Likely badly worn gearbox

Chip the midland box off... they’re as much use as a chocolate teapot!!! Absolute shite for anything more powerful than a lawnmower... If your planning on keeping the car I’d recommend the getrag 6 speed conversion... especially if you’ve got any power upgrades or are planning any... you get an extra gear so it’s not as harsh on the engine and it’s more economical

It's gonna stay stock engine wise as the plan is to pass it on to the eldest for his first car tbh at £350 ish for a recon I don't mind doing it again in 3/4 years

Fair enough, yeah that’s a good idea... are you doing the work yourself? Or getting a garage to do it? I managed to get a full conversion kit for £400 includes everything you need... plus the getrag is our of the r53 cooper s so it’s a lot stronger than the midlands.

Yer gonna do it myself just got to decide if I'm gonna drop the subframe completely or just lower it on the near side the car had a secondhand box and a new clutch 20k ago so I'm hopeful that the clutch is fine but will take a look once the box is off I will take a look on eBay if any getrag kits are available but I couldn't see any the last few times I looked

I done mine myself, I found it easier to drop the whole subframe with the power steering fluid tank still attached just unbolted it from the bracket and guided it down as I lowered the subby... yeah that’s fair enough obviously if you do the conversion you need to change the clutch and flywheel anyway but you should get one in the kit... there was two on there when I looked one I had trouble with as I couldn’t collect it and the bloke I got mine off said he had a couple and was always breaking them and I got it couriered down to me... hopefully you have some luck and if you do end up doing the conversion and need any help let me know I’ll do the best I can

Box is out now just on the way to pickup an exchange one

Looks exactly the same as mine did... had a few teeth in the oil too... hopefully it goes straight back in

Mine was full of chunks of bearing casing the replacement box is in but not put back subframe yet about an hour tomorrow morning will have it finished

Nice! That’s not good then... oh that’s not too bad I take it you just wacked another midland box in

Yep clutch was like brand new don't know the history of the old box it was a recon but purchased second hand by the previous owner

Fair enough hopefully it’s good then, maybe you should keep the old box you’ve got and refurb that if you can as a spare

Change oil every 20-30,000 miles helps longivity. MiNI has no service interval on gearbox.

Tbh will probably do it every year (8k miles) for less than £20 it's worth it! The job took me about 6 hours all in so not too bad for my first time working on a mini and with hand tools only

Oh nice... did you get a guarantee with it?

Ahh that sucks man!! I’ve got my old midlands 5speed clutch... dunno how much life if left but you can have it if you need it?

Cheers for the offer but I just bit the bullet and got one also the box is now fixed and the car is almost back together again 😁