Hey everyone!
I went to Thanksgiving in San Antonio TX this year and like to make the habit of meeting up with anyone that owns a mini when I travel since there are almost zero in Lubbock where I am from. I asked the guys on the Classic Mini DIY Discord and someone introduced me to Michael Playle who told me about this forum!
I am currently on my lunch break so I don't have time to make a proper post in Restoration to introduce you to my mini but in the mean time I figured I would introduce myself. My name is Haydn Moyers and I own a 1982 Austin Rover Mini that I managed to find in Brownwood Texas around 4 years ago.
When I was a kid I decided that I wanted a mini more than any other car, I have no earthly idea where I saw one or why I liked them so much but I just had to have one. My first car was a 2012 mini Cooper S and I loved it BUT when I moved to Lubbock, where there isn't a Mini specific dealership, it just wasn't viable to own it anymore unfortunately. I had tons of maintenance issues and it costs as much as a BMW to fix (I wonder why). While I owned that car though I learned what a true mini was and told myself that one day I had to get one. Finally in October of 2021 I found my Mini only 3 or so hours away on Facebook Marketplace.
I drove out there with my Dad while watching videos on "how to drive a manual" the whole way and bought it on the spot. I did absolutely no research into what the engine was or what I should want and just happened to stumble on a 1275 with an HIF44. Somehow I managed to test drive it and drive it all the way home without ever stalling it once. I will get more into the stories and dumb mistakes I have made on another post but over the last 4 years I have learned everything from doing my first oil change to pulling the engine out and splitting the transmission and just about everything in between. I love working on it and every time I get it running and driving well I am just itching to tear it apart again and improve it more.
This specific mini is my forever car, if I could choose now I'm sure that I would have chosen a more rare model or a Mark 1 or an estate or anything else but this mini is mine and it feels like it was meant to be mine. I love the community and I love the cars and I am so excited to learn more and more about these amazing machines.
Nice looking car! Welcome to the forum!
Welcome aboard. That was me that sent you Michaels way. Glad you made it over here too.