38 replies to this topic

[BaronVonchesto]

+1 on the 7enterprises suggestion. If you need advice they also do mechanic work, engineering work, engine build work etc. So if you get stuck you can always go to them for help

[BaronVonchesto]

one good thing about the japanese minis, unlike the British Leyland ones - they're really well built! so no awful panel gaps, things that dont fit properly etc, and most importantly they were rustproofed using modern (1990s) rustproofing and assembly techniques.

 

In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

[Bobbins]

one good thing about the japanese minis, unlike the British Leyland ones - they're really well built! so no awful panel gaps, things that dont fit properly etc, and most importantly they were rustproofed using modern (1990s) rustproofing and assembly techniques.
 
In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

I always thought they were made at Longbridge and exported to Japan ...

[Bobbins]

I'm learning a lot about the JDM cobbled-together spec...I guess someone just threw the mirrors on as an homage to classic Nissans? I prefer the door-mounted ones.

The wing mounted mirrors are standard spec for many of the JDM Minis. Like you initially I wanted to swap mine to door mirrors but have now replaced them with convex stainless versions from BB Classics (http://bbclassics.co.uk/mirrors.html), better rearward view and look classy.

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[nicklouse]

In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

sorry to burst the bubble but they are all "Made in Longbridge" production in other areas had stopped many years before.

[mini13]

Cool!

I think the leaf "engine" swap will be really interesting

[Ethel]

Looks like an SPI to me. There's a simple coil so it must have a dizzy.

 

Still haven't got my head round Jap spec MPI's though.

 

Were wing mirrors original eqpt? They do all seem to have them, but surprised they'd pass C&U regs.

[CityEPete]

This is all very helpful!

A closer look is showing a "hanging down" oil filter and the MNE10078 ECU that I believe signifies all (mostly?) SPi components. I'm learning a lot about the JDM cobbled-together spec...I guess someone just threw the mirrors on as an homage to classic Nissans? I prefer the door-mounted ones.

The big secret of the car is that I plan to convert it to electric by stuffing a Nissan Leaf into it. If/when that is completed, I will have the car exempted from smog, which will (hopefully) allow me to register it in California.

If all goes to plan (which is a stretch), I will have the perfect car for the city of Los Angeles: Cool, fun, great in traffic, easy to park, short-trip-friendly, and low on maintenance.

Excellent, good luck with the project, I've just returned from california and I'd love exactly what you are building if I lived there.

[matt615]

I thought you couldn't get minis of that age into california because of the safety regs over there, which is why you see a lot on falsified documents, basically masquerading as a 60s car

I thought there was a 25 year limit, which is why there used to be a big industry is exporting MPI ringers to the US on 1970s log books.

However this car is over 25 years now, so no problem.

[BaronVonchesto]

 

In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

sorry to burst the bubble but they are all "Made in Longbridge" production in other areas had stopped many years before.

 

 

err no. they were licensed to be made in japan strictly for the japanese market as a "Kei car" in the late 90s i believe. There is a clear difference in build quality if you inspect a UK made and a japanese made mini. The japanese minis are 1.3 mpi only afaik.

[Pops_Guild]

Nah. Longbridge made all the Japanese spec minis. They were built in the UK then exported to Japan. No Minis were built in Japan. Build quality is 100% the same as Minis that stayed in the UK. Plenty of info on this out on the web and in all the old issues of Mini World.

[CityEPete]

In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

sorry to burst the bubble but they are all "Made in Longbridge" production in other areas had stopped many years before.

err no. they were licensed to be made in japan strictly for the japanese market as a "Kei car" in the late 90s i believe. There is a clear difference in build quality if you inspect a UK made and a japanese made mini. The japanese minis are 1.3 mpi only afaik.

There's a reason they are called "export spec", if they were built there they wouldn't have been exported anywhere!

[BaronVonchesto]

 

 

 

In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

sorry to burst the bubble but they are all "Made in Longbridge" production in other areas had stopped many years before.

err no. they were licensed to be made in japan strictly for the japanese market as a "Kei car" in the late 90s i believe. There is a clear difference in build quality if you inspect a UK made and a japanese made mini. The japanese minis are 1.3 mpi only afaik.

There's a reason they are called "export spec", if they were built there they wouldn't have been exported anywhere!

 

 

the ones in malaysia from japan are all 2nd hand. Many japanese forced to let go of the car after change in regulations meaning its no longer a kei car. quite hard to keep it legally running in japan now, but still a big fanbase there. there are a lot of small differences between the japanese minis and the british ones. the bumper is thinner and narrower, the roof is thicker, many have sealed rear windows so they cant be opened, and then theres the much sought after "black engine" (some sort of race spec engine, don't know the details on this)

[nicklouse]

 

 

 

 

In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

sorry to burst the bubble but they are all "Made in Longbridge" production in other areas had stopped many years before.

err no. they were licensed to be made in japan strictly for the japanese market as a "Kei car" in the late 90s i believe. There is a clear difference in build quality if you inspect a UK made and a japanese made mini. The japanese minis are 1.3 mpi only afaik.

There's a reason they are called "export spec", if they were built there they wouldn't have been exported anywhere!

 

 

the ones in malaysia from japan are all 2nd hand. Many japanese forced to let go of the car after change in regulations meaning its no longer a kei car. quite hard to keep it legally running in japan now, but still a big fanbase there. there are a lot of small differences between the japanese minis and the british ones. the bumper is thinner and narrower, the roof is thicker, many have sealed rear windows so they cant be opened, and then theres the much sought after "black engine" (some sort of race spec engine, don't know the details on this)

 

and they were made in the UK.

[Spider]

The wing mirrors I'm quite sure were fitted as part of the Japanese Road Worthy requirements.

 

one good thing about the japanese minis, unlike the British Leyland ones - they're really well built! so no awful panel gaps, things that dont fit properly etc, and most importantly they were rustproofed using modern (1990s) rustproofing and assembly techniques.

 

In Malaysia practically every mini enthusiast loves the japanese ones. I'm one of the few oddballs that love the proper "Made in Longbridge" british car....

 

As others here have said, the Mini that are in Japan were all manufactured in the UK and exported to Japan. In regards to build quality it's possible they may have been made to a high grade in the UK, but most likely, the people in Japan sorted them once in their possession.

 

Next time you find one that's come from Japan, have a look at the body tags and the VIN, both will tell you where they were made.