Mini Mayfair Paddy Hopkirk rep

[Darragh]

I done a deal to buy this car from a friend who offered me the car and pay later, I told him to wait till I had the money, two years later I now own it, I sold the Banshee quad which was a great investment after 23 years of ownership , you can spend money on useless stuff but this was a good investment to replace the quad

I got it for my 9 year old daughter, been teaching her how to drive on the brothers racing simulator in a twin cam around Mondello so she is getting the basics , I’ll have her driving this car very shortly, she has been buzzing all week as she has been out helping me clean and prep it for mot

It’s spent the last five years in dry storage and will spend the rest of its life in my garage, it’ll come out for classic shows or the school run, no winter driving

It’s a very solid car, little scabby underneath but nothing a rub down and fresh paint won’t fix , 1995 1275cc 77500 miles with a lot of history and receipts, the last owner done it up like paddy hopkirks rally car so it has the 60s theme going on, it’ll stay like this for a while but anyone knows me knows I like to roll cage things and make them motorsport , it came with loads of spares ,12” mini lights , alloy sump guard and a hydraulic handbrake which trust me when I say makes the car go around with ease, even the accelerator peddle is angled for heel and toe

Waiting on new parts coming for the standard handbrake as it seams to be seized and not moving enough , once I replace all that it’ll be straight to mot and on the road

I can’t believe it’s took me this long to get and drive a mini , pure fun listening to the induction and the blowout on the back box lol the last picture will be how I intend it to look eventually

 

[carmad.]

class mate

 

[JH86]

Seen it on IG and was megga impressed fair play

 

[NickR]

That is class!

 

[southsky sunrise]

The we woman will love it. I’d two for my kids and kept them unill they got old enough to tell me the hated them, so I sold them on….kept the minis tho

 

[Woodcutter]

That is awesome! Hard to beat a classic Mini.

As for the Banshee, friend of mine won a Banshee recently in a raffle, I couldn’t believe it when he told me it was worth approx £13k!

 

[Darragh]

@southsky sunrise if only it was that easy lol the max thing is this is a classic car but it’s two years younger than the supra
@Woodcutter yea it’s incredible what price some of the bikes are sitting at, I didn’t want to sell it but I have a heart problem now that doesn’t beat fast enough so on a flat tarmac road I was out of breath cruising so sadly it had to go , the mini is a great replacement as you can’t do anything with the banshee and a 9 year old lol

 

[Darragh]

Can’t post a video but this was her first time on her own using the clutch and manual gearbox

 

[big_pete]

Class

There’s a mini show on tomorrow in Newcastle

 

[Darragh]

@big_pete might take a run down in the van, sadly the mini is awaiting new handbrake stuff and no mot, I’ll aim for the port rush meet at end of the summer

 

[carmad.]

@big_pete might take a run down in the van, sadly the mini is awaiting new handbrake stuff and no mot, I’ll aim for the port rush meet at end of the summer

cars and coffee then mini show she’s gonna have a good day with her old da tomorrow

 

[vw1500]

Awesome! Be great to get mk1 grill and the plates to weld over the rear light holes to take the mk1 lights

 

[Darragh]

@vw1500 no idea about these cars lol the holes are still on the boot for the number plate light at the top , a few people have said about changing the rear lights, I’m still learning what’s new and old about them if it was a Japanese car I would know it all

 

[vw1500]

The 68 on mk2 type rear lights are similar but no reversing light, they’ll fit straight on. It’s a rep of a mk1 though so be cool to put the smaller pre 68 ones on, can buy blanking plates to convert. That famous a car no shortage of pics to work from. It already has earlier bumpers

 

[Darragh]

@vw1500 i get you now, if I change the rear lights it’ll probably be till the first picture you posted, down the line the car will be made a bit more modern like rally car look like the one I posted in the first post

 

[Robin_Hood]

Epic! Health to enjoy.

Weather has been crap this year.. I haven't had mine out anywhere near as much as I'd like.

 

[BLS]

Class

There’s a mini show on tomorrow in Newcastle

Wondered where the minis where going today.

 

[c_rad]

That's epic mate

 

[S2K-Aaron]

Class! Health to enjoy mate, nice to see another pop up on here.

 

[Darragh]

Everyone told me to put the money into the supra but I have other plans for that, these are a great wee car and my wee girl loves it, what a great car to learn to drive in at 9 lol

 

[Darragh]

Been busy last few weeks working on the car as well as entertaining the child for the summer and trying to run and fix the truck

Overhauled the back brakes, new cables , brake cylinders and greased and adjusted everything up , now the back brakes work great and normal handbrake holds the car

Car was running very rich and revving high, I took the old vacuum pipes away from back of the manifold and replaced them with proper turbo piping I had over from the supra, now runs sweet as a nut

Found I have the hi lo adjusters for ride height so dropped the back down 1/2 inch, now it sits level with the rest

I took the hopkirk stuff off the bonnet as it was badly done so gonna get them done proper by a sticker man so it has a better finish

Replaced the coolant temp sensor ( see you next Tuesday of a job ) the water pump and thermostat aswell as an engine flush today, my spine and forehead can’t take anymore punishment so gonna have a few days off

Next step is get it through mot then get the alloys powder coated with fresh white and get proper tyres on

Also almost forgot , fitted a double DTM stainless steal exhaust, I’m sure paddy hopkirk wouldn’t mind

 

[Darragh]

Been flat out last few weeks sorting this wee car out, I adjusted the rear cones and ended up with the backside trailing the road, looks cool but have to raise it up to a better height

Fitted the paddy hopkirk short shifter today and it has made the gear change so much tighter , been working on the floor rubbing it all down and painting it as I go along, found a few wee small rust holes 1/2 inch in size so gonna get them sorted before they get out of hand

Got all the spot lights wired up and alternator seams to hold them alright

Was trying to get it ready for mot but gonna slow it down till after Christmas and spend next few months getting it perfect with matching dampers, wheels powder coated and proper tyres

Supra is now getting work sorted for it’s freshen up so I’ve now two projects including fixing and maintaining the truck and my van ffs

Getting the new hopkirk black number plate on the bonnet tomorrow

 

[carmad.]

ya find the bonnet stay yet

 

[Darragh]

@carmad. grateful for you doing that job for me, think I was focusing that much on not hitting my head I never seen the attachment gonna do a quick release bonnet instead, no idea how I have got a few dents in my forehead now

 

[Darragh]

Cat pipe fell off the car and emptied its guts all over the floor, swear on my hair mr MOT man lol