Zen

Being new to minis, I am really appreciating all those years of wrenching on old VWs. I have much more patience and wisdom now than then, and so far I've just been "being" with the two minis. A poke here, remove a part there, see what stories these old cars have to tell. I'm also reading a lot, and even just browsing parts vendors' catalogs helps me become familiar with what various things are, and what they look like.

From the beginning, I've just had a gut feeling that the '66 is the more "honest" car, in the sense that not as much has been done to it. Last night I crawled around a bit more, and verified that all numbers (body, engine, shroud, etc.) match and are correct. I also went through the list of Australian Cooper S features, and that all checks out also on both cars.

Some things I noticed however:
--The speedometer/odometer on the '70 is not a mini unit, and so the true mileage of that car is unknown. The one on the '66 is correct for both the year and the model.
--The '70 has had an alternator fitted in place of the generator (dynamo), and some sheet metal has been cut and bent to accommodate that. This was a bonehead move, since that nose panel and its angled brace is one of the defining features of a Cooper S. I'll see about fixing that down the road.
--The '66 has had the battery box replaced and the new one was pop-riveted in place. Also something to correct.
--Both cars have some dents on the front floor pans, which I have to think is pretty typical for a car that rides so low.
--The '66 has probably had a very minor front end collision--the nose panel has a light piece of bondo on one side, and also some bends up at the hood catch. In addition, the hood (bonnet) has been replaced with a non-Cooper one. I will have to drill holes to accommodate the "S" when I get to that point, but not a big deal. I may replace the nose panel, but not sure yet--I'll have to see what it looks like once all paint and bondo is gone.

In the end, my initial gut is confirmed--the '66 is a "what you see is what you get" car, where the '70 has been repainted and partially restored at least once in its life, so some things have been altered and will need to be sorted out. I'll reserve my final judgement for now, but I'm about 90% sure I'll be keeping the '66 and selling the '70. In any case, the '70 will be the first to see restoration.