Ok well my car has been written off by the assesor and I get the car back (shannons over 30yr policy).

Now I'm all eager to hurry up and restore her back to former glorry and better but my mechanic suggested that it might be stupid to do so and that I should atleast consider the option of buying an already finished car - Maybe even an original S.

I'm still not sure what I'm gonna do and I dont feel really good about "deserting" my mini for another but I have been looking at a few cars in the meantime. Anyway I saw this MK1 Coop S that seems strange, and I need some advice etc. So here goes:

Its a 1966 MK1 car. The colour seems to be the correct Toga White with a Tartan Red roof. The owner says he owned the car for a year but his mate had it for 20 and restored it more than a decade ago. The paintwork seems to be very nice (mind you he obviously washed it before I got there) and no obvious scratches etc. The owner is a panel beater though so you never know. It seems pretty original without any flares with the only external departure being a bullet mirror and a rather ugly pop riveted alloy strip instead of the correct sill finisher (which he says is NLAvailable). NO RESTO RECEIPTS AND NO OTHER PAPERWORK IS AVAILABLE + NO ORIGINAL LOGBOOK AND NO PREVIOUS GREEN SLIPS.
Some minor surface rust spots at the bumper mountings etc but the underbody is dry, clean and sound and rust free (apparently). The rear door bins bottoms are dry and again seem rust free the floor hasnt been butchered by fools with jacks. Original vented steel wheels with period Michelins (not Dunlop Aquajets mind you).

The interior ranges from what the brits call "nicely patinated" to worn. The actual red vinyl trim on seats, panels etc is pretty clean and not torn or abused but its starting to unglue and become tatty. The red carpet is an early one or an original one and is ok. Nothing there I think that a trimmer cannot fix with very minimal (if any) replacement. Headlining is good. Many door etc rubbers are going south
The instrumentation appears to be orig. MK1 with the temp gauge broken. The column shroud is cracked.

Under the bonnet - trouble.
1) There is no body # on the radiator shroud and I doubt its hidden under paint.
2) Both the MCs are later MK2 tower type units and the copper piping will have to be replaced.
2) the chassis plate is riveted to the bulkhead and says
TYPE: YKG2S2
Car #: 21xx
Engine #: 9F/Sa/Y 425xx
Colour: 1/Toga White/1
(I'm using xx to denote numbers above to protect the seller).

3) The engine number is 9FXEY 549xx
and its a Cooper S engine (rear breaders on a 1275 block)

The boot latch is numbered "7 / 65" the wiper motor '66.

SO I gather from above that the car type is an MK1 Aussie Coop S, the car # at 2100+ is correct for a 66 car. But the engine doesnt correspond to the actual engine installed which I gather is an early MK2 S engine. RIGHT?
The colour is the correct #1 tartan red andf Toga white RIGHT?
4) The engine seems ok it starts fist go with choke (I let him wait till the car cooled down) and settles to a nice steady idle + lovely exhaust note.

The engine bay is neat with a correct cuttoff SU filter box and a Lokheed booster.
The firewall is dirty / rusty (though I proded it and it seems very solid) - seems like the paint burnt off and it was sprayed with an undersealer or something.

So I'm going there again to drive it and do some nit picking, but wanted as much advice as possible -
what do you think of the condition?
How serious is the lack of a number on the rad shroud?
What about the actual engine\ chassis plate mismatch - could there be a difference of 8,000 numbers between the body and engine number?
Is anyone interested in having a look at it with me (in SYDNEY CBD)?

The seller is asking for $15k which I will not pay. As I still havent made an offer please PM me any advice on price rather than posting it here, Please?

Thanks for any replies and sorry for the lenght.

Mike, that is a Mk2 2 S motor not Mk1.
My Mk2 S motor is 9F/XE/Y554** and according to my sources was fitted to a car in 1970, so I reckon that motor to be probably a 1969.
After 40 years it's maybe expecting a lot to find S's with matching engine numbers... unless it was a collector's car. This one of mine was in our 68 S.

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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.

There is an S for up here on the coast.

As far as I know all numbers match and its running.

BUT, I do know he is chasing about $17,000 for it.

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No more Minis!......For now.

Just keep looking, i picked up a genuine 68 MK1 Cooper S earlier this year for $8750 for a mate of mine, it was a complete running car, a bit untidy though, but under $1000 bought it up to very good condition, its a buyers market, wait for the right car & haggle like hell for it.

Doogie

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I won Hay once, here's the pic to prove it..


Hay, it's not about the car, it's not about the venue, it's about the people that come here. Peter Dwyer, Mayor of Hay NSW.

Well for $15k you would want something with matching numbers , don"t buy a bodgied one , which is what the one you have described is . So keep looking , you seem to know what you are looking at , regarding engine and body numbers etc etc ....

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1965 Morris 850
1966 Morris Mini Minor
1967 Morris Cooper 'S'
1977 Leyland LS

I would personally be wary of a "genuine" car without a body number stamped on it . Have you checked the firewall as well as the radiator panel ? Also , if you can (well , if the rubbers gone from the radiator panel and you have thin fingers) see if you can feel the underside of the panel for the stamps if they've been painted/bogged over . If you can feel them , count the digits and compare them with the given body number . Also check the back of the firewall below the plate if you can ease the trim out a bit , just in case it's a rebodied job ....

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Mike,
Things to check
CAR number should be stamped on firewall below ID plate. Just the number (not the complete code YKG etc).
Original ID plate should be pop riveted in place.
The BODY number and PRODUCTION code should be stamped on the radiator shroud. The BODY number should be approx 500 less than the CAR number. The production code should be M2 06 for a genuine S shell.
The car number was stamped on the firewall AFTER the car was painted. The numbers on the radiator shroud were stamped BEFORE the car was painted.

As DRMINI says the engine is a MK2 from late 69 early 70. I have a MK2 engine in the 545xx range from a car with a build date of 2/70.

The RED roof is not original, at least not from the factory, as the only colour on the ID plate is the Toga White body colour. If it came from the factory with a red roof it should be on the ID plate. Most cars were two toned from the factory, mostly with a white roof. The cars were painted completely in the body colour and then the roof colour painted over the body colour.

The aircleaner is NOT correct for a MK1. The cutoff corner was only on MK2 cars. (It's to fit LHD cars fitted with plastic tank master cylinders)
It should have metal tank master cylinders and the copper piping has to go. It's unsafe and I believe illegal. Copper will workharden and crack due to vibration. (I think what you see on some UK cars is copper coated steel bundy tubing for rust prevention and is not necessary in OZ.)

The sill trim strip as far as I know is still readily available although I haven't bought any for a long time. It still seems to be in the Karcraft catalogue.

It wouldn't have flairs unless it was originally registered in South Australia.

There were only about 5000 MK1 OZ built cars with the first CAR number being YKG2S2 501.
S engine numbers start at 30000 with a few different prefixes but ALL starting with 9F and all sourced from the UK. OZ built cars should have an engine number prefix of 9F/Sa/Y for MK1 and 9F/XE/Y for MK2. There is some argument about whether the "Sa" actually stamped on the block is with an "a" or an "A". It's allways seems to be shown as an "a" on printed paperwork/ manuals/ parts lists etc.

For $15K its pedigree would have to be unquestioned with matching numbers and fully documented with comprehensive paperwork. Unless you can get it a lot cheaper give it a miss. Depends on how much you want a provable genuine car. Probably best to repair your own known car.

Hope this helps
RonR

The stainless steel trim might be the 3 piece type fitted to 997, 998 and english Cooper S's. Basically any english Cooper or Super I believe as well car fitted without flares. This was often held on with pop rivets.

The pieces from memory consisted of the two arches and a straight piece for each side.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

thanks for the help guys - yea 15k is way too much - no way is he getting anywhere near that (I might just repair mine or hold out for a matching numbers car).

should check out trade me there are a few on there at the moment.
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... d=49905136
http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motor ... 070243.htm

but then i suppose its not what your after.
I know some who is selling a mk2 S in really good condition for $19500 but hey it might be too much still.


you can look but leave our cars here as i know an elf just left here today to the sydney region.

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www.minicranks.com add me to your watch list and come back again soon, under construction.

mate check the auctions at shannons

www.shannons.com.au

there is a mk2 s all matchin numbers commin up for auctions. not sure on
price though

Had a look but couldnt find it - is it in "upcoming auctions"?