27 replies to this topic

[MattyH52]

Anyone know much about these?

 

I had one years ago and loved it, and I'm hoping to get one again.

 

What parts can't be sourced or are difficult to come by and is the engine really a 1300 or a 1275?

 

Any info would be great.

 

Thanks

[nicklouse]

1275 the trim bits that make then what they are are getting expensive.

Dash, grill, badges.

And then there is the problem of finding one.

[Cooperman]

The front door bins are vulnerable to damage and are hard to find. There are no door pulls for closing the doors and people pull on the plastic bins which breaks them.

The radiator, rad header tank, rear lights, boot lids and steering wheels can be hard to find, but there are some around - at a price.

The genuine 'export' badges on the front A-panels are very hard to find, although you can buy transfers and make your own badges which look vary close to correct.

The correct 4.5" wheels are around, but again expensive as are the badges for the boot lid and the rear number plate holder.

I managed to find all the parts to restore mine and Newton Commercial can supply a complete interior including a full set of seat covers.

Here is mine when I had just completed the restoration:

[jaydee]

 

What parts can't be sourced or are difficult to come by and is the engine really a 1300 or a 1275?

 

 

Inno cooper 1300 engine is the morris 1300GT engine, pre A plus 1275 a series engine with a 3.44 diff.

Parts are available across the europe, but they come at silly prices unfortunately.

[Cooperman]

 

 

What parts can't be sourced or are difficult to come by and is the engine really a 1300 or a 1275?

 

 

Inno cooper 1300 engine is the morris 1300GT engine, pre A plus 1275 a series engine with a 3.44 diff.

Parts are available across the europe, but they come at silly prices unfortunately.

 

Yes, it's 1275 with a 510 cam (different part number, but it is a 510 'S' cam), twin HS2 carbs, a Cooper 'S' head. The Inno Export has a rod-change box with 3.44:1 FDR.

Lovely car to drive.

All were left-hand-drive and to be original it must still be so or it will be devalued. The instrument panel is 6-dial with the instruments beautifully arrayed in front of the driver - hence the rhd conversions are not good. Mine was converted (badly) when I got it, but I changed it back to LHD with new rack, etc.

 

[mk1leg]

stunning Cooperman.....

[MattyH52]

Thanks. Yours looks great! I'll be pestering you from now on as I decided to take the plunge and get a resto project from the dreaded eBay! It has all the trim except one door pocket and the header tank is missing. It's a rhd conversion but I'm not sure if I'll convert back or not.. Lots of decisions to make I think!

[Cooperman]

I sold mine for quite a lot of money about 2 years ago. I noticed it was up for auction recently at a guide price of c.£15000.

The other part(s) I had a problem finding was a steering column surround (now I have a spare if anyone needs one), the lower front door chrome strips - I modified standard Mk.3 chrome strips). A friend of mine found some door bins in Holland and I ended up with 2 sets - still have one set, but they require some repairs which would not be difficult.

The boot lids are difficult, but I found a couple, one of which was bent, so I took off the outer skin, straightened the skin with heat and some 'persuasion. then re-assembled it onto a standard boot frame after I removed the UK-type boot lid skin. In fact it was very easy to do.

The Innocenti Mini-Cooper 1300 Export is the last of the real Mini Coopers. They are still affordable, especially when compared to the Mk.2 or Mk.3 Cooper 'S' and prices will only go up quickly. IMHO they MUST be left-hand-drive to be valuable, but if you can find a RHD one it is easy to convert and that increases its value substantially. They are just so nice to drive, they have about 75 bhp as standard and they are so 'smooooooth'.

Feel free to ask for advice of photos of my restoration if you need them.

[MattyH52]

That's great. Thank you.

I agree that they will go up in value and also take on board your advice on converting it back to lhd.

I'm an amateur mechanic with little bodywork skills but I'm keen to do as much myself as possible, so a bit of direction from experienced restorers will be greatly appreciated.

I plan on keeping it as close to the original as possible and currently it isn't the original factory colour and has been repainted black at some point. Any idea how I can find its original colour?

I haven't taken delivery yet but as soon as I do I will start a thread and get stripping the car down to see what I have bought!

[InnoCooperExport]

Hi Cooperman, great looking Inno! I just bought one to restore. the shell is hard but needs a new front end welding on (luckily the original inner wings are still attached with the body numbers), I have a tonne of spares and original parts, should be a cracking little car once it's done. I look forward to bothering you with plenty of questions, hope you don't mind. 

[Cooperman]

That's great. Thank you.

I agree that they will go up in value and also take on board your advice on converting it back to lhd.

I'm an amateur mechanic with little bodywork skills but I'm keen to do as much myself as possible, so a bit of direction from experienced restorers will be greatly appreciated.

I plan on keeping it as close to the original as possible and currently it isn't the original factory colour and has been repainted black at some point. Any idea how I can find its original colour?

I haven't taken delivery yet but as soon as I do I will start a thread and get stripping the car down to see what I have bought!

I found getting the colour codes to be difficult.

The guy to talk to is Foster Charlton, who is registrar of the Mini Cooper Register (MCR) Innocenti section. He is mega helpful and you can get his number from the MCR.

My car is Bleu Scuro with Bianco Aviori roof (blue & white to you and me). I had to repaint the roof and got as close as I could with a match. I think it was about right. The colours are all different from UK built Minis. 

The only mods on mine were Hi-Lo suspension and SPAX adjustable dampers. I also fitted a Mocal 10-row oil cooler.

There are a few people who specialise in Inno parts. I got a full rear seat set, the correct 'biscuit' colour, from a guy in Switzerland. Front seat covers, all new carpet and some trim panels came from Newton Commercial, at a price, but it was worth it.

All sorts of parts are slightly different, like the radiator and the header tank. The servo only works on the front 7.5" disc brakes. I fitted Falken 165/70 x 10 tyres and set the suspension accurately at standard ride height with offset front lower arm bushes to give very slight neg. camber. I set the rear to toe in by 1/8" and to have zero camber. It drove just beautifully and was much nicer on the road than my 1964 Mk.1 Cooper 'S' rally car with its 115 bhp and noisy, lumpy & harsh drive.

[jaydee]

I might have the original colour chart somewhere

Anyhow you can find it browsing some italian site like 'miniminor'

I'd advise against connecting the header tank, just use a normal rad cap and keep the tank as an 'original look' thingy, maybe use a hidden expansion tank like those fitted to spi minis

Edited by jaydee, 23 September 2015 - 09:09 AM.

[62S]

If you want something quite similar but a little different there is quite a nice looking 1973 Authi Cooper 1300 for sale on the Mk 1 Performance Conversions Forum.

 

This is what the Authi interior looks like

 

 

[Cooperman]

If you want something quite similar but a little different there is quite a nice looking 1973 Authi Cooper 1300 for sale on the Mk 1 Performance Conversions Forum.

 

This is what the Authi interior looks like

 

 

Now, that really is a rare Mini Cooper.

[mk3 Cooper S]

Are those door pockets the same as a mk3 elf / hornet?

 

I have a pair as pictured below:

 

 Photo0046MOD.JPG   72.8K   7 downloads

 

 Photo0044MOD.JPG   83.47K   3 downloads