Hello from new member near Ottawa Ontario
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: Kemptville Ontario
Hello from new member near Ottawa Ontario
Hello guys and gals,
Just picked up a 2004 mini (private sale) last weekend and it seems natural that I should joing the group to share my experiences and gain the collective knowlege of the members here. While I claim that I picked up a mini I should clarify that statement as the car will be my wife's. She may let me play with it from time to time and she will expect me to maintain it but there is no question that it is hers. The car wasn't pretty when we went to see it as you can see in the picture below. However, it had relatively low miles and was well optioned out for a basic mini. The best part was that everything was working! The key options for my wife were the sunroof, AC, Heated Seats, Cruise, Two tone leather and the Green paint. It had an engine check light on for a O2 sensor that will be here by the weekend and it needed tires and brakes. All things I can manage easily.
After getting the car home we gave it a much needed spa day which revealed a pretty decent car hidding under the dirt! I yanked the seats and we shampooed the carpets which cleaned up nicely as well. I installed a set of 19 inch Konig rims that I found on Craigslist and the results were astonishing!
Nice eh! Well it is nice and it drives like a slot car but the rims are too big IMHO so we are going to sell them to get a set of 17s which should offer better DD properties.
So that is the short and really dirty story. I'm looking forward to chatting with the members here!
Just picked up a 2004 mini (private sale) last weekend and it seems natural that I should joing the group to share my experiences and gain the collective knowlege of the members here. While I claim that I picked up a mini I should clarify that statement as the car will be my wife's. She may let me play with it from time to time and she will expect me to maintain it but there is no question that it is hers. The car wasn't pretty when we went to see it as you can see in the picture below. However, it had relatively low miles and was well optioned out for a basic mini. The best part was that everything was working! The key options for my wife were the sunroof, AC, Heated Seats, Cruise, Two tone leather and the Green paint. It had an engine check light on for a O2 sensor that will be here by the weekend and it needed tires and brakes. All things I can manage easily.
After getting the car home we gave it a much needed spa day which revealed a pretty decent car hidding under the dirt! I yanked the seats and we shampooed the carpets which cleaned up nicely as well. I installed a set of 19 inch Konig rims that I found on Craigslist and the results were astonishing!
Nice eh! Well it is nice and it drives like a slot car but the rims are too big IMHO so we are going to sell them to get a set of 17s which should offer better DD properties.
So that is the short and really dirty story. I'm looking forward to chatting with the members here!
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 10
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From: Kemptville Ontario
Well I'm still in first gear here so I figured that I would do a little update on our 04 MC. It's been a busy week getting the little beast ready for the road. We have requirements for e-testing and safety checks when transfering ownership of a vehicle up here in Canada so I had some work to do. I decided to start fresh so it got all new rotors and brake pads front and rear to make sure my little lady could stop on a dime and to eliminate the slight brake pulsing she was experiencing when we bought the car. The muffler was dangling due to a broken strap which I see all the time up here is salt city so it had to be replaced. The #2 oxygen sensor was toast, so I installed a new Bosch unit and cleared the codes. The high mounted brake light wasn't functioning so a new $150 LED assy was procured and installed. I like LED but the cost of these things is a bit on the crazy side! We also had the typical sunroof leak that turned out to be a disconnected hose on the right front corner. Makes you wonder how that **** can happen, doesn't it. Anyway, there were some leaves in the vent blower so I pulled the filter, which was plugged with crap and reached in to clear the fan. So with all that and some new rubber on the rear, she passed safety and is now on the road with all systems go! The true measure of success is the smile on my wife's face as she arrives in the driveway. My two daughters are liking it too so I'm thinking it will be with us for a while.
Oh after all that it was time to polish off the years of abuse it had suffered so out came the buffing wheel and compound. The seats came out and the carpets were shampooed and even the headliner got cleaned so now she looks almost new!
Long story with happy ending!
Oh after all that it was time to polish off the years of abuse it had suffered so out came the buffing wheel and compound. The seats came out and the carpets were shampooed and even the headliner got cleaned so now she looks almost new!
Long story with happy ending!
Last edited by Jethro911; Jun 19, 2013 at 05:52 AM.
Thread Starter
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Neutral
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 10
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From: Kemptville Ontario
Well, they were a bit over the top and rubbed if we had the car loaded up and hit a bump. Going to sell them and look for a set of 17s that don't limit the functionality of the car. The 19s sure look sweet though.
