This should be worth a watch

[ace01]

Hydro helper springs and 4.5" air hose grommet! Two of the things on my "must find" list!

I have two unused orange helper springs. If you want them let me know and I'll dig them out.

[madaboutcherry]

helper springs.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMC-MINI-COOPER-H ... 4aa5b43233

[COOPERCO]

WTF!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMC-MINI-COOPER-H ... 4aa5b4b7e8

That's a lot of tins of crackle paint.

[Pete]

The originality mafia are certainly well funded.

[COOPERCO]

The originality mafia are certainly well funded.

I'd better get that NOS boxed MK1 shell listed

[steve1071]

It's getting very silly
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

[COOPERCO]

Looks like the seller is going to have a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

[JanWulf]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMC-SPECIAL-TUNIN ... 4aa5b43fde

Will it break the £200 barrier?

My guess is yes it will.

It did.......... Unbelievable... Does someone have some BMC boxes left I could borrow?

[Pete]

WTF!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMC-MINI-COOPER-H ... 4aa5b4b7e8

That's a lot of tins of crackle paint.

I bet the seller's cracking open a few tins to celebrate that auction !

[Pete]

This will also look lovely strapped onto that replacement Cooper shell......

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMC-MINI-COOPER-B ... 4aa5b46af8



"Cash In Your Strap.Com" !




Ahhh we're only jealous.......

[InimiaD]

Those Champion Plug caps weren't exactly cheap either.
Nearly 40 notes for some points. Hmmmmm.
I'm off to the garage for a rummage.

[mk1]

Bonkers prices, but good for the seller though!

[towners]

unreal......every year it gets dafter

the points, boot strap and battery strap is just hard to comprehend

presumably its for restoration projects?? but where do you draw the line on how much you pay for items?

But on the other hand what are those parts going to be worth in say 20 years?

Personally I now prefer the old dragged out of the garage and throw a ticket on it look (i.e. richs latest min) but thats probably an age thing

[mk1]

But on the other hand what are those parts going to be worth in say 20 years?

My guess is considerably less!

There is no way that prices can continue to spiral like this for ever. You will always get the odd blip, but as demand dwindles, which it will prices will start to plateau. Look at MG's after a massive price rise in the early 90's those prices have been more or less flat ever since.

[towners]

Good point Mark

2 things could affect it

The amount of Mk1/2s left

The quality of repro parts (thats if its still viable for them to be made- demand/cost etc)

Who knows

[rolesyboy]

Wow,the seller must be delighted. I am as guilty as the rest as I know I am when I bits on e bay for top money but lately I have started to have a change of heart. I have pretty well given up on the prospect of restoring another Mk 1 as nowadays they are rarely 'in people's way' and end up on e bay making daft money. The cost of restoring them to any sort of acceptable standard is pretty high and often to make one part function you have to replace so much more (knackered rusty imperial screws, felt runners etc on window channels as an example), parts on e bay of any description seem to command fortunes and worst of all you can no longer nip to the breakers and find a 1300GT or similar to rob it of its good bits. Ah, the good old days. I have subsequently resigned myself to the fact that Mk 1's don't come along often enough and so I bought a 92 Open Classic which needs panelling up and should be on the road end of next month.
Still, life's not all that bad. My 1966 Island Blue 1275 Morris Cooper S is sat in the garage waiting for me to stretch its legs. Offers in excess of £16k (or may px small house!)

[mk1]

You are to some extent right, but the way I look at the MK1 / Mini restoration thing is that money spent restoring a MK1 to a decent standard is always as good as money in the bank & while it takes less money to restore a later car its akin to chucking your hard earned cash down the drain.

There are masses of good MK1's that are available for around the £3,500 price bracket & if you are prepared to put the spade work in to see a few sows ears you will inevitably eventually find a genuine silk purse. Use it for a few years, look after it and you will certainly get your money back & probably make a tidy profit too!

A mate of mine restored a later car a while ago, he did everything that wanted doing & probably a bit more too, he is finding it almost impossible to shift for £3,000 despite there being at least than many pounds worth of bits in it. If it was a MK1 that had had that sort of money spent on it it would have flown away for getting on for twice the price.

Of course there is more to Mini ownership than the financial angle, but as far as I am concerned it is a consideration that has to be made, particularly in a world where someone can pay £160 odd for a choke cable.

Oh, and while I think about that. A really good tip re the repro choke cables & horn centres. Both these are basically pretty good but are way to shiny. You can make your new repro look almost indistinguishable from an original by giving both parts a very gentle bead blast. This handy tip alone will save you 100's of £'s on your next restoration!

[rolesyboy]

God bless bead blasters! Cheers for the tip Mark. Perhaps I can sell enough NOS choke cables to fund my next project.

[Pete]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... NA:GB:1123

[guru_1071]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... NA:GB:1123

that doesnt even suit a mini

- i guess either the winning bidder got excited, or someone with a morris oxfords just spent a tenth of the value of his car on a new gear knob!