Hi guys,

I wonder if you can help me ID my mini

Came across this guy last week, a tiny for sale bit of paper in the back window.
Bit the bullet and now I'm the proud owner of I'm not sure what.

The documentation says it's a 1979 mini with a 1300 engine
The owner bought it from a NZ guy, who said he'd imported it from Japan
They'd riveted on a new ID plate on it somehow making it 1979 to get it through all the import restrictions (see pic)

Thankfully I have all the import papers and it has been registered in NSW and WA (still reg in NSW) so I'm not worried about compliance

It was sold to me as a roughly 1990 Rover mini SPI
It did previously have the fuel injection, and all the rover familiar parts are in a box, but now has a 1.75 carb conversion kit fitted as it was previously stalling

It has AC, immobiliser, and the interior is very Rover, but I still don't quite know what it is I'm driving around! My thoughts are it could be an early model with sportspack conversion, and a very detailed conversion if so

Numbers are:

VIN (on new riveted badge!)
XL2S1N8025529P

This number on front panel above the grille
B20S 994391A
I wonder if I'm in the same boat as this guy, given the B20S number...
http://www.minicooper.org/mk2-coopers/post-4460/page-1/


Engine - definitely seems to be a 90s Rover Cooper SPI 1275 engine
12A2EJ02308270





Any thoughts would be great. I'm not sure it matters as it drives and handles beautifully, but the history of these things is always half the fun.

Looking here: https://www.minimania.com/Mini_Chassis_ ... __Revised_
Your vin matches 1974 to 1980
X = nothing
L = 998
2S = 2 door sedan
1 = round nose

I would suggest looking through the electrical components - wiper motor, starter motor etc as these will often have a date stamp. There isn't much on there that looks pre 1990's to me though?

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Ah right you are. I did look through there and skimmed over that year group section as it said The general format for the VIN for these cars is: X-K2S1N-XXX-A
Me thinking the K wasn't variable...

I was assuming that if it was an older model car updated to look like a rover, then the wiper and starter would all be from the rover engine setup as well?

Anything is possible, but how far would you go when swapping an engine? That brake servo/booster only came on post 1989 cars for example. Perhaps if you had a rusty/wrecked SPI you could swap all of it into a 1979 shell. Is the washer bottle in the boot? Are the rear seatbelts anchored to the C pillar?

One way to check would be the bulkhead panel. They got rid of the roto dip hole around 1989

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So much knowledge
The rear belts are on the C pillar yes. Not sure about the washer bottle (is that a water source for a rear wiper?!).

I'll have a peek under the soundproofing behind the carb and see what I can find, thanks for the tip

They moved the windscreen washer bottle to the rear in 1991 when the big servo/booster was installed in the engine bay with the injection setup http://www.minispares.com/product/Class ... WW935.aspx

The seatbelt mount was in the C pillar from around 1995 http://www.somerfordmini.co.uk/eshop/in ... age&id=137

Of course, these could have been done by a previous owner

I have google, minispares and somerford mini websites to help!

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Looks like early-mid 90s rover to me.
Whats the vin number stamped into the body say?

That’s the first thing I looked for
The only stamped number I could find was the b20S one, on the front above the grille

From my searching the stamped vin should be on the panel to the left near the servo unit but no luck

on rovers well i know my brothers there vin plate is in the boot near the battery

The Vin is stamped into the gutter on the scuttle panel above and just to thr right of the servo.

FOUND!

Thank you for that.

SAX-X-NNAY-CBD 102393

Tucked away nicely...

So I'm seeing a Rover Cooper 1300 SPi (high compression ratio, 10.1:1)
Build number 102393


Hurrah!

And yes, washer bottle in the boot...

Is there a way of telling what year that build number places the car at?
From reading, the sportspack model started in 95 but I'm not clear if this is accurate.

Thanks again for the help getting this far...

The AC system is 1995 or earlier, I can tell that easy.
Sportspacks could have been added- only sure way to tell is to look at how the front guards have been finished under the arches.
Genuines had the the normal lip under there, and a second lip attached backing onto the first to thicken it. If the arches were added later, the return would only be single layer steel.
Factory shocks on sportspack cars were koni units, though i cant verify if they were all red or just some of them.

These good old forums
A thorough search and trawl of them found someone with a similar issue

Apparently manufacture date is on the boot lock.

Lo and behold, there it was 49 94

So I think my rover mini build number corresponds with a manufacture date of 4th september 1994, a sunday

That's probably week 49 1994!!

Haha that seems more likely than the factory running on a Sunday