Stouter stuff? I doubt it! Although they are embossed with a rib down the middle of the flange. I always bang them flat again before I put them on, where the bolt holes are frequently gets bent from over-tightening......and I had done so on this one before I painted it.
I'm beginning to think the Mini gods don't want me to go to this event. today I went to start the car and drive over to Don's to help him with the tune on his MG that he had rebuilt (a whole nother story in itself) and ......nothing. The starter wouldn't do anything - so I got out my test light and sure enough, no juice getting thru the wire to the starter. So tomorrow I get to trouble shoot that issue - either a bad ignition switch or a bad wire from the switch, but I'm betting on the bad switch. Remember when I was driving it the other day and it just shut off for no reason, then started right back up again? I've had that happen before and I know it's an electrical issue, not fuel. So, if it's the wire that's an easy fix, a new wire. If it's the switch, I hope someone has one and can get it to me in time, we're supposed to leave next Tuesday. Edit: Mini Mania and 7 Ent both show it in stock, but so much for getting break in miles driven before the trip
Hot wire the ignition, so you can get some miles on it before the trip.... Like they do it in the movies...
OK, found the issue - apparently dirty contacts where the starter relay plugs into the receptacle. contact cleaner and she works fine now
OK, so I'm back on the road again..... Turns out these late model cars have a starter relay hidden up on the firewall, just your basic 4 pin relay. I took it out and cleaned the contacts and bang! she works fine again! Took it for a short drive around town to verify everything was still working correctly and tomorrow morning I have an appointment with the alignment shop. Then since it will be pretty warm tomorrow (way upper 70's) we'll take both Minis for a run of a hundred miles or so. If that all goes well we should be ready to leave next Tues. It's about 900 miles one way so we both want to have a lot of confidence in our cars before we hit the road.
The alignment shop did a great job, and got it set perfectly.....it drives much better now. I had never seen one done quite like this - this shop specializes in racecars - Mustangs, Corvettes and the like - so I can see how doing it on stands like this would be better and easier than on a ramp lift.
The car drove really well on today's test run after the alignment....still some minor things to do, rattles and buzzes to try and see if I can eliminate, but overall it ran well. Temps were only about mid 70's but as usual it ran right in the center of the gauge, and oil pressure only got down to 40psi at idle when I came off the highway after a 60+ mile run, with any revs at all it went to 60 psi immediately. So, from that perspective it's ready to roll.....just need to do some fine tuning. No leaks of any kind - oil, water or exhaust!
Gotta be a relief that all the major stuff has finally been taken care and you now can tend to minor items.
Will I took the wife's car in for service today (78k). On her car that's a big service. Oh well what the hell it's only money. When there done with that it go's to the detailer for a ceramic coat and an interior detail.
Today was a good driving day for me and Don in his Pup. The Pup ran flawlessly, no overheating, no drinking water, just cruised..... We timed it perfectly - there was a massive storm rolling thru KC and another one from St. Louis on....both storms were moving north east and we were going south east, so we were in between storms and had mostly clear skies the whole way. Tomorrow morning promises to be a different story as the rain is supposed to start around 7 and last thru the morning....however, as we're heading east then due south I think we will eventually run out from under it......we'll see. My car also ran fine, no issues at all.
We've had generally good luck on our drive so far, Don managed to get us timed right between the heavy rainstorms that were moving thru the areas we drove thru....the worst we got a light sprinkle this morning as we left Louisville. No problems, nothing broken....so far so good. The organizers say 45 cars have checked in so far....so, a good sized group given the Covid/vax issues. I noticed the runs are the same as the ones we did last time, so good roads, We're just hopeful for good weather, but there's a chance of snow on Sat!
Brad (standing beside his red/orange Mini) had an "interesting" time on his drive up from Atlanta. This was his first time using a tow dolly, he was only about 10 miles from home when people were honking and flashing headlights at him - turns out he had forgotten to release the handbrake on the Mini and one tire was absolutely shredded! So he put the spare on and went back home to change to another set of wheels/tires and set out again. A couple hours later he noticed one of his lights had come off the fender of the tow dolly and was hanging by the wires! So he took it off and did the rest of the trip without them! Now he's on a quest for a HF or Tractor Supply to get another set of lights he can put in the rear window of the car. Our drive this morning varied from wet to very wet, so we moderated our pace somewhat. This afternoon it's sunny and warm, but we don't have any more drives today. Tomorrow's drive looks like it will also be wet, then turning to snow tomorrow evening! Should be interesting.....I did some in car video, but between the noise my car makes and the wipers going back and forth, it's not much fun to watch. Pic is from our mid day stop - way more cars are here, they just parked somewhere else as this was our lunch break.