hi, ive recently found cooper bare shell. Does anyone know how i could find out model etc. only numbers are [ m2 1632] on chassi, cheers!

Hi,
Did the M2 have a 06 under it?
Add about 501 to your 1632 your Car No. should be approximately 2133. If there is no body plate behind the master cylinders you may be able to find these digits(2133 approx) stamped into the firewall in 10mm sizing. This numbers should be just below the body plate and if the plate has been removed not too far under the 2 pop rivet holes. Sometimes you need to go to bare metal as it may have several layers of paint or surface rust.
By the Car No. of approx. 2133 this makes it a Mark 1 Cooper S 4/1967, Engine No:9F/Sa/Y43???, approx.
These numbers and dates are guessdamations from literature that I have, but should be close to the mark. However BMC had there own crazy sequence.
thanks

Thanks for your information, i was wondering where they come up with the number 501. this shell is completely bare but no rust in shell. The guy wants $200 for it but theres no complience plate. So what your saying is there should still be numbers where complience plate was! Is mark1 coopers the first of the coopers? Idont know a lot about them, is there any other tell tale signs its a cooper s. probaly still worth buying if these numbers match up!!! Its got a hole for right hand tank,, but i know this was a optional extra for some models, any more info that would help would be appreciated very much cheers! [email protected]

The reason they started at 501 was to convince the first customer that his car was not the first one off the line.
If the first customer looks at the number and sees number 1 he would worry that it was the very first one and had all the bugs of an early production car. So they gave him number 501 instead.

The cars started at 501.
The engines started at 1001.

Mk1 Cooper S had a body ID plate on the firewall, but it's NOT a compliance (VIN) plate.

There were neither body plates nor VIN plates fitted to cars produced from ~March 1969-December 1969.
Ist VIN plates came in, Dec 1969.

_________________
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.

I read this the other night but didnt really think too much about it....


But, about 30 minutes ago, I was out looking over my Green Roadster shell, and found something a bit interesting.....

On the Radiator shroud..... "M2" with "05" directly underneath it......... and the numbers "3435" alongside it but stamped at a different angle. But then I found some numbers on the firewall that didnt match....."3926". Straight away I thought "oh no..... its had a front end swap".

I just re-read this thread..... and noticed Gezo said: "Add about 501 to your 1632 your Car No. should be approximately 2133"

So I guess that means my numbers are about right then? There is no plate on the firewall (has been drilled off by the looks of it).

My question would be.... does "M2 05 - 3435" make my shell anything special, or is it still just the deluxe that I thought it was?

_________________
[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

Just wondering what the number under the 'M2' is

There has been 05 and 06 mentioned, well mine is 15, what does it all mean

Steve

So can anybody help me with this?

stamped like this on the shroud...


3435

M2
05

_________________
[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

I'm afraid M2 05 is just an ordinary Mini. (Well that is if you consider any Mini to be ordinary. They are all EXTRAORDINARY, some more than others)
M2 06 is the magic number which signifies it came down the production line as a Cooper. Can't remember if it was only Cooper S or if 997 and 998 Coopers also used the same production code. I have a vague recollection that all Coopers used the M2 06 code.
The number on the radiator shroud is the BODY number. The number stamped on the firewall is the CAR number.
CAR numbers start at 501. BODY numbers start at 0001.
As a best guess the M2 means Morris 2 door body. Not necessarily Minis only but any 2 door Morris body. eg Morris Minor 2 door.
I think the M2 15 probably applies to the original ADO 15 designation.
Sometimes the numbers are stamped inside a circle, sometimes not and can be almost anywhere on the radiator shroud. Not much consistency. It was BMC!
Other production codes of interest:
Clubman GT: M2 23
Mini 1100: M2 21
Mini 1100 Van: MV 21
Mini Clubman: M2 22
All stamped on firewall behind the clutch master cylinder
Later cars have VIN numbers on the radiator shroud. Don't know much about these.

RonR

My question relating to the "15" on mine I suppose has been partly addressed by Miniron.

However just to throw a spanner in the works my car with the M2 15 in a circle is on a '65 998 Cooper with matching numbers (plate to engine).

Any further thoughts on this

Cheers
Steve

The codes 21, 22 and 23 refer to the YDO codes for the Mini 1100 (YDO21) Mini Clubman (YDO22) and Clubman GT (YDO23).

I think that further reseach is needed.

Was the Cooper with the 15 a CKD or was it built in Aus?
Could all the UK bodies have a 15?

Hi

Mine is a very late 998 Cooper, I think it is the latest known so would be an Australian built model. It also has the 9Y/Sa/H motor which I believe was only in Australian built cars.

Steve

I think maybe the 05 on mine is an 06 that wasnt stamped properly......... better go fix it I guess

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[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs

Morris 1100,

The production codes directly relate to the YDO numbers.
YDO stands for Australian Design Office. ADO stands for Austin Design Office.
For some reason best known to BMC the letter Y was used to designate things with an Australian origin.
Australian modified designs and parts sourced from Australia tended to use a Y in the code somewhere. YDO for cars and eg AYA for part numbers. But for parts it is not consistent as some UK part numbers have a Y in them. Haven't really got to the bottom of all this yet.
Someone out there must have the knowledge or info. Don't take it to the grave with you.

RonR

Something tells me he already has.......

_________________
[NATHAN] -- Sold everything mini related and am back in big beautiful BMWs