[imgr]http://www.motoringalliance.com/gallery/data/585/medium/SSPX0058.jpg[/imgr]1. Please tell us about your MINI when it was delivered. Option Packages along with the Year, Model and Color. When I picked it up, it was beat up red with a black roof. No options, but it DID have a rusted out rear subframe, which made the drive home from Cleveland to Vegas epic. 2. Why did you choose a MINI? I learned to drive on a Mini, had 5 of them growing up. When I heard BMW was re-imagining the MINI, I told my wife “If they don’t screw it up, that’s my next car.†They didn’t, and it was. The Wee Beastie came to me after I’d been looking for a cheap, running classic and spotted him on eBay. 3. Please tell us about the various phases your MINI has taken as your mods progressed. When he came home, he was red and had a bit of rust throughout, from those salty Ohio roads. I replaced the rusted out rear sub-frame, holey exhaust and beaten up rear suspension and got him back on the road. Then I stripped him down most of the way, had the body rust taken care of and repainted to Mustang Grabber Orange/Black and reassembled him myself. I’ve added a boxing Kangaroo roof graphic, and upgraded the cooling system for those Las Vegas summers and that’s about it.[imgr]http://www.motoringalliance.com/gallery/data/585/medium/roofgraphic.jpg[/imgr] 5. What has been the most difficult mod completed to date? Why? Rear suspension replacement. I did it myself with a little assistance from a mate, but I’d never done anything that major on a car myself before. 6. Where do you research and source your modifications; materials, parts, etc? My Haynes manual is invaluable, I check the boards on NAM, M/A and MiniMania for info. For parts, I check a whole slew of classic Mini parts sites and have bought bits from several, even some from the UK and Australia. eBay is also a surprisingly valuable parts store. 7. Have other Motoring Alliance members assisted you? If so, give them a shout out. Nathan of course has helped with support and friendship, can’t count all the people I’ve become friends with over the past 7 years of MINI ownership and club and AMVIV activity. I have over 400 Facebook friends and over ¾ of them are MINI/Mini people. 8. How did Motoring Alliance help you as a resource in your modifications? Not a huge amount really. The Classic forums on here aren’t THAT active [yet (ed.)], and the Mini really isn’t very modified from stock, other than the paint. 9. What are you planning next? What remains to be done? What are your goals? Gotta finish up the interior, and fabricate or buy some boot interior panels. 10. Please list all current mods. Grabber orange paint Orange aftermarket steering wheel Upgraded (though still original Mini) radiator Radiator fan and hoses Boxing kangaroo roof graphic Other than that, still stock, even running the stock “dual cone†suspension.
Wow, I remember that old girl! (I sold it to him). Glad to see it's all done, shiny and fancy! Awesome job, Agro! Glad she went to a good home.
Nice job! btw- where can I get a replacement badge from AMVIV 6? Car wash ate mine from last year? thanks. [email protected]
Another Classic Mini saved from the elements. Nice job. Now I need to see about getting mine in here for May.
Still got a few things to do but I'm glad you approve. Give me a call at 402 770-5087. I think we have a few left.
Nice car! I'm jealous. I want a classic. By the way, I notice the radiator is facing sideways. Is that true for all classics? :confused5:
YEP. Alot(not all though) of the Classics had their radiators facing the drivers side wheel well. I guess it's an English thing. If they had been built in Scotland, they'd be facing forward(SCOTLAND THE BRAVE).:devil::cornut: Jason
Classics that still have proper Mini engines do. Can't say for those ones that have Honda or motorbike engines in them. Versus...it's actually a current Mustang colour, "Grabber Orange". Means I can pick up touch up paint at any Ford dealership.
I think Mini moved the radiator to the front in the Spi models of the very late 90's until the final car rolled off the assembly line. There isn't really much room for one in front otherwise, unless you do a Vtec conversion. Then they have to remove the original front sheet metal and put in an extended front in in Fiberglass. That adds about 3 to 4 inches to the front of the car. Most people never even notice the difference. But a Classic Miniac will. :arf:
No longer true, using the MiniTec subframes. My car is not extended. In fact that was the final determiner for doing the VTEC in my car. I would never have messed with the original classic lines of the body. But you are correct that the later MPI Minis from 1996 on had the rad in the front. (Except the Japanese exported ones. They kept the original sideways placement so that they could fit air conditioning under the bonnet.)