Six-cylinder

Yes is the short answer. Thursday evening a victim is being pressurized to come and agree to weld my Mini! Once he has seen the car I will know how urgent it is to get the car rolling and transported to him.

You lot are very cruel trying to shatter my dreams of Drag Racing it!

None of them inflated after 20+ years and 2 of the rims are knackered. Mrs6C made it a wreath!

You can't push it around with 4 flat tyres. You have got it in for that poor little car!

For "Drive It Day" I just drove the 28 year old Volvo 940. It is a car that is special and quite old with the design dating back to 1982, but at the same time so easy to use. Colin came over and his "Drive It Day" car, his Minivan. I thanked him for bringing me that spares car! The plan was to get my Mini to start even if it was only from a petrol can at this stage. Things did not progress well as when I cranked the engine a lot to expel the ATF oil I had put down the cylinder I got a very bad oil leak. I hadn't noticed but the oil filter is missing complete with housing.

Then we turned our attention to the locked up engine, between @Talbot lubrication advice and Colin's more determined efforts and engine now turns. We then added a battery and it just clicked, but a bit of turning the starter motor by spanner, then our next attempt was successful and the engine now spins ejecting oil left in the cylinders. I now a bit of advice about the tyres and what shape I should order. Should I stick with the original flat bottom shape or go for round ones!

Nearly, after you left we added some structural paint.

That looks quite cheap they used to be over £200, falling market or bargain? Our cat used to like sleeping in ours.

This evening Colin popped round to bring me 4 tyres for the Mini, not suitable for road use but good enough to push it round the FoD. The bad news is the first steel rim we tried to use leaks air from the metal rim. At least visual inspection of the fuel tank looks like it is fine.

In the dark and rain when we finished last night I was quite happy to drive it home with no hardships!

A mere Supersnipe I would want an Imperial!

Last night was MK Modern meeting so it started to rain just in time for the start! Plan "a" was to get the MG TF out for a sunshine evening but the need to take the newly painted Manta wheels to the car meant I was using the Volvo 940 anyway. Hard to believe this young 940 is 28 years old, it felt a bit of a cheat driving it when others had turned out in shiny cars like Minis, Mercedes 190E, Vauxhall Firenza fitted with a V8 engine and my favourite of the night a MK1 Astra estate.

Having consulted with my chief engineer, in an effort to free the Mini engine without dismantling it I added an Acetone and ATF oil mix to each cylinder. I was recommended 50/50 but as I could only get relative weak nail varnish remover I upped the Acetone to 66%. I will see what a few days does for it.

Not as nice as mine but ok for the money!

Last night was a local Triumph Club meeting, 20 people but not one Triumph showed up. We did get a 1936 Frazernash and a Volvo 940!

This Place! I asked for some axle stands off "Trash for nothing" and was told they were gone. I have now had a message that said they were not collected and I can take them. Trouble was I am not planning to go back to Milton Keynes until Thursday so I asked for help. 15mins later they were safely collected. Thank you @Zelandeth

Sad day, my 480ES has been collected, but the number of £325 tax cars we have is excessive so some have to go. It is staying on the forum, but I will let the new owner reveal himself. Update: @robinmasters has now revealed he was the buyer of the 480.

Charlie would have had to get out his tool kit to get the seats out! The interior is now out so you won't have to sit on it! The interior is in the container now. If you ever have any time I could open the FoD for interior cleaning.

This afternoon Colin came round and we stripped the interior of my Mini. Yes it needs some repairs but is not quite as bad as I expected. The seats are very good under those seat covers. Yes that is a welly boot stuck to the seat cover. The bad news is the engine is stuck. We put WD40 into the plug holes and see if that helps.

A just arrived Mini respray kit!

I have already had my card marked about stealing the wheels from an Invacar!🙂

We were disappointed that we could not get a spark from the Royale's ignition system so yesterday I put the bat Royale symbol in the sky to summon a local retired Auto sparks. 9am this morning at the FoD he spotted the problem in 5 minutes. The coil feed wires, both run ballast and starter fed 12v had been cut off and we had plugged in an unknown alternative wire. He added a wire to repair the damage and get the feed to the coil and we have good healthy starks. Next stage is a bit of testing with easy start to see if it will run.

I have had a peak under those seat covers and I am hopeful the luxury Mayfair Raschelle upholstery can be saved. The headlining needs antibac as well. I need to get the seats out as soon as possible as there is no drivers door and side window. They will have to come out for the welding anyway.

The Past! The Dream! The Reality! Mrs6C said don’t do it, but I gave into peer pressure and bought a black 1984 Austin Mini Mayfair. The trouble is that it is a project that needs a lot of welding and as yet I have no idea if the engine and gearbox are any good. As it has not been on the road for 24 years I have to assume the brakes and exhaust will need attention and the interior has been exposed to the weather. Yes this car is a full restoration project and I said no more projects. If you can spare a few working brain cells please put them in a jam jar and send them to me! Now what, first off is to see if I can get it started which I am looking forward too.

The Past! The Dream! The Reality!