A beautiful, satisfying day

[Joanie B]

We struggled with an intermittent starting problem, where it would take ten tries to get the car to turn over, then even when warm, if we turned it off, it may not start again... at all.  Finally, we decided to replace the points and condensers and associated stuff, with a PerTronix setup. Coil, the Bits inside the distributor cap, rotor, spark plugs, wires. Then timed it. The Mini starts every time, now! And runs better too!
Turns out that the coil wire, in the old distributor cap, had a poor connection. It was the kind of cap where the wire gets pushed into the hole and a set screw is tightened. It had never been stripped, the only part of the wire that was making the connection was the blunt cut end!
So we drove him around all day today, it was such a joy to know that he would start and run. I drove him for fifteen miles, in traffic, and didn't mess up in shifting.  71.gif
Now to start on the interior! It's like driving in a tin can. No carpets or headliner, very noisy.
Here is a photo in front of the British store. Couldn't resist the photo op!

[Joanie B]

Lazy Sunday? Not whe you have a Mini to play with. Cleaned the Mini Cave and played with the dogs.

[MiniDave]

I LOVE the Persian carpet under the Mini!   ;D

Joanie,  hope you're not too disappointed when you get the interior done with the noise in the Mini, these things are loud even when you Dynomat the heck out of them.....ask me how I know!   :(

[Joanie B]

I won't be disappointed, Dave, but I want to try it.  It certainly won't hurt.
He's a pampered Mini, in his little tent garage. We'll make room in the garage this summer, but for now, the tent works out nicely.

[Joanie B]

I'm ordering FatMat, cheaper than DynaMat but almost as good. Then headliner and carpet.. We're going to do a decibel reading before and after, just for fun. Hubby has a decibel reader at. Work to use. He's already quieter since the new ignition went in.  4.gif 4.gif 4.gif

[MiniDave]

You can do that tent thing is sunny SoCal, not so much here where it rains, sleets, hails, and snows in feet!

Everything you do to quiet the Mini will help, just not as much as you might hope. Again, ask me how I know.....  :(

[Joanie B]

The tent would be a liability instead of an asset, any place where ther is REAL weather! We had 45 mph winds and I was out there bracing it. Much more than that, it would be in the neighbor's yard!

Do you think that bonnet insulation helps, Dave? And a plate to cover that freaking big hole in the bulkhead, where the wires come through?

[MiniDave]

Everything helps, but especially anything on the firewall...... 4.gif

[Jims5543]

A Quiet Mini.... LOL!!!!

Good luck, I am very interested, in seeing what the decibel readings will be.

Mine has everything in place and is LOUD!!

Isn't it awesome when your confidence goes up on the car?  I was the same way 2 miles then 5 miles then boom!!! AAA then 5 miles then boom!! AAA.... then finally I get everything sorted and I am driving it 500 miles over a 2 week period, running out of gas... well... because I never drove it this much.



Enjoy it!! They love to be driven I can attest to that, mine has never been happier..

[94touring]

Jim does yours have the mid pipe muffler/resonator or just straight pipe to the muffler?

[MiniDave]

They're fine around town or for the occasional blast in the twisties, it's only long highway runs that get really tiresome - at least in mine. That's why I built a towbar for mine - for cross country events I'll tow it, for anything within a state or two I'll drive it. We're having our classic Mini fun run next month in northern Arkansas, everyone is driving there including people from Kansas, Missouri, Texas and Oklahoma.....but for Mini 56 in north Carolina I'll probably tow it there and back and leave the tow vehicle at my daughter's house about an hour from Cherokee.

I drove mine from Baltimore to KC, so it's obvious that it can be done, but you'll need earplugs to save your sanity.

[Spitz]

I have a set of the same wheels  4.gif

[Jims5543]

Jim does yours have the mid pipe muffler/resonator or just straight pipe to the muffler?

I need to look under her, I think it is headers back to a muffler.

Regardless, the engine 2' in front of me makes more noise than the exhaust does.   ;D