I was thinking about hitting Harbor Freight to see if I could save a few bucks for tools. But I also think I have one of the sockets out at Dads house.
A week or so ago I noticed my antenna was missing. Here I was blaming hooligans for stealing it. Alas, it was found this morning after snow melted. How it got under that pile of snow I'll never know. Now back on the MINI catching far flung radio stations I don't listen to.
Took a drive out & about in a thunderstorm this morning. February 20th & it's pouring rain, with lighting & thunder. Old Mother Nature sure has a sense of humor. The Blu one is much cleaner than it was. More rain & thunder later. Much better than snow.....
We had a good thunderstorm yesterday morning and in one area the thunder was so loud it broke windows in some houses. :crazy:
I, and I'm probably one a very few, am slightly miffed that we had rain today and not more snow. It's a good thing there is not an Unlike button.
Spent the morning running my R53 all over the City's street and freeway system, chasing parts for the last minute finishing touches to my Son's Trophy Truck... Headed to his first sanctioned race in Primm Nevada as we speak. Good Luck and Be Safe little buddy!!!
Took Merlin to MINI of Pittsburgh for his 24 month check-up: oil service, cabin filter, brake system flush, new wiper blades, and a replacement for a leaking back-up light assembly.
7's have it.... Went out for a drive this evening and conveniently turned 7's at a place where I could stop and safely take a photo.
I know better, never won more than a buck or 2 on a lottery ticket. I'm just lucky I have a "job" I enjoy so much when so many others toil away.
Worked on my mini for the first time My 2008 Clubman S has, frankly, been a nightmare... I'm sure many of you will identify. With my warranty and extended service expired, I have decided to start doing my own work. I consider myself mechanically inclined and a person with a fair amount of technical skill but working on this car is like a scene from the movie "Brazil." All tubes and wires that you are constantly moving out of the way in a space too small to work in. I started by replacing the courtesy lights in the hatch doors as a confidence builder. As many of you must know, the door panels just spontaneously pop off... and the courtesy lights come dislodged as well... without provocation. Because they are on the underside of the doors, they go unnoticed when they do and get crushed between the door and the door seal, ruining both. Frankly, I have been driving with the rear door panels off for about a year now as they are such an enormous pain in the butt. The door panels are now reattached with lights working for the next three months till they pop off again. Then the oil filter was next, pretty straightforward once I got the low riding mini up on the jack stands. Easy drain, easy filter replacement... no worries. Then, the big job... I had a cracked thermostat housing - another well known source of commiseration among us, I'm sure. The Bentley description and online walkthroughs were pretty straightforward so, I set about to do it... Nobody describes the huge hassle it is to get the wiring and vacuum lines out of the way and to get the coolant lines and clamps removed in that tight space.... Also, trying to pull the old thermostat housing out of the cooling pipe that leads to the water pump was so difficult, it led to the pipe pulling out of the opposite end - at the water pump - and coming off with the thermostat housing. So then I had to go purchase the water pipe (which broke in its accidental removal) for the SAME COST as the thermostat housing. I just gave up for the day. Today, I am dreading heading out under the hood because I have to figure out how to get the coolant pipe reinserted into the water pump and hen install the new thermostat housing. The latter should be relatively straightforward. Keep your (probably, like mine, heavily lacerated and contused) fingers crossed for me.
^^^^ good luck on today repairs. Today I pulled my MINI out of the garage let it warm up to temp in the morning sun. I wiped it down with some detail spray and changed the in cabin air filter. After an hour I backed her into the garage, hooked up the battery tender and covered her back up.
Just took the M1N1 to the local car wash to spray the salt off. As I was waiting to pull out of the lot, a White Fiat 500 pulled out of the DQ next door. As he went by, the driver stared at the Chili Red Coop. I looked at him, smiled, and shook my head!