Ciarans 1380 cooper

[Ciaran]

Finally after 2 years of searching I found a mini that had everything I wanted and in my price-range.
She was originally a Welsh/English Car which was imported in 2006 with 45,464miles from new. However, she was left sitting in a drive for a year before I made enquiries and bought her so I suppose shes a little bit of a hidden behind bush in driveway find.
Her name is Christine? and she is 16.(yes I am a KISS fan)
Shes a late(early ) mainstream cooper with a twist. I got her in May and she hasn?t let me down yet. Here is her spec which is by no means finished.

Engine:
1380cc minispeed block.
Stage 3 Cylinder Head.
kent cams 286 Camshaft.
Twin Su HS4 1.5 inch carburettors with cone filters.
4-core radiator
Standard 4-speed box with 3.1 final drive.
L.C.B Exhaust manifold.
Maniflow twin DTM exhaust
All fitted in 2005

Suspention and Steering:

HiLos fitted all round.
New standard cones.
KYB Gas-A-Just dampers all round.
New knuckle joints.
New track rod ends.
Bushes in steering column replaced

Exterior:
Flame Red with white roof.
12x5 Standard Cooper alloys.
12x6 Yokohama A539s.
Chrome Bumpers.
Chrome Grille.
Twin spots.
John Cooper signed stripes like a RSP cooper.
Standard Cooper arches.

I.C.E:
JVC Kd 1033-h
Two Alpine 10cm speakers in dash.
Two JBL 937 6x9s in custom boxes on rear seats.
mutant 4-channel amp powering the 6x9s.
Vibe 15? 1500w sub in the boot powered by a Vibe monoblock.

Interior:
Brushed aluminium dash.
3 Smiths gauges ( oil pressure, battery condition ,temperature).
Cooper Trim.
RSP Steering wheel.
Cobra Monaco S buckets in Black vinyl with Red Piping.
Sparco 3 Point harnesses.

Power:
She was on the rollers in Slark race engineering and put out:
94 BHP @ 6137rpm and 82lbs/ft torque @ 5551rpm

Shes a Monster of a car to drive, Sweet handling, plenty of torque and grunt for overtaking.
She also turns more heads than Angelina Jolie doing Jumping Jacks.
She is extremely loud too, which is great for pissing off skangers outside my work.

Future plans include a 5-speed box, Rear cage and 12x6 chrome deep dish Superlights and more power


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[Ciaran]

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[Step_7]

Really great looking car, and the engine spec is pretty good too!

One question though (Anorak alert!) - from the pictures, it looks like the front wheels are "RSP" (Yes Ger, I now they weren't just fitted to RSPs! ) type with the bolt holes lining up with the spokes and the rears are the more normal type where the holes are between the spokes or are my eyes just a bit fuzzy in my old age.....

[irlmin]

Jeez Niall you are sharp Today , it looks like RSP / 30 / Racing Green /Flame / etc etc wheels on the back alright , nice car Ciaran I like the way it looks so standard but has all the 'right' bits , I would go with 5.5 " wheels as the deep dish won't clear your std arches and it would be a shame to mess with such a std look . the RSP 'S' had 5.5 " optional wheels and they look mad ! anyway make sure you get the car out on one of our events in 09 and there are many planned all over the Country for this year the 50th birthday of the Mini .
G

[Step_7]

Jeez Niall you are sharp Today

There has to be one day a year......

It's just something I look at on Coopers like that - I looked at the pictures before reading the text and thought it actually was an RSP with the body coloured arches and mirrors etc. and I then looked at the wheels and noticed the difference.

[inny1300]

Hello Ciaran,love the car,very nice,look forward to seeing it in the metal at one of the show's,regard's jon

[Ciaran]

Really great looking car, and the engine spec is pretty good too!

One question though (Anorak alert!) - from the pictures, it looks like the front wheels are "RSP" (Yes Ger, I now they weren't just fitted to RSPs! ) type with the bolt holes lining up with the spokes and the rears are the more normal type where the holes are between the spokes or are my eyes just a bit fuzzy in my old age.....

anorak away, saves me having to look up stuff

yup you are spot on, I actually thought it was a RSP when i fist saw it from a distance, it was only until i checked the Vin Number that i realised that it wasnt, but its close .
Who ever had the car before me must have had a RSP fetish or was just trying to pass it on as one, with the steering wheel and colour coded arches.

I have a little theory about the wheels as i have heaps of history with it, reciepts, and neames and adresses of all its owners, service history etc, so i can kinda get a idea.

The most obvious is that the alloys were just swapped for one reason or another.

The other is plausible and considering when the car was built actually makes it the one i reckon is the most likely.

The wheels one the RSP and 30 and other specials, had the studs aligned with the spokes, a mentioned.

The reason these wheels were discontinued is because they didnt meet the BS standard for alloys. They actually failed impact tests and the problem was the where the holes were drilled(apparantley).

So rover being rover just re-arranged the pattern and the wheels passed. But since they were cheap arses and quality control was never on the agenda, i reckon some of these early coopers were sold as a mish mash of different parts.

My car was built in december 1990, so this would have been one of the first mainstream carb coopers, infact id say the original engine was still the MG unit from the RSP. It didnt come with the usual "lightening" pattern seats, it came with a odd looking set, you may be able to see in some of the photos ill see if i can find more, which were actually the original( in my ignorance i replaced them with what i thought was original, the "lightening" half leathers, im not happy, i sold em cheap and they were SPOTLESS)

so considering these little bits, i reckon rover just whacked the odd alloys on just to get rid of these alloys before they couldnt use them.


Im going to try and get it out more this year, i should be here this summer so mini50 is a go!

on the topic of RSPs, there is a aul lad around raheny with one,red, totally unmolested too, id love to see if hed sell.

there is a unregd one in donegal, wouldnt mind a 2009 reg classic mini, for the 50th

[Ciaran]

And some of the inside

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[iwanagofast]

Class looking car Ciaran, well wear.

[bomber01]

Ciaran,
Great looking car with sensible mods and engine spec, best of luck with it ,....... and hope to see you at the 50 anner in Aug.








john

[Starrywalsh]

Hi Ciaran,

Your classic looks great, I thought it was an RSP at first glance, hopefully we can see it in real soon.

Mark.

[Starrywalsh]

Let us know how you get on with the 5 speed gearbox too, I often dreamt of a 5th gear in my car and how she would preform.

[Derfinn]

Welcome aboard Ciaran, and fair play to your patience.
It was definately worth it, great looking Mini you have there.

And some great pics.

[Sportspack-Mark]

looks like an RSP to me

its got the red steering wheel, and the cooper laurel on the bootlid in above the number plate light