Rust, rust and more rust!
90's Minis are much more prone to corrosion than earlier cars.
Check places like:
The scuttle between the wipers. The rot starts under the screen seal.
Under the rear side windows.
Tops of the front screen pillars.
Above the fresh air vents under each wing.
Front panel around the subframe mounts.
Plus all the usual Mini rot spots.

Mechanical parts are not really a problem. They are mostly cheap and easy to
repair.
The carb cars are probably the most responsive to drive. My experience of
Spi cars is that they are quite lacking in 'get up and go'. This was largely
sorted with the Mpi cars. But a good carb car will out perform either.
Injection cars are obviously more complicated and if electrics fail it is
much more difficult to diagnose the problem.

There's a very thorough (but easy to follow) buyers guide on
www.minifinity.com.

It's under Resources, and it's called The Ultimate Buyers Guide.

Matt

hiya
if you want to see an example of a 92 cooper rust problems go look at my
site.
www.coopermini.co.uk