Most liked posts in thread: Classic Mini Fun Run #4 - Redux

Well, alls well that ends well, and in the Mini community the one thing you can count on is plenty of support.

And that's what I got today.....the first thing we found was that the clevis pin had come out of the clutch linkage on the pedal end. The pin was on the floorboard but no cotter pin, but of course everyone carries cotter pins. It was a challenge to get the pin back in but Don laid upside down and managed to get it in again. That done I still had no clutch, nothing was leaking fluid and bleeding it repeatedly did nothing to improve things.

I was trying to figure out where I was going to get a clutch slave cylinder in Eureka Springs when Dean rummaged around in his boot and walked over and handed me a spare, brand new still in the box. 1 hour later the clutch was bled and sweet!

The Alternator turned out to be a loose belt, that only took 10 min to fix and now I'm good to go again!

It's also supposed to stop raining this afternoon, so we may just go find a pub and spend the rest of the day hanging out in E Springs, then hit the roads tomorrow.

We're having fun now that the rain has stopped!

 

Well, we all made it to Eureka Springs, some of us in better shape than others......

Bruce and Dean ran in rain all the way, Bruce had trouble with wet ignition parts, running on 3 cylinders for a ways, and part way along Dean's electric fuel pump gave out. It was fortunate that Bruce was along so he could run them up to a nearby O-Reily's to get a new one. They found shelter in a car wash - no one will be using a car wash when it's pelting down rain! - and got the new pump installed and on they went.

We ran into similar problems, but first only about thirty miles from KC we were stopped dead on the highway by an accident, a woman towing a trailer had flipped and the truck and trailer were sitting backwards, crosswise, upside down and blocking both lanes...... that took us close to an hour to clear. Once back up to speed it was clear sailing till we got to Joplin and we ran into the same rainstorm that Dean and Bruce had been fighting. Truckwash rolling up thru the grill finally shut John down to 3 cylinders or less for a while, but it cleared up eventually and we were back up to speed. Don saw water dribbling in the corners of his windshield, and found wet floormats when we got to the hotel

Then about 50 miles out and running down a delightful twisty road - my clutch gave up. I had put a new master cylinder in before we left, but the pedal just went to the floor. If I pumped it hard enough long enough I could get it to release just enough to start the car in first gear and get going, then shift by matching revs, I drove the last 15 miles or so in third gear so I'd have enough revs to make it out of the slow uphill turns.

It's still raining, tho it's supposed to stop tomorrow morning and for the rest of the weekend the weather looks gorgeous. I also think my alternator may have packed it in too, it squeals like mad when I start the car, and when I had the lights on it was showing a fair discharge. There are auto parts stores here in town, so I'll pull the alt and have them check it, and I'll pull the slave cylinder and see if I can find a cup that will fit it. If I'm lucky I should be ready to go Sat afternoon or for Sunday's rides.

If I'm not lucky, Rose will be heading south on Sunday with the Audi and the new towbar I built to get me.

More as it happens.

 

Yesterday it was Don Ruder's turn, as his starter locked up...we managed to get it out of the car and found a loose bendix drive, a few swats with a hammer and cold chisel swedged it back in place and the rest of the day it was perfect and clear sailing. Since we were about an hour an a half late hitting the road we shortened the route a bit, and it's a good thing we did since we didn't make it back to the hotel till almost 7 pm.

But the roads were clear and fun, the weather was perfect and we had fun all day long!

John had to return a day early, and Ruder left today so the remaining few took one last run down to the War Eagle river mill where we had lunch, then Dean and Sharon headed home to their place and the remaining four had dinner at a new, local ale house and told war stories till late.

Tomorrow we'll have breakfast and Dean and Bruce will head west and south respectively and Don and I north to KC. All in all, a great time was had by all, and fixing Minis in the parking lot of the hotel only really adds to the fun of the weekend.

Thanks to all who came, we'll do it again, I promise!

 

2 more cars/people have joined us, one from Fla and one from Arkansas via Texas!

Shaping up to live up to it's name - Fun!

 

Firebro, there is something more fun abut running a classic with a bunch of other classics - we'd love to have you but it's a haul from Ca to Arkansas!

Bruce, the car looks great, can't wait to see it in person in a couple of weeks! Nice clean shop too, that's the way you like a shop to be kept.

 

Over the weekend Don was having issues off and on with the P'up, it would cut out on hard acceleration and stall sometimes. When we got home he put his borescope down into the tank and the bottom was littered with crap, including bits of the sealcoat that had been done long ago and was failing.

We pulled the tank and took it to the local radiator shop, once they saw the seal coat inside it they upped their estimate considerably which sent Don back to the interwebz to look up the cost of a new tank, and wound up buying a new SS tank from 7 Enterprises. The tank came in yesterday and today he got it mounted in the car and says it's like a whole new car now, it has way more power and runs like a raped ape!

Not to mention, a SS tank will never rot and need coating in the first place. He also said the pump is now so quiet he can't hear it....clearly that was the issue.

oooooooohhhhhh.....shiny!

 

We'd love to have you along Matt!

We do a number of runs over the weekend, the longest is just a couple of hours, then we stop and go see a site or just to stretch our legs, then head out on the next run, winding up back in Eureka Springs for dinner and after hours carousing if you want. It's all low key fun, but we do drive in a spirited manner - but since most of the roads are 65 mph we can have fun without exceeding the limits.

Looks like roughly 10.5 hours for you from Columbus to Eureka Springs according to Google, but it's all interstate highway till you get south of Springfield, Mo when you hit the twisties and the fun roads begin!

It's a bit of a drive for you, but we've had guys come from Louisville, Dallas, OKC and other places too......

If Fiona's not broken in, she will be by the end of this trip!

These cars are meant to be driven, not parked in the garage - that's my philosophy.

 

All righty then, the group is starting to shape up....if everyone makes it we'll have cars from Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Kentucky and Ohio - should be a fun group and some great drives!

Tentatively:

Dimini - Red P'up
MiniDave - Champagne Clubman Estate
MiniManiac - Blue Cooper
Moxie - White Cooper
BruceK -White Cooper
ImagoX - Red Cooper
DWilhite - Red cooper S
DRuder - Black Cooper S
JohnK - Blue Cooper
John S - Green Cooper S

 

Yes, I'm afraid so.....:blush2:

 

Our Fun Run is shaping up nicely, we have 8 cars firmly committed to the trip and we generally try to limit it to 10 as an easy to manage number, but all are welcome!

Matt, how is Fiona running these days? Will she be ready to hit the highway in March?

I'm seriously looking at building a towbar for some of these long haul runs like Mini 56 or MITM tis summer in Aspen. I'll post up pics if I do it, and it works like I think it will.

 

The host hotel is the Best Western Eureka Springs - 800-814-8307

Eureka Springs AR Hotel - Best Western Inn of the Ozarks

This is where we'll be staying in Eureka Springs......a couple people have already called and been quoted $87/night, which is quite a bit lower than the "group rate" I got in November

 

Plans are firming up.

Right now we have 4 cars coming down from KC on Friday March 13 - Me, Don, Seth and John S - and we're planning to be at the hotel no later than 5-ish to avoid night driving and to get checked in before dinner, then we're planning to find a restaurant and eat, trade stories and just have a nice evening out.

John P and his wife Johnna are coming down Sat am and since we'll all have cell phones, they'll try and meet up with us for an afternoon drive Sat or just hang out in Eureka and go on the next two day's drives.

Don R's plans are a little in the air, but right now he's planning to be there Friday afternoon too.

Bruce and Dean are planning to arrive from Texas and Oklahoma on Fri as well.

Two people have not been heard from lately and are questionable.

Sat am the plan is to meet for breakfast where I'll pass out copies of all the routes we've pre-planned . At that point people can choose any route they want and either go in small groups or all go together on one route, or just go drive where ever they want. I've purposely left things pretty loose so folks don't feel like they're bound to a rigid schedule. The plan is just for a bunch of Mini friends to go run around the country in their cars and have fun, nothing else.

Don I is bringing his latest Quad rotor to get some aerial shots if we find a good scenic place to pause too.

I would love to find a spot where we could hold some impromptu drag races, but that may not happen. :arf:

 

All righty then, final prep is being done....

Bruce had a bit of a scare when he found his clutch slave cylinder leaking but has one coming overnight from 7 Enterprises.

I also had a blood pressure raising moment when I thought I heard metal on metal when I hit the brakes on the way home last night, but I pulled the drums and I guess it was just brake dust accumulation as the shoes are fine and the front pads are almost new.

About all I have left to do is some piddle and to give Buzz a good bath and polish before we go - and fill his tank.

I hope I'll have pics to post from the road Friday evening and over the weekend.

Watch this space!