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Points to Ponder on Old Minis
The Mini is a unique
car. A design that was light years ahead of the competition when it
first appeared. We like its cheeky little face and rounded bottom –
we also love the way you can treat any old Mini like a rally car,
and race the wheels off it!! Once you own and drive a Mini, you are
automatically a member of a select club – those who love the Mini.
It is an addictive little pleasure – getting a smile and wave from
other Mini drivers. Stop and talk to them in car parks, Mini
drivers are always ready to swap stories and experiences with others
of their kind. The Mini is quite cheap to buy, and very cheap to
run, although spares got dearer when they came under the Rover
banner. This is where the organised Mini club scene comes into its
own for hints on where to get cheaper bits!
Being a design that
is 45 years old means that there is more maintenance needs doing
than on newer designed cars. Much wears out and decays quicker -
some of it does not affect the running or legality of the car for
some considerable time. Other stuff is MOT failure and can be dear
to fix.
Rust can affect these
darlings in unusual ways due to the way they were made. Often they
go into holes under the headlights. This is unsightly but may not
fail an MOT until well advanced. The same goes for the holes that
can appear at the tops of the front wings at their back end, and in
the scuttle under the front windscreen. More serious is rust holes
in the sill panels, where the sides of the body become the floor,
and in the bottom of the box in the boot, where the battery lives.
Another MOT failure point is rust holes in the rear sub frame, which
holds the back wheels and the car together. The front sub frame
rarely rusts, as it plentifully protected by the copious quantities
of oil, which usually leak out of the engine!!
Rust holes are
normally expensive to fix, on the Mini, as it has no bolt-on panels,
and every body part has a structural role to play. The apex panels,
in front of the doors, help to hold the doors and the front of the
car on, but are not a huge job to change when holey. The floor pan
and inner sills keep the car in shape and can be a nightmare job to
replace – which is a crying shame because Minis do leak water in,
and it soaks the carpets in the foot wells, which just speeds up the
rusting process!!
There are places
where, when rust has got a grip, the car is beyond economical repair
by anyone bar the most diehard enthusiast. Anywhere under the
bonnet, at the sides or back of the engine compartment, is a bad
sign – around the windscreen wiper motor is a favourite spot. Once
again, the car can go for years with holes in such places, but they
let in an awful lot of water when it rains, and they are a sure sign
that the rest of the car is likely to be getting ragged. This is a
point to watch when the rest of the car looks almost perfect, except
for a jagged hole around the wiper motor, or along the bottoms of
the insides of the doors. Then get ready with your magnet and
prodding spike or, better still, just walk away.
Oil leaks are pretty
much the norm with older Minis – they help to keep the front
subframe and under floor from rusting so quickly, so it’s not a
problem as long as you don’t mind the puddles on your garage floor.
Try to avoid driving through oil puddles, as the oil will rot your
tyres.
The suspension has
about six points where grease needs to be applied fairly regularly
to keep things moving – if neglected, these things can wear out, but
the need for replacement, when wobbly or squeaky, doesn’t mean the
car is scrap. Treat it as leverage to force the price down! If the
car has got a basically good body, then the mucky mechanical bits in
it, and on it, can all be changed when they wear out.
Don’t let all these
bad bits put you off – it’s just that there are a lot of people
around who will try to pass off what is basically scrap, as a good
going concern, and these are a few tell tale signs that all may not
be what it seems. All older Minis will have some rust – it’s a fact
of life, but doesn’t mean the car is junk. Beware the old one that
looks a little too perfect and has no rebuild history. If something
seems too good to be true – that’s because it probably is!!
Come and wallow in
Miniquity!!!!
Rgds
Ian and Jayne
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