The joy of a 28 year old car (May contain traces of love)

J

Jandre

Guest
Pull her into the garage, and dry out the distributor cap first. Dammit man, have you learned nothing from this forum. :slap::)
 
M

Mike1

Guest
Done that already! And sprayed it with Q20 :thumbsup:

Finished sealing the sunroof... Now needs an hour to dry
 
J

Jandre

Guest
and... I she still spluttering?

Make sure the plug are dry.
 
J

Jandre

Guest
I had a sluk &s plutter on The POFS the other day, turned out a plug was soaked in water. Heaven alone knows how the water got in there. I still maintain the panelbeaters used a high pressure cleaner on the engine.
 
M

Mike1

Guest
Nope... Dried and sprayed with Q20 and still struggling...

Spluttering and such when you accelerate hard... Ai...

The Mini dude said its something or other.. takes 10 minutes to fix and R150...

This car...:shocked:

Mike
 

Missy

New member
Jandre said:
She looks after the kids, besides a car is just a device that gets her from point A to point B. (According to her.)

She would be bored to death.

Well coming from a female,I love cars,don't know much about the machanical side,but ya,I still love it!
 
J

Jandre

Guest
Mike, I found the perfect product to fix that leaking sunroof problem you are having buddy.

duct-tape-rolls.jpg
 
M

Mike1

Guest
Hahahaha

Just ran out a full tank in the Mini... Possible done over 400km in 24 hours between hospitals, mechanics, partners and such.

Car still misses slightly at high revs and power is down a bit. The Mini dude looked at it and said "its a Mini. This shit happens".

The car is running happily though and Im loving her.

Mike
 
M

Mike1

Guest
Hey there guys

A quick update on where Tigger (The cars name) is at.

The to do list:

List of things to be done:

- Disc brake conversion (R4500 and hopefully being done soon as the brakes dont work very well)
- Adjust steering wheel (Its hugely off centre)
- New driver door lock (Current one doesnt enjoy locking)
- New switches (Current switches dont like me)
- Full detail (Cos I can)
- Refurb Rims and centre parts sprayed black
- Remove "69" stickers. Far too sexual related
- New perspex for sunroof
- Oil change
- New accelerator cable as current cable is sticky
- Purchase CD Player (Car already has 6x9's and tweeters)

So far I have managed what is in bold.

She got a full on detail last week. Had the drums repaired a month ago... Although at the photoshoot with Croy I broke them again so now they dont work again. lol

Sunroof has been completely resealed by me. No longer leaks! Whoo.

The boards in the boot have been repainted in a light silver as they were looking shocking as well as two metal panels in the interior. The silver brightens a dull dashboard up. :wave:

The heater element has been adjusted so that it now blows on the windscreen too.

All indicators etc removed and cleaned out. You could barely see the front indicators due to the lenses being so worm. Removed. Cleaner and used Autosol plastic polish to buff them up. Looking much better now. Nice and Clear.

The detail itself - Yesterday

1. No claying (Paint too new)
2. Paint Cleaner (remove minor oxidation)
3. Used Miraplate Polish (Cheap Sh*t but works like a bomb on flat paints. The best I have found).
4. 2 coats of Collonite. The car had Supernatural on it before but wow! The Colli works much better on this paint. It even makes the dew in the morning bead all over the body.
5. Coat of Optiseal on the rims to try slow down the white worm issue.
6. Plastics and tyres treated with Meguirs ultimate trim detailer. Lovely stuff this.
7. Interior leather treated with Chemical Guys Leather Treatment. Love the leather smell!
8. Chrome parts cleaned with chrome cleaner and polished with Autosol and waxed with Colli.
9. Stunning!

I love to hate this car. Driving it makes me so happy when it works. But there is a lot to do....

She broke down on me the other day. I took the back roads of Durbanville from Edgemead (Contermanskloof) and after really ragging her a bit pulled in at Bloemhof Estate for a pic... Hit a dirt road and she died... lol

2 hours later after calling the Mini guys on Voortrekker, checking plugs, leads and such I realised that a wire going to the coil was loose. Plugged it in. Used a pliar to tighten and wham... Started first time. Hahaha. Oh the stress.

Had a flat front tyre after not driving it for a week a few day ago too... No idea why... No punctures etc... Jacked the car up and took the wheel off and had it pumped.... Still rock hard? :slap:

The brakes:

The brakes are buggered. They actually need to go now. The adjusters are seized and rounded. So I cant adjust them any longer and this leaves me with 20 percent braking. Not cool... Especially in the wet when you plant the brakes expecting nothing and instead it locks up. So looking forward to getting paid again so I can do the disc brake conversion.

Speaking of rain. Loving the rain! This car can powerslide! Its front wheel drive but give it a bit of poke and the back lets loose and whoooo. Haha. Like a little boy. Fun Fun. :mmm:

Oh... and in the rain... When the lawn where the Mini parks is wet the car struggles to get up to its parking spot.... For a 1.3 there is so much torque! It wheels spins even when you gentle on grass. lol

Some new future plans:

The engine has a oil leak which is rather bad. I cant find the leak and I have done some pricing.

New engine. From Mini in the UK. R14 000 incl. fitting. hehe

Supercharger. R4000 incl. fitting.

See where this is going? :excited:

Plus minus 70 to 80kw... In a car that weighs 650kg!

So.. not a huge update... But when you have no money then its understandable. Hopefully will get things going soon.

Thanks for reading :)

Mike
 
M

Mike1

Guest
Not yet.

I have two people who are very keen. The one will get back to me by Sunday and the other is in JHB and wants to view the car at the end of June.

For R45 000 she is yours.

Time for a VR6.

Mike

For those wondering why I am selling. Its simple.

I have a very OCD personality. I notice everything that is wrong with a car or anything really and then let it bug me. In hindsight I should have realised that the Mini would drive me insane.

An example. My bf's Golf MK4. Since meeting him in Feb:

- Replaced lower front valence and installed it correctly.
- Detailed it
- Replace fuses for central locking as it often has a mind of its own
- Replaced bulbs in left rear light
- Glove compartment cover was scratched and didnt work. Replaced cover and fixed slots and glued back together
- Steamed the front seats as they had water marks
- New interior carpets as old ones were screwed
- And much much more.

And this isnt even my own car. :dunno:

The Mini drives me insane. I open the bonnet and all I want to do is go batsh*t crazy and redo the wiring and it drives me mad when something isnt right and I cant fix it. Everytime I drive the car I love it but I hate it even more then ever. Perhaps a normal person can live with small things that are not right. I cant.

Economically the Mini isnt helping either. My new job involves 90% highway driving for at least 50km per day. At 80km per hour the Mini uses up almost R60 petrol because of the RPM. Buying a VR6 is more economical then that. In town its a star but freeway's it sucks.

I love the Mini but it isnt for me. I prefer the build and style of the MK3 and in VR6 form the performance is fantastic. I have some money aside to add to the R45 000 the Mini is worth and I would rather buy a car that wont make me crazy and is easier to fix with the skills I have. Aka. Cosmetic.

Mike
 
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