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Smoll shite acquired. The wife made me do it....


groovylee

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So, a bit out of the blue, but after a drunken conversation a few weeks ago, it seems that the wife has a hankering for a mini. Not wanting to be in trouble for not doing as I’m told, a purchase has been made! 

FF910095-58D0-48D1-A775-CD51D51454F3.jpeg

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the steed in question is a 1992 Mini Neon. it boasts a *massive 39bhp, and a fankly eye wateringly fast 998cc engine.

we have many plans for it, but im trying to avoid the austin/rover equivalent of pineappling it, so no cooper stripes or union jack stuff lol

more to follow as it happens :-)

 

Lee

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one of the current ideas, is to put the original 'neon' decals back on, as they are still available.

image.thumb.png.6e0d9ceaab9649ada2837ea3a382b5a5.png

im not going completely original with this, but for some reason the pink on blue appeals...  thoughts?

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28 minutes ago, groovylee said:

the steed in question is a 1992 Mini Neon. it boasts a *massive 39bhp, and a fankly eye wateringly fast 998cc engine.

we have many plans for it, but im trying to avoid the austin/rover equivalent of pineappling it, so no cooper stripes or union jack stuff lol

more to follow as it happens :-)

 

Lee

Oh yes. Not another Cooper lookalike please. 

giphy.gif

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38 minutes ago, groovylee said:

one of the current ideas, is to put the original 'neon' decals back on, as they are still available.

image.thumb.png.6e0d9ceaab9649ada2837ea3a382b5a5.png

im not going completely original with this, but for some reason the pink on blue appeals...  thoughts?

927519122_hahayes.png.ff1b7236d68e5030c1a3358108c275a8.png

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2 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

I have a mint-boxed Corgi Mini Neon here, 1/36 scale.  It is, of course, available... ;)

ooh, eddy, you are a genius!

ill drop you a message :-)

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35 minutes ago, Mally said:

Looks like a million dollars, probably cost a little more.

As an aside I saw a really crappy Rickman in Hyde yesterday, should have taken a photo.

feels like it did yeah.  i remember buying a cooper in about 1999 for £150, now id need to add two more zeroes!

this was at the lower end of the spectrum, but still not cheap cheap. mechanics i can do, but bodywork i hate, so it had to be solid.

a crappy rickman!? is there such a thing?! ;-) strangely, i saw a rough one in st ives (cornish one) a couple of weeks back, but was on my bike hooning about so didnt stop.  they get everywhere lol

Lee

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39 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

You did the right thing buying one in that condition. 
 

here is Mrs Suttys mini lol 

1374D91E-E1DF-4BA7-8D70-3410EF262480.jpeg

blimey!  at least you'll know all the rust has been dealt with when you're done :-)

 

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2 minutes ago, paulplom said:

I sold an H reg red cooper with a full mot for £1200 about 7 years ago.

Was a bit tatty but mechanically perfect. Are they worth much now?

from my research thus far - £3000 gets you a mostly rotten running car, £5000 ish gets you a not perfect, but solid base model, £8000 ish gets you a reasonable cooper.  £12000 is where the good cars seem to start!

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Bollox then. I'd just paid £400 to have it made solid for the mot. I road tripped to Scarborough for it a year earlier. I paid £1200 for it with a full mot iirc.

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Great to drive but the G reg metro I had at the time was quicker and more refined. My mate brought the metro back from Scarborough and we raced them 100 miles back. The mini was slightly quicker to 60 but the metro would slowly catch up and go past after that. Same 1275 engine.

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Nice. There was a Skoda Rapid convertible that sold for £10k on eBay recently. Car prices are bonkers. I'm waiting for the next 'market correction', lol.

Please put the original decals on.

St Ives seems like a very appropriate place to spot a Rickman. Probably owned by a 'resting' artist.

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+1 on the original “neon” graphics idea.

These were amongst the first models to revert back to a chrome bumper blade after they started painting them in the 80s if memory serves; alongside those rather anonymous unbranded  wheel trims in that brochure pic.  I remember them well as a neighbour bought one nearly new from main dealer Sur-ply motors, farnworth, Bolton. 

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If I might request original 12 inch wheels and wheel trims please.  2 reasons.  Skinnier tyres will go faster.

Skinnier tyres will put less pressure on wheel bearings and be easier to drive around town.

Everyone does the extra wide minilite lookalikes, and it's only got 40 bhp, so every one counts. 

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It looks like you've bought a reasonable one, definitely put the decals back on. The 998's are an underrated, smooth little engine and it's easy to almost double the power output with not much work and no negative effects on reliability. Everyone should have at least one mini! 

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3 hours ago, big_al_granvia said:

so what engine is going in, metro turbo??? 2l honda civic type r?? or suzuki hyabusa bike engine... seen a lot of each done

 

Rover V8, surely?

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21 minutes ago, eddyramrod said:

Rover V8, surely?

been done, boy spaceframed a mini, moved the bulkhead back 2 feet and where the back seats were was a pair of race seats, big transmission tunnel, sd1 back axle, sd1 front suspension.... think he had a sd1 that had dissolved so decided to put the running gear in a mini

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3 hours ago, New POD said:

If I might request original 12 inch wheels and wheel trims please.  2 reasons.  Skinnier tyres will go faster.

Skinnier tyres will put less pressure on wheel bearings and be easier to drive around town.

Everyone does the extra wide minilite lookalikes, and it's only got 40 bhp, so every one counts. 

unfortunately, it wont be on the original steels and wheel trims.

you'll be pleased to know that it will be on skinny minilites though, none of this wide nonsense.

 

Lee

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Looks like a nice one that! I may be wrong here, but I believe it was the neon that Rover changed their mind about the colour of last minute. I’ve heard that it was meant to be a darker shade of blue originally, but it was switched after the decals had been printed, so all the writing has a dark outline that was supposed to be body coloured around them. This may be total bollocks though.

As others have already mentioned, prices for these are going mental now, even in the 4 years since I bought mine it seems values have near enough doubled. but I doubt they’ll ever drop back down, so take care of it you’ll never loose money. 

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5 hours ago, PhilA said:

Nice. I think the only "not been done yet" option is standard factory trim, these days?

i think you might be right lol

the plan, for now at least, is to pull out all of the interior (just finished doing this) and going over the floor with a fine tooth comb (the floor is nice and solid thank god!). ill pull out any loose bitumen sound deadening, before painting the floor again as a precaution, and then replacing the deadening again.

new sound insulation has been ordered, along with a new moulded carpet set in grey..

the seats are going to be stripped, refurbished, and recovered. the door cards will be replaced.

the steering wheel will be replaced, hopefully with a vintage 3 spoke mota-lita wheel that i have (dependant on retrim costs). if the costs is too high, it'll get a modern three spoke leather wheel.

i'll be fitting a new dash, undecided on finish as yet, possibly black (i was thinking brushed ally, but i think it'll be too in your face?)  i dont think i fancy the burr walnut one.

the front screen seal has had it, so that will be replaced, and i'll be fitting a new heated front screen while im there.  the rear seal is the same, so i'll replace that too.

ive got new front door pockets on the way with integrated speakers, and there are already two speakers fitted as standard in the parcel shelf.  i'm still toying with stereo ideas at this point, but i quite fancy one of the retro look twin knob head units, that have DAB and bluetooth functionality in them.  theyre not that cheap though....

as for the interior, the wife has an idea in her head that she wants the upholstery to be cream.  as the dash rails will be grey, i think that they should have matching grey piping on the seats (the carpet is also grey). then the dash will be black, the floor mats black, and the door pockets black. so that should all tie in.

seat belts in the rear will be replaced with inertia units, probably still in grey, and the front belts are a little tired, so i'll likely replace them too.

 

the shopping list is getting longer and longer by the minute lol

more updates to follow as they happen.

Lee

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