Buying A Classic Mini

Dushyantha · January 19, 2015

Hey guys . im on the hunt for a Classic mini . browsing through the AL posts i learned a lot of stuff .
From what i gathered i think its better to stay away from the cut buds . and the dodgy registration ones .

and the A pillars , the front near the windshield , under interior carpets are spots to find for severe rust.

some people register minis to Morris minor books.
Most of the Minis that i looked had their bodies replaced with newer model bodies . some were in pretty good nick . good straight body and all .

So these are my questions .

How do i identify if a car is a cut bud or not . are there special places to look for like welded joints and stuff.? why should i stay away from these ?

is putting a newer model body on an old mini legal ?

is there any way of making sure all the paperwork for the car is in order like after putting on a new body some details must be changed on the vehicle certificate ryt ? where i should look for the engine/chasis numbers ?

i am looking for a 1300cc manual . these come as EFI and carb models . which would be a more reliable engine?

i would like a mini with the new teak dashboard , airbag , new engine and all those things but apparently these are the new ones that are bought down in pieces and welded together ,and then registered with a different book .

also i would like to stay away from a rust bucket .

my budget is around 1.3mil would it be a bad decision if i go for the newer airbag model ? but i wouldnt want to mess around with dodgy paperwork and all .

P.s . any other pointer as to what to look for when buying a mini and the current market value of them are welcome .

Edited January 19, 2015 by Dushee001

The Don · January 19, 2015

1. The vast majority of minis have been modified. Its unlikely you will find a completely original mini, and the few that are left are unliekly to be sold as they are with collectors.

2. Cut bud vehicles can only be identified by hoisting the vehicle up and inspecting for welding lines in unusual places. But in reality most have been shell swaps rather than cut bud so you are unlikely to be able to differentiate. The key indicator is if you are an expert in minis to check for suble changes from the original of that era (this is probably a waste of time for the reasons given in poin #1)

3. Which version of the Mini you go for is your personal choice. The EFi models are obviously more efficient and easier to maintain than the carbs and has more power. My preference is the last generation which came with options such as airbags etc. But there are very few originals of this type, and the airbags etc might just be for show if the upgrade was just the interior without the electronics and sensors needed for airbag operation.

Dushyantha · January 19, 2015

Thanks for the reply Don .

would i be running into trouble if i bought a cut bud with a different registration ? wouldnt want the cops coming after me

and what does the original mini book say as the car name ?

The Don · January 19, 2015

On 1/19/2015 at 4:05 PM, Dushee001 said:
Thanks for the reply Don .
would i be running into trouble if i bought a cut bud with a different registration ? wouldnt want the cops coming after me

and what does the original mini book say as the car name ?

The reality is since this is very common in the mini arena (mostly due to the fact they rusted like no tomorrow), that I don't think you would have any issues with the cops, as long as the registration book is not forged or a duplicate (and here I mean a genuine duplicate, not a duplicate issued legally when the original is lost).

As for holding cars under morris minor books, well you have to check if the engine number and chassis number on the book matches whats on the car. If they match, then ironically you don't have to worry much unless the book says Morris minor. This scam was quite sophisticated and the RMV electronic record itself would have been updated (believe it or not). I don't know what it should say. It might say Austin Mini, or Morris Mini but Sri Lankan books didn't always have the exact model name.

Make sure the registered owner is the guy who buy the car from.

john cooper · January 20, 2015

- You many ways to find the original book

1. It should say Austin mini, Morris Mini (Due to some printing mistakes or document issues this may vary)

2 Licence fee is half of the MM (Use to be Rs 350, and now i guess Rs700) and if its a MM or Austin 1100 or 1300 then Licence fee is different.

- As Don said, to find if its a cut bud then need to put on a hoist and check carefully, but its hard to notice (coz some put a nice under coating)

- Engine choice is up to the owner, i pref Carb model and mine is a twin carb setup, electronic is good but when it come to the maintenance parts are hard to find and expensive to fix, Carb setup we can go with twin carb or 1 webber or 2 webber and you can do lots of mods than the EFI when its come to the mini.

regards

JC

Crosswind · January 20, 2015

On 1/19/2015 at 4:05 PM, Dushee001 said:
Thanks for the reply Don .
would i be running into trouble if i bought a cut bud with a different registration ? wouldnt want the cops coming after me

and what does the original mini book say as the car name ?

There was a time (about 8 years ago) when police seized a few cut/bud cars. I think there were 4 or 5 of them which eventually got impounded after being inspected by the government analyst. This raised a few alarms in powerful circles and eventually seizing cut/bud minis were stopped. I havent heard of any incident thereafter but the number of minis that had a reincarnation on Sri Lankan roads also got drastically reduced.

Name of the car could be anything from Austin/Austin Mini/Morris Mini/Austin Seven/Morris etc. Just cross checking the name is not enough. Chassis number, engine number must match with what's in the CR. So should the wheelbase. Measuring the wheelbase usually gives a good idea if the book is that of a Mini or some other car.

PM me with a pic of the car, once u find one. I am still in touch with some Mini basses and might be able to get u some info.

Dushyantha · January 26, 2015

So i was considering on buying an MPI mini . would greatly appreciate if someone told me the pros and cons of buying a Carb vs MPI .
are they reliable as daily drivers ?

Any knowledgeable people in SL who knows their way around MPIs ?

Dushyantha · January 26, 2015

The car i was looking to buy is a 2000 model MPI . recently assembled with a 3 sri number and an austin book . if all the VIN numbers and stuff match with the CR would this still be a dodgy reg mini ? and is there some way of making sure all documents are in order through RMV ?

Edited January 26, 2015 by Dushee001

Supra_Natural · January 27, 2015

On 1/26/2015 at 6:26 AM, Dushee001 said:
The car i was looking to buy is a 2000 model MPI . recently assembled with a 3 sri number and an austin book . if all the VIN numbers and stuff match with the CR would this still be a dodgy reg mini ? and is there some way of making sure all documents are in order through RMV ?

Yes it would certainly still be a dodgy reg Mini because the numbers on the book were originally on a completely different car to the one that's been "Assembled"! Just because some bugger carves the numbers onto the car doesn't make it legitimate....

How difficult is that to understand?

MasterDon · January 27, 2015

They'll be cracking down on these assembled cars running with old books soon.I heard this from the RMV commissioner himself.It has become "an epidemic" was what he said...So beware.