Haha redriley,yours is a beaut! A very good example of a proper vtec.Im sure your glad you didnt listen to everyone who said it would drive like poo,and be too abnoxious,and that youd hate it and end up selling it lol

Nah. It takes all kinds. There are a few of us here. We're the ones who actually like to spend money on our cars.

Congrats and best of luck sorting it out! I as well bought one that sat for a while.Had a 998 and a 1275 but then settled on my main goal. Im kindve an outsider on this forum and pop in here and there.My mini is Honda swapped now so im like..frowned upon.??

Sitting for 17 years - yes trailer home.

I just may call you at some point. I'm going to pick it up next Thursday. The brakes are mushy the guy says so I'm going to trailer it home. It's been sitting for 17 years. The guy was stationed in the UK and brought it back home with him. 

I'm in Plymouth,  MI

Thanks for the warm welcome! I'm going to get it next week. I'll be able to answer more questions then. I do have the vin # though.

A 77 would be a MkIV MINI and therefore have a rubber mounted front subframe.

Although this makes for a quieter ride, it's not the best for track.  If you plan on racing it on occasion, I would install solid mounts top, bottom and front.

Hi and welcome, I am in Farmington just up the road, I have a 62 cooper I’ve been working on for 5 years or so. Also have a 65 mustang for the past 35 years. Contact me, I would be happy to talk and or see what your working with.

Sorry 248 388 8 four 7 five. Running a 1275 A+, pre verto clutch, twin 1.25" SU's, rod change shifter trans, HI LO's, rear sway bar, 13" wheels, 8.4 discs with 4 pot lockheed calipers. The car will be out and about when the weather breaks.

First Welcome. Second, find out what you have. There were seven marks, from 1959 to 2000.

MICHIGAN! Now we're talking. I'm just outside of Grand Rapids. I can't say I'm the brightest bulb in the shed but I certainly have had my share of mistakes, learning and moving forward. I'd be happy to talk on the phone or share emails. Mine is Mark Looman at comcast.net.

Welcome to the site. I'm sure you know that there are several ways to skin a cat. Everyone has a different view of what is great, what is right and how to do it. I'll share mine.

Email any time. I'll get right back.

I see you're in Plymouth, MI. Welcome.

There are LOTS of opinions as to what constitutes "right". For example, Is an "Eleanor" mustang, right?

The mini suspension you have on your car as stock was right for it's era, but isn't necessarily right by the standards of someone who develops rousch suspension. Same could probably be said for the brakes and the typical brake upgrades that are available.

The wheel size you want to run will dictate your most commonly available brake modifications. Certainly you will want discs. If you want 10" wheels then you are limited to 7.5" which is the factory size "big brakes" for 10" wheels as found on the Cooper S, and then there's 7.9" available as aftermarket. 2 piston, 4 piston and possibly 6 piston are available. Rears hardly do anything and drums were the only factory standard, although KAD offers a rear disc conversion. If you want 12" or 13" wheels, the 8.4 is the stock sized "big brake" and I'm sure ou can find some even larger if you look hard enough. You can use or add a booster if you want. Not really needed but it's a feel thing.

Suspension as stock would be rubber cones with non-adjustable dampers. You can replace the old technology rubber cones with modern coil spring conversions that replace stock springs, and they come in different stiffness settings. You can also buy any number of brand of uprated dampers, some come as adjustable. Some people have gone to a coilover conversion.

From my experience with tracking and racing a classic in what amounts to "open class" racing (24 Hours of LeMons), a rear swaybar is nice. A limited slip differential is nice. Stock rubber cones are fine and maintain the beloved "go-cart" feel of the car, and adjustable dampers are also nice.  If you want to tinker with the motor and use it on the street and on the track, keep it simple and go with a single HIF6 SU carb, a nice stage 1 kit, a 286scatter pattern or spvp3 camshaft or equivalent and spend some $ on a ported head and shoot for a compression ratio in the 10's so you can run premium pump gas. Don't get sucked in to feeling you NEED to bore it out to 1380. If you need to bore it, just go to the next size up in .020" increments. To get a genuine 100hp our of your motor will take effort and $ but is not impossible. Many of us settle for somewhere close to the factory claims of the high 60's for a stock cooper s.  Others want to go whole hog and go for an engine swap with the most common being a honda B or D series. it's a can-o-worms discussing if an engine swap is "right" on the forum...

Keith Calver has a number of extremely helpful articles if you use the pulltab above and look in the technical section, but the format of this site now makes them kind of buried and mixed in with other less wonderful articles. I think it's because he's no longer a contracted contributor so he's no longer highlighted as he once was 15 yrs or so ago. His articles are more easily found on his own site that you can find on google using his name and the type of car we are discussing (seems poor form to post a direct link here).

Anyway, again Welcome and enjoy learning all there is to learn about your mini.

newbie..welcome..  where are you on planet earth?/ sure we can find someone to help you.  later bc

First thing to do is get a Haynes workshop manual.  the 77 is a MK 3 or 4 version of the original mini.  The value in all minis has gone up but the most valuable ones are the Cooper S models in the MK 1 version. Next might be the MK 2, and last the MK 3. Also  woody wagons and convertibles have greater appeal than a saloon.  There are tons of parts available for your car as these were made for about 50 years. Not everything is interchangeable but the MK 1/2 versions are sliding window, external door hinge cars and won't share many body parts. Mechanically, most parts can swap over, some with minor mods.  Welcome.  Not sure if there's a mini club near you, but I'd search for that too.

the 1300 cc engine is the most powerful stock engine aside from the turbo version.  There's all kinds of engine mods that you can do, along with suspension mods also. Over the years, many cottage industries sprouted and there's tons of go fast and aftermarket bits of bling and standard replacement parts.

Most minis rust.   If you're replacing panels, ask here. some fit better than others, Most need tweaking.

Tell us about your engine.  Does it have a tag below the #1 spark plug? (closest to the fan)

Carb setup?

A picture is worth a lot here.   See if you can figure out how to post some pix of your car and everyone and their brother will tell you some lies.

BTW  welcome to the world of minis.  Lots of fun and always an attention getter.

Hi, I'm sorry if I didn't see an newbie pinned post. I'm new to Mini's. I've always wanted one. I just bought a 1977 Mini from a US vet that brought it back with him from the Uk to the US when he came home. It needs a lot of work. I'd like to restore it to make it safe for my wife to drive and to maybe take it on track days. (I do a lot of those in my Mustang)  I've worked for Roush for 25 years. I've developed all of the Roush suspensions and brakes for the last 20 years. I know how to do this so I'd like only senior members to give me advise on what I should do. I'm serious about making this car right and don't want to sift through all of the normal forum BS.  I quit the Mustang forums long ago because of the misinformation... Any help from people that know what's up is so much appreciated.