cooper s, how much??

[Rotor Reaction]

how much i am looking at to buy a mini cooper s??

[Nick]

New one $39,900 from your local BMW dealer.

Used one, use www.redbook.com.au

[Rotor Reaction]

anyone know what's the different between Clubman GT and Cooper S?? they are all 1.3L enging
bcoz there is a big different in price!! clubman gt is $1~3000, and cooper s is over $5000!!

[mlangeveld]

The Clubman GT was the final incarnation of the Cooper S once the demise of Austin and Morris was completed by Leyland in 1971.
Although considered by many to be butt ugly, it was the most refined of all the Cooper's(even though it was a clubman) and was quite a lot quieter due to the extra sound deadening. The engine was easier to work on as well due to the extra space in the engine bay.
The reason for the price difference is in the design. The Clubman was designed by a guy brought in from Ford by Leyland. It was thought that the Mini was in need of modernising. This shape, allthough unpopular, was kept until the last Australian mini was made in 1980. Leyland in the UK bowed to public opinion and reverted to a revised edition of the original shape. This basic shape was kept until the last mini was produced in 2000.

A Cooper varies in price (for a genuine example of course, the word cooper is applied a little too liberally on some lesser minis sporting a scavenged set of twin SU carbies or a twin tank and nothing else).
A complete, but dissassembled car, or one in a poor state will cost on average about 3 to 5 thousand dollars, whereas a restored version will start at around 10 thousand, and get to a peak of around 16 to 18 thou. Any more than this is usually a concours car, or extremely rare. Be wary on any Cooper's that are being sold for less than 5 thou, they're probably a poor copy(unless they're in bits, that may explain the price)

The poor cousin of the family, the Clubman GT is the bargain of the bunch. Sporting the same performance mechanicals, a more comfortable interior and a bigger engine bay will cost you about 6 to 10 thousand for a restored example. A fantastic club car, and a good example of what the 70's were all about.
An excellent buy.


Mick
(Mine's a Mk II Cooper S. Refer to avatar.)

[ViNcEnXo]

I'm really not too much a fan of the BMW mini's.

[MiniMan]

bmw isnt a mini, never was, never will be, how can they badge such a monstrosity as a "mini"

[ViNcEnXo]

Originally posted by MiniMan
bmw isnt a mini, never was, never will be, how can they badge such a monstrosity as a "mini"

Amen! :worship: :worship:

I think you'll find us real mini owners (is my mini a real mini) have the same opinion.

[Rotor Reaction]

thanks mlangeveld

thinking to buy a mini, but don't have enough papers for cooper~
i might just get a clubman GT^^

[Grumpy Rooster]

Why not get a 1275LS ? Its essentially the same car but with bigger wheels and brakes.

The engines may not be as powerful (I don't remember) but they are a great car for the money $5000 for a real neat one.

[MiniMan]

For around the 2-7 grand mark you could get a real nice deluxe or 850 (both round nose mini's) that look just as good as a cooper, might not have the power you want, but will definetly attract the same attention :)

[Rotor Reaction]

@@~~~ still need to do some more reserch
don't really know about mini.....

what is 1275LS??
i don't really need a lot power, but still need to have enough power
my mate used to have a combe van, it couldn't go over 80km on highway@@~~~
i have never been in a mini, don't know how fast can it goes

[HoonBoy]

the 1275LS was one of the last models made in Australia. The biggest difference is the 12 inch wheels (all other minis had 10inch wheels) It has the 1275 motor with a milder cam then the cooper S and clubman GT and a single SU (1 1/2 inch I think, could be 1 3/4 inch)

The bigger wheels and milder motor make for better crusing but slower acceleration. A mini will have no problems sitting on 120, but it will be noisy.

There is plenty of stuff that can be done to any of the models to get it to go quicker, stop and handle. BUT it will cost a lot more then most other cars :( :( :(

If you need any info I have an original Leyland manual with the specs for each model at home.

[Rotor Reaction]

thanks hoonboy

so 1275LS still has the portantion to go quick?

are they all come with drum brake??
bcoz i seem some other post that talking abt disc brake coversion~

[MiniMan]

yeah discs on the front and drums on the back on LS GT and Cooper S
every other mini like the 850, deluxe and leyland s had drums all round

[Paydirt]

Where are you finding a Clubman GT for between $1-3000, because if you can find one for that price it would damn good bargain, but it sounds too good to be true. I have had many minis, including a 1275LS, which is actually sitting in the back yard as we speak. The Cooper S and GT had the same spec motors, as they were using the left over motors when they changed over to the clubman. The 1275 LS was the last ever Australian built mini. It had a 1275 motor (obviously) running non-power assisted brakes up front and drums on the rear. They also ran a single 1 1/2 SU, no extractors, and all the pollution gear. Personally I like the shape of the Morris better than the Clubman, but I think that everyone is paying too much attention to the Cooper S, therefore taking the light away from the GT and 1275 LS. In years to come the LS and GT will become a well sort after car, even more so than now. My LS I have in the back yard is slowly deteriorating away, no time for it, It's actually my brother's now, he bought it off me, and ruined it. :( He may be willing to part with it. But also if you are interested, I have all the compliance plates stored away for another 1275LS I got with my other, but it was too far gone to repair, the motor now resides in someone elses car, and the brakes sport the front of my Moke Californian.

On another note, if you are after a different sort of car, similar motor, look into the morris 1100 S, they had a 1275 with twin SUs, as did the morris 1300, but without the twins. Great handling cars, with potential, and very unusual. Would make a great sleeper. Have fun.:)

[Rotor Reaction]

paydirt,

do morries and clubman look different?? i only know that leyland looks different.....@@

can you post some pic, also morries 1100 s and 1300
or email me~

joseph_uq@yahoo.com

i don't know what they looks like. and how much are they??

thank you

[mlangeveld]

Leyland/ Clubman = Same thing.

Leyland is the company name, Clubman is the model's name.

On the 1100 S, I'm pretty sure that they only cam with a single 1.5 inch SU carbie. The English variant of this one DID come with the twins however. They're pretty ugly cars though. bluh!

The engine is almost as strong, but doesn't have the performance potential of the GT or Cooper S models, not without spending some serious cash a nitrided crank, ported head, carburetion etc.
The GT had the better gearboxes too. They were rod change after a certain date (1971ish??) and are easier to rebuild as they were the final box used for the rest of the mini's production years.

If you could get a really nice example of a hot mini with the smaller motor, a 1275 injection engine is easy to get from an mini engine importer.
Nice.



Mick

[Rotor Reaction]

but when i serch on redbook, i seem clubman under morries, not leyland....

[HoonBoy]

Redbook isnt always 100percent correct...

One good point of the 1100S engine is the crankshaft. It has bigger big ends which can be offset ground to suit cooper s/clubman GT rods to give a longer stroke. Mix that with a big bore, scatter cam, twin 1 3/4 su's, headwork and you have yourself a 1454 cc monster :D :D :D

[Stix Zadinia]

Minis - Easy to work on?

argh!

it must be something in the english way of thinking, they must really hate mechanics. I remember pulling a V12 Rover Meteor out of a Centurion Tank, a few years back with my dad. They've never heard of a captive nut, so to take the engine covers off 2 blokes had to hold the hatches up whilst 2 other blokes got on the end of the bolt....

then there was the 30 hour part behind the 600 hour part, and the whole exhaust ""system""

although, having driven a 1275 they handle like they're on rails, i'd just get someone else to work on them

EDIT: and yet they were a world superpower.....

if only those germans were lacking in the brains, maybe we'd be speaking german

[MiniMan]

Mini's arent that hard to work on
Getting someone such as a mini specialist to do it will usually charge around the $55 an hour mark. I reccomend doing it yourself, if unsure on how to do it, refer to manuals and talk to the mini specialists they are usually more than happy to tell you how to get the job done.
Me being only 18 and done 3 engine changes in the past 3 years I have found it being a real experience

[HoonBoy]

Mini's are not hard to work on, but they can be a bit tight and you need to do things in the correct order. If you forget something (like the hose between the head and block... ) it can take you a lot longer to get it done.

A lot of mechanics don't like thinking about what they are doing so they wont work on mini's (and other "different" cars) or charge a lot more than they would for normal work. The extra hourly cost of a mini specialist is well worth it, they know what to do and what may go wrong. If they are specialise in mini's they like them and will be a lot more careful with scrathes etc.

[Rotor Reaction]

i like morries look more then leyland........ but morries cost more...........@@

[mlangeveld]

Working on a mini is like working on a lawn mower.
Not much brains needed there, and fairly cheap. I've been sourcing all my parts from england direct for 8 years without a problem. It's about a third of the price of the local guys, and there's none of the "I'll have to order it in, but it'll take a while.." crap either. All said and done, it'll be on your doorstep in 10 days, and for less than the locals quote they buy it in for.

Rotor: Get someone who knows how to look for rust. Everything else can be fixed easily,except rust.

[|Noodles|]

The Leyland Mini's ahve alot more room to work on in the engine bay and therefore it is easier to do things like turbo and supercharging :) but the round nose mini or Morris mini's look alot better i recon. Parts for mini's are readily available in brisbane through some great outlets but if u cant find what you need up here try Mini Kingdom in sydney where you can order every single thing possible or a mini. In regards to working on them, i can we the help of another person pull a mini engine of the road and sitting on the ground beside the car in 2hrs and in another 2 hrs max have the engine pulled down, you get good at when u race a mini trust me...

[mlangeveld]

Not trying to black cat ya or anything noodles, but I had a mate who was so bad at rebuilding engines that he would have to pull them out on a monthly basis. He got so good at removing them that he could ~ on his own ~ pull a 1275 out in a little under 50 minutes.
A case of having the right spanners, one carbie instead of two, and all the right bolts left off, and no oil cooler. He also had a shed with an excellent beam for a block and tackle, and the right kind of attachment for the engine lifting hook.

His engines were shockers.

Andre

[|Noodles|]

Thats not a bad effort 50min is great especially with 2 people

[mlangeveld]

Aaaaaaactually, it was by himself.

He was possessed, and with the engine mount nuts welded to the plate, and a minimum of bolts it wasn't a big task.

I think the important item here was the correct lifting adaptor to bolt down onto the head. if the hook is held directly over the dipstick hole, and a little to the right, the engine ballances perfectly and will slip straight out of the car if the oil filter has been removed.

He was about 22 then, and quite fit as well. We tried to duplicate his achievment last year on the cooper, albeit with oil cooler and twin SU's. The best we managed was about 2.5 hours. Practice and the need to get to work on time makes perfect I guess.
Sounds like a tall story, but it is true.

Andre

[Paydirt]

Well the old man and myself have done some extreme amounts of motor transplantations in the good old mini. It pretty easy to get a motor out in less than an hour once you've got the hang of it. Actually my brother and him once finished rebuilding a motor and being good old dad, he forgot to put in the idler gear, and we only found out when we went to start it and it didn't move. So out it came, removed all the clutch, housing etc, replaced the idler gear, put it back together and had it back in the car within 55 minutes. I guess we had it a bit easier with the CV pot joints and being a clubman, but the amount of times we have changed motors you get good at it.:)

[MiniMan]

I guess we had it a bit easier with the CV pot joints and being a clubman

yeah, all the U bolts on the early type driveshafts do slow ya down a bit lol :rolleyes:

[TurboSuzi]

hey paydirt, You reckon that your brother would sell me the LS?? The turbo on the suzi shit itself so I'm looking for a new project and maybe the LS is what I'm lacking in my life at the moment.

[Paydirt]

I'll sell you a T25. ;) I tell you what, lacking a Mini is the least of your worries, you're lacking more than that!:p ;) NO harm in asking though.

[willsy01]

I love Mini's. I've grown up with 'em (22 now). Dad has restored about 15 of 'em and had countless others just to play with......mostly Coopers.
They are like driving a GoKart.......you don't slow down for corners, just steer and hang on!!
The new Mini won't be considered a real Mini until it wins Bathurst........

:D

Ryan

[mlangeveld]

I've always owned a mini. I've owned a 98 vectra (ho-hum), a 98 WRX, a FZR-R 250 and now a Yamaha YZF-R1 which boasts 150 HP in a frame that weighs 174 Kg's dry.

Every time I jump into my Mini Cooper S, all the money I've spent on my other cars and bikes seems to be a waste. With your arse dragging on t he ground, a raucous noise from under the bonnet, and handling that still shames a lot of performance cars, the mini is a blast.

I can boast a local fan club of pre-teen girls who cheer and sing in unison "go mini, go mini ..." when I drive past their house. The best is when little kids in the street tug on dad's shirt and point my car out to them in the street. I guess cos it's fire engine red they think it's a wiggles car or Noddy or some shit.
Still beats trying to impress girls by driving past in a 200SX with the stereo up and the seats raked back, arms hanging out the window, hat on backwards, blah blah...




Mick