My new desire....

http://www.superfastminis.com

I SOOOOOO want to build a sleeper old school austin mini.... only thing holding me back is that the asking price on used older minis is insane.... I only need a mini with a solid body and interior, hopefully RHD, but it doesn't matter if it runs or not... I'm wanting to do a d-series swap... possible turbo....

I just can't find anyone not asking an insane amount for one... all the good bodies are like 7k+

grr....

I'm so in love though.... Can you imagine toastin' wrx's with a lil' mini? HAHAHAHAHA!

 

I thought you gave up car modding to pursue other interests?

Couldn't stay away could ya?

 

Well.... this baby I can put in storage and not worry about it losing value or having to continue payments on... I'm totally out of showing and having any debt to pay off at all. This would be a personal project...

I have a huge nice area to store cars and such, so that's not an issue...

YES.... it's in my blood... I just modified my desire to modify to be a bit more responsible to my life goals and money/time management.

Keeping that tC competitive was only going to cost me money, and It was only going to lose value....

This would be quite a different story, and still could allow me to be responsible to what I still am pursuing in regards to my career and legacy.

 

have you thought of maybe some of the lesser popular cars taht are around the same size of the mini. I think the big secret is for it to be a classic body that people recognize.

There is the old Moris Minors that were way cool and I may still know where to pick a couple of bodies and frames for dirt cheap. Same basic shape and size as the Mini's. Also there is the old Crosly's they are really cool and some really nice shapes too. You can find those for really reasonalble. I know they even made some convertables. And the old magazine articles were a lot of fun for those.

 

A friend of mine just bought a RHD mini for his son for his 14th bday. When licensing it, the numbers say its a 72 or 73, but it is a late 90's model, they recycle them, lol, well, at least the vin numbers. Not sure what he paid for it, was brokeraged thru someplace in Texas.

 

I'm totally locked on a mini... I just keep imagining myself packed in one of those... (I'm going to have to modify it to fit me well)

I monitor Craigslist often for the PNW and northern California to see what's out there... I just wait for something to pop up.... I wish there was a place that had a ton of them, but I haven't found it yet...

 

if ya change your mind i still got a friend trying to get rid of his 510

 

Well if you want to get swevel head we can always go and find one the way I used to find the old cars

 

Tim, I just saw a mini for sale here i Vancouver. It looked like a rolling chassis no windows or interior. It's off Fourth plain and sr-500. Take 205 north to van mall (sr500 e) exit head east on fourth plain (first light) it's about 1mile down on the right in the Chinese food parking lot. I have no idea on the price but it was there on Thursday.

 

LOL thta is what I am talking about. on this one you may not be able to look in the paper or on line, you may just have to do it the old fashioned way, and that is get out and drive with a buddy around and see what you see

 

AWESOME.... time to check it out this weekend.... I'll look tomarrow for it... maybe I'll have some luck.... Thanks!

 

Just remember i only saw it from the street. So if it's a piece of dung it's not my fault. But with what you want to do I think it will work.

 

Good luck and have fun Tim

 

my first ever car was a 1979 Mini 1275 GT. I loved that car so much. But that was back in England.

 

Sad.... couldn't find it anywhere....

 

I went by it and looked closer it's actually a honda of some sort with four flat tires no glass no interior but the body was fairly straight. I'll keep my eye out for you Tim.

 

I'll watch out as well I am taking a trip up to my old stompin grounds this weekend so I will keep my eyes peeled out for ya

 

Thanks... I have a lot of my networked car guys looking around too...

It's really tough to find what I want, I see a clubman that looks nice in New Mexico... but I want the cooper style, not the clubman front... I can fly out to pick up anything reasonably close... I've been looking in all the western states...

It's just that I'm not into spending too much for a car I'm going to rip apart anyways, and take the engine out of With cars this old, there is a delicate balance of condition/completeness and price... There's a lot I can do, and some things I can't when it comes to rust/parts/and such...

I'm pretty good on getting a decent d-series for cheap, and modding the heck out of that engine... (So, So many were made and mods are like a dime a dozen out there for them... turbo kits for 700 bucks???? wow...) So, the engine swap doesn't scare me at all... it's just getting it to that point, and getting the car where I want it looks wise...

I'm fully committed on sleeper, and it's got to look classic, stock, and clean when I'm done.

It's just finding the particular mini....

 

Check these specs baby!

1098cc
8.5:1
49bhp @ 5250 rpm
60 lbs @ 2450 rpm
Drums front and rear
10.3 Feet Long
4.62 Feet Wide
4.4 Feet Tall
6.67 Foot Wheelbase
1406 lbs Curb Weight

 

Sir Alec Issigonis designed some wonderful vehicles, and the Mini and it's larger sister (the MG 1100 Sport Sedan, of which I had three) were marvelous.

One cannot more closely define "closed go kart" than just referring to the Mini.

I can remember "back in the day" the 1275cc Cooper Brooklands version which could hit over 140 MPH on the straights. Never got to drive one of those - never even saw one in person, but the one race-tuned Mini I got a chance at on the track was purely limited by HP: One stayed in top gear at redline and just steered.

It was just like the xB, on the straights everyone would pull away, but in the corners, you'd be on their bumper, harassing them. :D

You'll really enjoy Alec's original Mini. He set one whole lot of new standards and hurdles for others with that one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jndRszSPO8M

Tom

P.S. I also had Honda's re-creation of the design, a Z600. The Z600 was a fancied-up version and the N600 a take off of the original Mini, both with air cooled, two-cylinder, 600cc motorcycle engines. :D W00t!