Between my buddy and myself we have this many cars plus 3 or 4 that didn't make the pictures... are we mad?
Between my buddy and myself we have this many cars plus 3 or 4 that didn't make the pictures... are we mad?
Minis count for four because they are twice as much work and twice as awkward to work on. Old Land Rovers only count for double.
Love the Clubmans. Clubmen?
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Keith, interesting you say they are twice as much work and twice as awkward.. maybe my 20 years in watercooled vw's has broken me in but classic mini mechanic work is almost zen to me. Which is good, my dream is to open a mini/british shop some day.
My own Mini has required a fair bit of work - they're not designed for a long MTBF. Maybe it's my years of dealing with Japanese cars :) And anything in the engine bay is inherently heavily space constrained. I have to disconnect some of the engine steadies and use a prybar to lever the engine forward to remove the carb. Of course the bonnet is already off by that point.
Never worked on an aircooled VW, my pusher VW runs a Subaru engine. Which is a whole bunch of problems on its own!
In reply to Keith Tanner :
Ah probably comes from my years and years of reading Miniworld mag before I ever owned one, there are tricks! Like removing the bottom studs from the manifold to get the carb out easily. I've deformed the top of the threads a little so it catches the nut and unscrews the lower studs.
I might try that although my preference would be to not have to keep removing the carb.
That was just one example, I'm assuming you have had to deal with setting up the idler gear on a transmission by this point :) They're just not designed to be durable or easily worked on. Not compared to many other vehicles.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I have.. and you're right there are some things that aren't engineered the best... it was 1958 England and Gin flowed like water.
But I'd much rather ream the rear swing arms for new bushes than to deal with the spaghetti of vacuum hoses in a 80's accord... or set the timing on a newer gen vw.
As for clubmans, I didn't like them until I got this one that was ratty enough I could do what I want.. the wide flares just make it work.
I had some sort of bonding moment with a Clubbie I came across on the street in Tasmania back in 1978 or so, I've liked them ever since. I still have a picture of it. This sort of thing is not rational :)
In reply to Keith Tanner :
what does rational mean... google won't answer for me.
The awkward part of minis to me is when your Commericial has the non-removable grill. I've put a good many miles in a 1275 and rod-linked pickup. Lots and lots of fun.
In reply to buzzboy :
Yeah the non-removable grill can take a bit of getting used to. Shes looks like a sweet little Pup!
Note that I am not anti-Mini, I just think they're a lot of work :) But this little critter was growling and snorting around the roads last night with a freshly rebuilt SU.
As for the original question of how many is too many, we're at about a dozen :)
I don't cross paths with a lot of other people who have both a BMW 2002 and a Wolseley Hornet! But those are much more... real than mine.
The Hornet consists mostly of rust and dreams. Pretty sure I put some pics of the volume of very rusty air masquerading as a Wolseley in your classic Minis thread...
The 2002 was my autocrosser and daily driver for years, but currently consists of a reasonably solid shell and some good intentions. I got rid of the drivetrain a few years back with a plan to modernize. That plan remains in overall trajectory, but keeps changing in detail.
Right now, it's time to head back outside to the wheelbarrow. Backfilling around the foundation of the new shop that will facilitate those projects...
In reply to Keith Tanner :
I agree they can be work, but nothing worse that i've had on any other flavor of auto, though I do live in New England so once the rust sets in its all a PITA.
In reply to Jesse Ransom :
A delay for a work shop is never really a delay. Let me know how that hornet comes along, looked rough but very saveable.
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