Most liked posts in thread: What did you do with your MINI today?

Having grown up on the Gulf Coast, and having multiple friends who lost homes when Hurricane Ike wiped Bolivar Peninsula nearly off the map, a lot of the building techniques that this "Hurricane Proof" house uses are now code on Bolivar Peninsula. BTW, Hurricane "resistant" is a more accurate term.

My best friend's house survived Ike structurally, and is still standing today photo below). The piers are wood, and when Ike destroyed Bolivar Peninsula, there were a whole lot of wooden piers still standing, as if nothing happened. But, the storm surge lifted the houses off the piers, and they washed away and disintegrated. My best friend and his FIL built his house, and used a lot of techniques that are now code.



Homes built on Bolivar Peninsula today are tied to their piers with steel straps and long threaded steel rods that go all the way to the rooftops.

I would expect the same code changes to happen after Michael, although we are talking about Florida.

Sorry for going way off topic, but I thought folks would might be interested to know how building on the coasts is finally changing.

CD

 

Today I got a new Bosch power-steering pump delivered by the Big Brown truck.

 

Replaced both cowl pieces and the strip at the bottom of the windshield.
All the rubber weatherstripping had either worn off or was pulled off from the
intersection of the cowl and the windshield,and both the battery lid and the
brake fluid lid were broken and held on with tape.
Hardest part was getting the strip seated - really hard and akward to push into place.

 

I use PIAA SILICON ONES.

 

I replace mine every 7 years, or when they
start to beep despite a fresh tested battery.
Have 3 (one dual, one photoelectric, and
one ionization type), and 3 CO monitors for a
two story house plus basement and attic.
One of each on each Level except nothing in the attic.

Got new winter tires and got them mounted
replacing the all seasons originally on the MINI and
put the winter tires on my wife’s car too.
Now have to finish cleaning off the 8 summer
tires and stack them up in the basement
for the winter.

 

I bet he car just needs to warm up a little longer in the colder temps but of need a belt tensioner buy it on Amazon for $80.00 US or lower. I change mine every two years because I am OCD about maintenance.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MRXPA9C/?coliid=IRER16CMWCW0R&colid=318T4VMKBFPZR&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

 

Took my car to my buddies shop today to have PA state inspection done today.

Car passed without any issues for a total of $53.00. ($25.00 per sticker)

My car is exempt for emissions since I drive less than 5,000 miles a year. Last year I drove only 3,285 miles.


Thursday I am taking the day off so I can go to Helix and have my Power steering pump replaced.. I picked up a new one from FCP Euro for $380.00 + 100.00 core fee.

They are 100,000 times better than ECS Tuning and have 100% warranty’s and ship very fast. The even cover oil and brake pads.

 

I am just getting to 30,000 miles and am debating whether or not to have my auto trans fluid changed. It's supposed to be lifetime fluid but it is not. My problem is finding someone local that I trust to do it. Maybe I'll just drive to Detroit...

 

As for today, I drove my car in the rain... for the umpteenth time this month. It is supposed to be sunny on Friday, so I have my appointment booked for a State Inspection.

I'm glad I have an appointment, and a loaner car lined up. Next week is going to be hell for people doing drive-ups for State Inspections. It's going to be worse than the DMV.

CD

 

Not today, but Tuesday. New winter shoes & wheels for Babs little Skooby, Michelin IceX 3. The TPMS sensors gave the guys at Discount Tire fits. Two of the darned things kept leaking. They gave up & stuck in two new sensors & gave them to me at NC. They are a great place to buy tires.

Please excuse this filthy MINI.

 

It would appear my Continental DWS 06s on the 2011 are at 4/32, so time for a set of new tires. Nice thing, Discount Tire is getting me a set of the Vredsteins in 215/55/17 for the 2011 and allowing me $160 discount on the set due to the tires are only 3 years old and have about 31K on them, I find it interesting they allowed the discount on another brand of tire. OK by me. Discount is getting this set from the local Discount Tire warehouse, getting a little better price than I can and passing it along to me. Sigh!

Now to get the check eng. phantom fixed, it is off right now, but it is associated with the vanos exhaust sensor which appears to be intermittent. I find it funny, the 11 is getting it's best mileage ever with this flag and normally gets 24 to 26 in the city, but is now averaging over 30 city. Wonder, should I get it fixed or ignore.

Don

 

Wow Dave the paint looks like you could dive into it. Liquid for sure. Oh nice lights too.

 

MINIs of Portland gives me a discount, so when I am visiting Oregon, I usually drop by with a shopping list of parts.

 

I'm REALLY pissed. I ordered a pedal kit from Rennline and got it today. According to the pictures on Rennline's website, what I ordered was a gas pedal with a red extension that would work with the way I drive. I received a pedal with no red extension. I called Rennline and was told that the red extension was an extra...just read the small print at the bottom of the page. I am deciding whether to just return the lot as $245.00 is a lot to spend on 'looks'. Granted I am a 'cruiser' and show my car at local events and this would look great, but.... GRRRRRR If I return them, I will go on every list I can find and bad mouth them.

 

That's nice Dave, but I like your MINI more.

 

The hand crank is likely just for looks, now. This car still does vintage racing, and I am sure they use a machine to start it.

The wheels are classic, original Bugatti. A variety of wheels were used by different builders back in that day.

CD

 

Coding. I did mine with the Carly for BMW app.

 

24 hours ago, I knew nothing about bees. Now, I know more than I ever wanted to know. Well, sort of -- I'm still a bit fuzzy on the details, but have the general idea.

The best case scenario was a swarm doing "scouting" for a new place to live. Worst case was a full nest of honeycombs inside the walls of my house. My case turned out to be an active nest, with beeswax and honey, but in a soffit. So, the beekeeper was able kill them without doing any damage to the house -- two holes drilled into the soffit. BTW, if they find wax and honey, they know the queen is there. They kill the queen, the rest of the bees die.

Now I can focus on more important things, like getting my MINI fixed and washed!

CD

 

Took apart and replaced the cv axle boots and bearings on the cv axles

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk