So, Today This Happened.....

Discussion in 'Classic Mini' started by Minidave, Aug 19, 2016.

  1. Qik

    Qik Well-Known Member

    Oct 27, 2015
    1,421
    670
    113
    IT
    Atlanta-ish
    Ratings:
    +811 / 0 / -0
    That's sweet! and my favorite color. What's it feel like to drive a classic? How do they compare to the first couple gens?
     
  2. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
    Supporting Member

    May 4, 2009
    8,767
    2,547
    113
    Bend, OR USA
    Ratings:
    +2,678 / 1 / -0
  3. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,639
    4,591
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,183 / 1 / -0
    How do they feel? Coarse, noisy, rattly, buzzy, harsh, loud, wind roar-y (no A/C) leaky, cheap, lousy seats, terrible in other words - and yet more fun than you can believe! :biggrin5:

    But any modern Mini feels like a Cadillac in comparison.......
     
  4. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,639
    4,591
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,183 / 1 / -0
    So I drove the Racing Green Mini home today from Lawrence via Baldwin city and a bunch of back roads, about 60-70 miles and I'm happy to say it ran fine - it got a little warmer than I'd like to see when I pushed the speed a bit but slowing down let it drop back to normal. I have a new aluminum radiator that I think will cure that.

    I do wish it had a taller final drive, or a 5 speed but it'll do, I'm not planning to change it.

    The Play Mini exhaust really barks and pops on the overrun, but overall sounds great - fun stuff!

    I only have a very few things I'm planning to do, like add a 12V port for my Garmin and maybe some coil-overs to improve the ride but other than that I'm just gonna drive it.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  5. old81

    old81 Club Coordinator
    Lifetime Supporter

    May 4, 2009
    3,217
    1,542
    113
    Used to work making computers run fast!
    Louisville, Colorado
    Ratings:
    +1,731 / 5 / -0
    Wish we had a LOVE button, sweet pictures, enjoy and do not fiddle to much with it. :)

    Don
     
  6. JackMac

    JackMac Well-Known Member

    Jan 1, 2010
    399
    251
    63
    PA
    Ratings:
    +256 / 0 / -0
    Awesome find! So clean....
     
  7. 00Mini

    00Mini Well-Known Member

    Feb 24, 2013
    23,030
    2,227
    113
    Retired
    Ratings:
    +3,275 / 7 / -5
    I look forward to your mods and repairs on the new ride as I did when you owned Buzz.
     
  8. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,639
    4,591
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,183 / 1 / -0
    Tanks! Should be a fun car, it will almost be my daily driver......
     
  9. M1N1

    M1N1 Well-Known Member

    Jan 5, 2014
    726
    329
    63
    Tool and Die Maker
    NW Ohio
    Ratings:
    +330 / 0 / -0
    D-Type sold for $21.8 million.

    http://money.cnn.com/2016/08/20/luxury/shelby-cobra-jaguar-dtype-record-auction-sale/index.html
     
  10. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
    Supporting Member

    May 4, 2009
    8,767
    2,547
    113
    Bend, OR USA
    Ratings:
    +2,678 / 1 / -0
    Great find........but what is with those HUGE taillight assemblies!!!!! WOW
     
  11. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,639
    4,591
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,183 / 1 / -0
    Yes a previous owner went to considerable expense to fit those front and rear, I'm not too sure how I feel about them......

    I wonder if this is a Canadian market car...KM speedo, left drive and daylight running lights......
     
  12. Red Bull

    Red Bull Active Member

    Aug 9, 2014
    525
    208
    43
    Ratings:
    +229 / 0 / -0
    It's a classic Mini F56... :wink:
     
  13. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

    Nov 7, 2012
    2,433
    879
    113
    Automotive Photographer
    Dallas
    Ratings:
    +1,059 / 1 / -0
    Are those real Minilite wheels? Can't tell for sure from the photos.

    CD
     
  14. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

    Nov 7, 2012
    2,433
    879
    113
    Automotive Photographer
    Dallas
    Ratings:
    +1,059 / 1 / -0
    Wow, that is huge for a Jag -- or any British car. 21.8 was the final price with fees, so the hammer price must have been below 20-million, but still way more than any Jag has sold for before. I believe that probably exceeds rare Aston Martin prices.

    That should give E-Types a bit of a bump in value, at least for a couple of years.

    CD
     
  15. caseydog

    caseydog Well-Known Member

    Nov 7, 2012
    2,433
    879
    113
    Automotive Photographer
    Dallas
    Ratings:
    +1,059 / 1 / -0
    BTW, about ten years ago, I shot a C-Type for a magazine, and it ended up on the cover. A few months later, I was in the sponsor's suite at a Concours, and Sir Sterling and Lady Susie Moss popped in for some coffee. i got to sit and chat with them over coffee for a while, and happened to have a copy of the magazine with me. Sir Stirling autographed the cover for me. It is framed in my office.

    CD
     
  16. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 18, 2010
    7,820
    3,327
    113
    Retired CAL FIRE Battalion Chief
    The Great Irrigated Desert of Central CA
    Ratings:
    +3,328 / 0 / -0
    Nice Sportspack Dave.
     
  17. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,639
    4,591
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,183 / 1 / -0
    Well, sorta.....it does have 13" Rover wheels, but those sure aren't sportspack arches - I haven't figured out whose arches they are exactly, but I like them OK.

    And thanks, wish I'd had it a few months ago when I went to MMW, but I'll have it for the next one I go to.
     
  18. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,639
    4,591
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,183 / 1 / -0
    Sorry, I missed your question earlier, no those are Rover 13" wheels - I think. Either that or copies like those JBW sells......I have a set of those also.

    I'll be taking it up to school to put it on the rack and do a few things - it needs the wheels balanced for sure, then I need to do a general inspection and see what all it needs before I take it out of town on our first classic Mini run in October.

    I'm thinking seriously of pulling the engine and changing the final drive - that was one of the things I did on Buzz that really made the car more drivable for long distance runs. I'll go 3:1 instead of 2:76 this time, that was just a tiny bit too tall.
     
  19. Firebro17

    Firebro17 Dazed, but not Confused
    Lifetime Supporter

    Sep 18, 2010
    7,820
    3,327
    113
    Retired CAL FIRE Battalion Chief
    The Great Irrigated Desert of Central CA
    Ratings:
    +3,328 / 0 / -0
    Hmm. Looked Sportspack to me. But, I'm wrong again I see.....
     
  20. Minidave

    Minidave Well-Known Member
    Lifetime Supporter

    Dec 22, 2009
    5,639
    4,591
    113
    Male
    Overland Park, Ks
    Ratings:
    +5,183 / 1 / -0
    #40 Minidave, Aug 29, 2016
    Last edited: Aug 29, 2016
    How I tell - Sportspack arches have little indentations at the top of the arch for the side marker light, and also pockets on the front for the bumper ends to fit into - these have neither.

    [​IMG]

    Yesterday I took the car up to school and I'm happy to say I found no rust in the bottom of the car, sills, floors, boot etc are all solid.

    I did find a leaking shift rod seal as expected but I also found evidence of some new parts - a new steering rack, outer CVs and tie rod ends. All good stuff, that.

    While I had it on the rack I went ahead and balanced the front wheels, it had an irregular but strong shimmy in the front end and balancing the fronts only seemed to take care of 95% of it. I may take another run at them and see if I can smooth them out even further, but I'm pleased that's all it was.

    Now I'm ready to send an order off for some fun parts for the suspension, and get a few things done to make it mine.

    I've decided to change the diff ratio over the winter from the 3.44:1 to a 3.01:1, that should drop hiway revs about 800, so 70mph will be more like 3700 than the current 4500.

    I also did a little sleuthing on the vin - turns out the car was a 998 originally. Who knows what else was changed? I wonder if it might have been RHD after all and somebody swapped it over?

    Edit: more research indicates it was LHD from the factory. based on the vin

    A friend swapped his 3 clock dash over to a center binnacle and gave me his three clock instrument pod, which had a "miles' speedo with almost exactly the same mileage as this one, but with magnolia faces on the instruments. I'll be putting those in as soon as I figure out how to reach the wing nuts that hold the wood dash in place! Then I won't have to do math every time I look at the speedo to figure out how fast I'm going! :biggrin5:

    More as it happens.....
     

Share This Page