[EDIT]; holy crap, I got the 3000th reply!! :smile: )

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Wisdom is not a function of age, but a function of experience.
*The April Club *

 

Great to hear from your Jeremypro. Phoenix will be worth the wait.

I got a mug from MINI USA today. I wish is wasn't orange and stainless.

It was 103 today. I noticed my roof had a small dimple in it. about 4 inches across and barely perceptable. I have heard of roof heat problems. I hope it goes away when it cools down.

Anyone heard of this?

ANdy

 

Andy, I've heard of the black roof's having heat-stress when it's really really hot out (like today). Hopefully it'll be fine when it cools down. (crosses fingers)

In contrast (hehehe, pun!), my white roof stays room-temp even when it's been in direct sun for the whole day, it's totally cool (ughk, pun again!)

Cheers,
goofy-VMA

 

The heat stress dimple is gone. When I went out tonight it was 98 and the dimple was still there. At about 9:00 pm the temp was down to 77 and the roof looks normal again. Tomorrow I will be very careful to park in the shade. By the way, the AC worked great during 100 plus temps.

Ryan, post a picture of your helmet when you get it. I have a performance driving school date scheduled on July 25th. they have helmets for rent for $20.00 at the track. I have my old Shoe motorcycle helmet from my college days. It's orange and looks bad in my chili red. I think a black one would look great.

I got the finger today from a Toyota. I was in the outside lane of a left turn and smoked her off the line, through the turn and then cut in front for the next single lane left turn. It felt great!

Motor on!

Andy

 

what up guys..

i'm departing tomorrow 9am for my first road big road trip (500 mi each way) in winnie.. i sure hope she holds up and that the windshield crack doesn't cause the whole thing to shatter somewhere on the interstate..

I'll be going 64W - 95N - 495W - 70W - 68W - 79N - 18N to burgettstown, PA.. seeing the second DMB show at star lake. haven't been there, hope it's nice, can't wait for the ride.. i'll let you know how the MINI handles herself on the trip.

wishing for little to no traffic..

- wags

 

speaking of road trips, I'm taking Mr.Motor to Madison, WI for the 4th of July weekend. I'm visiting some friends, plus I'm trying to organize a MINI-meet while I'm there It's about 440 miles each way, and a bit over 7 hours travel time. Usually I'd fly, but I'm feeling a bit Throttle-happy

have a good time at the DMB concert Wags!
(fun stuff screwing the Toyota Andy, tee hee!)
Cheers,
Ryan

 

Ryan - cool helmet! I'm going to have to do something to snazz mine up a bit.

I've still got to get out to some autocrossing events in the area. I'm sure I'll have a blast with it. The next big thing is the Watkins Glen event in August - a 300 mile trip one way! Ahem... leased car... don't think I'm going to be doing a whole lot of driving this winter . I'm trying to decide if I want to spring for the rear sway bar on the car before the event. Also on the list: some suspension work and the pulley mod. As an aside, did you know that the JCW ECU programming works very well with the pulley mod? Something I heard from someone somewhere...

Wags - way cool on the concert. I'm catching a tiny show with Tim Reynolds next week or so. Someone else I love to see in concert is Bela Fleck (don't laugh!).

And I wasn't kidding about the offer for the valvestem covers....

 

>>Wags - way cool on the concert. I'm catching a tiny show with Tim Reynolds next week or so. Someone else I love to see in concert is Bela Fleck (don't laugh!).
>>

tim reynolds is bad ***, that'll be fun... and bela fleck is really good, no need to laugh. i haven't seen them in a while, with the exception of the DVD i bought. next up for me, is david gray, then chicago with my dad, a counting crows in late august, then 2 more DMB shows in sept.

winnie held up fantastically.. even in the uphill battles with the rpm's around 5 forever trying to make it up, and still flew by everyone else on the road.. who seem to have not seen many MINIs, as everyone stared. it was great getting to the parking lot of everyone partying, and making comments on the car, and even had a few taking pictures. it was real fun, and had no problems sitting in the MINI for long stretches of mountainous scenery. traffic sucked coming home, but made it back safely and soundly.

good luck to all travelling this coming up hellish traffic weekend.

peace

- wags

 

Glad to hear you survived the road trip, Wags!

Wags.. if you're ever interested, I've got a great (approved) bootleg of a concert that Bela did at Tufts University a few years ago. The whole band was there and tried out some really interesting things - like playing all sorts of different instruments. The sax player even played 'Two Horny Blues'.... played two saxes at the same time... mmm....

I got my first thumbs-up today from some pick-up driver. Really made me smile, especially since the drive up to that point was fighting off angry little SUV drivers

 

... just reminder to those spirited drivers out there to keep an eye on your lug bolts!!! They WILL loosen over time... and the Mini just doesn't drive well with three wheels.

Had a bit of a scare this evening after a trip to Sam's Club. Massive wobble turned out to be bolts on one wheel that were loose enough to turn by hand

I try to check mine once a week with handy torque wrench in tow, but I should keep a closer eye on them!

So anyone got some great plans for the holiday?

 

Yesterday was the MMMC (Michigan MINI Motor Club) Thumb Tour day. We did a circul tour of the thumb of Michigan, stopping at all the beautiful ports and lighthouses and scenic points. This was my first such tour, it was SO beautiful. We had an excellent day, but a disappointingly light MINI turnout; ended up being only us three co-founders of the club :smile:
Cheers,
Ryan

_________________
Wisdom is not a function of age, but a function of experience.
*The April Club *

 

::sniffle:

Hey Ryan.. can't see those pics!

 

>>... just reminder to those spirited drivers out there to keep an eye on your lug bolts!!! They WILL loosen over time... and the Mini just doesn't drive well with three wheels. Had a bit of a scare this evening after a trip to Sam's Club. Massive wobble turned out to be bolts on one wheel that were loose enough to turn by hand. I try to check mine once a week with handy torque wrench in tow, but I should keep a closer eye on them!

_________________________________

Have to ask! Did you or some other party take THAT wheel off for any reason? Or is it as factory delivered

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<IMG SRC=https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/albums/album04/eeg.thumb.jpg>

2003 MCS CR/Union Jack graphic. Union Jack valve stems, carpet, Sports + Aero Package, R90's and HK."

 

>>_________________________________
>>
>>Have to ask! Did you or some other party take THAT wheel off for any reason? Or is it as factory delivered :smile:
~the torque wench

 

Rachel reminded me of my first day of driving at 17 years old. I was tearing around corners all day in an old Rambler convertible, and when I was parking it, I heard these noises from the wheels.

Taking off the hubcaps, I found most of the lugs rattling around loose, and the rest backed off pretty far on the lugs!

Guess I better check the MINI right now!

Regards,
Red

 

sorry about that guys, I fixed the above pics from the MMMC Thumb Tour!

to be relevant, I haven't had any problems with my wheel bolts loosening, and since I'm removing mine often for cleaning and mods, I have to check often.

also, I finally got my helmet! ...and as promised, here's a head-shot :smile:

:smile:

Cheers,
Ryan

 

mm.. there's nothing better than the smell of nomex on a hot summer day

Can't wait to see pics!

 

Hey guys, my weekend in Madison was really cool. The MINI-people I met were lots of fun (like all MINI-owners :smile: ). The cruise was very good, I had no idea Wisconsin could have curvy roads like that! There was one hairpin that was exactly Deals Gap-ish so I was in MINI-heaven. You can see a few pics on my Regional thread: click here they're towards the bottom of the thread.

Mr.Motor now has over 7650 miles

Cheers,
Ryan

 

lookit all those clean shiny cars!

I just dragged myself back from a camping trip in Acadia National Forest. Definitely tired as all get-out. Depressing coming back to work this morning (I think everyone else is still hung over from the weekend because they certainly weren't at work!).

I miss the campfires, but I missed my car even more! I think it likes hugs.

 

*nudge*

don't let it die!

 

Yo Rachel, looks like it's just us Die-Hards in The April Club now here's the thread

Cheers,
Ryan

 

oo.. I like the new sig...

eventually I'll get around to putting mine up - got a great pic of us on the track!

Very very nice writeup on the install - i LOVE having these threads around for when I finally get brave enough to start upgrading the suspension. First I'll work with what I've got and take that to the limit. Then..then... mmm....

But... I'm curious about how you're jackstanding your car. I'm afraid of damaging important parts of the car with either the jack or the stand in the process of getting it up. Where are you placing them so that they're both secure and not snapping parts off of the car? I've seen vague hints at it on some of Randy's install how-tos, but nothing spelling it out for slow me.

Sold the Probe tonight! Some 16 year old (16.5, he's quick to point out).... he's studying to be an auto technician, so it'll be the perfect car for him. He's also learning to drive a 5-speed on it. It was cute seeing him and ALL his friends swarming around it and in it, checking it out and petting it. Whew. One less worry. Just have to sell a Mini wheel and tire and I'll feel better.

Still no job. Work is getting more and more painful... sometimes I want to just walk out the door and give them all a rude gesture.

 

well, if it wasn't completely obvious, Mr.Motor has been damaged. It was a case of me overdriving aggressively and surpassing the limit dramatically.

I still love the suspension changes; the only modification left is to tighten down the nut behind the wheel

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Just back from an 8 day cruise (Ship not MINI!) and thought I would check in on the Ryan and Rachel Show. ?

Hope all is well.

Regards,
Red

 

>>well, if it wasn't completely obvious, Mr.Motor has been damaged. It was a case of me overdriving aggressively and surpassing the limit dramatically.
>>
>>I still love the suspension changes; the only modification left is to tighten down the nut behind the wheel
>>

I'm happy about the Probe being gone. I thought I'd be sad, but... I was driving my car, see... and, well...

I'm beginning to loathe HR. I've gotten rejected from jobs because I don't have a *degree* in Chemistry. The difference between a Biology and a Chemistry degree at my school was three classes or less, since so many of them overlapped. Ah, well... if they're going to be that petty....

Red, what, you think Ryan and I should come up with something more entertaining?! Umm.. I found out that the Mini really is large enough to change in this morning. I think I shocked the neighbors, though...


ahem.

_________________
~Proud member of the CWFAC '03~