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Selling my classic mini to buy a 1.2 16v clio



BoatNonce

ClioSport Club Member
Keep the mini. If the one I went to look at wasn't such a dog, I'd be driving a mini now. Minis are cooler and more fun than a 1.2 Clio. Fact.
 

BoatNonce

ClioSport Club Member
And the obvious progression is a french car? :S

It's fair enough. Even though I didn't go for the Mini, I don't feel let down by the Clio. I can't go that fast, so I have comfort instead, which all Clios are alright at compared to 106's, Saxo's e.t.c.
 
  2005 Clio 182
And the obvious progression is a french car? :S

It's fair enough. Even though I didn't go for the Mini, I don't feel let down by the Clio. I can't go that fast, so I have comfort instead, which all Clios are alright at compared to 106's, Saxo's e.t.c.

Well my brother has a 1.2 16v clio and it's never let him down whereas I'm constantly having problems with my mini :S
 
  2005 Clio 182
Well I was kinda joking really. Out of all the cars at work, mine's the most reliable by far. Never had to have it off the road for work.

This is my point, whereas my mini knowing my luck will need balljoints doing soon etc :dapprove:
 

JezzaMac

ClioSport Club Member
I would love a shot of a classic mini I think they look great fun! I can understand wanting something for long drives though. I would say a Clio DCI would be a better option than a 1.2 though if your doing a lot of mileage?
 
  2005 Clio 182
I would love a shot of a classic mini I think they look great fun! I can understand wanting something for long drives though. I would say a Clio DCI would be a better option than a 1.2 though if your doing a lot of mileage?

It's not the fact of lots of mileage it's more the idea of having something a little more reliable when I'm trying to sort myself out with an appreticeship etc and get my life sorted rather than mess around with a mini all the time.
 
  williams and trophy
As my insurance is up on my classic mini and I'm thinking about buying a 1.2 16v clio

Then putting the 172 sport wheels on it, matching exhaust lowered, thoughts? :approve:

dont do it..... miss my minis big time.... for a 1.2 i wouldnt bother tbh.
 
  2005 Clio 182
For that period of time I'd just wait.

I must admit the biggest problem is the chances of it getting stolen when leaving it for college and my new job then reliability costs of keeping it running all the time, plus not being able to do long distances in it is a pain :dapprove:
 
  williams and trophy
id still pick the mini over a 17/82 tbh. like you say they arent exactly the most reliable of things, but thats part of the ownership experience lol. i only stopped driving mine for same reasons, wasnt reliable enough to use as a full on daily.....i bought a valver instead and never looked back. the clios are still a 'be prepared to get your hands dirty' car, but nowhere near as much fun as the minis.

en40b, in a 1275/1340 block with 11 stud head and twin su/webers, with a jk dogbox n its alllllllll good. ;)
 

Rob

ClioSport Moderator
FYI you could pick up a 172/182 for about the same as the 1.2 equivalent if you can afford to insure it??

How old are you??

172 insurance gets reasonable about 20.

I love the mini though, that looks awesome. I weally weally want to buy one some day.
 
  2005 Clio 182
FYI you could pick up a 172/182 for about the same as the 1.2 equivalent if you can afford to insure it??

How old are you??

172 insurance gets reasonable about 20.

I love the mini though, that looks awesome. I weally weally want to buy one some day.

That's the problem see I've only just turned 18! :dapprove:
 

BoatNonce

ClioSport Club Member
You're not a petrolhead unless you've owned a Mini.

If you're worried about someone stealing it, consider the full Mr. Bean security pack.

I'm 18 too. You're a few years off a 1*2 yet.
 
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  2005 Clio 182
You're not a petrolhead unless you've owned a Mini.

If you're worried about someone stealing it, consider the full Mr. Bean security pack.

I'm 18 too. You're a few years off a 1*2 yet.

Was tempted just to go for a tracker and forget about all the stolen problems haha :approve:
 
  German V6
Keep the mini , not going to lie i love my 1.2 but i hated it at first till i lowered it and made it a little smarter, i've got a friend that had a mini and he regrets everyday that he put it into storage, he now owns a GSI has had a 172 and rs turbo and says the mini was still the best car he owned.

2127_119304620180_578845180_5688475_9121_n.jpg

28717_10150195994955181_578845180_12684335_4381575_n.jpg
 
  172
Keep the mini there brilliant little cars for having some fun in. but if you must get rid ill take it off your hands for my old 1.2 clio on coilovers :p
 
  Clio 182 Trophy
Keep the Mini for the summer and buy a throwaway daily drive scrapper for the winter. Tax and insure them for 6 months at a time.

Oh and there's a good reason why my Trophy's numberplate is T21 AOK...
 
  ITB BG 182
If you was to sell the Mini, how much would you want for it?

Also whats the rust condiction like on the car and bulk head area?
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
id still pick the mini over a 17/82 tbh. like you say they arent exactly the most reliable of things, but thats part of the ownership experience lol. i only stopped driving mine for same reasons, wasnt reliable enough to use as a full on daily.....i bought a valver instead and never looked back. the clios are still a 'be prepared to get your hands dirty' car, but nowhere near as much fun as the minis.

en40b, in a 1275/1340 block with 11 stud head and twin su/webers, with a jk dogbox n its alllllllll good. ;)

1340cc is a common misconception, all the ones labelled as such are always 1330cc, you would need 67thou overbore pistons for 1340 and no such thing is available.
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
If you do keep the mini, its a great engine to work on, I used to love building A Series engines.

Here's one I built about 15 years ago

1378-1.jpg

1378-2.jpg

1378-3.jpg
 
  williams and trophy
1340cc is a common misconception, all the ones labelled as such are always 1330cc, you would need 67thou overbore pistons for 1340 and no such thing is available.

im sure wev already had this convo....... med, minisport, jack knight, minispares, wood & picket, era, longman etc etc etc ALL sell/sold the engines as 1340s with the poss exception of era, as such thats what they are known as. a bit like reno selling the clios as 17/82s lol
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
im sure wev already had this convo....... med, minisport, jack knight, minispares, wood & picket, era, longman etc etc etc ALL sell/sold the engines as 1340s with the poss exception of era, as such thats what they are known as. a bit like reno selling the clios as 17/82s lol

Indeed, some venders list it as 1340 as in certain motorsport classes 1340cc is the limit so they are selling the biggest engine they can for that class, but its not actully 1340cc

1380cc is the best option if its a road car IMHO, but as per the pictures Ive just posted, you need to offset bore the block (move the centre points of the bores) to get it to that size without making the wall thickness between the bores too narrow.
 
  williams and trophy
depends really. iv heard good reports of using the 2x bmw bike heads resulting in a 16v unit. not sure on cost/machining tho. cant be much dearer than going the j/k valver head or thr minisport 7 porter.
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
depends really. iv heard good reports of using the 2x bmw bike heads resulting in a 16v unit. not sure on cost/machining tho. cant be much dearer than going the j/k valver head or thr minisport 7 porter.

TBH for 100bhp or so the mini head works very well if ported correctly, and going much more than that on a long distance road going mini is likely to lead to reliability issues with the gearbox or drop gears, and straight cut ones sound horrific.
For a sprint or hillclimb car etc though, getting a 16v head onto it and a set of throttle bodies is a great idea.
 
  williams and trophy
would be better on carbs surely. ease of fitment no ecu etc. unless its 1 of the later injected models. but the OPs is an 87 version so will be carbed anyway. and only a 998, classed as a 1000cc, rather than the 1297 or did they just stick to the 1275 to class it as a 1300?
 
  182/RS2/ Turbo/Mk1
would be better on carbs surely. ease of fitment no ecu etc. unless its 1 of the later injected models. but the OPs is an 87 version so will be carbed anyway. and only a 998, classed as a 1000cc, rather than the 1297 or did they just stick to the 1275 to class it as a 1300?

1275cc was the biggest they did from the factory (other than factory recon engines)

The moment you are on a 16v head none of the original SU carb setup is useful to you at all anyway, so you are faced with the choice of either mutli throttle carbs like a webber setup or ITB's and IMHO ITB's are a far better option, especially with current fuel prices, lol

But that said if you have no mapping ability and are trying to do it on the cheap (which TBH rarely means success on a multivalve A series!) then bike carbs are one way to go to get "ok" results more simply, but once you have gone that far I really do think its false economy not to just go to ITBs and do it properly.
 


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