1978 Austin Mini Cooper The Real Deal!! Mountain Raper!!
1978 Austin Mini (leyland) LHD
Left Hand Drive (LHD)
I bought this car last summer. It was red and had 10" black wheels, so I bought the flares, wheels(7X13 gunmetal) and had it painted, so the paint is fresh. I threw some new shocks on the front and a new Header on. This thing sounds mean, but not too loud! I threw some New/old seats in it that are pretty comfortable and you stay put in them. I have some clear corners for the front also, but are not installed. I put the aluminum door hardware on as well which makes it look nice. The exhaust from the motor back is brand new. The motor runs really strong and was rebuilt 2 years ago as the previous owner told me.
It also has dual carbs on it which make a huge difference. One of my buddies had a 1275 SPI (fuel injected) mini, and mine would out run it all the way through, So it is very peppy and really surprised me. I had a 1275 a few years back and this 1000 would run circles around it.
Lets start on the flaws, although this thing looks good in the pics it does have some. I had issues with the brakes and was told the master cylinder was bad, so I bought a brandnew one which was $300(stupid) I put it on and had the same issues as before. I took it to a local shop that tried to rip me off bad, but I put a stop to it. well they found a bad line that was leaking which I was happy about. but that wasnt the problem. They put some new rear spacers in the drums cause the others were shot, still didnt fix it. So I picked up the car from them. The brakes work on the first press, but its just the front driver side. If you pump them twice then they all work like a dream. I just got tired of messing with them so I didnt bother to figure it out. I think there may be some air at the top of the vertical post. The local Brake only shop was abunch of idiots so I know they didnt check to see. So I will sell it with the two master cylinders which is about $500...ha
The blinkers are not working, I tried to track it down but had no luck. I know its nothing crazy just didnt take the time to do it. The front bullet/blinkers are wired up to the headlights. The headlights, taillights, and brake lights are all fine. Wipers are good to go. Tachometer works but the speedometer is not hooked up. Gauge lights work. It really could use some TLC on the wiring.
It sounds like it may need a new CV joint on the driver side, it pops a lil when turning only in a parking lot or just turning all the way to the left.
Now the jams on the car around the inside of the doors, the bonnet, and boot need to be painted. Just another thing I was gonna do but didnt have time, it would probably only take a few minuts to do though...
Last and least, the hood was a little rough(just seemed weak and loose) before paint, so the guy cleaned it up a little just to get by and to look halfway decent. Well he did a good job, so I just left it on the car. Well I went to drive it one evening and forgot to put the hood pins back in it, well it flew up on me and dented it up a little. So it could use a new hood which is about $170...not too bad. Its fine the way it is, but its the fact of having those dents in it.
The interior is ok, Carpet is new, seats are good, headliner is good. Dash is kinda weak but it looks ok.
Most of the stuff that is wrong with the car was pretty much like it was when I bought it. I was working on it and just got tied up with other stuff. After I bought the car my Fiance hated it with a passion, being that its soo small. I told her I would like to get it painted and get the wheels and flares on it and then I wouldnt sink that much money in it. Well I got married a few months after I bought it, and then just bought a new house a few weeks ago, so I guess I just need to get rid of it now. I want to keep it, but I dont like her worrying while Im driving it. So thats why Im selling it and selling it like it is. It may sound like I just dont care about it because of some of the flaws but thats not it. Just have too much going on! I drive the car every chance I get and love it soo much, bu I guess some things come to an end.
I posted some links up of pics so check those.
Looking at getting $7995 for it OBO
[email protected]
Keep in mind that this is probably the best handling vehicle on this site! It is a Dragons tail Raper! It has about 65hp but runs like a typical civic I would think. If you do a rear mount turbo on this, you could probably get about 120-140HP and with that, there would be nothing on the Dragon that could hang with it besides a shifter kart, then again this mini is just an oversized go-kart
Thanks, Justin
(706)455-2913
New photos
Older shots
Originally Posted by seanrg1116
