and space where we will be restoring it.

thank you rob (Rally Rob) for following me to doms garage with the mini on the back of his car trailer from charing to faversham

pictures soon to come

It has done 69k miles

[Dom]

It looks good in white with black & white chequered roof but has quite a few rust holes (

It hasn't run for a couple of years but was working fine when last used. The rust has gotten too bad for me to fix it, though it could be fairly easy for someone more skilled if they want a challenge!!!

However, there are loads of really nice bits on it:

The 12 inch alloys are good with virtually as new Falken tyres.

The half leather black interior with red piping needs a good clean but otherwise is too good to scrap.

The twin DTM style centre exit exhaust has had hardly any use.

Flip-open chrome fuel filler (I think it is the Aston style).

Aluminium door handles/window winders and gear knob.

Engine and gearbox were running perfectly when last used (around 2 years ago).

I really just need someone to take it away and break it up as it is parked at my parents place and they're getting fed up with it!

Looking for £500 ideally but ANY offer considered - I must have spent a couple of grand on these bits and would rather they went to a good home/enthusiast than the scrapyard.

***Picture removed***

[Dom]

Rust: It has plenty!

Front

It has:
a totally rusted scuttle panel,
rust around the headlights and indicators,
and a speed hole joking a hole in the front right wing.

while we are on the front the mechanism for the bonnet has seized so i t cannot be shut properly.

Side

It has:
rusted holes on both sides at the rear quatre windows,
rust on the A panels but not too major,
slight rust on the bottom of the doors,

Rear is fine :grin:

a bit of mould growing on the stainless steel twin dtm but overal it needs a good clean.

Interior

the interior is dirty and musky,and is wet on the floor;
the carpet has been removed and the rubber under the carpet has some water on it which has leaked from the rusted scuttle panel.
the passenger door lock cannot be opened from the outside

Underneath

subframes are solid

Engine

hasnt started but isnt too bad, has a bit of rust.

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as said it needs a good clean and a new battery.

[Alburglar]

Nice one you two!

Glad to see you getting stuck in.

Car looks good and repairs aren't extensive.

Have fun

[lewis]

good sturdy subframes, hope all goes well

[Dom]

thanks guys. We are restoring it in faversham because his house in canterbury is in the middle of the country side

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Last Night

I drove my car to his garage where the mini was parked and met with dom, his dad and dan. (dom - brg, dan - w/b_dtm_man)

We decided to remove the old stickers from the car except the good ones and plan ahead.

I then drove dom to the petrol station where he filled up his 5 litre jerry can.

We came back and unscrewed the the spark plugs, which were a bit rusty and worse for wear and put a tea spoon of petrol in each plug hole.

We then put the plugs back in and put the remaining petrol into the fuel tank. (The tank did have some petrol in it already but it had been sat for 2 years. (Dan left and this point)

I parked paralel to the car and we tried to jump start it. We knew already that the battery was on its last legs but since we didnt have a new one we thought we'd have a go.

Starter plugs on each battery and i gave mine a good rev while dom tried to start it up. I didnt :sad: . We decided that was down to the battery being on its last legs and the spark plugs being rusty.

By this time it was getting dark so revoving the battery was a challenge. We unplugged the starter plugs, i did a full circle so i was facing the back end of the car and stuck my headlights on so we could see what we were doing.

We spent ages trying to find the right spanner until i found an unusual one in my tool box, (dont know the name) which did the job. Dom unsrewed the last one and removed the battery.

We tidyed up all the parts and spare tools, locked the mini and pushed it against the garage door so no one could see the dtm because his dads car was in the garage because there was no where he could park it.

Tomorrow the purchase of a new battery and spark plugs are in order.

Unfortunately my camera was on charge so i did not take any pictures so i hope my description of things gives you the picture of what we did.

[Jordie]

Nice i remember when i got my car. It was alot worse, then that. I have had the floors plated over the original, and if u get underneath theres holes size of ur fist in arches n floor. All welded n sealed now, not gunna grind it out, am gunna waxy-oil the complete underneath.

Try some clean oil, give engine afew cranks to get petrol coming thru. Check oil in carb and if the float is stuck.

Looks like that is gunna be 1 tidy mini when its done. I would replace the panels rather then sand em etc....i did mine but looking at em now, afew months later, its just doing it again, so replacing full front end.

[Dom]

thank you, i will take that information into account and discuss it with dom

[Dan]

Oh this one looks like real fun! :cheese:

Plenty plenty rust. Get all the carpets and soundproofing out and dried off or it'll just contiue to hold water while you work on it.

Was it spinning over nicely? Try spinning it without the plugs in(disconnect the low tension side of the coil)to get everything moving properly, get some oil pressure, draw some air through the carb and blow the fuel you added out of the cylinders.

Do check the condition of the oil first.

As Jordie says, check over the carb (cables, dashpot oil, jet and needle condition, float chamber) Also check over the distributor (make sure the points aren't stuck together)

Soon as you can get some oil and cooling flush in it and clean it out nicely. Then a service.

If it has been stood for two years you will probably need to drain the tank completely. Unleaded is only good for about six months, and splashing a bit of fresh fuel into a large amount of dead stuff won't help much. Careful with what you take out though, it's still flammable just not volotile enough to spark up in a motor.

A squirt of carb cleaner won't go amiss either. Helps to start it too 'because it's got loads of spirit in.

[Mini1275]

he was looking for £500 and you got it for £330, not bad! good luck on the project!

[rob mini]

try draining all the old petrol from it aswel as i doubt this will fire!

rob

[Dom]

Update

This evening we gave the car a good wash and got rid of the outta mould that was beginning to build up.

Now on the outside it is spotlessly clean apart from the areas its hard to get to. :grin:

Interior, well we were about to put it back in the garage and call it a night but decided to spunge up some of the remaining water. :erm: I then discovered on the drivers side there was more underneath :nugget: so we stripped out the front carpets and floor and spunged it all up. It was an un breathable experience, the smell made you rench (feel like you were going to be sick) :sick: so it took sometime to do.

Tomorrow plans are to get a battery sorted out and the rest of the body of rust to be checked by the body shop guy we know.

Bare in mind, dom has to pay me back £330 before he goes and buys new plugs and batteries etc.

[Dom]

Right, some pics of todays progress.

***Picture removed***

[Dom]

dan who is know onsite as old w/b_dtm_man trying to open the bonnet

***Picture removed***

[Dom]

my engine - carb

***Picture removed***