Learn Me: Classic Mini

Ok so once my daily is paid off at the end of the year I will be in the market for a classic mini.

Do i get one imported from Japan?

Do i try to find one here?

I would like a 1275 car.

I would also consider a Honda swapped one D or B. I know these would be over my budget but I will likely honda swap one eventually, I live less than 2hrs from Minitec/Superfastminis.

How bad is the auto 1275's, I see a few of those around.

Budget will be between $12-16k most likely.

I have a 1967 Cooper S 

imported from New Zealand . 26 years ago 

mine is a 1380 mini mania 

full suspension. Roll cage. Sticky 10inch rubber. 
 

RHD, will do 80mph all day. I drive mine 8-10k miles a year 

I love the Honda kits. 

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

yea, I can get a d series mini at around $25k from someone like Gildred. I dont think minitec has any turnkey cars right now, plus i would like to experience a classic mini in stock 1275 trim to see how it is before i go honda.

My plans are a cage and to rallycross/autox it.

MrChaos said:

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

yea, I can get a d series mini at around $25k from someone like Gildred. I dont think minitec has any turnkey cars right now, plus i would like to experience a classic mini in stock 1275 trim to see how it is before i go honda.

My plans are a cage and to rallycross/autox it.

I just learned about Gildred from you. I know about the Minitec, as I looked into them about 12 years ago. I drove my car stock 1275 for 8 years. I then went to a 1380. I love my A series. I personally wouldn't get an automatic. I thought tracking mine and doing HPDE, my 1380 wouldn't last, and I will go D/B series. But mine has held up perfectly, and hasn't need much. 

Then again I am very close proximity to Graham at Heritage Garage, so I can run over them anytime to get what I need. I have done a few rally's with him south of the border. 

have you driven a efi mini? most of these later ones coming in are efi

MrChaos said:

have you driven a efi mini? most of these later ones coming in are efi

I hate carbs. Which was my reason in contacting Minitec back in the day. Our local club here has 11 D Series Mini of the 35 cars. I have driven 2. One B series and one D series. EFI is the way to go. But for someone who puts 10K miles on my Carb mini - it has been reliable 98% of the time with very minimal work. 

My checkbook is ready to do a D series, its just that my 1380 isn't dying, even though I hope for death every year. 

- they work better with 10" wheels than bigger ones

- there are no 12" tire options worth mentioning in the US

- they were designed in the 50's, they are nowhere near a modern car even near the end of the production run. This applies to maintenance and repair.

- the A series is a big part of the experience IMO. I haven't driven a Honda engined one, but I do have a small Honda with the D engine. It's very nice, but it's not a little crazy like my A series is. 

- the stock EFI was a bit of a bodge as far as I know, the cars have a weird shared port for cylinders 2 and 3 which makes it difficult.

- if the transmission on a Rover Mini has not yet been rebuilt, it will need to be rebuilt. They basically stopped setting them up properly and the idler gear will have the incorrect lash which eventually leads to self-machining and bad stuff.

They are the most fun I've ever had on 4 wheels on public roads.

Drive up to Christiansburg, VA and check out what Duncan Imports has in stock. Looks like they have around 9 right now, including this one:

I live 15 minutes away from them and purchased my 1980 Mini 1000 from them two years ago... at the time I had 5 to choose from.  They are easy to work with and a really cool place to visit in general. Mind blowing assortment of Japanese imports.  https://www.duncanimports.com/

I'm considering a honda swap, but part of me enjoys flat footing that 998 motor all the time... 

T.J. said:

They are the most fun I've ever had on 4 wheels on public roads.

 

100% truth.

Re the EFI - as Keith said, it's a bit of a bodge. The A-series engines have siamesed intake ports (and IIRC the centre exhaust port) so Austin Rover stuck a multi-port injection system on there that IIRC has a single injector for the cylinder pair. From memory this was mostly done for emissions in the EU (with the UK being the biggest market for the gasps of the Classic Minis) as various exemptions around emissions on small engined cars were expiring.

It does work, but it's not that great and most Mini people I know seem to agree that you're better off with carbs (I only ever owned Minis with carbs, so I can't attest to how good/bad the EFI ones are).

JDM Minis have some JDM-specific parts on them and IIRC may even come with aircon, which is something unheard of with most of the late model EU delivered ones.

Other than the usual British build quality that can show how badly the workers needed their next cuppa, the big issues with these is rust. Rover never got the rust issues sorted out, even on the very latest ones. While you can get a Heritage shell for them, I would recommend buying the one with the best shell and worry less about the oily bits.

Don't be like me and buy one, take it to the local Mini specialist who then calls you back and tells you "your battery needs a new car". Yes, that actually happened to me in the UK with my second Mini (a 1275GT).

It might be duncan who I will go to as they are reasonably close and have a few at any given time.

Yea the JDM ones all have AC

Shouldn't have clicked on the Duncan Imports link. I was vaguely aware of the Mitsuoka Zero-1 they have, but I really didn't need to know about the 20B Cosmo and the various AZ-1s.

BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) said:

Shouldn't have clicked on the Duncan Imports link. 

Try living in the same town as them! I have to try real hard to ignore the fact that they are right around the corner. 

BFH_Garage said:

BoxheadTim (Forum Supporter) said:

Shouldn't have clicked on the Duncan Imports link. 

Try living in the same town as them! I have to try real hard to ignore the fact that they are right around the corner. 

I would image that being very bad for my wallet.

Good thing about Duncan is, 99.9% of the items they sell are illegal in CA and can't be registered here. Keeps the lust in check while looking at their site. 

Of course all the CA people that buy Duncan cars, register them in SD or MT or OR. 

Of course CHP here created a rule, you can call the plate in and tatle on them, since CA was losing so much sales tax. Lot less people do it these days. 

**yes I have MT plated cars. Yes I am a tax dodger. No, I haven't been reported to CHP**

im guessing it will be around May of next year when i pick one up