Evening all... having come from everything from Corvettes to H2's supercharged, I have finally decided to buy a mini.

I recently sold a supercharged V8 Miata and am currently driving a supercharged H2 and a supercharged Miata (stock motor, not a V8)

I am still working on the supercharged Miata and it's been at the dyno since Nov. I think I'm finally at the tail end of getting it back on the road. (hopefully)

Naturally I bought a supercharged Mini... Here it is. I was going to go the route of buying a new one but I'm not sure I'm patient enough to wait 2 months for a car.

Obviously since I'm not getting a new one, the JWC kit isn't happening but hopefully I'll be happy with the way this one runs.

Hope to learn from the forum and be a helpful member. I own two bodyshops, one collision and one that does restorations. Perhaps I can help answer some questions for anyone that needs it.

Mark

 

oooo LOVE the orange very cool and waiting on a new MINI has not been that bad

I say that now because i pick up my baby on wendesday

 

Congrats... I'll bet you won't be able to wipe that grin off your face. You'll be looking for any excuse to drive...

I can see it now...

"yeah, I had to go get a gallon of milk.... there wasn't any left in FL. so I had to drive to GA"...


As far as the orange, I've become hooked. I started off with an S10 I painted prowler orange... than my Softail I painted orange candy, then my H2... now the mini and tomorrow my wife is taking a Ford Edge for a test drive... yup, you guessed.... orange.

Not sure what my problem is with that color. The new mini I was going to order was silver (the one with the green tint) and a sidewalk edition (and of course, JCW) but as soon as I found out Mini used to have an orange... it kind of forced me to look at used Mini's.


Make sure you post some pics.... (if you ever stop long enough to take some)

Mark

 

Congrats and welcome to the MINI world....



Donna

 

Thanks Donna, I can't wait. I've really enjoyed the Miata, it's been a blast to drive but I've secretly kept checking out Mini's.

Ironic part is, I've been looking at them more and more and this weekend, I took my wife to Nags Head, NC for our anniv. and it was raining outside so I logged on to see what was up.

Within 5 minutes, I bought the mini that I've been looking for.

I'll post pics when I finally get the car.

Mark

 

We toyed with buying a Miata a couple of years ago, but we still came back to the MINI. I guess it was meant to be...

Love that area of NC!! When we lived back East, we went to Ocracoke Island every year on vacation - camped right there on the beach - we REALLY miss that!!! Sorry it rained though....bummer....

Donna

 

Welcome to the Hot Orange obsession. Great color choice and a nie looking car.

 

Yup, that's where we went.... took the ferry to OcraCoke and then to Manteo. Drove the Hummer all the way up the beach to almost the Virgina border.

Never been that far North on the coast.... lived in NC for 18 years and the furthest North I've been on the coast was Wilmington.

I wish I already has the Mini. Would have been a blast plus I wouldn't have had to take out a small loan to pay for gas there and back...lol.

Mark

 

Thanks Mishka, love the orange.... just hope the car is as clean as it looks.

Hope to see ya'll at the Gap or some meet somewhere....

BTW, what is MOTD? (<--- stupid newbie question) and can I get a Hot Orange badge from somewhere?

Thanks again,

Mark

 

You're bringing back LOTS of great memories.... That is probably our favorite vacation place ever....it's beautiful, warm water, neat people and not a lot of them - LOL!!!

Even when we had the MINI, we drove our Durango there so we could drive on the beach, etc. That is just TOO much fun to miss.

Howards Pub is the best!!!

Congrats on your MINI purchase. Can't wait to see the pictures.

Donna

 

That's a fun drive up the beach past Corolla to see the horses!

Our club is doing an overnighter to Ocracoke in a few weeks - have 22 cars signed up already - trying to fill the ferry with MINIs.

Congrats on your new-t0-you MINI!

 

^^^^^ Sounds like FUN!!!! What a great drive...

Donna

 

Okay, I'm game.... my wife would never go anywhere with me in the Miata, I know she'll go in the Mini. (hopefully it's more comfortable)

Is there a post or link for that drive?

Thanks,

Mark

 

MOTD = MINIs On The Dragon, a 'small' get together of MINIs at the Tail Of the Dragon the first weekend in May. We'll be there this year. For more info check here.

As for the Hot Orange Owners Badge, you can check MINIBee's Cafe Press Shop. The cabrio items are at this link: http://www.cafepress.com/minibee/5009149. If you need a grille badge holder, there was a used one for sale in the Marketplace recently. Be sure to get one for the R50/R52(Cabrio)/R53 MINIs, not the R56 MINI. EDIT: Don't see the grille badges there, but I'll keep looking.

BlimeyCabrio will be a lot of help getting you involved in the MINI community, but be careful. People around him seem to end up with a bunch of Union Jacks on their MINIs. (Yep, me included.)

 

Welcome!
Supercharged Monster Miata you say? A guy down the street from me has one of the original CA made Monsters. I thought of SC one myself but ended up puting a Turbo in it.

 

Thanks for the info, I'll be sure to check it out. As far as the gap, I'm ready for it. I've been there on Sportbikes, Harleys, Corvettes, Miatas and even drove the H2 through there...lol.

Every time I go, I see a pile of minis. Hopefully I'll get to go this year.

Mark


Yep, supercharged 306. 450rwhp with 500 ft.lbs of torque at the rear wheels. A little squirelly to say the least.

 

Nice. I'm hoping to get mine up to 250 this summer. But thats with a little 1.6

 

I've got a '95 that's been at the dyno since Nov. It just turned 206 rwhp but I still have issues....hopefully that'll be resolved this week.

The bright side about having issues with it is that's what caused me to start looking at minis.

So it makes a full circle...lol.


Mark

 

Sure! - go to www.tarheelminis.org - join if you haven't already (it's free) - then go to the Event News section and you'll see a whole sub-forum for the Ocracoke trip.

Where are you located, crush?

 

Yea, my miata issues caused me to buy a Mini too. Full race harness, cage, FM stage 2.5 suspension. It was a little too much for every day. Now I think it has the short nose problem

 

Thanks for the link. Yeah, if ya'll don't mind, I'd love to attend. My bodyshop is in Indian Trail, just outside of Matthews and I live in Mint Hill...

Mark