To help you get a more accurate idea of the year of manufacture, I would get the dates on all your electrics I.e. starter motor fuse box regulator wiper motor etc, And see if there is a pattern, I have noticed over the years that these dates can be up to 3 months before the actual date of manufacture, Another place you will find a date is on the boot lock ( Not the Chrome Handle ) Also just out of interest does this car have steel unis or Rubber unis
From What I can see this is a Genuine Cooper S, I would Think it is a 1965 Model
All The Best From Australia

Wiper motor: 12/65 Starter: 3/62 Boot lock: 6/65 (hard to see this one). On my 1970, the number plate shows date of manufacture as 7/70, and the boot lock has 7 70 on it also. Does this mean the 6 65 on the '66 boot lock is the most accurate date I have to work with? Or is that just the date the boot lock was made?

I'll look at other electronics when I get the motor out, etc. and see what I can find.

The unis are the exposed steel type, I believe they are called Spicers?

Thanks for the tips.
bmc

_________________
Ben McCafferty
Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA
1970 ex-police mk2 Cooper S

They are all older than the supposed manufacture date - this is good That is they were made before the car was built -

_________________
David L


My greatest fear in life is that when I die my wife will sell my Mini and tools for the price I told her I paid for them!

That would make sense given the other "early" features i.e. fuel vent clips, no oil cooler on the nose, etc.

tx,
bmc

_________________
Ben McCafferty
Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA
1970 ex-police mk2 Cooper S

lucky fella - scoring a MK1 and a MK2.... we all dream of having the full set

got any pics of the MK2? my MK2 is also 7/70 - the number on the firewall of yours would be in the 1770 to 1820-ish range?

Watto (mini experience publisher/editor/owner) is keeping a register, I'm sure he'd love the details of both your cars - some details here http://www.ausmini.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39997

_________________
did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Oops, my bad. Here I am asking all these questions and haven't even shown you all the beasties yet! Here's a couple pics. The 1970 is in its original colors--tamarisk green and crystal white. It still has the sticker on the firewall "refinish with Dulon E Type Tamarisk Green 566-11794". In the back, under the seat cushions, is another sticker on the right side companion box, "Prime and Paint OK BLMC". This car is the antithesis to the 1966/65--it is very easy to sort out. It has been painted once since new, in the original color, and bonnet stripes were added. The respray is cracking/peeling, and there is a touch of rust here and there. I'm torn on whether to take the whole body down to bare metal (losing the stickers, the perfect dash and original headliner, or to just work around those things and only spray the outside and engine bay. It's just sooooo much easier to media blast than to hand sand. But they've been waiting nearly 40 years, so perhaps I can spend some hours too, right? The oil cooler on this one is a mystery, as I said before. I really don't think the nose panel has been changed, but the oil cooler is on a pretty crude bend in the sheet metal, so hard to say. I don't find any evidence--all welds look factory to my eye. I'm hoping to be able to work the nose panel into a correct shape by hand; and the diagonal brace is available here so I can put that back on also. The upholstery is all original black, and in good shape.



The 1966 (which last night may have become a 1965) is in roughly the original colors, but the green is a metallic and a few shades lighter than what's inside the doors. The grey (toga white) looks very close to the original as shown here:http://www.tcpglobal.com/aclchip.aspx?image=1965-blmc-pg01.jpg Obviously we've spent some time sorting out the history of this one over the past few days! The upholstery on this one looks like it was a pale green, but the exposed surfaces are all grey by now. The front seats were re-done in a green color that is close, but noticeably different than the back seat. The door cards and rear side cards are in decent shape, but the vinyl over the rear fender wells, in the companion boxes, etc. is pretty bad. Not sure what I'll do on this car--maybe replace everything, but maybe try to save the back seat and side cards. The headliner is badly water stained all the way round, so it will probably get replaced. The dash is pretty good, but a few tears here and there. This one will probably get taken all the way down to bare metal inside and out, as I suspect we have some rust issues to deal with at the hinge panels, floors, battery box, etc. I'll also eliminate the after-market fender flares and put that back to original chrome trim. Mirrors on both cars are worthless, so we'll see about some good period replacements there. I really like the bullet style on the '70, but the ones that have an arm that raises them such that you can actually see something in them.






Yeah, a great find, especially in the States! Trouble is, I ultimately have to sell one--the idea was to restore one and sell it to help pay for the other. Not sure I'll be able to bring myself to do it, though, after all the work...




Hey Simon, the car number on this one is YG2S4/2164, with engine 9FXEY55369 (also stamped on the block). When you say "on the firewall", is there a number stamped somewhere else? The car number is also stamped on the fan shroud. The number plate on this one is in the correct location, on the driver's side on the vertical brace over there. On the ozcooper.com.au site, they mention "Some cars also have the build number (501 less than the body number) stamped into the gutter on the passenger side of the scuttle panel." I have to confess that I haven't been able to figure out what the "scuttle" panel is--not a word us yanks use. Perhaps this is the panel across the front at the lower edge of the windshield? In any case, I haven't found any numbers in any gutters, but there is thick paint there also. Another unknown word for me is "flitch" panel.



I sent him my info a couple of days ago. Haven't heard from him, but I doubt he's sitting around waiting for emails from me.
talk soon,
bmc

_________________
Ben McCafferty
Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA
1970 ex-police mk2 Cooper S