Try this one...

 

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hi Hi Hi Hi HI Gem!!!

 

And goodnight girls and boys!!!!

 

Ola... I just can't answer this with a straight face! And even thinking about it has me laughing so hard, I'm crying. OMG!

<I think Cab answered the question without resorting to all sorts of immature humor! Sorry... guess I'm just immature>

 

Nite Freebies!

 

If you look at this quickly, they look like they're moving their heads in circles!

 

SOMEbody needs another cuppa joe....

 

WANT WANT WANT WANT!!!! I would have LOOVED to be there!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...niversary.html

 

That is just downright awesome......!!!

would have loved to be there also,,sigh

 

Long story, short version: it's a positive thing, even if I'll miss her...life changes and relocating for grad school if all goes well (I'll know in Jan-March 2010) ...probably sell Alex and the g/f's car, but keep Betty for obvious reasons. I would keep Alex for almost the full year next year, but I would rather put the extra money into savings (or Betty) before the move.

Aaaah good to know. Thanks for the info. Maybe I'll spend some time on that this weekend after the move -I'll finally have a garage so if it rains I can still work on the car.

 

Sorry to hear it about Alex. To where are you moving? And where are you in Michigan? Hubband has relatives up there (Livonia?) What's the study pursuit for gradschool? And don't gloat about the garage.

 

I'm thinking about starting up a thread about things you need to know before buying a Classic Mini but I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of stuff I should put into it. I know we've been discussing alot of stuff in this thread that's why I'm asking here...

 

Moving: NY, DC or stay in MI (I'm really praying for NY)
Michigan: Birmingham now, Royal Oak/Birmingham border this weekend.
Gradschool: International Affairs/Policy

 

I would say, either add on to the Minifinity post...or start a new one -but still link to the file

Additionaly, the major mechanical differences (SPI, MPI as an example) and what to expect from them. I'm sure everyone has different opinions, but I've seen some people say the _____ is harder to get replacement parts for, or the _____ is really flakey. Little notes about that would be helpful. There are a lot of different pages with a history, but I'm thinking more of a birds eye view of key differences that may matter in the long run.

Also, maybe a "rust here is a major problem" whereas "rust here is important to take care of, but not major" -I think the Minifinity guide has some comments about that.

 

Alrighty. I'll start writing down ideas and come up with a thread with them.

 

This will be a big, huge hit with many of the miniacs ...and hopefully I can use it to help me purchase my very first classic someday!

 

If I could suggest anything, I'd say, ... please start with the very begining.

* Start the thread off as if walking somebody through the search for the Mini
-- What to look for
-- What questions to ask
-- What kinds of things to do to prepare (i.e. any basic classes that can be taken while searching/saving)
-- Maybe suggestions on WHERE to look
-- PICTURES of examples!

* then move on into the initial rehab stages -- i highly suspect you'll get quite a few opinions from other rehab artists, so maybe make this some thing that can be put up/obviously open for discussion
-- What to start with
-- How to interpret what you see - does the rust in a certain location mean a bigger problem? Where should you look for the "real" problems? What if it's not what you thought you were buying? (i.e. a re-VINed car, etc.)
-- PICTURES of examples! (you don't have to TAKE all the pics - link to them! with permission of orginator, of course...)

* suggestions on where in the rehab process to take breaks - for instance, if you (YOU, MINIxB) found yourself (as a newbie) focusing and overconcentrating on one aspect of the project and lost track of the bigger picture, where was it? WHY was it? Is that a good point to have somebody else look at your project/your progress?
-- PICTURES!

* and finally, suggestions and links to good sources of info, pictures, how-to, and points of contact (good people to ask dumb questions)
--PICTURES of finished projects and triumphant owners!

......but those are just suggestions...

 

So...take alot of pictures..

 

Umm...Yeah. Pictures are GOOOD. Especially for those who don't know what the FRAK they're doing. I love how-to-pictures.

 

LOL I'll try to take alot. I'm going to be doing an oil change on her soon and i'm going to take picture on how to do that too. I know I need some help the first time I did one because I didn't know where the oil filter was at but it's actually really simple..

 

Me too.

Cab- there's a BOOK?!?!? Can I Google it? Oh wait... maybe I'm too afraid to Google THAT. I remember Googling Shih Tzu before (and just an FYI- if you don't know how to spell it... DON'T try to Google it! ). Anyway, I thought I had two ***** but I only found one. I'm thinking that one won't work as good as two? (Well, for some reason I've got a flash of bright yellow and "LIVE STRONG" in my head. ) So would one work as well as two?

 

So... MINIxB- pictures are good! I read through some of the suggestions and I think there are some things that are already done. I know I've seen some stickies where things can be printed out and taken along when looking for Classics. I also have two books which show places to look for rust, clues that something has been re-vinned and all info that pertains to years and markers for different years. These are what I have:


Lots of pics in these!

For me personally, I'd like to know more about what kind of maintenance is required to keep these things running (getting them running would be good too ). Some Classic owners talk like these cars are super complicated and a giant PITA... kind of discouraging. How in depth are you planning on getting? I'm sure you'll have criticizers... but good for you wanting to start something like this!

I would also like to know more about re-shells... how one does it and how much it costs.

 

Oh yeah! Beautiful.

 

Those two books are really good. I don't have them but I've heard they're good and I'm wanting to buy them...

As for the maintenance part I'm planning on taking pictures of how to do stuff like oil changes and things like that and tell you about some things I know about that could wear over time and brake and what you need to look out for on them... If I can work on a classic they're not that complicated of a car to work on. They're small that's what makes it hard to reach some things but they really aren't that complicated...