Scottish Elises

My brother sent me this:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1984-Classic ... Sw4tBeaXIe

Seems cheap!

Told him I know nothing about these except I wouldn’t like to crash one.

Any tips? TIA

Looks like the basis of a decent mini for a few years. Sounds like there shouldn't be any major rot just now, but as always with a mini you'd need to see it, lift all the carpets, check all the known places, to be sure. It'll need a pax side door by the looks of it, possible both doors and you can see rust creeping around the body seam weld above both sills. I note there are no under bonnet shots.

A 1275 engine ( that means it's not original, would have had a 998 new) would be a minimum IMO these days and it has front discs, so that's a plus.

Parts are still cheap and plentiful, so new door cards, steering wheel and gear knob won't be much of they're not to his taste.

No full pics of the inner sills but the bit you can see shows signs of rust, and door bottoms look like they are starting to go too. Then for the price you can’t expect it to be perfect.

Avoid like the plague.
Aside from rust in both doors and the a-panel just in front have you seen how badly the doors fit?
Passenger door fit looks iffy and the driver's door looks very weird.
Also bonnet is so squint it's unreal.
Major crash damage front end i guess.
And it looks like there's rust in the roof - rear 3/4 view passenger side.

I knew you guys would know more than me!

Many thanks!

tonyg wrote: ↑

Tue Mar 31, 2020 5:58 pm

Avoid like the plague.
Aside from rust in both doors and the a-panel just in front have you seen how badly the doors fit?
Passenger door fit looks iffy and the driver's door looks very weird.
Also bonnet is so squint it's unreal.
Major crash damage front end i guess.
And it looks like there's rust in the roof - rear 3/4 view passenger side.

I'd guess the front end will have been replaced on at least one of the restorations due to rot. The bonnet and doors are as well fitted as any of my 80s built minis ever were tbh. Neither are major.

I did have another look though, there's creeping rust if not rot all over it, including at the windscreen. It'll do 2 or 3 years but beyond that will a fair bit of work.

it's all very well replacing panels but they have to be mounted to something solid, ie not rusty. If some of the structure has indeed been changed then it has to be done on a jig to keep the car straight in every direction. There is so much off in those pictures that I doubt any of that has happened.
When we did our escort Graeme at Retro restorations had all the jigs and frames to make sure everything lined up properly. It isn't something you can do correctly in your garage with a mig welder.

As others have said, I'd avoid.

Says it's had door skins and the doors are clearly rust, so what other parts that were 'restored' weren't done to a high standard.
Rust visible on the doors, side panel and roof(?!)

The jigging of the front end is interesting...
Gaz adjustable dampers, but couldn't be bothered sorting to dodgy ride height out (it's too low at the front)

Looks to me like the wrong wing has been fitted too - I think I can see a filled in repeater indicator hold on the passenger wing?

No idea what these things cost nowadays mind. I avoid looking at them as I know I'd love another, just not at the cost of a decent one nowadays!

I've owned this for some 28 years now but stopped using it 23 years ago. Every year I contemplate moving it on then back off at the last minute. It has never had any bodywork, it's all original and no corrosion as I saturated it in waxoyl when I got it. I rebuilt the engine a couple of years before I stopped using it. There are a lot of terrible Minis out there for sale with inflated prices that are best avoided. I'm still trying to decide if i want to keep it.

20150827_095606 by Robin Derrick, on Flickr

20200313_144959 by Robin Derrick, on Flickr

20181231_113206-min by Robin Derrick, on Flickr

That looks to be in superb condition - Its an appreciating asset so unless you need to sell it’s worth keeping it as it’s better than money in the bank with current interest rates.

Your Mini 30 looks great! Long term classic Mini fan too, and have the remnants of a pickup in the garage. Plan is to get a decent Mini this year too, and would certainly be interested in some more details if you ever decide to sell.

May be interesting to see how much this goes for in the current climate once the classic car auctions start in earnest.

However I do not suspect it will not be cheap given the warranted mileage as I suspect the estimated price is pretty low to get interest drummed up (just a laymans view not knowing the classic mini market)
https://www.swva.co.uk/classic-car/rove ... oper-1999/