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blickling
Member
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Posted: Sunday November 11th, 2007 12:35 pm |
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I run a 1.8 SRI Vauxhall Vectra as my work car, travelling between 50 and 110 miles each day as a residential surveyor in Norfolk on mainly A and B roads. I feel like a change, keeping the Vectra for weekend family outings. I have a Mainstream, but as she is a good example, would not want to expose her to all weathers. Anyway, there are not many creature comforts after a modern eurocar. The MPI struck me as a way to enjoy my daily meanderings and strike a balance with modern features (air bags etc.) The only thing is, from various threads I have seen on this and the 500 Forum, the cars can be plagued by electrical gremlins and serious rust issues due to poor original assembly. In particular, if bubbling isn't visible to the windscreen surround, how easy is it to check with the screen in-situ. Also, are earlier (1997/98) cars better than the very last 2000/01 ones. Are there any particular bad years? Bit of a ramble this posting, but hope you have the gist and any advice would be very gratefully received. Richard.  P.S I have telescopic ladders, so they will fit in a Mini!!Last edited on Sunday November 11th, 2007 04:28 pm by blickling |
Graham Bichard
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 09:02 am |
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blickling, think of an MPi as a newer mainstream and you won't go far wrong!
It will be capable of being a daily driver (see long journey thread in Off Topic) or just ask Taffy.
As for the scuttle panel see rustproofing thread in MPi forum for pics (you can't really tell how bad it is with the windscreen in!). I think mini build quality went in cycles (we had a 70s car which was solid, an 80s car which was swiss cheese, a 90s which was okay and my 99 MPi which I'm trying to keep on top of).
So choose carefully, look after it and use it!
Good luck - let us know how you get on!
Graham
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oz
Moderator
| Joined: | Wednesday January 31st, 2007 |
| Location: | Livingston |
| Posts: | 74 |
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 10:47 am |
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Hey blickling,
I've been using my MPI for about 8 months as my daily driver (cos my City is in bits) travelling from Edinburgh to Glasgow 3 days a week, and the only problem I've had is having to replacing the temp sensor. Apart from that she's been flawless.
She's been the best Mini I've owned, as far as modern comforts go, at least the heater is an improvement. Seats are very comfy. not sure how the telescopic ladder will fit, but you can but try.
Good luck dude.
Oz
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blickling
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 01:03 pm |
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Hi Graham & Oz. Thanks for the replies. TBH, my Mainstream is in a late MPI shell and when I took her screen out to convert her to a central instrument binnacle there was a pin-hole and light corrosion on the windscreen flange - I'd been wondering where that tiny drip was coming from! There is an X-plate near me in Great Yarmouth with just under 10k on the clock which I am going to have a look at tomorrow (Same colour as your car Graham). Haven't run the plan past my wife yet  and am busy with the tape measure figuring out how to get two Minis in my garage! May have to get a set of those dollies for wheeling cars around into corners. Richard. 
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Graham Bichard
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 01:25 pm |
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Richard, everyone knows red ones are fastest!
(And post your garage storage solutions on the Off Topic garage thread - I'm after nicking ideas!)
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 02:44 pm |
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I don't think later Minis rust any worst than 1970's models. My first Mini was a 1975 MKIII Mini 1000, which my parents originally bought for my sister during the summer of 1981.
I'm no expert, but considering the slightly tatty condition it was in, the horrible after-market plastic dash that was fitted (instead of the classic oval pod) and the fact the owner was a bit of a botcher means that I'd have walked away and looked elsewhere.
Anyway I inherited it during late 1984 and by then it had been seriously neglected by my sister and her then useless boyfriend. But I loved it, had it restored and sold it on a couple of years later to buy a brand new Mini Mayfair.
I can't compare 1960's Minis, but I've heard lots of rumors concerning later models from the fact British Leyland switched to a thinner grade of steel from the MK3 onwards (1969), the fact many 1980's Mini shells rusted fast because it's said that the shells had been stored outside in the open air (the metallic coloured cars seemed to suffer the most) and then there's the strong belief that standards started to slip when BMW took control of Rover in 1994.
I know that gearboxes are always highlighted as a common failure on later Minis (something to do with a lack of shims and other components?), but the fact Rover were recommending thin 10W/40 oil and a ludicrously long 12,000 mile/12 month service interval also didn't help matters.
Even the fancy OAT anti-freeze wasn't really suitable for the Minis cast iron A-series engine and it's said that it can also cause sludge in the heater matrix?
Rover was either just using the same specification products as they put in all it's other range of cars, or they didn't want to use the right stuff for the Mini when in most cases that stuff would be labeled as "for older or higher mileage engines".
It's also said that the final "500" Minis made were built to the highest standard possible.
I think that people tend to be more critical towards the later models, because for a number of reasons they cost considerably more and yet they still did nothing in the way of rust prevention. Either way my niece owned a 1998 Mini Paul Smith LE for a few years and it was a fantastic car.
So just arm yourself with a magnet and look out for rust, especially when it's been hidden or covered with filler or other such crap. As the stereo is mounted in the dash, if it doesn't work properly (or at all) then expect windscreen seal/rust problems to be the problem.
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blickling
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 03:03 pm |
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| Hi Taffy. I reckon I will have strong opposition from my wife to my plans, but I'm going to give it a go. That is quite a good tip about the radio, as I now remember other threads where members commented that their radios had gone pop due to water ingress. The car I am going to look at was won by a 70 year old, who has recently passed away. It should be a fairly honest car and as I am not bothered about concourse looks would literally plaster the underside and cavities with grease/Dinatrol, if I got her. The only downside is that Great Yarmouth is obviously a coastal town (Mum and Dad bought an 850 in the 70's which had first lived in Porthcawl and it was like a sieve when not that old). Its funny, but I remember when I was younger how variable rust on Minis could be from year to year as they aged. Fingers crossed anyway. Got those replacement seats for your Mainstream yet?
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Andrew1967
MCR Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 06:03 pm |
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Hi Richard,
I think that being on the coast is the least of Great Yarmouth's problems.  Although it didn't help much on Friday 
Hope the car is as good as it sounds and good luck with the other half. It always makes sense to have more than one Mini and it just takes some people longer to realise it
Andrew
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hawaiianblue
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 07:35 pm |
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I'm with the posts above. I dont think MPi's rust any more than any other mini, fact is minis rust, all of them!
I think the problem is what you compare them to, for example if you compare a 70's mini with any other 70's car and they're just ok, compare an early 80's mini with any other car from the 80's they rust 'fairly' badly, if you compare an early 90's mini with any other early 90's car they rust quite badly, if you compare a late mini with a modern car rust is a massive problem. It's simply the fact that modern car design has improved since the mini was designed and the manufacturing process's have eliminated 'rust traps' in body shells. At the end of the day the mini is still a 48 year old design and while improved paint processes have helped it still wont compete with a modern car for rust resistance.
Another thing is minis were hand built, not by robots, but by brummies, so like anything that's hand made it has variation, sometimes you get a good one, sometimes you dont. Some were made on a friday night, some on a monday morning.
As for electrical problems, again all minis have had electrical problems, i think they did substantially improve this on the MPi. The fuse box was moved inside the car, and it has about 20 modern blade fuses not just 4 fragile glass ones, that are normally covered in damp. In six and a half years of using my Mpi as a daily driver i've never once had her fail to start and the engine bay has never seen a can of WD40. The wiring harness is made to modern specs too, gone are the nasty 1950's bullet connectors, in are the water proof duraseal connectors.
My own MPi has only ever had one electrical fault, the harness chaffed through on the clutch master cylinder, causing it to stall at idle. It was an easy fix and just needed the harness re-routing.
Personally i think they're the most reliable of the classic minis, a lot of the scare stories i think originate from people who have only ever worked on classic cars, with carbs and points, so when a modern mini comes in with no carb and a sealed block as a distributor they just dont understand them.
Another point is mine has never even thought about over heating, stuck in traffic in record breaking summers.
I've also had no problems with OAT antifreeze, so long as you change it every 36 months as you're supposed to. My old Volvo runs quite hapily with it too (cast iron block)
As for oil choice well thats a separate debate altogether, which has been covered many times.
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 07:52 pm |
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The only downside is that Great Yarmouth is obviously a coastal town (Mum and Dad bought an 850 in the 70's which had first lived in Porthcawl and it was like a sieve when not that old). Its funny, but I remember when I was younger how variable rust on Minis could be from year to year as they aged. Fingers crossed anyway. Got those replacement seats for your Mainstream yet?
Porthcawl is our local seaside town and although we visit quite often, our Mini doesn't spend too much time there. Thinking back I can remember regularly seeing a mint Island Blue "D" reg MKI Mini Cooper S there about 20 odd years ago. I don't know what became of it, but I can also remember seeing rusty 1980's Minis parked outside houses too.
I still haven't got the seats yet, not that I'm in any real rush but I'll get a set one day.
I've also had no problems with OAT antifreeze, so long as you change it every 36 months as you're supposed to. My old Volvo runs quite hapily with it too (cast iron block)
I'm only passing on what I've heard, but good old fashioned Glycol based anti-freeze always worked fine in Minis and I bought a large container of Unipart's finest today.
As for oil choice well thats a separate debate altogether, which has been covered many times.
Oh god arguments have raged on Mini forums about what is the best oil to use in Minis. But all I can say is my 1990 Mainstream Cooper has never run so smoothly since I've treated it to a sump full of Duckhams Q Classic 20W/50.
Plus for several years I suffered some clutch judder problems and yes my clutch got replaced at 85,000 or so miles. But since filling up on Duckhams I'm now getting a perfectly operating clutch, with no judder and just smooth takes off's.
So it's a Twilight Zone moment I think? Or the Mini loves Duckhams Classic oil?
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hawaiianblue
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 08:16 pm |
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I'm only passing on what I've heard, but good old fashioned Glycol based anti-freeze always worked fine in Minis and I bought a large container of Unipart's finest today.
Indeed, glycol was fine, although OAT has the advantage of not eating paint and its better for the envionment if you acidentally drain your rad over a drain....
Plus for several years I suffered some clutch judder problems and yes my clutch got replaced at 85,000 or so miles. But since filling up on Duckhams I'm now getting a perfectly operating clutch, with no judder and just smooth takes off's.
You're back oil seal has started leaking then! Seriously you're old clutch was probably just a dud one.
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taffy1967
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 08:43 pm |
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Indeed, glycol was fine, although OAT has the advantage of not eating paint and its better for the envionment if you acidentally drain your rad over a drain....
But you're probably more likely to leak engine oil down a drain, which is far worst.
You're back oil seal has started leaking then! Seriously you're old clutch was probably just a dud one.
The old clutch was always fine until it started to expire after a high mileage. It's the replacement clutch that caused the bother and I put it down to the fact I used to drive the Mini hard when I used it for the daily commute, because the problem wasn't there for some time after it got fitted.
If it it due to the clutch oil seal, then I suppose the thicker oil could be beneficial in preventing it leaking? Either way my Mini is just loving this stuff, unless someone has fitted a new engine when I wasn't looking?
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blickling
Member
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 09:49 pm |
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| Many thanks HB for your experiences/thoughts on MPI's. Just finace and the wife to sort, as long as the one I am looking at tomorrow is as sound as I think it might be. Richard.
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DaveShreeve
Administrator
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Posted: Monday November 12th, 2007 10:07 pm |
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blickling wrote: Just finace and the wife to sort,
Careful with spelling! Is that 2 women on the go or should it be finance?
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Graham Bichard
Member
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Posted: Tuesday November 13th, 2007 07:56 am |
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taffy1967 wrote:
I know that gearboxes are always highlighted as a common failure on later Minis (something to do with a lack of shims and other components?),
Taffy, I know that a well built item is always better than a poorly built piece of kit, but are we saying the boxes were incorrectly built? Would a well built gearbox solve the syncro/baulk ring problems?
I thought it was an inherant problem (always second gear going first?), hence the sale of upgraded baulk rings etc. (My box has been like this since I bought the car at 33k miles - now 46k. Luckily I have experience of using crash boxes and just tend to drive around the problem)
If build quality is the answer, I'd be tempted to build my own (and no doubt learn something along the way) than buy off the shelf. Anyone else done this?
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blickling
Member
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Posted: Tuesday November 13th, 2007 02:16 pm |
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| You've rumbled me!! Well spotted that man. I am a real grumpy old man when it comes to poor spelling and now I have gone and done it myself.
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blickling
Member
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Posted: Tuesday November 13th, 2007 02:31 pm |
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On the matter of the search for an MPI, I had a look at a local car today and was quite impressed with the drive. It has a ding to the nearside wing by the headlamp, with no cracking to paintwork, but the surface has been flattened somewhat - could live with that. Fairly minor typical rust to vertical seams beneath both headlamps. One cracked spot/fog light. Main concern was slight bumpiness to windscreen rubber at its base close to the centre of the screen (though no visible corrosion extending onto scuttle) and holes to the vertical section of the front panel at each end of the slam panel (?) i.e. adjacent to headlamps. These could probably be patched and then painted and caked with grease/Dinitrol to their inner faces. GRAHAM B - roughly what sort of cost to repair your scuttle in the same area, if you had it done professionally? Otherwise, apart from a wonky steering wheel (after tracking adjustment?) and other minor surface rust to the base of the rear valance and front panel skirt, an OK car. The asking price is £5000 ono. Unfortunately, the MOT is due in a week or so. ANY COMMENTS?
Cheers, Richard. 
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Graham Bichard
Member
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Posted: Tuesday November 13th, 2007 02:48 pm |
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Richard, my 99 has some rust below the headlights - I use a fine paint brush and rust killer on it whenever I'm doing other work on the car to try and delay the inevitable wing/front panel strip down (still some years off I hope!).
As for the scuttle, I had quotes between £380 - £750 subject to what it looked like with the screen out. When the screen was taken out it ended up being close to the top end  . But at least I shouldn't have to worry about the scuttle for a while (and will Waxoyl the car regularly). I'm now at the point of trying to not do too much to the bodywork, keeping it as good as possible for as long as possible and then I'll strip and rebuild totally in perhaps 10 years?
I don't quite understand your description of the holes in the slam panel, but would this mean new wings/front panel eventually?
My wheel too is wonky! after I fitted adjustable arms/HD tie rods - latest Haynes details how to safely remove steering wheel.
Basically no mini is now a cheap car so I'd say get one if you can and look after it - but having said that there are still a good number of later mini's around. £5k should give you a good selection (just to make you sick, paid £2300 for mine as a 3 year old car! It was tax free though!)
Good luck - post a pic of your dream car when you get it!
Last edited on Tuesday November 13th, 2007 02:49 pm by Graham Bichard |
blickling
Member
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Posted: Tuesday November 13th, 2007 03:09 pm |
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| Cheers, Graham. Actually, now I sit here looking at my Mainstream, the holes are of course in the wings, just above the angle where they meet the front panel. TBH, you cannot see them from outside with the bonnet shut and I don't suppose they will make it necessary to replace the wings. It's difficult to know what to do about the screen flange. It can't be too bad at the moment and I wonder whether taking out the filler strip, lifting the rubber, cleaning, painting and greasing/sealing with an appropriate sealant might do for a while. The car had a pull-out radio/cassette fitted which I was a little suspicious about, but it at least allowed me to have a bit of a delve behind the dash and sound-deadening. Could not feel anything untowards, or any dampness. Unfortunately, you can't lift the moulded carpets easily, so could not have a look at floor for signs of damp. It didn't smell damp and it is sitting outside. Ah well, on with the pondering!
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Graham Bichard
Member
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Posted: Tuesday November 13th, 2007 03:35 pm |
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Richard, look at the photos of mine in the rustproofing thread - I wanted to get it done earlier rather than later to prevent any rot working down the bulkhead. It didn't look too bad, just slight rust signs at the edge of the rubber but when taken out and rubbed down the 'rust bleaching' (as the guy called it) went half way down the scuttle panel (towards the rear of the bonnet). The guy who completed the work is someone I have known for 10 years or more, so trust his judgement.
I've yet to take the radio out on mine to check for dampness (a job for this weekend?) but need to investigate my radio/speakers not working (still!). I do know the screen surround was reused as it appeared good. We shall see!
Can't see the problem getting the carpets up to look underneath (again see rustproofing thread).
Again, £5k should get you a good car - get out and look at others, see how they stack up regards rust, paintwork blemishes etc
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