It is ALIVE!

[Dan Moffet]

(so am I!)

After two years of health problems (mine), I was able to start my Mini and back it out of the garage.

It took awhile to start as the carb was probably bone dry. It runs rough, but that's because the gas is two years old. It did have stabilizer "when parked" though I forgot to run the engine long enough to get the stabilized gas up to the carb. Consequently it is grumbly! I will drain the fuel tank and put in fresh gas.

No flat tires, though I haven't checked pressures yet. Clutch and brakes work, and no leaks! Just have to activate the insurance and then....!

[Willie_B]

Hope you have some good weather so you can get it out and drive it. Glad you are doing better too.

[Jims5543]

It's always satisfying when a car sits for ages and fires up.

Congrats on the better health and getting the Mini back on the road, a little car therapy does wonders.

[Dan Moffet]

I pumped out the old fuel and put it in my daily driver. Both cars had about 1/4 tank, but the daily driver has a computer capable of dealing with old fuel, and a bigger tank, so I figure the old gas is adequately diluted.

I put in about half a tank in the Mini and fired it up. Still running a little rough with tailpile pops and bang when suddenly revved. I wiped the heavy soot off the plugs and tried again. Still rough. I removed the air filter to see if it would lean out. No change.

Then it suddenly died and would not restart. OKAY, I thought, maybe the drain and refill washed dirt into the SU pump or somewhere. I disconnected the fuel line at the carb and ran the pump, with good results. Hmmm. Tapped the carb in case the float needle was sticking

Checked the plugs again. Not much change there,except the soot was beginning to burn off. That's when I noticed  a wire had come loose from the coil! With that back on, it fired right up. YAY! Still running rough. Checked the dashpot oil and decide to add some, just in case. Realized I had no idea what I was using so put a dribble of 5W30 in. Big improvement! Idle is smoother and exhaust pops are gone.

Enough excitement for one day. Tomorrow the insurance goes on and the next step is what we used to call an "Italian Tuneup". Oh, and check the tire pressure!

[ve9aa]

You'll get it figured out DanM.

[MiniDave]

Yay!!!!

Mini therapy is the best....

[1071S]

Great to hear Dan, mine has been sitting for a couple of years with a minor clutch problem.  I'm not overly concerned as some years ago while I was living in the States the Mini sat in a friend's shed for 4 years.  After whacking the fuel pump (use something soft ..like a shoe) we drove it to the rego shop, renewed the paper work and we were away.

Cheers,Ian

[Dan Moffet]

Yesterday life got in the way (as it does) and I did not get the Mini drive in. That, and it was Friday the 13th.

But it got me to thinking: we are sooo cautious about the reliability of our cars that we have the "protection" of cell phones, Automobile Associations with breakdown seervices and the like.

Then I remembered my very first car: a 1968 Mini Countryman complete with 850 cc engine, a magic wand transmission and a grabby clutch. I drove it summer and winter ANYWHERE (including a road closed except for snowmobiles). I had a summer job measuring schools for a provincial Ministry of Education space survey that put me and a co-worker on the road and in motels, doing hundreds of miles a week. No cell phones back then, no AA. The only mechanical problem on the road I recall was when the bellows-type water pump-to-head by-pass hose gave out. (That's when I learned you could use ditch water if you needed to and that the hose could be replaced without removing the head or water pump.)

There was one week the Mini was out of service because I did not quite get the 1100cc swap completed in a weekend, outdoors of course. That week we rode in luxury - a rented Chevy Vega station wagon. That will give you an clue to how long ago that was. (Early 1970's for those who have no idea what a Chevy Vega is.)

Nowadays I have a cell phone, CAA and even by-passes of my own.

 

[MiniDave]

It's true, there's no reason not to use our cars as cars - that's why they were built in the first place!

I rebuilt the motor in my first Mini - a 63 Cooper S with the twin carbs, tiny 7" discs and boat tires (I had bought Cosmic 10X6's and the only tires I could find were 145 section Pirellis, the boat tires were nice and fat! So much so that unless I ran about 10 psi in them they only drove on the middle 2" of tread - but I digress) The day after the first start up I drove it to Colorado Springs. I had straight exhaust with a megaphone on the back and as soon as I got there I bought a short glass pack muffler for it!

I drove that car all over Colorado, winter was no exception.....just like I drove my Dino around KC all year long too.

[94touring]

In my 20s I logged thousands and thousands of miles on cross country trips in minis.
 I use to pick them up sight unseen after Peter Cavallo would import them to me to flip. I blew a head gasket in one driving from the port in Georgia to Oklahoma and had to pull over every 50 miles to add water to the radiator. My daily driver for a decade or so was a mini. I did break down once in New Mexico with a wheel bearing failure which was a fiasco.  Now I have logged thousands of miles in a old vw bus taking trips.  Something about it or a mini is just more adventurous. 

[cstudep]

The nice thing about the older cars, even if they may be less reliable at times (debatable perhaps) is that you can fix nearly anything anywhere with a fairly simple tool kit. The disadvantage of course with something like our mini's is the availability (and quality these days) of parts. That issue can mostly be solved though by keeping some of the more likely to cause problem things like wheel bearings, points, maybe a head gasket etc... in the car with you.

[Dan Moffet]

I love my Mini!

In case you missed it, I got it back on the insurance and back on the road. Idle was a little low but 1/4 turn on the idle screw gave me 1000rpm idle when warmed up. Since then it has been running like a champ. Needs a little choke until warmed up (about 1/2 mile) then pulls smooth and steady. Nice music from the HIF44 and the stainless 1.75" single box exhaust.

Then the heat wave hit and it was back to the daily driver (2010 Suzuki SX4). Meanwhile my wife's daily driver (2010 Jeep Liberty) suffered the dreaded ignition interlock linkage failure: the key cylinder is on one side of the column and the needlessly complex switch is on the other. Between them is an evil device that:
(1) has a thin pin through the middle to depress a contact in the switch to tell the computer a key (any key) has been inserted;
(2) has a heavier casting (barrel)that locks the column when a proper key is inserted and turned; and
(3) two cast fingers on each side of the thin pin(1) extending out from the barrel(2) to actually turn the rotating contacts in the switch.

A known Chrysler issue, one of the fingers breaks off jamming the cylinder and barrel from turning... most of the time. Eventually with fiddling it will work intermittently. Then the weird stuff begins: The key will now turn the barrel and the switch, allowing the engine to actually start. However the pin(1) no longer depresses the key sensing contacts so the engine only runs for a couple of seconds and the confuser (BOLTR's term) shuts it off. Meanwhile the steering column no longer locks.

Master mechanic Goggle shows it to be an "easy" fix on most jeeps, though you do need one particular Torx security bit to remove the ignition switch proper. (Side note Canadian Tire had a 61 piece set on sale... so much for "security".) You also have to loosen the multifunction switch cluster (lights, wipers turn signals etc.). I got that far into it when I realized I could not safely see how it disengaged from the steering wheel without possibly causing more damage. And if I got past that, I'd still need to somehow put my head on backwards to see up under the column to remove the screws holding the middle component. Even with the seat all the way back and the tilt all the way up, there's less headroom than in my Mini.

So, between not wanting to cause more damage to the vehicle or myself, it got loaded onto a roll-back.

Next calamity: With her vehicle at the shop, my wife was using the SX4. Last Tuesday she needed it in the afternoon to do her IT work at the church, so I made a morning trip to Canadian Tire, about 1.5 miles away. It was far too hot to use the Mini. 2/3 the way there, the serpentine belt let go. leaving me without power steering, alternator or AC. Lets just say parking was a challenge and the ride home was HOT. So, now the SX4 is in line at the same garage - the belt was replaced on it not long ago, so there's something else going on in there.

Fortunately my sister lent us her car, a newer Dodge something that has fancy modern stuff like backup camera and keyless push-button start. I can only imagine how complicates that would be.

But today the Mini worked just FINE!!

[Dan Moffet]

Today is a perfect Mini-drive day - clear skies and temp 23deg C. The plan was to go get some beer, some cash from the bank and get my hair cut for my driver's licence photo tomorrow. The Mini was in its personal resting space to the side of the garage. In the main part was the Jeep, which I had just finished touching up some rust on its hatchback. I opened the garage to move the Jeep out onto the street to get the Mini out. Partway down the driveway, I decided to park the Jeep on the driveway with enough room to scoot by in the Mini.

Not having been run in a few weeks, the Mini was reluctant to start but eventually roared to life. I backed out of the garage and let the engine warm a bit while the garage door closed itself.

A couple of "vrooms" and I threw it in reverse and began enjoying the mighty torque... half-way down the driveway. Suddenly the Mini came to an abrupt stop. I was about 6" too close to the jeep and the rear tires of each vehicle kissed the other's bodywork. And the Mini was wedged tight.

I had to get out the rolling floor jack, lift the Mini and hand-push it clear of the Jeep. The Mini suffered  twisted bumper, a little popped Bondo (I didn't know about) beside the taillight assembly and the plastic wheelarch trim came loose. So far, I have been able to straighten the bumper.

As for the Jeep, all it had was lipstick on its collar AKA red paint transfer from the Mini. That came off using some lacquer thinner and a paper towel.

I did get a Mini ride, albeit halfway down the driveway and back. Errands were done in the Jeep. (Sigh)
 

[94touring]

Well that sucks!

[MiniDave]

awww man.......

My brother is coming to visit and I plan to loan him my car, so I'll be driving my Mini as my daily for the week while he and his bride are here......we're going to have temps in the low 30's all week (90's in American freedom units) so it will be fine in the early part of the day, toasty in the late afternoons.

[ve9aa]

That sux, Dan.    Kinda reminds me of the time I took my Classic to work and 2 B-I-G guys picked it up and flipped it 180° in it's parking spot.  No problem, right?  Wrong! Cracked the bodywork (Bondo) in both corners of the cowl, below the wipers. (they had picked it up from the 2 front wheel arches, which thankfully were attached very well) I was not impressed. 
  It's pretty thick bondo there, but has been cracked for 20+ yrs now.   I try not to drive in the rain, as those will collect water.

Hope the best for you, neighbour!

[Dan Moffet]

Thanks for the words of sympathy. The only part (beside a bit of Bondo) that came off is the 1.5" long seam cover below the bumper flange.  It lost a bit of paint and may be slightly tweaked, but it will serve as a paint sample when I go hunting for touch-up paint.

When I bought the car from Erik Mogilever (remember him??) the deal included an exterior paint job, done in the Toronto area. They did a good job. I picked a colour from an old paint book from a friend who has a body shop her in the Ottawa area. I chose the brightest red in the book, viewed in direct sun. That was called BMW Red 1. Of course the bodyman in T.O. had a different paint system but he matched it very well. They even included a small glass jar of paint for touch-up. I still have that somewhere. After over 20 years, I wonder if it is any good.

[ve9aa]

glass jar of paint for touch-up. I still have that somewhere. After over 20 years, I wonder if it is any good.

My money is that it's now a red hockey puck...but who knows?