This post is hardly worth looking at. But I'm logging it for anyone who cares, although most of us have been here too often.
Overhauled drive shafts and CVs last year and went to fit them to their hubs today. The parts have never been on the car.



Luckily I had a few spare boots...
The boot on the left is the perished boot from the first photo. On the right, a replacement has the same moulding marks. Guess what's going to happen...

Yep I had exactly the same issue had to do mine twice. Every rubber went on mine over the restoration period. Serious amounts of time to strip everything down again to replace. I don't mind spending more money on better quality parts but sometimes there isn't anything any better. A mate at work has scooters and they have the same issues.

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TOO MANY MINIS AND NOT ENOUGH TIME

Unfortunately this is an ongoing problem. I have had the same issue countless times as have fellow restorers I know well. What can be done about it I don't know as I have got rubber parts from many dealers and most seem to end up the same way. It is not the dealers fault that top quality rubber parts are now a scarce commodity, it is the manufacturer.

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1965 MK1 English Morris Cooper S (Downton)
1967 MK1 Morris Cooper S
1972 Clubman GT (6/72 Cadiz)
1968 MG Midget

I think the construction of the rubber is at fault. The rubber manufacturers have removed certain things from the mix due to environmental concerns and it effects the longevity of the rubber.

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Cheers Dave.

they make them to fall apart so they can sell you more

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1970 MK2 Cooper S

Fortunately rubber is not a “black art”.
If you want a part to be flexible, you add plasticisers.
If it’s going to be exposed to sunlight you add UV stabilisers.
Depending on the application you may want ozone protection.
All of the above is easily done by reputable rubber component manufacturers and their products will last.
It’s the cheap, nasty manufacturers trying to make a a product without consideration of quality.

The best you can do is report it the where you bought it so they no longer buy from that supplier.

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Find a job you love and you will never have to go to work !

You are right. These parts can be made well.
I am still reusing MOWOG marked rubber on ball joints and tie-rod ends, etc.
It is sometimes hard to remember where you bought a particular part. I mostly use one supplier but at the present, with supply problems, you have to shop around to find the parts in stock.
And it is worrying when parts turn up loose in a ziplock bag and not in a branded container, although a brand name is not always a guarantee of quality anymore either.

And I thought I was the only tight arsed b@$t@rd who reuses things like that.

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Cheers Dave.

The repro heel mat and toe pad available locally from a few suppliers (and used by All Car Carpets on its S and GT carpets) are made of “real rubber” in South Australia. There’s a pic of the tooling on the press somewhere around.
So making quality boots, for example, simply requires appropriate investment up front for tooling and a trusted manufacturer. The retail cost to we customers can then be worked out.

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ex-NSW Police 1970 MK II Cooper S
VMCI #43

Even if they were three times the price we would still be in front as we would only have to buy once.

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1965 MK1 English Morris Cooper S (Downton)
1967 MK1 Morris Cooper S
1972 Clubman GT (6/72 Cadiz)
1968 MG Midget

A lot of rubber items are now available from Japan. They are more expensive, but a much better quality product.

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Are there any sites that specialise in Japanese made parts, or do you have to search for each item?

https://classicminisjapan.com/

If not listed there.as not all parts are sold there. Send an email

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Rubber components for earlier marks are hard to source in Japan too, however there are many parts we ship direct from Japan made of high quality rubber. I am always looking for alternatives, so feel free to list or send us an email of what components you're looking for. I can add them to the list of parts to source locally.

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1964 Austin Mini
1990 Mini Cooper RSP LE
1995 Monte Carlo SE