Hi Guys,

I picked this up in January and didn't have a good look at it until yesterday. Is it just me or does it look like it has never been used?

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Looks like a fresh one to me.
That is a late 202 head, you can tell by the flat face at the manifold ports, and the numbers near the thermostat.

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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.

A witness would be the condition of the water jacket. Look for pitting and heavy corrossion consistent with years of coolant flowing through. There's moulding flashes and metal tape remants used to hold the internal sand cores together at the factory which will give it away as these should still be bright and undamaged.

I would also look at the condition of the threads around the thermostat. They should be neat, sharp and clean. These threads always degrade over time from abuse and corrosion. Look for pitting in the thermostat area as well on the machined surfaces, and witness marks of washers and nuts being applied to the head as they're torqued down hard.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

Valve seats look pitted as does the thermostat lip...

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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

And I can see what look like bore outlines on the underside...

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

New or not, if it ain't cracked it's a good one.
202s are less likely to do this than the 295s.
It also looks like it has exhaust inserts? Maybe...

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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.

In the first pic, is that a hole in the bottom of the thermostat housing end?

It is a strange one. I've cleaned off a little of the protective grease now and there are no marks or scratches to suggest valve springs, spark plugs and head bolts have ever been tightened up.

There is definitely some pitting to the surface though

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Yes its a hard one to tell from here. It does look very clean and new, but I am unsure why I would be able to see the outline of the bores on the underside.. There may be a machining process at the factory which leaves a mark, but I don't think so.

John Schmidt would have seen a few.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

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

Used, thermostat area corrosion, heater outlet area corrosion, studs fitted, etc,.
end of story.

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Why is it the things that make me tick, are also the things that make me go boom?

Here are a few more photos. It looks clean enough that maybe the top and bottom were skimmed and new valve guides were installed (they have no marks inside either), but it measures at full thickness.

Here is the where the head bolt/nut would get tightened

Combustion chamber

Manifold surface. There is still a nice milled surface on it.


Regardless of whether it has been used or not, it'll go nicely on top of my engine

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