restoration of my mk2 cooper / s?
Posted: Fri Sep 19, 2014 12:19 pm
thought i would post about my restoration project and fill you in with the interesting and fairly dubious yet sentimental history.
i bought my 1969 red and white mk 2 cooper s as my first car in 1985. carried out all the verification checks as in 11 stud head, twin tanks, 120mph speedo, brake servo, etc etc. (parnells book had not yet been written)
in 1986 i passed my test just after my 17th birthday and we were off!
about a year later, i started university and the cooper s was proving a little rich for my student tastes and so my dad, an engineer and collector of all things, and mini cooper enthusiast himself as an owner prior to my birth, said don't sell the mini, give it to me as a future restoration project and i'll buy you a morris minor as a replacement. my mini was parked up in the garage christmas '87, and there it remained for the next 25 years, collecting a load of rubbish around it as it melted into the floor.
very sadly, my father passed away a couple of years ago, without having starting his project, and i inherited my first car. it turns out, my dad had never re-registered the car and so it has been in my name since i passed my test in '86.
excited about the project i quickly set about clearing the garage and researching about my new rust heap. now armed with parnells book, a dvla history check and BMHL heritage certificate, i discovered that my beloved red and white cooper s had left the factory as a beige and white 998 cooper. the engine, running gear and log book had all been upgraded to red and white 1275 cooper s in 1977.
once i got over my initial disappointment i came to terms with the project and have decided to restore the car as it currently stands, returning it to the original colour scheme of beige and white. the heritage certificate does not specify which beige (apparently when my car was first registered they were just changing over to computer records and memory was so expensive that they simply wrote beige and white) and so i'm opting for my preferred sandy beige and snowberry white.
I'm keeping the 1275 s engine and running gear although, as is evident from the 120mph speedo, not 130, and rubberised cv joints not hardy spicers, that my engine is in fact a fairly early mk1 engine not the correct mk2.
i am also detailing the car correctly for a cooper s, including correct RH tank, and breather pipe clips (the first give away as an upgraded car as they were missing from my boot) the only thing that may let me down is due to the extremely high cost and i'm gonna probably stick with standard cooper displacers on the hydrolastic suspension. i do know where to get s ones however i was recommended to retain standard ones as i would be unlikely to notice any difference....... jury is out. will let you know my final decision.
the log book states cooper s, albeit with incorrect engine number. on my car the engine number plate is missing although i will replace the plate and leave it blank.
anyway, the rebuild is underway and is being coordinated by cooper's garage (no relation) in suffolk. the body work is being carried out by M and D, who are local to Cooper's, and also local is the engine rebuilder Chris Allitt Engineering. can't wait for the engine and gearbox to be taken apart so i can find out about the important bits including crank and head etc to give a more accurate age to the engine.
all panels are heritage, adapted as required due to unavailability - front end cooper s and late mk 2 bootlid.
carbs are oversized HS4s, and have been restored - photo attached! beautiful!
although technically a replica, which i struggle with, i will refer to my car as a period upgrade and keep it badged as a cooper s. not an uncommon activity back in the day, and after all, that is the car i bought and have owned for nearly 30 years. lets face it, the most valuable of cooper s's are probably competition cars and its unlikely that many of them have retained all their original parts including the engines.
as i mentioned earlier, my dad had been a previous cooper owner, and was also a collector of all things, so when he sold his car before i was born he retained the aftermarket cox of watford safety racing seats, and red leather paddy hopkirk springall steering wheel, all of which will be refitted into my car as part of the restoration. Mk1's very own Mark has uploaded onto Mk1-performance, the original sales brochure for cox safety seats. I did say my dad collected everything!
i have attached a few photos of the restoration so far, and I hope to keep this thread updated as works progress. looking forward to hearing some feedback on the project
adam
i bought my 1969 red and white mk 2 cooper s as my first car in 1985. carried out all the verification checks as in 11 stud head, twin tanks, 120mph speedo, brake servo, etc etc. (parnells book had not yet been written)
in 1986 i passed my test just after my 17th birthday and we were off!
about a year later, i started university and the cooper s was proving a little rich for my student tastes and so my dad, an engineer and collector of all things, and mini cooper enthusiast himself as an owner prior to my birth, said don't sell the mini, give it to me as a future restoration project and i'll buy you a morris minor as a replacement. my mini was parked up in the garage christmas '87, and there it remained for the next 25 years, collecting a load of rubbish around it as it melted into the floor.
very sadly, my father passed away a couple of years ago, without having starting his project, and i inherited my first car. it turns out, my dad had never re-registered the car and so it has been in my name since i passed my test in '86.
excited about the project i quickly set about clearing the garage and researching about my new rust heap. now armed with parnells book, a dvla history check and BMHL heritage certificate, i discovered that my beloved red and white cooper s had left the factory as a beige and white 998 cooper. the engine, running gear and log book had all been upgraded to red and white 1275 cooper s in 1977.
once i got over my initial disappointment i came to terms with the project and have decided to restore the car as it currently stands, returning it to the original colour scheme of beige and white. the heritage certificate does not specify which beige (apparently when my car was first registered they were just changing over to computer records and memory was so expensive that they simply wrote beige and white) and so i'm opting for my preferred sandy beige and snowberry white.
I'm keeping the 1275 s engine and running gear although, as is evident from the 120mph speedo, not 130, and rubberised cv joints not hardy spicers, that my engine is in fact a fairly early mk1 engine not the correct mk2.
i am also detailing the car correctly for a cooper s, including correct RH tank, and breather pipe clips (the first give away as an upgraded car as they were missing from my boot) the only thing that may let me down is due to the extremely high cost and i'm gonna probably stick with standard cooper displacers on the hydrolastic suspension. i do know where to get s ones however i was recommended to retain standard ones as i would be unlikely to notice any difference....... jury is out. will let you know my final decision.
the log book states cooper s, albeit with incorrect engine number. on my car the engine number plate is missing although i will replace the plate and leave it blank.
anyway, the rebuild is underway and is being coordinated by cooper's garage (no relation) in suffolk. the body work is being carried out by M and D, who are local to Cooper's, and also local is the engine rebuilder Chris Allitt Engineering. can't wait for the engine and gearbox to be taken apart so i can find out about the important bits including crank and head etc to give a more accurate age to the engine.
all panels are heritage, adapted as required due to unavailability - front end cooper s and late mk 2 bootlid.
carbs are oversized HS4s, and have been restored - photo attached! beautiful!
although technically a replica, which i struggle with, i will refer to my car as a period upgrade and keep it badged as a cooper s. not an uncommon activity back in the day, and after all, that is the car i bought and have owned for nearly 30 years. lets face it, the most valuable of cooper s's are probably competition cars and its unlikely that many of them have retained all their original parts including the engines.
as i mentioned earlier, my dad had been a previous cooper owner, and was also a collector of all things, so when he sold his car before i was born he retained the aftermarket cox of watford safety racing seats, and red leather paddy hopkirk springall steering wheel, all of which will be refitted into my car as part of the restoration. Mk1's very own Mark has uploaded onto Mk1-performance, the original sales brochure for cox safety seats. I did say my dad collected everything!
i have attached a few photos of the restoration so far, and I hope to keep this thread updated as works progress. looking forward to hearing some feedback on the project
adam
