17 replies to this topic

[ruth11]

Hi All,

My mini's been sitting on the drive for months and now my MR2 is all done up and my other half's porsche has had it's wide-body conversion, it's time to make the mini fit in!


It's a Q plate mini (apparently made up from parts!), but that doesn't bother me (obviously, I bought it didn't I?!) because I didn't buy it to sell it on. And it's in pretty good nick considering. I've already swapped the knackered MG Metro engine that was in it for a nice Cooper 1275 one...

Only thing is, I don't know how old it is (or most of it!) so I have no idea what mark it is. Can anyone on here help?

What distinguishing features should I be looking for? The most obvious one I can see is that it has the centre speedo... But that doesn't help me because I'm struggling to find info on what marks had that!!

If anyone can point me to a web site that explains the marks and the differences, or could explain a bit on here, I would much appreciate it.

Cheers (and nice to meet you all!)

Ruth
(Leicestershire)

[Brawlyrox]

hi and welcome to the site, as for your mini it will be very difficult to try and distinguish how old it is. things like whether it has disks on the front may help a little bit and the instumentation. The more info u can give the easier it mite make it

Mark of mini Years in production
Mk 1 1959 - 1967
Mk 2 1967 - 1969
Mk 3 1969 - 1976
Mk 4 1976 - 1984
Mk 5 1984 - 1992
Mk 6 1992 - 1997
Mk 7 1997 - 2000

this is a guide to what mk were made in the years.

anyhow welcome to the site and we hope u enjoy it

[ruth11]

Hi Nick,

Thanks for that. Unfortunately though, like I say, I don't know the year of the car because it is a Q plate.

Instrumentation wise, it has the centre speedo with 2 guages either side (can't remember what they are off the top of my head). Is there a particular mark when they changed away from the centre speedo?

Also, it has discs on the front, drums on the back...

I can also tell you that my rear quarter light windows do open on a hinge...

The main reason I want to know really is for replacing body panels and things (I need a new bonnet for a start!) and I'm not sure if they are slightly different from mark to mark?

I'm going to be replacing pretty much the whole interior too (it has a horrible aftermarket cheap plastic dash at the moment and cigarette burned cobra bucket seats) but I have yet to decide exactly how I want it. Am stuck between bringing it back to original condition (if I can find out what mark it is) and just making it into one mean machine!

Thanks
Ruth

[ruth11]

By the way, is there a web site that describes the differences between the marks? That might help me work it out for myself...

Cheers
Ruth

[Commited]

http://www.miniresource.com has all the differences between the marks of minis
Q plate sounds a bit dodgy to me, but if you're cool with it, then great

[ruth11]

It is a bit dodgy, although I've had a DVLA inspector round to make sure it's ok (I couldn't find a VIN number so I needed him to provide me with a new one!).

I've already had the cooper engine fitted now and although it needs a bit of body work, I still think it would be better to do this one up rather than try to find another cooper. I've been thinking about this a lot lately so any advice much appreciated.

Basically, the conclusion I came to was that I want this car to play with, not to do up and resell - I want to keep it for a while! Therefore, I don't care that it is a Q plate. All this means is that it has been built from parts from different cars (you have to have a certain number of major parts from the original car to be able to keep the original plate), it's not imported or dodgy.

The only way I could realistically sell it now would be to sell the wheels and engine seperately and dump the rest, or sell as a whole as a donor car. Either way, I wouldn't get much for it, right? No MOT or anything...

You used to be able to get a cooper or MG engined mini to do up for about £500 but I can't see any at the moment. You can only get run down 998's for that kind of money now. Am I right?

If so, I figure I'm best off doing this one up and playing with that rather than trying to find a "normal" cooper, that might turn out to have more problems than my Q plate!

Waddyall think?

Cheers
Ruth

[Brawlyrox]

well if you want to do it up brilliant, by the sounds of it was built originally after 1984 as this is when front disks and rear opening windows were introduced, but dont quote me on that, also the centre clocks can be converted.

Click here this is quite indepth HERE

[The_Mini_Bug]

hi welcome to the site

[marksmini's better half]

Hello and welcome to the site I hope you enjoy your stay

[ruth11]

Hello All,

After a bit of research (on the website mentioned in a post above - thanks!) I'm beginning to think that my car is a mixture of marks!

I think I've got a mk 2 front end (I don't have any side repeaters and the grille looks the same)... My bonnet has never fitted, which means that I probably have a mk4+ bonnet when I need a mk2!

I don't have the external door hinges though. And I guess it means that the brakes have been replaced with discs as part of the rebuild. Makes sense when you consider that they originally put in an MG metro engine.

What a palarva! I'm going to have a lot of fun trying to find the right parts to fit - my other half thinks it's quite possible that my front end is a different mark to the rear end!! Although I can tell you that I don't have reversing lights, even though I DO have opening rear windows!

I just thought you might like to know.... If you can think of any other distinguishing features I should be looking out for, I would greatly appreciate it!

Cheers
Ruth

[Freda]

I can't help you much with marks - but it sounds like a unique mini you've got - any pics?

[ruth11]

Could get some done!

It's not in great shape at the moment though - missing one window and a rear light cluster!

But that's why I want to do it up!

I'll see what I can do in the next couple of days...

[Bluemini]

Welcome to the site mate, you've got a Mk4...

[Brawlyrox]

nice 1 rich, but ruth get some piccies up!!

[Stingray]

by the sounds of it was built originally after 1984 as this is when front disks and rear opening windows were introduced, but dont quote me on that, also the centre clocks can be converted.

True, but so can the brakes. Post some pictures. Preferably several from different angles.

-S