Being useless at search engines, I didn't find a lot of recent info on this, but forgive me if you've done this topic to death recently.

As I posted in the introduction thread, the family (me, my son and my daughter) have two cars, a Falcon wagon and an MGB. The lad (21) is currently saving to buy his own car, which he promises to run completely himself - he currently uses the Falcon and has been good at keeping the fuel and oil up to it while I've done the legals and repairs.
The MGB is my daily drive, though I do ride my pushbike when possible.

When the lad finally buys his car, I plan to go back to only one car myself - I can't afford to run two cars.
Sell the MG and drive the Falcon? No. Just no ... besides, she's about due to get expensive again.
Sell the Falcon and drive the MG? A good option in that the MG is a good, solid unit. However, I'm getting too old to be phaffing about with tonneaus and soft tops - it's just so nice to walk out, climb into your car and drive away. Another issue is commuting in traffic on hot days - in summer, you fry with the top down which isn't good for a 12 year old with fair skin and if anyone has sat under a canvas/vinyl top on a hot day, you'll realise that windows down and airflow don't do a real lot in an Australian summer. Besides, with only one car, sooner or later I'll need more than two seats.

So, the thought is to sell both and get a Mini.

I've owned Minis, though a long time ago.
I'm capable of extensive mechanical work, though I'm past fiddling with cars as a hobby, I'd much rather fiddle with the pushbikes.

The Mini has a couple of features that I like.

Being a coupe, I lose the top down driving, and although an non-airconditioned car in traffic is still hot in summer, it's a lot more comfortable than being under a soft top.

Then there's the rear seat. Yes, I know it's small adult only, but my daughter is small and will only be a small adult. Anyone else can just shut up and put up with it, though I'm happy for feedback on how useful that seat is.

I can work on the Mini to fix stuff that goes bang and to improve things to make it go brrmmm better (yeah, mildly hotting it up would be good). I don't mind messing about with carbies and stuff, have rebuilt engines, suspensions and all sorts of stupid stuff. I don't want to be in the shed all the time but don't mind maintenance and occasional fiddling.

They fit my BMC fetish. For example, I could get the same with a VW but just aren't interested.

My earlier Minis were driven all the time and copped a hiding and handled it really well. However, these wee motor cars are 30 years old or more now. Same with my MGB, I know. My experience with the MGB is that if you leave her sitting around, things go wrong, but if you drive her all the time, she's very reliable (ie, lots of maintenance but routine maintenance). If I want a part for the MG, I can get it, either locally or from an online supplier, something you couldn't claim for, say, a Charger.

Can you claim the same for your Mini? ie, if driven all the time, they are still reliable when maintained. If you need parts, can you get them? I'm in Adelaide and have MiniSport just up the road from work, then there's the internet.

I love my MGB because she holds the road so well, can be thrown around and that gloriously torquey motor just pulls from nothing and keeps pulling.
My memory of Minis is that they hold the road really well, can be thrown around but although very driveable, lack a bit of low down torque relative to the MGB motor that's nearly twice the size, but are still very driveable.

Am I right in this assessment of the Mini compared to the MGB?

BTW, I have memories of a 1 hour chase through the mountains between Canberra and Sydney, back in the 80s before they built the new freeway - I was in my first MGB, he was in a Cooper S - it lasted an hour because there was no real difference in the car/driver combinations. I still maintain that the real difference in the twisties is the driver, not the car, though you need a capable car to start with.

So, if you've been silly enough to read through all this, am I being a mug for selling both cars and buying a Mini?
Can the Mini still be a reliable daily driver (in traffic, in the heat dammit)?

And what to look for? My MGB is worth between $6-7,000. There are a lot of Minis available in that price range.

Is it worth getting wound up about the size of the motor? Can't any of the motors be tuned to be a sharp little motor car? It only has to be reliable and give me a lot of fun.

Seeing I'm looking at hotting it up along the way, should I look for disc brakes now or are they relatively easy to fit later? At a reasonable price?

Seems few of them are standard now. Is that an issue? For me, a concours competition means you give the car a wash, arrive at the comp and stand around telling lies - richer, more fanatical people than me will always win (and so they should).

I suspect that as long as I buy a Mini that is sound in body, mechanics and soul, I'll be fine. Is that a correct stand to take?

Thanks for your time.

And as I've said elsewhere, I'm open to someone offering their Mini as a direct swap for my MGB.

I drove a Cooper S as my daily for the last ~10 years, and competed in it as well. I constantly modified it and was always doing things that made it faster and less reliable. I got into the habit of rebuilding the motor every 12-18 months so always needed to borrow a car. This year I bought a daily runabout, and my S is still in pieces



not *that* many of them in that price range will be good enough as a reliable daily without a few solid weekends of getting them sorted out - anything that looks good appearance wise in that price range will probably have hidden rust issues or need an engine. If you see one that has a good engine and good bodywork, be very very critical when you inspect it



this goes against my personal taste, but for what you want, a 998 or 1100 is the ideal. So much to the point that you can cheaply build a spare motor and have it sitting in the garage for a quick swapover if the one in the car gives up. They can be made to go really well. I've been competing in my friends 1100 this year and its low on torque, but big on fun



you can buy and fit a set of brand new discs for under $1000 - don't stress about it



you already know that originality isn't an issue - you just want a mini, not a <insert specific model here> that only comes out a couple of times a year



yeah - I always think you're best off buying something that has a solid body with as little rust as possible, building a motor is easy



no wuckas

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

How about a late model rover? Air con etc etc, still drives and looks like an early model one?

My daily is a 68 model with a mild 1100 and it's great fun but I always keep the fact that it is 45 years old in the back of my mind... It hasn't really let me down YET

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1968 Mini-matic - 1340cc, 45 weber - 92hpatw, 14.5 @91mph, GrandmaSpec

If one turns up at the right price, I'll certainly look at it. It's the Mini package that interests me, not a specific model.

Funny, I wasn't even aware that Rover made them so late, I guess that's who made the Japanese imports I've seen.

using a 73 panel van as my daily
50/60ks a day no problems so far just keep up the preventative maintenance all is good
have been doing so for 3+ years

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65 panel van Sprog
73 panel van Iggy

Ive been driving my van almost daily 3-4 times a week 30k's round trip. I just check my fluids regularly. Change my oil every 5000ks

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I drove a 1999 MPi Mini as a daily for three years (winter's salty roads excepted) when i lived in the Netherlands. As a daily it was fantastically reliable apart from a coil pack failing once. Just stick the key in and drive. Apart from not needing to check the points and carby tuning, the routine maintenance is exactly the same as an early model. Problem will be the price for you, i doubt you would get one for your budget.

I have also used 60's Minis as daily drives here and they are fine.

cheers
michael

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the world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page
66 Mini Minor sponsored by http://www.lifeonthehedge.com.au/ The Dog Harness Specialists
It was a pleasure ausmini. I'll miss all you misfits and reprobates

Hi Grouch

Just thought I'd relate my experience as I did a similar thing and sold my reliable old Corolla and early this year bought a highly modified "68 Deluxe for my daily (I'm currently restoring a "64 van and an 850 sedan and I wanted one I could drive now).

The car came with disk brakes, a worked 1100 with 4 synchro remote gearbox and KAD quickshift, a modern fusebox, halogen headlights and relays, a Suzuki alternator, electronic ignition, dry subframes (originally it was a hydro car), Cooper S deep-dish mags, a walnut dash with tacho, speedo, oil pressure, water temp and battery charge gauges and the list goes on.

It also came with the original 998 motor and a spare dry rear subframe.

I paid $6650 delivered but unregistered from a guy in QLD who had it 5 years and used it as his daily and for motorkhanas on the weekends.

This seems cheap but as another member mentioned, it had a few things that had to be done over and above the rego, inspection fees and insurance that in themselves were ~$1000.

Since I bought it the following has been added to it, some of which I could've lived without but I wanted it to be a nice experience when I drive it so I spent the money;

New battery, new rear flipper window seals (L and R), new front headlight rubber ring seals, new gearshift boot and retainer ring, new Falken 165/70/R10 tyres, KBS rustguard and bitumen soundproofing on floorpan under carpet, new carpet, new front tinted windscreen and windscreen rubber, new rear windscreen rubber, new boot rubber (on-body, a refurbished carburettor (HS4), new K and N cone air filter and 1.5” stub stack, new Smiths speedo and speedo cable, firewall and bonnet soundproofing, new indicator stalk-(on steering column), new Smiths analogue dash clock and new clutch and brake master cylinders.

All this cost an extra $2000 and the car still has a slightly crunchy third gear (I quickly learned to double clutch), door windows that need attention and a crappy paintjob but is rust free except for a 5 cent piece sized hole in the rear beaver panel.

I do keep the maintenance up in terms of changing the oil, greasing everything, bleeding the brakes etc but I've found it to be unbelievably reliable and fun to drive and I wouldn't go back to a "modern" car again.

I also like the fact that it looks a bit rough as I would hesitate to leave a really nice mini parked out and about in case it got dented or scratched.

Here's a couple of pics of what it currently looks like;






I keep finding things on this car that have been upgraded and it has obviously had thousands of dollars spent on it even before I bought it.

My advice would be to look around and find a car that has a lot of work already done to it -you'll always find someone that has overspent and is ready to sell but can't recoup the money (me included!!) as the market value is just not there.

Hope you find yours and enjoy it as much as I do with this little beasty

Regards Dave

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Your imagination is only limited by the size of your wallet
"61 850 original and crusty (Mavis)
"64 Smooth Roof Van (Colin)
"67 Deluxe resto project (Monty)

I paid $4.5k for my van took it to minisport and it was only minor things... new tires, sender unit packed up. Chip in the front windscreen. And roof lining was ripped. But it came with a new liner. Because it had historic rego ment I had to register it to transfer. The bloke was asking $5.5k.

Be patient and not rush into a purchase and you could find a gem in your price range

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I just bought another mini this week. Paid a bit over $6000.
Recent engine and gearbox rebuild to 1310, 1 3/4 Carby 123 Dizzy, extractors, a horrible exhaust, loads of new bits.
However its body is not the best has a few patches of rust and needs a new paint Job. I'm leaving it for a week with the local mini expert to sort out some issues e.g. speedo light, door locks and hinge pins, a quieter exhaust and fix any thing that he comes across that needs for road worthy. There was a couple of things he wasn't impressed with.

This is it:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=83781

The point is that Minis still do exactly what they were designed to do 50 years ago... transport for the masses.

Sure, they are 40-50 years old - and being so, many need a little extra TLC to get them back to "operational" condition.

The good news is that its not that expensive to get even a heap into running condition. If I'd spent the same on my Mini as we did on the wife's Subaru (routine servicing and repairs) over the 5 years we ran both, The mini would have been gold plated....

Cheers, Ian (daily driving a (the same) Mini for almost 30 years)

damn you guys jinxed me! speedo cable broke today

Not sure how I'm going to be able to afford the... 20 or so dollars to replace it.. hahaha

My daily driver before the mini was a 2009 model Audi S3, a set of tyres for that thing (which it needed every 12 months) would run the mini for a year I reckon!

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1968 Mini-matic - 1340cc, 45 weber - 92hpatw, 14.5 @91mph, GrandmaSpec

Thanks for all the feedback. I wasn't sure how the parts situation is but it sounds like it's all fine. Some of these old cars aren't as well off. For example, the MGB is still dead solid and all parts available at reasonable prices (just not in your local speed shop) but the poor old Midget is known for a fragile gearbox and some bits being a bit horrendous. Sounds like the Mini has escaped that fate and that suits me fine. Having a Mini specialist just up the road from work helps too.

Now, to work out how to get myself into one. At least there'll be the fun of looking.

I'm in real strife now. I've discussed this move with my Dad, who has no romantic illusions about cars at all, and he AGREES with my move to a Mini

This is possibly a first.
It's also an indication that my heart is combining with my rational side.
In either case, I'm scared. What if someone offers me a decent price for the MG? Or is willing to swap a decent Mini for the MG? I might have to do it

Fortunately, I'm thinking in terms or twin SUs and extractors at some point in this Mini's life whereas Dad thinks that any more than one gadget supplying fuel to the engine is extravagance so it's possible I can obtain a Mini that he would both approve of and disapprove of so, while I'm in my mid fifties and this shouldn't matter, I can still give the old man the proverbial finger

As a side note, reading this site and others, suggests that all I need is a solid Mini, even if it has one of the 'little' motors. A healthy 1100 say, retrofitted with twin SUs and extractors, would appear to offer all I need for a sharp road car with lots of potential for wide smiles after a blat in the hills without going to a fire breathing monster in the stupid traffic that makes up a large part of my driving.

If you've been flogging an MG up till now, getting parts and fixing a mini would be a walk in the park. Atleast if it rains only the distributor gets wet.