Mini parts scene in 2017 (ooo it rhymes :-P)

[99fusion]

Hey guys,

Looking to spend a little wiser on the parts needed for my rebuild (veeeeery slow starting ).

Was wondering if there's any interesting / noteworthy mini parts or developments big or small out today make for sensible upgrades since the decade I've been away from it all?

Like, I see minispares are selling a 125mm replacement digital programmable speedo for centre binnacle for example (http://minispares.com/product/Classi...ck%20to%20home)... Or maybe someone decided to make (successfully) rubber seals that don't leak, etc etc... you get the idea

And at the other end of the spectrum, what parts have gotten generally worse in quality apart from steering racks...?

Many thanks for your 2 cents (something of a pun there)!

S.

[gazwad]

unfortunately most stuff out there seems to be of poor quality. The only wheelbearings worth using are genuine timken and generally the only decent stuff is genuine parts if you can find them. I've tried several dampers lately and found gaz wear out pretty quickly, protechs didn't work for me (rattling on small bumps although customer service was excellent), currently trying KYB AGX dampers and am very impressed so far - silent operation excellent handling and damping controll (better than gaz and protech) and seem very well made, time will tell how durable they are.

[99fusion]

Feels like parts manufacturing ain't what it used to be Bit of a shame when money cuts through everything... On the TMF someone posted that the quality of rubber is so poor these days that sometimes it perishes before you finished building, unless they are Delphi branded.. not sure what that's worth but it kinda feels like the chinese copiers are flooding the market... Or skills are getting lost...

I remember buying timkens bearings way back when I was 16 for the front hub (that makes me feel old hehe )... If it poses a risk to safety I'll sure be going for quality parts over knock-offs...

Yeah I saw those, got me curious remembering how much Keith Calver raved about their self adjusting Gas-A-Adjust in mini mag. I wonder how these compare ..

[Chris16v]

I restored my other mini 18 months ago, its been kept garaged and only covered around 2000miles.. however the knuckle joint boots/ track rod boots and ball joint dust covers have all started to perish and will need to be replaced again!

[99fusion]

That's crazy! Maybe this link will be useful to you then...

http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums...-where-to-buy/

[Oz]

I was rebuilding Clubman Estate a few years ago. I put new rubber brake hoses on and bled the brakes and got a good pedal. After about 6 months I went to take it on its first drive and had a really spongy pedal. On examination one brand new rear hose had perished so badly that the inner part was able to balloon when pressure was applied to pedal !! That hose was bought from Minispares so it shows that even the bigger places are getting caught out with bad quality parts.