Hey all,

first of all this is an awesome site! love the information on it.

I have a question, I have been given the job of restoring my bosses 1970 mini cooper s mk2 . however after running all the numbers it turns out the poor thing has been rebodied with a mini k shell.

is it worth restoring this to concourse? or is it imperative that the numbers match and has a cooper s body.

the original plan was the completely restore it to original condition. but maybe modernising it a bit is a better option? what would a car like this be worth?

the whole driveline is still a cooper s with working hydrolastic and all that. the history of the car is that the first owner raced it. which must be why there is a replacement body

thanks for any help!

shaun

This may not be what the owner wants to hear but if it's a Mini K body then it will never be an original, authentic Cooper S, always a replica. Standing side by side with an original Cooper S the physical differences may be very minor - a few spot welds in a different place, some stamped numbers that differ and a hole or two in a different spot, but it's those things that make a Cooper S what it is and hence result in a higher value when it comes time sell, even though both cars may have virtually the same feel, sound and performance when driven.

There will be a difference in resale value between the two, assuming the condition of the body and mechanicals are the same. I would suggest at least $10,000 more for a genuine Cooper S.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

Just my guestimate in the current market, based on genuine concourse condition:

1970 Mini K original - $12-$18K
1970 Mini K / Cooper S replica - $15-$20K
1970 Cooper S MkII original - $22-$45K

Feel free to make your own alternate $ range suggestions.

It will always be looked upon as a replica, but who cares?

It would be cheaper and more fun to do it as a Cooper S replica to casual inspection only, in my opinion. I.e. it looks pretty much like one from the outside, but the mechanical/suspension/brakes side of things is all uprated with modern parts. Depends what you're after though, but that would look just as good and probably be better to drive.

thanks for your replies!

I thought that was the case, which is very disappointing as its an awesome little car. the idea was to do a full nut and bolt restore.

but if it will always be looked at as a replica. should we go down the path of upgrading? put springs it, ditch the hydrolastic (drivers side has sunk down) and uprate everything else. the 1275 has been rebored to larger into the 1300s .

he wants to drive it to, but wants me to do whatever to maximise its value when it comes to selling and buying a new project.

If he just wants a fun mini to drive, then sell all the genuine Cooper S bits and replace them with others that don't attract "Cooper S tax". Look at the recent eBay sale of a complete S power unit for $4250, heaters for over $400 and speedo units for heaps. Even the proper S hydro bags are likely to sell well. Interior trim, if in good nick is also likely to sell well.

Use the inflated sale price of those parts to buy a generic 1275 power unit (Morris 1100S, Moke or Rover mini), put springs or cones in, put in a Deluxe speedo, Rover heater from a Jap import etc, etc. Then it is never a 'Fake' and when it is sold nobody will be taken for a ride. Not that you boss might but the next owner may lie to the next owner and on it goes.

He ends up with an honest and fun upgraded Deluxe and a bunch of real S restorations get the parts they need. (as long as they don't go to other fakes....)

M

+1

_________________
1963 Morris 850 Smoke Grey
1963 Morris 850 Shadow Blue
1965 Morris Mini Smooth Van
1966 Morris Mini Van
1969 Morris Mini Deluxe Resto
5/72 Clubman Gt

Personally Im over the whole cooper s "thing". Yes they are lovely cars but as mentioned the cooper s tax you pay on parts is stupid. I have just sold my mk2 which I spent seriously stupid amounts of money on to restore it to showroom condition. Every time I drove it I would be barraged with the enivitable "is it a real cooper blah blah" and people going out of their way to try and find fault in it at shows etc.

Now I prefer my more rarer models, my pickup, riley elf, countryman, moke and my almost finished fuel injected supercharged 1293 roundy. I have others in various states of restoration but the best part is im not bound by how anything should be, I can build it as I want for the most amount of fun.

Fun is what these cars are all about so in my opinion dont go down the concourse road, build it as a fun little car to whatever spec the owner wants.

_________________
1965 Riley Elf
1974 Ex Army Moke
1997 Rover Cooper
2002 JCW Cooper
2003 JCW Cooper S

I agree.... You got it Babes

+1 for babes.

_________________
The best part of fixing your mini is the test drive

Minis..

1976 van daily drive
1975 van
1968 deluxe in the shed
1967 deluxe high strung 1310
1959 austin healey sprite

+2 for babes

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1975 Hairy Lime/White Clubby
Build Thread: http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=80657

+3 for babes.
When we owned Barney (`67 S replica) we didn't dare park him anywhere too public. Yes, he was a replica but looked real enough to crims. It was a worry so in a couple of years we sold him.

I like my wasaMatic sleeper better- IMO most mainstream Minis (even 850s & `matics) were a blank canvas, so do to `em what ya want, it's your car.

_________________
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.

+4 for Babes!
My signature says this too.

Cheers Shane

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If it's not a Cooper S, the mini was designed to be modified!

Yea, I agree.
Make it individual.
personally, I'd love to fit a radford hatch to my 850.

_________________
Tim
Dusk Blue
1964 850

The question "is it worth restoring this to concourse?" is more about the boss deciding if he wants to feel like he's driving around 45 years ago or he wants to enter it to concourse competitions. If the former and he's paying you, don't disappoint him with your quality of workmanship. If the latter then he's going to be forever loosing.

Maybe there should be a cooper s original replica class! they would get a lot more entrants then original class!