Description
• 1998 MPI mini in night fire red, with Anthracite roof and wheel arches
• 53, 600 recorded miles
• 8 Owners, the last 2 being myself and latterly my son
• Standard unmodified 1. 3 Twin point fuel injected engine with after market catback exhaust system with 3” tail pipe
• Cooper sport 500 seats front and rear.
• Carbon fibre style dashboard with the following auxiliary gauges; Voltage meter, Clock and , Oil pressure.
• Central locking integrated to the standard alarm system
• Electric Windows
• Sony DSX-A410BT Bluetooth stereo with Sony XS-FB1330 speaker mounted in Bolt-On Bit Door pockets augment the standard rear speakers
• Super Trax 13” wheels with Nankang NS-2R 175/ 50/ 13 tyres
• Mini Spare adjustable lower front Suspension arms and track rods, plus unbranded Front Hilo’s
• Mini Sport rear adjustable camber brackets
• Gas A just front and rear shocks
• Smiffy bit’s belt cover, relay covers and brake fluid tank cover.
• Selling on behalf of my son as it's stored at my house.
Welcome to the sale of Project Adam.
I purchased this MPI mini in 2014 as my sons first car when he was 16. It was in reasonably good condition but needed a few things improving before it could be his first daily driver. After 6 months out in all weathers bringing out some rust, and my sons purchase of the Super Trax 13” wheels and Miglia style arches it turned into a complete strip down restoration.
The car had started as a 1998 MPI mini (not a cooper) and through its life had collected several upgrades in the form of central locking and electric windows, plus high-lows at the front. Unfortunately, in May 2012 it became a class C write-off, the damage from this was not immediately obvious, there were no creases on the inner wings and no crease in the boot floor, I concluded that it must have been a relevantly minor accident at a time the car was not worth much, so it didn’t put me of buying it. The restoration works revealed that the passenger side door had been replaced and the roof had been damaged, but it still had its original sills and wings and A-panels, so I assume it was a cyclist strike with the front wheel of the bike damaging the door and the rider being thrown onto the roof.
Keen to keep the originality I made some repairs to the front panel, made the necessary cuts to the wings and A panels to fit the larger wheels, the underside of the wings were rust proofed and painted. At the rear there was a lot of rust in the 3 panel seam between the boot floor, valance and rear panel. I made some repairs to the boot floor about an inch inward, replaced the valance and boot hinge panel. Whilst prepping the body for paint I found a hole in the driver door so reskinned it. I also made modification to both doors to get the electric window mechanisms to fit more securely and improve their operation.
Mechanically the mini was in pretty good condition but nonetheless the subframes were removed, stripped down and pained silver. Then suspension was re assembled with new standard rubber bushes and brake lines. Then engine had on 41, 000 miles on it, so it was just serviced, cleaned and painted.
While the subframes were out the bottom the car was clean back to bare metal in places where rust was evident and the sprayed with a Dynatrol rust converter and 445 rubberised stone chip.
Fuel and brake lines were replaced in few places, the callipers and drums were stripped, rebuilt and painted. All suspension joins were replaced including the rear radius arm pivots
The car was then had a full respray inside and out. The body in the original night fire red metallic and the roof and wheel arches in Anthracite a metallic black with blue specals that only appeared on minis in the final year of production.
When it was back from paint we fitted a new headliner, new carpets, Cooper sport 500 seats, a carbon fibre dashboard and the dash top and sun visors were recovered by Optimise Automotive.
Once the car was on the road and in regular use my son improved the suspension further with mini spares adjustable lower arms and track rods at the front and camber brackets at the rear, and the brakes with dimpled and grooved discs up front and finned alloy drums at the rear. He also fitted a mini spare quick shifter kit. It was his daily driver for a couple of years, but a new job came with a longer commute, and he decided it was time to get a more modern car.
The mini has been resting in a shed at my house for the last 3, 5 years, and my son is now into 80’s Japanese cars, so has decided to let it go. During it’s time in slumber I have made regular checks, last year I repalced the battery which failed despite being on a battery mainetance charger and I identified that the radiator fan had failed. It was replaced by a genuine Spal (per OEM) unit fitted to the original shroud
Being a mini the tin worm has appeared again despite my best efforts; both A panels are bubbling as is the driver’s side corner of the scuttle panel and the wing next to it.
I’ve given the car a service, Oil and filter, stripped down and rebuild of the rear brakes as the adjusters were a little sticky, and replaced the brake fluid, a failed front indicator unit and the header tank as the cap wouldn't seal properly despite tring several new ones. All suspension joins have been greased, and it’s recently passed an MOT.
The last 4 pictures show the some of the restoration work, the rest are as it is now.
