I personally reckon discs are a must. But as said above done up drums (nice pads) wil ldo the job. I like boosted discs, stops really well especially with the do-before-you-think-drivers of today around! 1275 is a good cheap way (not that cheap but can be) for instant power gain. I don't and injected mini is a really good idea unless you know a bit about the electronic side of it. A carby mini is easy to tune and fix etc. $5500 for a front cut isn't cheap but Minisport quoted me 4 grand for a rebuilt 1275 engine and gearbox! So I made some calls and found a good rebuilt Cooper S motor from Blair Athol Auto parts for $3250. Shop around, there are a few min places around, Mini Tech, Blair Athol Atuo Parts aka Mini King, Brickworx, Minisport, Newport Motors, any I've missed?

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Doogie,
This is the classic symptom of the forward clutch plates worn out.
I put 2 new ones into Brad's recently and it only cost $82.50 all up for the plates and gaskets (front and forward clutch cover).
We adjusted the bands whilst we were in there.
Took a couple of hours total.

It's a motor/box out job, but motor stays on box, with everything attached.
PM me for more info.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Late model gearboxes are notorious. A friend once sold his VERY low mileage Cooper back to JC Garages - he'd been out of the country and the car was hardly used. All they wanted to check was the gearbox before handing over the readies..

Cheers, Ian

bigblock engines are too expensive, you can buy a whole mini for the cost of a good one, plus that and every tom dick and harry has a worked 1275 that will blow yours away..

the trick is to be happy with what you got i think and not worry about competing with everyone else

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i dont remember saying that, still.... good enough for what?

The trick is to be happy with your car and to stop listening to people that tell you that every tom dick and harry has a worked 1275 that will blow yours away.

Here's a front cut (auto) for $2500, I think $5500 is takin the piss a bit.

This is in WA but shipping wouldn't be $3000. Have a look at the Quokka.com.au he's usually advertising one. (I don't know any thing about this bloke).


And my SPI is great to drive, though because there are less of them and more complicated it can be more work. Just make sure your vaccume pipes (just had mine done) and sensors are fine and you'll be okay.

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i think you guys will find that $5500 will get you a manuel 1.3i halfcut and the autos are around $3000- $4000 you have to you pay extra for maunel as it wont stuff up like the auto ones. i do belive that if your after trying to rebuild a mini on a buget that a half cut i worth looking at. i have one on its way at the moment. it was a 998cc half cut but i dont need the motor as i have a good one so they ripped it out. but it has disc brakes,brake booster, a/c,heater,wood grain dash,gauges that work, wiring loom thats not stuffed with. iginition that keys stay in, all the need nuts and bolts,also got a gearbox that has been checked and service as the person wasn't happy with 2nd gear and a set of 4 rover 12" mag wheels and i'm sure there is more that i have missed but the lot has cost me less then $3500.

so i would say if you payed say $500 for a mini, $1000 for paint and panels, the $3500 for enought parts to fit out the running gear(add $700 if you want the 998cc engine) and then $500 for jap interior.

now that adds upto $6300 so if we say $7000 for any little extras(radio,sports steeering wheel) i would say it's a cheap way to build a mini.but that is just my opition

Yeah I see your point dude, BUT I reakon with a bit of D.I.Y and some scabbing I could do it a bit cheaper than that....... hopefully
cheers

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Not wanting to tread on anyones toes the frontcuts are expensive, it is a second hand engine and gearbox combo that you have know idea how its been treated or serviced, cnaces are that the motor and gearbox will need rebuilding within 12 months, sure you do get the airconand the dash and maybe its EFI ( which is crap anyway ) but its not the fault of the importer it is so expensive, by the time they freight it in and pay all the crap duties and taxes and the japs are laughing all the way to the bank because actually they are forced to get these cars wrecked or sold out of Japan to save them the extra cost of keeping them in Japan.

You see how much a jap frontcut costs for any other brand, you can buy a lexus V8 quad cam for a grand, a complete toyo or honda for 2-3000 it just makes sense to not buy a mini frontcut at these prices, its about time the importers here told the Japs to bugga off and get real, they have no where eles to send em except to the scrap market

Jon

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Roundies and Clubbies(except vans) are both ugly that is why I have Midas and a van
1293 Mini Midas Bronze,1275 Clubman van

Ferilsprint, I heard a different story. Yes it's true about the wrecking as it cost's too much to keep an old car on the raod but I heard, (and my dad saw many of them in Tokyo 3 years ago on a business trip) that they are a cult car over there and many people stick it out and pay the taxes until it's too much and get rid of a 20 year one and buy a 10-15 year old one, but this will go a bit crazy as time goes on as the last models were 1999, but anyways jsut something to think about.

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1964 Morris 850, 1330 Supercharged - 81.8hp atws.
1975 Leyland Mini S 1100S powered - Nice and reliable.
1977 Leyland Mini LS - Project LS-T

Yep, sounds just like a foward clutch. Piece of piss to fix. But if you really want to do the job you should add a third plate to the clutch while it is out.

According to Todd Miller's US site the best trick is use 3 top/reverse plates- they are kevlar, not that glorified paper....

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

The operative word here is was,,word from the UK is that for the last 5 years the sale of Mini's to Japan has just about ceased except for true classics or outstanding modified race cars, the last built minis are now of an age to be no longer able to be kept on the road in Japan without huge financial cost, as the last couple of people from Ausmini who were over there found you dont see many at all except in private collections from the sellers, if your happy to pay $5500 for a front cut thats your decision but in comparison to all the other front cuts they import its way overpriced and they sell cheap in Japan< ICI only 12 months ago were selling complete cars for race use only for $5500 and the last one they had for a long time


Jon

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Roundies and Clubbies(except vans) are both ugly that is why I have Midas and a van
1293 Mini Midas Bronze,1275 Clubman van