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Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S
https://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=87046
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Author:  Stibbsy [ Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:14 am ]
Post subject:  Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

After reading similar posts on Mk 2 'S"s and seeing there are a few people on this site that have a lot of knowledge, I would like to to give over my numbers on my 'S" for your expert opinion.
Chassis # YG2S4-1193
Eng # 9FXEY 53911
Original Colour: Crystal White
No compliance plate. Lockheed brake booster with tin can type brake M/Cyl and later type Clutch M/Cyl.
Not sure where it come from before I got it - possibly NSW.
I have owned it since 1989. It was restored, but not a good job. I striped it down a few years ago and it has been a slow process since.
The colour will be crystal white with a black roof and black upholstery. It has Contessa Mags, but I have a set of LP883 rims
:?: :?:

Author:  winabbey [ Sat Aug 30, 2014 1:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

Hi Stibbsy,

Your car's chassis and engine numbers are included in the Cooper S register but no other details, so I'll add the body and interior colours. Was it monotone Crystal White originally? Interestingly the car just after yours (chassis 1195) is shown as being painted Crystal White/Black (probably black body and white roof) and black interior so your planned colour choice seems historically appropriate. Delivery date of yours would appear to be around October/November 1969 so no ID plate or ADR compliance plate would've been fitted. There is no exact documented date on the changeover of brake and clutch master cylinders to the plastic reservoir type so having a tin tank m/c is probably correct for that era, as is the Lockheed booster.

Cheers,
Doug

Author:  Stibbsy [ Sat Aug 30, 2014 3:50 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

Thanks Doug for the info. Yes, I would say it was all Crystal White originally. When I got it in '89, it had been painted in Lake or Cedar green. It also had another coat underneath that, which looked like Portsea Blue - a GM colour - EH Premier. So I have to strip back to bare metal for the restoration. Thankfully the only rust was in the sill panels and the usual battery box.
It had also been in a prang, the front grille panel was normal mini. I have had that changed back to original 'S'
It even has a Mk 1 bonnet as the holes for the Mk 1 badge have been filled in. I have done a lot to the mechanicals of the car over the years to get it safe to drive and back to original. Replace the steering rack and front driveline components. Fit the correct Smiths Guages etc.
At this time, I am getting the subframes ready to be refitted to the body.
One day, it might get on the road

Author:  TartanCooper [ Sat Aug 30, 2014 6:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

Sounds like a typical Cooper S by the late 80's. Numerous owners each having applied their own taste and most not caring too much about originality. By the late 80s prices were slowly climbing but in the preceding 10 years most could be bought as just another knackered Cooper S for not a lot.
Your numbers appear about right for the period to match. Just as long as all the other small differences stack up too though. Should have the car number on the radiator cowl and body number in the drip channel. Heater supports, fuel pump breather, fuel tank breather pipes, etc, etc. I'm assuming its thick flange Cooper S block
When you say it has a normal Mini front panel, I assume you're talking from an earlier Mini. Be weary because there's plenty of variations throughout the Australian production and I don't just mean a straight or vertical brace and it either has or has no cut outs under the bumper. Let alone one of the later UK Mini front panels that were available in Australia during the 80s and beyond. At the very least make sure your car has the 'right look' of vertical brace (spot welded), cut outs and narrow right angle brackets for the number plate holder to secure to, spot welded to the front panel at same length as a typical Australian number plate of the era. Not the spacing for a step down version from earlier cars. Other things can be different too. But I won't bore you.
If you're going to the trouble of restoring the car, those fiddly little things like above are the difference between a good and a great resto. Yes the hours can disappear in correcting inaccuracies but the end result will be worth it.
It's your call on the roof, but could vinyl wrap be considered an option for the black roof? Meaning you could then paint the whole car Crystal white and potentially give you an out if the black roof decision was changed. With BMC and all the entities, you can never say never, but I have no recollection of ever stumbling upon a factory black Australian MkII S
Now it's hard to check, but years ago it was more often one paint decal attached to the majority of still original engine bay bulkheads. Rare to even see the evidence where a second decal once sat. Meaning most of the MkII went through mono colour. You can call it fashion, but in BMC terms it was less effort and more cost effective to produce a single coloured car. Then let the dealers sort out a second colour if the purchaser wanted the contrasting roof.

Author:  Stibbsy [ Sat Aug 30, 2014 6:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

Funny you should mention a black vinyl roof. My first car was modified '60 Mini, painted in Sultan Maroon with a black vinyl roof. I've photos of it, so I'll try and scan them and put them on the site.

Author:  TartanCooper [ Sat Aug 30, 2014 7:03 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

Vinyl wrap's not like the old fashioned vinyl roof though. Modern way to do a colour change without actually painting. More like a skin.

Author:  winabbey [ Thu Sep 04, 2014 9:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

TartanCooper wrote:
Meaning most of the MkII went through mono colour.

There are about 300 MK II S's listed in the Cooper S register, of about 2400 that were built. Roughly 60% of cars in the register with a colour scheme listed are duotone. It would be wrong to extrapolate that 60% across the total production but anecdotal evidence says there were quite a few duotone cars. Of course NSW Police took about 600 MK II's and these would all be monotone.

Just a little bit of trivia to add to the discussion. :)

Author:  TartanCooper [ Fri Sep 05, 2014 1:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

It's all very well to say they're duotone now, but in the full context of my comment above, years ago before cars were restored with the possibility of a full colour change and/or colours added most original engine bays had one decal attached to the bulkhead near the master cylinders.
You only need to take Camino Gold as an example. Quite common when new. Now not so, as restored examples become various shades of red, green, blue, etc and maybe the addition of a white roof. Sometimes they even come out of a BMC paint chart list. All because fashion dictates the owner not wishing to put up with the usual comment of 'baby sh1t brown' for his car's colour.
Once the colour change takes place and later on down the track is sold, often the knowledge of what the original colour was, is lost with changes of ownership. Be it by not being documented, failing memory or not even caring. Not all Mini owners and society in general are born with the pedantic gene to care.
Ultimately BMC were making things easier for their own livelihood, not fussing about enthusiasts 45 years down the track.

Author:  winabbey [ Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:04 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

TartanCooper - The MK II Cooper S I purchased new in 1969 was Indigo Blue body and Crystal White roof. I don't remember if it had two paint stickers or just one showing both colours. That might be a good question to ask others on the forum who have a good memory or an unmolested example to reference. All the Cooper S's at the dealerships I visited at the time were duotone. The easiest way to recognise a Cooper S from a distance in the 1960's and 1970's was its duotone paint, predominately sporting a white roof but sometimes another colour.

There a many Ausmini members who were young adults in the Cooper S era that I'm sure would give an opinion on the ratio of monotone and duotone Cooper S's if you are still unconvinced. Watto and John Smidt would be authoritative on this topic.

By the way, my current 1970 MK II S is ex-NSW Police so is monotone Baltic Blue with a single paint sticker on the firewall. From my research I understand monotone paint in a bland colour was a specific requirement for NSW Police unmarked Cooper S pursuit vehicles so they weren't easily recognisable as such by the motoring public.

Author:  drmini in aust [ Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:21 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

I was here then, I wanted a Cooper S but they were hard to get (and expensive) for us young blokes. Dealers tried to steer us into a Deluxe or Mini K instead. :x
Most Cooper S sold seemed to be duotone, except those being bought by The Fuzz.
White roof on red, blue or green body was very popular.

Author:  Stibbsy [ Fri Sep 05, 2014 4:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

As I said mine has been resprayed a couple of times by previous owners, but the Dulux paint code sticker has been re-stuck back on the firewall each time (how thoughtful!). During strip down there is evidence of Crystal White behind the fuel tanks and parcel shelf. What I remember of the colours, if it was Crystal White, Camino Gold or even Jet Red, they were monotone, but there was probably an option for a white roof with coloured car.

Author:  AWOODY [ Sat Sep 06, 2014 6:06 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Identify my '69 Mk2 Cooper S

My 1st cooper s was a 70 jet red monotone, the 2nd s was I think a 67 mk1 marine blue with white roof, the 3rd was a 68 mk1 indigo blue monotone.

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