September 2006 : "Alfie" my 1994 Mini Cooper 1.3i

How many people replace a 2004 MINI Cooper with a 1994 Mini Cooper?  Well me for one...

Slightly hard times forced me to get a cheaper car, and I couldn't think of any other car that I wanted so after a break of 6 and a bit years, I was back in a Classic Mini and it felt good :)  The whole first few days I didn't stop grinning.   Thanks are due to my friend Rob who gave me the nudge I needed to turn a daft wee whim into an unusually spontaneous bit of reality!

My aim is to keep him close to original spec, with a few tasteful or essential addons in keeping with the age of the car.

Interior

• Removed the walnut dashboard and replaced it with the original plastic one.
• Fitted a Sony CD Player with nifty steering wheel remote
• Fitted Infinity Reference 6012i 16cm speakers in the original locations
• Fitted a cigar lighter (for my TomTom, phone, CB and hoover!)
• Fixed the windscreen leak.
• Fitted genuine Rover high-level rear brake light.
• New washer bottle

Exterior

• Replaced rusty wheel arch screws with proper rivets (original spec)
• Fitted brand new Wipac Halogen headlight conversion
• Fitted brand new Rover spotlights (original spec)
• Replaced the orange front indicators (original spec)
• Fitted bonnet stripes (original spec)
• Relocated the 1.3i bootbadge to correct position

Mechanicals

• Huge amount of maintenance done - ball joints, bearings, track-rod ends, greased all over, brakes - basically everything underneath!
• New Yokohama tyres (superb)
• New Suspension cones and removed the hi-lo's (original spec).  This has turned into a bit of a nightmare as 3 pairs of genuine cones so far have gone wrong and gone "flat" a month after fitting.
• RC40 single-box stainless steel exhaust
• Removed the overly noisy induction kit and replaced with K&N filter for standard airbox.