Mini Pickup Rebuild by mini-man-dan

3 minute(s) of a 78 minute read

Right, we've tried every insurer under the sun and it's a no go whilst on a provisional. I'm looking for a cheapish car (under £1400) to run around in for a little bit until I've passed my test then try and get insured on the Pickup again. I've had 2 quotes after I've past my test, so there is still hope!

Now, who wants to sell me a half decent Mini for under £1400? Must have MOT & Tax, and have minimal rust really. Best to be a 998 or a standard fit 1275. Can anyone help!?

Basically, a 'tuned' 998 looks identical to an 850. By 'tuned' I mean something with a mild cam in, slightly larger head. Just so it's not absolutely dead.

I've decided to keep it as is, get a cheaper runabout till I've passed my test then see what I can do and where I go next.

And they don;t seem to know anything about the engine change. It's been changed to a 1275 on the log book but all insurers still think it's an 850. Surely they should be informed it's now a 1275 on their systems...?

4-22-2010

The silly thing is, if I buy a Mini that is registered with a 1275 from new I can get insurance for a smidgen over £1k (and that was the first quote I tried!). So I'm hoping to find a decent shell with a not so brilliant engine (ie, get it at the right money) then literally drop the whole front subframe out of the Pickup and put it in the saloon. I believe i have found one such car, I just need to go and look at it asap.

I'll then hunt around for insurance and as soon as I can get it I'll drop the subframe back out and into the Pickup. This could be anywhere up to a year away though, hence why I don't mind putting in the work to swap things over.

Plus it then stop the engine that's just cost me 4 figures to get built just sitting there in the garage doing nothing.

Oh dear 'pot!

The problem I have is they will not insure me on a '79 Pickup, whether the engine is a 1275 or 850 until I've passed my test. Most won't even quote!

The plan is to keep the Pickup, buy a reg'd from factory 1275 (like a Sprite or something) with a not so great engine but good bodywork, and swap the engines over to keep mine running and so that I can still enjoy it! Then keep trying on insurance, and as soon as I get the go-ahead (sometime after I've passed) swap the engine back over and sell on the Saloon. I have found 1 car that I'm going to look at tomorrow which looks pretty tidy but there's an engine issue, hence the price being less than it should for a car of that age/condition.

Oh, and insurance on a 1275 (standard) is just over £1k, so not so bad.