Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Tango]

Hey, just wanted to introduce myself & Tango my 1972 850 Mini with a 1275 engine. I saw him on fleabay a while ago & fell in love but had no spare money & he was quite a lot. Without my husband knowing I placed a bid a thousand less than he wanted but he sold it so forgot about it. Then he rang to say buyer had not turned up & would I like it at the bid I placed so after much grovelling & I love you's my hubby lent me some money & off we went to Birmingham to get it.
OMG it was definately not as advertised BUT for all it's faults I fell in love so we paid & I drove it for 15 mins on the motorway then BOOF headgasket gone AA bought him home & before my husband also blew a gasket I hid it in the garage & did not say a word....

Part one.....if anyone wants to know rest of story let me know as I do not want to send you all to sleep

Jaine

[Bitumen Boy]

Of course we want to hear the rest of the story Especially if it will send me to sleep in the morning now I'm on nights again

[D4B]

Welcome here Jaine,

Great story ~ looking forward to the next installment & some pics now....

[Rick]

Welcome aboard - yes of course we want to hear more about the Min'

RJ
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[Tango]

This is the love of my life & the pain in my husbands a*@e


Aint he cute

[Rick]

Very neat my brother had a Min in a similar colour scheme 20 years or so back, that one went well!

RJ
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[Tango]

Part 2
Tango apparently had an MOT a week before we bought him
So he definately should not have had: no horn, 2 leaking knackered rear shocks, brake cylinder seized & a hole where gear stick was 6" x 4" in the floor. Dodgy.....
So those fixed & gaskets replaced we started checking him over. Oh dear god. What a mess. The previous owner had stuck an amp & bass box in the boot & concentrated so much on his 1400 watt racket but ignored everything important so removed all the stereo (rear end raised up about 2") & the wiring was so dangerous. Dear husband then decided I was not driving this heap until he had gone over everything. So out came our overalls & cups of tea & off we went. fuel tank was not bolted in & fuel pipe was leaking. Most of wheel nuts were loose, steering wheel loose, heater matrix leaking, no thermostat, alternator wiring hanging off, no bracket on radiator. (By now husband wanted a divorce). No bolt in bottom pulley, fuse box had wires all over the place & loads of other things I have forgotten. BUT this little orange monster had my heart so I worked lots of overtime at the hospital & thanks to loads of spares we have we fixed it all & are just in process of putting whole new carpet in, pair of 2nd hand Corbeau seats & then save up for the rust repairs...
he draws attention wherever he goes & I love nothing more than roaring around the lanes in my space hopper on wheels. next plans are another 1275 engine we have as this one is very tired & slow.
He is booked into Battlesbridge in May & Harpenden so got to get him sorted by then
Jaine

[bob2]

Nice mini, I know the feeling, I love my 2 minis too!!

[Rick]

It sounds like the MOT was a mail-order job!

RJ
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Home:https://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk
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[roverdriver]

A very pretty car, Jaine, and I'm sure that as soon as you have everything in order, you will have a lot of fun with it.

I too was lucky enough to buy a vehicle on E-bay 'second chance' offers. I was looking for a farm hack LandRover, and bid what I felt was my maximum, but was quickly outbid. A week or so later the seller contacted me to say the other two higher bidders had pulled out of the deal and did I want it. I got it, and it has proved to be very handy. Below is a link to a short movie, using it for gathering winter firewood-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IafhBHQGaqA&list=UU91SYGtfHD9LaGagiGCEJgg&index=1
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Dane- roverdriver but not a Viking.

[JC T ONE]

Hello & welcome inhere Jaine

That is a nice Min you have there I noticed that you mentioned rust in the floor, and new carpets being fitted.
make sure to check if the rubber grommet for the door stay, is fitted in both sides, these are often missing, which leads to water entering the cabin .
Door cards are often leaking aswell, people dont take the time, and seal off the holes after they had the doors apart.
anoher very common problem, that also leads to water = then rust in the car

have a friend who lives in Harpenden, very nice area (have a VERY faaast Min)
Jens Christian
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[bob2]

Hey there Jens, its been long since we talked, are you ok?

The 2 things you mentioned are very common indeed, actually happened to me on one of my minis

[Tango]

Thanks Jens, we have checked everywhere & all holes now sorted.
Here is another couple of our Mini's.



Jaine

[welshrover]

nice mini's . my uncles mad on mini's, he had a cooper s but sold it to get married in the 70's. i told him he should have kept the mini instead.looking how much they are fetching now.he's had a few over the years he's got one of the last ones now, with a webasto sunroof & wide minilites on it. a friend in our village has got two coopers one a factory car ,four pick ups two vans and a traveller. he quite likes them. you should see his face when people ask him if he likes the new mini .its a picture i can tell you.

[JC T ONE]