...speaking of back in the saddle, it's great to have my engine mods done on MM2, now I'm back to where Mr.Motor was in terms of power. Actually, it seems MM2 is even quicker, and I don't even have my on-the-way Milltek exhuast yet! I had to tweak my swaybar settings to compensate for the added power

also put on my snow tires yesterday, YUK! Now, instead of spinning the tires through 2nd, I spin them all through 3rd, hee hee (giddy kid-in-toybox laugh) Speaking of snow, Detroit has seen NO accumulation, only a dusting for a short while this past Saturday. Speaking of which, this weekends Pulley Party was a total blast; Randy is a party animal like always at night, and an installation machine during the day. It was a blast hosting the event, and great meeting lots of new faces.
--> Rachel - I told Randy his comment to you ("I'm only having the Party in Detroit in December 'cuz of Ryan) at the Boston Party, and he blushed! Too funny!

April Club forever (even tho I haven't updated my webpage in forever, lol)
Ryan

 

>>--> Rachel - I told Randy his comment to you ("I'm only having the Party in Detroit in December 'cuz of Ryan) at the Boston Party, and he blushed! Too funny!
>>

Randy blushes? NO way.. did you get a picture of that?

okay.. quick stupid question. How do you re-aim the windshield sprayers? As amusing as it is to be able to wash my sunroof and only half of the windshield (and that of the car behind me), it's probably time to change that. I'm afraid of snapping off the bits inside if I use something that I shouldn't to re-aim the nozzles.

As for snow, I'll trade you! It's a bummer being one of the few lunatics out enjoying driving in it. Made shopping hard, too, since most of the businesses closed for the storm. Though right now it's 50 degrees and raining like nothing else out there! I hate the winters since they make the car feel squishy and horrid (time to start playing with the suspension!).. but having the sport winter tires helps a bit with the performance aspects.

Anyone got special plans for the holidays?

 

7100 miles on Flo, Soon be going to KC for CD36 I can't wait.
Almost 25000 on MINI She has an air bag light AGAIN!!!!! So we will probably chase eachother down to KC over the Holiday's

 

well, we got our first snow of the season today, YUK! The roads were immediately pummeled with 12 tons of salt per mile, and BAM, we have permenantly wet roads :smile:



I've got almost 2500 on him now, seems like just yesterday I picked him up, but it's already been 7 weeks! By the way, my snow tires work great - much better snow traction than any all-season I've ever had.

Cheers,
Ryan

 

Nice shot Ryan!

Touchless? Automatic? I know you are very serious about the finish of your car, so what about a "touchless" car wash that I run my Ford thru...there are two guys that after spraying with soap, rub the car with horsehair (hogs hair? not sure, but they are VERY soft) to get the resty of the dirt off.

I may have to run it thru this winter. What do you think.

Regards,
Red

 

my poor car got trapped with a snow plow going the opposite way on a narrow street.. the sound of the rock salt hitting the paint still gives me the *******!

Ryan - you guys MUST have better no-touch washes out there... no matter how many times I run my car through them around here, there's still a layer of grunge that can be seen. mmmm... winter.

 

the touchless automatic washes are exactly that - you push a button, and water jets spray about, and the only thing that touches the paint is, well, water and soap! Some of the touchless automatics around here are quite good, and even with huge wintertime cake buildup - they'll still leave the car clean and film free! I can only imagine how harsh it is on the Zaino

The trick is to keep some towels in the car so you can dry off the door jambs quickly before they freeze together!

Also - I just scheduled an appointment at Classic MINI to have V36 uploaded onto MM2. I'll be sure to bring a laptop and serial kit so i can do my Powerchips reflash ASAP afterwards, hee hee.

Motor-on,
Ryan

 

We still get a few days that are warm enough to wash by hand our here in Northern CA. Love the snow picture Ryan.

Here is a photo my friend took at the track last month. Guess which car spun and is heading the wrong direction? Quite a surprise because it was at the bottom of a blind rise and turn in the track. Did I mention that I love flag persons?

Andy

 

>>the touchless automatic washes are exactly that - you push a button, and water jets spray about, and the only thing that touches the paint is, well, water and soap! Some of the touchless automatics around here are quite good, and even with huge wintertime cake buildup - they'll still leave the car clean and film free! I can only imagine how harsh it is on the Zaino
>>
>>The trick is to keep some towels in the car so you can dry off the door jambs quickly before they freeze together!
>>
>>Also - I just scheduled an appointment at Classic MINI to have V36 uploaded onto MM2. I'll be sure to bring a laptop and serial kit so i can do my Powerchips reflash ASAP afterwards, hee hee.
>>
>>Motor-on,
>>Ryan

Don't have those around Long Island, but I will ask around. Thanks Ryan.


Regards,
Red

 

There's also the alternative if you don't have towels or they're just not absorbant enough when you're at the wash... if it's cold enough, get the car to where you can easily park it with the doors open... do so to let the water stuck in the sills freeze, then open and shut your doors a few times vigorously to break up the ice that's formed. A combination of the two works, too... always good to get people to look at you funny(er).

Not sure how well it's been reviewed on the site, but we installed the ice-link ipod attachment this weekend. It's the one that attaches to your disk-changer in the back and the stock harness on the heaad unit. The great features that made it worth trying were the ability to use the steering wheel controls to change tracks (they're expecting to be able to allow changing albums in later revisions that you can upgrade for free), and the ipod gets put to sleep automatically when you change modes or turn the car off. It works great! It was a pretty easy install except for the part where SO forgot he'd unhooked the battery and closed the trunk... good thing for the 'oops' ring in the back. A bit pricey at $200 with the optional $20 holder that attaches to the console, but still a nice addition to the car.

Leaving for oh-so-exciting Northeast Ohio this week... great family times!

 

hey - i'm going to go a little off topic here...

(i've also posted this question in the Tire forum)

does anybody have any experience with a flat Run-Flat? i had my first flat this weekend (2.5" nail), and the dealership flat out refused to patch it. which really bummed me out, 'cause a replacement tire was $260 + install + tax.

(Goodyear Eagle RS-A 205/45R17)

now i'm poor - and i would have much rather have purchased an iPod instead of a new tire with my Xmas money...

 

>>hey - i'm going to go a little off topic here...
>>
>>(i've also posted this question in the Tire forum)
>>
>>does anybody have any experience with a flat Run-Flat? i had my first flat this weekend (2.5" nail), and the dealership flat out refused to patch it. which really bummed me out, 'cause a replacement tire was $260 + install + tax.
>>
>>(Goodyear Eagle RS-A 205/45R17)
>>
>>now i'm poor - and i would have much rather have purchased an iPod instead of a new tire with my Xmas money...
>> :smile:

Happy Holidays to all my good friends at CWFAC!

Regards,
Red


_________________
<IMG SRC="https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/albums/album04/fyy.thumb.jpg
">Life is better MINImized CWFAC 03

 

Anybody home?

Happy and Healthy New Year to my fellow CWFA Clubbers!

It was a fun year mostly because we got MINI's!

Maybe Ryan will organize a reunion of sorts.

Hope all is well.

Best regards,
Red

 

Just got back from a week in SoCal at the inlaws. Had to drive my wife's Taurus because she and my daughter bring to much stuff. Getting back in the MINI is great!

Happy new year to all April clubbers.

Andy

 

Hello all and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Sorry to have been so out of touch, but the holidays this year were a little nuts...Austin==&gt;Dallas==&gt;Austin==&gt;San Antonio==&gt;Austin==&gt;Oklahoma==&gt;Austin...wh ew!

Some of the trips wer better than others, I noticed a definite difference between driving in the Mrs.'s Volvo and motoring in the MINI :smile:

Burnie is still proudly flying his Jolly Roger though its gotten a little tattered...I think it looks even better that way ...AARRRRRGH!

I also installed the airhorn kit from Moss...I really like it, perfect sound for the car. The Moss kit IS a little pricey...$80 for what is a $40 kit elsewhere, but the custom brackets they include for installing in the MINI are *priceless*. Probably saved me 8-10 hours of swearing and knucklebusting around looking for a good install location...I figured my time was worth the extra cash! If anybody's curious what they sound like go here and click on the &quot;listen to it&quot; text at the top...mine sound very similar but &gt;&gt;&gt;LOUD&lt;&lt;&lt;

Hope to have the grill slats back soon, and I promise, I will send pictures as soon as they're done.

Best to all and for what it's worth, I'd love to see an April club meetup/reunion in 2004...maybe next summer sometime??? Is it possible to send out a targeted email/post to all our wayward members...anybody...Ryephile...hello...

Cheers and out!

cheffie

 

Happy holidays all!

Hope everyone survived the season happily (and safely!). I came back to a bill from my leasing company that reflects none of my tax payments and a parking ticket (?! I don't drive my car anywhere during the week!). Time to get on the phone again - I don't think I'll be dealing with this leasing company EVER again. . This year should be a balmy 15F (woohoo!).

Hope all are well!

 

wooo hooo happy new year everyone!!

jan 31 will mark one year since the day i ordered winnie and today she went over 20k, woooo! still nothing really going wrong build-quality-wise, but she's got 1000s of bonnet chips... call em battle wounds, right? psssh still ugly


hope all are well...


- wags

 

After a week driving the MINI exclusively. I got back in the company car Taurus today. It's a school bus! How do people drive SUV's?

My Service Engine Soon light is stiill on, waiting for at least 20 cycles, runs fine.

And when I was cleaning the interior the other day I brushed against the radio and it went on. No key in the iginition.

I thought it was wired so it does not go on unless the key is in an &quot;accessory&quot; position?

Regards,
Red

 

&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;And when I was cleaning the interior the other day I brushed against the radio and it went on. No key in the iginition.
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;I thought it was wired so it does not go on unless the key is in an &quot;accessory&quot; position?
&gt;&gt;


No, dude... the radio comes on with no key in for 20 minute increments, so you can listen to the radio without any other power on.. it saves more battery then having all the electrics turned on.. like when pumping gas, stuck in traffic, waiting while she shops, washing car etc,

pretty thoughtful...


-wags

 

&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;And when I was cleaning the interior the other day I brushed against the radio and it went on. No key in the iginition.
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;I thought it was wired so it does not go on unless the key is in an &quot;accessory&quot; position?
&gt;&gt;&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;No, dude... the radio comes on with no key in for 20 minute increments, so you can listen to the radio without any other power on.. it saves more battery then having all the electrics turned on.. like when pumping gas, stuck in traffic, waiting while she shops, washing car etc,
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;pretty thoughtful...
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;
&gt;&gt;-wags

Wow! Another MINI mystery resolved! I did not know that.

And my &quot;Service Engine Light Soon&quot; light went off. What a great day!

Thanks Wags.

Regards,
Red
:smile:

 

Great info!

I discovered the part about the radio working with the key off. Didn't know about the 20 minute part.

Wags, How do you get her to only shop for 20 minutes?

Andy

 

How many members does this april club have? it has 45000 hits! :smile: thats insane

 

&gt;&gt;How many members does this april club have? it has 45000 hits! :smile: thats insane

Maybe 5 or 6

 

Rotated my tires today at 5500 miles.

Anyone else, and at what mileage?

My good friend who owns a Goodyear store did it for me, (hey, it's 18 degrees out!) with hand tools only. The wheels popped right off, did not stick as some observed.

After looking at the wheels and tires he could not figure out why MINI does not want them rotated. Neither can I. Matched tires are a good thing in the rain. I learned the hard way 14 years ago!

Regards,
Red

_________________
<IMG SRC="https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/albums/album04/fyy.thumb.jpg
">Life is better MINImized CWFAC 03

 

I rotated mine at about 5,000 also. Nothing bad has happened to me for doing it either. :smile: