Hi All, I really enjoy driving minis and thought it would be good for my son and I to work on trying to get a car up and running. I added a couple of pictures of two cars I bought to my album. The wrecked car I bought mostly for the interior seats and a few other parts. I figure it would also be a good experience for both of us to take it apart and see how it all goes together. The other car starts and runs good but is having some issues. I will try to post about them in the correct area on the forum. Worst case scenario they sit in the garage for a few years, my wife gets really aggravated and then we donate them to some charity and the tow them away. The hope is to get the bugs worked out and figure out how a car works at the same time. Both cars are manual s a 2003 and 2004. Looking forward to getting to know other members and to learn as much as we can.

 

Best of luck with this endeavor. I have fond memories of working on cars with my dad. This forum has a wealth of knowledge and helpful folks. It is refreshing to hear that there might still be a spark of life in car culture.

If the registration plate/tag is accurate and you are in California, you already have a great advantage my father and I didn't have... rust free cars. As an east coast member, I can explain it (rust, you may have only heard about it in horror stories) easily as the force of nature that tries to return your project back to mother earth every time you think you are making progress. My dad's automotive goal was to someday get a California car.

Rob

 

Congrats on acquiring both cars and wanting to learn about them with your son. I am a gen 1 Miniac and had I been when my kids were growing I would have done, what you are attempting now. What is important is not getting frustrated and give up, as this will be a negative lesson to your son and you both. There is a lot of help here and many people to call on, if you get stuck with a tough problem.
Learning to overcome problems, will enrich you and your sons knowledge base and give you both a strong feeling of satisfaction.
Make sure to document with photos and writing, in the gen 1 area. Then, you can print it out and save it as a remembrance for the future.
When I was nine, we built this little car and to this day, it is one of my fondest remembrances!

Built with dad at nine. I was 11 here and had grown and had to start modifying to fit, after growing about a foot! 49 Crosley with wheel barrow tires, diamond plate from a wrecked fire truck. I was in my glory!

 

Great, love teaching young people how to work on cars as I feel it will be valuable to them so much in the long term. Plus if they put the hard work into their car they will appreciate and take care of it.