I appreciate the review MUR. I am looking for that kind of stuff from fellow Mini Owners. That being said I am fully confident in making upgrades to improve the car. I deal with Vintage vespas and Lambrettas day in and day out (Vintage Italian electronics having issues?? No way). I am interested in finding out more about the park feature and twin clutch items you speak of. Maybe a good link or a basic description of how they essentially work. Also I am assuming the subframe is rubber mounted. Is there a specific brand of mounts you would use or mounts from a different mark? I want to make the car handle tight and proper. It may be an illusion with the shadows but it does look like the back is jacked up more. Any other observations please advise and if you can message me or post here about the forementioned items i would be greatly appreciative. I did order the books i was advised to order. Amazon is taking forever. Good ole winter in Chicago.

That is actually a pretty good looking mini. I hope that when it arrives there is no rust in the corners that we can not see.

While many here will bemoan mini automatics, they are fine when looked after and are fixable when not. I don't know when the change was made, but at some point the cars got a PARK feature and a twin clutch forward speed clutch. Failure to change the oil means it becomes acidic and eats the clutch material, and then you lose all forward gears. Without attempting to get into specifics, synthetic oil ruins the rest of the transmission.

That era of mini had awful wiring in the wiring harness; small brittle wires. Do not try to run halogen headlamps without powering them via a pair of relays. You will melt the headlamps switch and the wires headed to it, and maybe also the dimmer switch and turn signal combo switch. Since you will need to fit headlamps that are biased to the right for use in North America, plan on fitting relays ASAP.

I always recommend hard mounts for the post 1977 front subframes.

The car appears to be at different ride heights at each corner. There will be worn parts that will need replacing, and adjustable items that need adjusting.

There are simpler fender flares that may fix the present misfortune.

Thats where i was a little confused because everywhere i have seen it says Japan started getting cars in 1990 and the split for parts on this site is 1990 so I didnt realize they had cars in 89. Also there are a few sources that say the injection started in 1990 but clearly mine is a 90 with carb. So i just have to figure if i get parts from the early section of parts or later section.

Everything looks correct for 1990 ( sterring wheel painted or some such )...all the same as my 89.
20/50 or 10/40 in an auto....each camp has 50%

Awesome I think Walmart sells GTX 20 50 conventional.

The same Engine Oil is circulated through the Gearbox as well, which is why it needs to be changed regular.               As Malcolm says DO NOT under any circumstances use Synthetic Oil as it is the Kiss of Death for Autoboxes.              

Thanks! I was hoping to get info like that. I am new so i am trying to learn the nuances of these cars. So a service manual for a 998 carb should cover the car? I just like to have stuff for reference and exploded views. I will change engine oil every fifteen hundred. That is what i do with my old beetle. Is there a recommendation for better trans oil like royal purple. or is that overkill.

Those are the Clubman style bumpers. The wheel flares are wider than stock and aftermarket, it probably had larger/wider wheels on it at one time and was converted back to the stock Rover 12 x 4.5 minilights before the sale. The steering wheel is is probably off a different model Mini and the center exhaust is not stock. With the automatics you have to religiously change the oil every 1500 miles with a good 20 w 50 NON synthetic, do not use synthetic in it you will regret it. It looks all stock under the bonnet right down to the Japanese emmisssions. A 1990 Mini should be carbed spi Mini's were introduced in 1991when all Mini's came with 1275's.

EDIT: You will find the stereo is pretty well useless here in the US as the FM band only reaches 90mhz.

Image Gallery

here are pics of my mini. it is my first one. it arrives soon. if there is anything you can see details wise let me know. It is auto unfortunately but i think it is still kinda cool. It says manufacture date 11/1990 but i noticed it is carb. Can that be? i thought they switched to injected in 1990.

Italian.

You don't need to upload to a server.  You can upload pics from your desktop/hard drive. ( just make sure they're not too big. )

When you "reply" you will see the large green dot to the upper left of your window.  Click on it and you can select your images.

As far as I know, for this site, you need to upload your pictures to some server and then link them here with the little tree in the icons or typing the address with the prefix and suffix as explained in blue in the reply screen under where you answer.

My car is pictures in my profile. I can't figure how to post pics from my phone on here yet. When I do u will post pics of bumper

The Jap Vin, which was stamped in the Boot Floor, ended when Rover changed to the 1275 engine as standard around 1991.  At least I've never seen one on a 1275 car, and I've had plenty.                             

The original Mini Cooper had different engine combinations from 997cc to 1275cc all with twin 1.25 SU carbs. It also had different wheels, brakes, exhaust, suspension, interior and exterior differences along with twin fuel tanks available as an option originally and then standard in the later ones. The Clubman bumpers are made from a much thicker steel  are flat looking on the top and the rear edge is not rolled over to conceal the mounting points like the standard ones, it does not really fill the gap between the bumper and body. Post a picture of your car and we can tell which bumpers you have. Original Mini Cooper by Parnell is a good reference for the Mini Cooper.

SO for the clubman bumper it looks like the top surface of the bumper fills the gap between bumper and body? It is hard to see on reference pics on minimania for sale section

I get that. Well maybe not the last one because to me growing up GM cars were crap.  But what denotes the difference between mini and cooper. The engine size? Any other differences between the two. From research they have same brakes, interior and suspension.

Or if you're a Chevy guy, a Mini is to a Camaro as a Mini Cooper is to a Z28.

Or if you're a weirdo Mini guy like me,

Austin Mini = Chevy

Morris Mini = Pontiac

Wolseley Hornet = Oldsmobile

Riley Elf = Cadillac

And of course we're talking about the classic Mini, not the new one, where Cooper means it has an extra sticker on the back. 

The "Shelby is to Mustang like Cooper is to Mini" analogy helps a little bit.

Terry

The rear bumper of the Clubman MINI has a different contour to it.  I think it's a much more attractive bumper and will fit the front or rear of a round nose MINI.
The front bumper of a Clubman does not fit a round nosed MINI.  The front and rear bumpers of a round nose MINI are identical to each other.  ( clear as mud?...lol )

Thank you and i have searched. I would rather search than bother someone else. I have not really found a clear cut answer on what qualifies a mini as a cooper as opposed to a basic model.