it seems mini car parts are just getting more expensive . they are rising and rising. by the time i will have the money to buy them they will be to expensive again .

is the dream of the perfect mini still worth going after, or should i keep my money and, dare i say it...look at other cars ?

advice pleeease...

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Sunday Morning Mini Sprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGuzqBQ32Q my "rendezvous"

Hi Andrew ,
It's still worth going for , but you've just got to accept that you can't go into any auto place and get cheap performance bits for them live you can a ford or holden . You've got a great source of parts near you with Bruns wreckers and as for the moe performance bit's just keep an eye out , there should still be a few moke's rusting away in the hills above Mullum , used to be a heap around there so they must be somewhere , find a rusty 1275 californian moke and you've got a 1275 motor and big disc brakes . Just keep looking and talking to people and mainly let people know you're interested in mini's , you might be surprised what turns up and often cheaply .

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I know what you mean, the budget I allowed to rebuild my car won't go far at all, so my car is now a lomg term project to give more time to find or restore parts for less cash.
So, with the mini being put off, I went out and ordered a new car.

Depends on your idea of the perfect mini. My idea of a perfect mini is one that's reliable and driveable as my primary car and in good mechanical/body nick.

So long as you've got that foundation, other parts can be budgeted for and added over time.

Shard

my idea of my perfect mini, is 1275 engine if not bigger, adjustable suspension, 10" 4.5" inch wheels with good tread, uniquik paint job-rust free, all the little accessories and cooper s disc brakes. and it is those disc brakes which have brought this change of tune. i am getting quotes/estimates and they are starting to cost around as much as i bought my car for ($1500).

these parts are very hard to afford for a check-out-chick.

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Sunday Morning Mini Sprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGuzqBQ32Q my "rendezvous"

I don't know what other people have done, but part of the reason I started looking at minis all that time ago it I thought they'd be a somewhat cheap hobby car.
Man, was I wrong. I soon realised it went from cheap hobby to expensive lifestyle.

Unfortunately that's the going rate , rememeber they are off car's that at the latest were built in the late 70's (clubby GT's of course) so they are getting scarce . Try and go the moke option and 12's or 13's if you can . Remember though , the stuff you're after is probably similar to a ford guy wanting a 351 , brake's and suspension package from an early GT, rather than a standard newer falcon . Maybe start a little lower and try a worked 1100 and rebuilt drums , replace them with disc's and a 1275 as you find them . I've been fortunate to get all my stuff like that in complete but wrecked or rusted cars rather than paying market value . Keep an eye out and be prepared for it to take a little time , the stuff's still around out there .

But you wouldn't trade them for anything else though would you Harley , they are a disease , or probably an addiction , once you've started , that's it .....

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All true. I had a mini on the road for a whole ten weeks, and that was enough for me to commit to pouring all my time and money into the rebuild over the next few years.
I can't imagine what the obsession is like for anyone whose had their car for five, ten, or twenty years!

If you don't know anyone and nobody in your family has mechanical knowledge it can be very time consuming and costly learning as-you- go. Thankfully forums like this make it somewhat easier and less stressfull .

Shard

i guess what i am after is power if i do keep it below a certain engine capacity which is (......). then i won't need disc brakes.

how powerfull can you make a 998cc engine? how much can you bore it out? what kind of parts would i need?

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Sunday Morning Mini Sprint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGuzqBQ32Q my "rendezvous"

But at least nearly all mini people are just as mad and have all learnt the hard way and been shown how to do things by others with the same sickness . Unfortunately it's often on the side of the road in the rain .....
Andrew , don't be afraid to ask questions of people here and locally , also take your time getting other aspects of the car to a condition you are happy with and get the other bits as they come up .
I'm coming up to 17 years driving them and about 30 wanting them , there is no other choices really .... You'll find you choose your "normal" car (once you get to the point where you need a normal , reliable car for everyday use .....) by comparing it to mini handling , performance or whether it can tow a big enough trailer to carry a mini ....

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that's putting me off. i thought they wouldn't be too expensive to run.

Hi
Just noticed the comment about how fast can you go before you need disc brakes (or words to that effect).

The reason that various state roads and transport authorities demand disc brakes on 1275 engined minis is that the drums are barely adequate. On a sensibly driven 850 or deluxe they may do the job but on anything a bit quicker and being driven spiritedly, they verge on dangerous.

BMC recognised this very early and that the reason that their sports versions all had disc brakes. Purists will tell you that a reconditioned set of drums that are well maintained and adjustd give good braking performance. This may be so but i would hate to be in a mini at 140 kmh with four people aboard and the driver is stabbing at the brakes at the bottom of a hill for the fourth time. It would be a scary moment.

Bottom line is that reconditioning drums to a satisfactory standard is going to cost nearly as much as a set of discs. If performance is your thing - go for discs.

Ok , technically in NSW you need disc brakes when you use a 1275 because they only came out with discs (except for export mokes and the very last few base model clubby's which were both 1275 and drum brakes but RTA doesn't accept this as they were exceptions rather than the rule ....) . Ideally you should have discs with any hot motor for better stopping but this isn't always an ideal world . The main thing with discs being better than drums is they cool quicker and are a little more efficient (I know I'm opening myself to arguments here.....) . When really pushed hard and a lot of heavy braking , a mini with drums will run out of brakes so to speak as they've gotten too hot to work efficiently . This can result in the rears working better than the front's as well and giving you a nice handbrake effect coming into a tight corner (been there done that , fun , but not reccomended .....) . On the other hand , if you are aware of their limitations and drive accordingly I don't see why drums shouldn't be adequate for a worked (and I mean fairly well worked) 998 or 1098 . The only real difference between these is the 1098 is a longer stroked cranckshaft . Not sure of what power is available from them and tuning is pretty much limited only by your budget and how drivable you want it . I've driven a 998 race motor that had more go than my 1310 , so long as you didn't expect it to run under 1300rpm or idle under 1700rpm , but that thing had some serious balls . Whichever you choose is up to you , 998's were always my preferred of the two as the shorter stroke revved better . If you try a better head , open the chambers a bit , shave the head a little to make up for the bigger chamber , bigger valves , open the ports and then a bigger carb and extractors you will be surprised . If you are pulling the motor out anyway then go for a better cam (I always liked the 731 , more useable ) and perhaps lightening and balancing .
My main advice is to start slowly and learn to do things right rather than putting say , too big a carby on or poorly tuned carby and and being left with a pig to drive first up . Do little things and see how that goes , try something else and see how it goes etc . But find a good stretch of road , mark a set distance and record standing start times over it and keep using the same spot each time you do something new to the car so you can see the changes on paper and see how it's improving .
Anybody else got any ideas , or want to argue with mine (sure there will be some....)

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I don't mean to put you off, the cars can work out as cheap or as expensive as you want. I just want a classic car with the modern mechanical stuff, like the 1275, the discs, custom interior and a good paint job.

If you had a stock 850 from the day, they'd still be as cheap to run as they were when they were new, but thats not enough for people these days.
General running costs for minis are decent, its when you want to upgrade, modify or repair it can get expensive.