Project Any Love for Bini's - Silver Project Car Moved Up the Job List

[JJ0063]

Mrs JJ loves them, she owned Fat_Pirates one for 4 years and has recently changed to a cabriolet. Great cars & fun to drive!





Bit of advice, forget the chaviness side of things.. if you have a Cooper, stick one of these eBay cone filters on it.. had them on both of ours & they make a real difference, really gives them a bit of extra oomph - never felt a filter make such a noticeable difference!






Our fleet has crept into modern realms however, I need some more chod.

[tommotech]

With projects waiting, ie the Volvo (a proper long term project that one!) and another Kallista the black Bini was sold to free up time / space / cash. However, sellers regret crept up on me and I do miss the car as it was particularly useful and a good steer too. I'd always liked the idea of an early 2001 car, registered before they went on general sale, as there is a decent amount of interest in these cars now - particularly 'OBL' press cars. So whilst looking for a car that I didn't really need, or have time for I found a Y-plated example not tool far from me and for not much money. A price was agreed by messenger and I collected the next day, but it requires large amounts of TLC.

 

 

 

 

Its a proper sh*t tip inside, carpets are wet and the drivers window fails to operate / is stuck half way. ABS / ESP lamp is on, as are the airbag lights and the brake warning lamp, almost a full house. Brake discs and pads are shot, clutch is not long for this world and there is a dent on the LH rear quarter.

 

There are some redeeming features, but not many. Full leather but the seats need fettling, glass panoramic roof, that is probably the source of water, and a set of 17" wheels that will sell on to make way for original 16" (and some steels for winter).

 

Now to look for another car, of the same colour scheme, to yield some useful parts.........

 

 

[tommotech]

So far the interior and some exterior trim has been removed, power train needs to come out (timing chain is noisy and clutch is toast) and doors need sorting (window mechanism and locks).

 

Luckily I managed to get hold of a mint non-runner, same colour and spec. Has the correct wheels and a decent amount of parts that can be donated to the Y reg. It was built 200 cars after the Y reg so has the correct early parts too.

 

I have to go away to Columbia with work for a couple of weeks but have the motivation for a concerted effort when I’m back. Definitely want to get involved in some Mini celebrations this year. First need to get the ECU reset from the donor car.

[tommotech]

 

[Rusty_Rocket]

Great project. The Y-reg cars are definitely on the up now.

Lots of love for Binis here although I'm currently up to my nuts in a head gasket change on our diesel example, which is an awful job!

[tommotech]

Great project. The Y-reg cars are definitely on the up now.

Lots of love for Binis here although I'm currently up to my nuts in a head gasket change on our diesel example, which is an awful job!

Which Diesel engine? Can’t imagine any of them are a delight for that job.

[Vince70]

I love the thread have you joined the Y reg register yet on Facebook I’ve just got my £350 cooper on the road but need to find a ECU and BC1 and transponder and keys in the same spec as mine which I’m finding quite hard to find as I need the unit off a non aircon sunroof Cooper.

Luckily I don’t need a heater this time of year but I’ve not got the holy grail Y plate as mine missed out by a month but apart from that it’s mint condition inside and out and drives spot on.

[tommotech]

Yes Vince, I did join the Y Register group and saw yours posted (having recognised it from AS). If you trawl back through their page you will see some updates I posted there too.

 

There are a few people around that can code ECUs and modules for early R50s. BMW, Rover and MINI software is similar at that period of time. I’m having a guy do the engine ECU from my donor car. You should be able to reconfigure any BCU though, as far as I understand.

 

Yours is looking good, that’s a surprisingly good colour for one of these.

[Vince70]

I did get a Bmw specialist to have a look and code a secondhand BC1.

He said he couldn’t do it as I didn’t have the bar codes for the keys but I’ve now got the codes.

 

He did say to put in a new heater and wiper motor in but the girl I’ve bought it from said the heater packed up when the original BC1 got wet and the wiper motor works perfectly but doesn’t stop in the right place so I myself can’t see it being the wiper motor and my hunch is the BC1 was not coded properly.

 

Also the central/remote locking doesn’t work so that would be on the same system.

 

I just can’t find anyone to code it in East Sussex unless I took it to a main dealer.

[New POD]

I love the thread have you joined the Y reg register yet on Facebook I’ve just got my £350 cooper on the road but need to find a ECU and BC1 and transponder and keys in the same spec as mine which I’m finding quite hard to find as I need the unit off a non aircon sunroof Cooper.

Luckily I don’t need a heater this time of year but I’ve not got the holy grail Y plate as mine missed out by a month but apart from that it’s mint condition inside and out and drives spot on. 2F46E352-5D90-4DB5-A70A-29A42E8E7045.jpeg 7EFD8C53-2A84-48D5-ABE8-29010F8A756F.jpeg

Those 2 pictures could be "Ours" yellow and black and september 01 - Daughter informs me that there's still probably a coolant leak.