I just bought a 2009 Base Hatchback MT Mini Cooper of unknown/dubious provenance. Car doesn't run and was towed to my home by the seller... I am anxious to see how bad it is but it's been too cold to do much in my driveway. Dash lights up after putting a decent used battery in it... currently charging and reconditioning battery with CTEK charger. Also have a battery tester on it's way from AMZN to load test the battery. I pulled the steering wheel off to see if my E46 BMW wheel fits (which it does)... part of my justification for buying this is to use it to try to build a hand control driving system for accelerator on wheel and some way to control the clutch and stick shift/MT. If you can imagine trying to downshift, steer and control accelerator and brake with only two hands... It's also a fairly easy car to work on/reach from my wheelchair. The inspiration for all this was a Honda Fit with AT set up for B-Spec racing with SCCA. Big thanks to Hands On Driving Academy at MSR Houston in Angleton Texas, they are amazing and I am hoping to give back via a MT system, the AT just doesn't cut it when racing MT cars.

So this will be a project both to see how salvageable this car is and how far I get with designing and building a hand control system for a B-Spec car. I plan on asking a lot of questions because I am in a bit over my head... so first question; when I press the start button should I hear the fuel pump running? because I do not. When I put the key in the dash slot and press both brake and clutch (with sticks) dash lights come on but nuttin else... and I get the needs service stuff ie car on lift picture etc. I get a bunch of codes (ie airbag because it is removed) and have not cleared them but I get multiple engine misfires, and misfire cyl1...As soon as it's warmer I will pull plugs, jack up front and put a breaker bar on the crank nut to see if the engine moves...then a jumper to starter solenoid, then ? if I can get the engine to turn over with the starter I'll do a compression test...if the compression test is ng then ??? I do not have a plan yet because I'm probably not gonna R&R a motor myself...but could pull valve cover and see if timing chain and tensioner is in place.

Also... where do these cars rust? I haven't been underneath the car yet and it is an east coast NJ/NYS car with >150K miles. Body panels seem OK but it's not super clean underneath... where should I look for signs of critical rust worm infestation? Though I was told these cars are pretty good rust wise...unless they are from the rust belt.

Battery was at 12.3V this am after charging overnight then sitting for a day...I'm trying not to buy a good battery if this is a junk motor and figure a mostly charged battery and a jump pack should work for now.

Any suggestions on where to post/ask for guidance is appreciated.

Thx