Project Memoirs from the Hard Shoulder: GoaT Returns.

[alf892]

10 hours ago, Homersimpson said:

A guy I used to work for specialised in minis and used to fit this trim by it in a bucket of hot water, really hot and then when it was supple he fitted it against the arch curve so the curve of the trim went into the tight corners if you see what I mean.

He got really good results doing this but everyone tries the other way because its easier to follow the arch curve but then when you get to the tight curve its nigh on impossible without kinking it.

Good thinking…….i reckon a combo of that method after a day in the airing cupboard would maybe work. It is very nasty stuff though…….ive done a few over the years and not encountered stuff like it

[barefoot]

On 12/03/2025 at 11:40, BorniteIdentity said:

The exhaust that Minispares sent was absolute dogshit.  Not only will I be extracting a refund but, in an unusual and uncharacteristic twist, will be wanting an apology

I got an apology for a 944 back box many years ago. It was shit, I was fucking livid and I think I frightened him.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, alf892 said:

Good thinking…….i reckon a combo of that method after a day in the airing cupboard would maybe work. It is very nasty stuff though…….ive done a few over the years and not encountered stuff like it

I used to sell rolls of this in 'chrome' BITD, never had a problem. Maybe the material has changed?

[Dj_efk]

As others have suggested - Bucket of hot water was always the MO when I’ve done these…

[BorniteIdentity]

I'm never sure whether you should go back to something from the past.  Included in that I place girlfriends (no matter how impressive the bosom) jobs (regardless of pay and conditions) and motor cars.  I have moonlighted with the odd ex (I was underwhelmed afterwards) freelanced in an old job (ambivalent) but - afaik - never returned to an old car.  Granted, I bought back a Yaris which I sold on here - but that was for my son, not me.

But, when I was tipped off about this 'blast from the past' - it had to happen.  The timing was not ideal; I've already bought two cars in two months and am desperately trying to pay off the last of my debt ahead of divorce.  But, when an old car presents itself back to you, you really only get the one stab at buying it.  A sale to someone else would likely see it disappear from the RADAR and probably meet a quiet, depressing end.

So, the plan was there should be no plan at all.  Buy first, work it all out later.

Breakfast, sadly, wasn't two small pieces of toast smeared in Colgate.

Coffee, as I'm trying to lose weight. 

Sadly, this wasn't the collection vehicle

This was.  Fitting, all told.

A short 70 mile jolly into my favourite part of the world awaited. Going from a 1.4 Corolla to a 1.0 Yaris reminded me that I really need to get the inlet fannymould on the Corolla sorted so it doesn't resonate and encourage me to drive like an old Doris.  My son appears to be in no rush to reinstate the wheel trim which was removed four months ago - kids eh?!

Everyone kept asking me if I was excited about the purchase and - for the first time on a collection journey - I can honestly say I wasn't.  Not because it's not a great car, it just felt - right.  And slipping into the driver's seat of the new* acquisition to be greeted by this?  Everything was right in the world again.

Yes, friends - it's back.

For new readers to this thread, this is the car that I owned throughout the entirety of my 30s. I bought it August 2013 when the couple who owned it decided it was an old car (14) and ready to become a liability (They just tickled it over 100,000 miles).  I gave (from memory) £850 for it and hoped to get a year or two out of it.  What actually happened is it gave the most incredible, loyal service of any car in the history of motoring.  I did 100 miles a day in it for 6 years before that became 160 miles a day for another 8 months.  When I changed job and had a brand new Nissan Leaf on lease, I would STILL jump in this and go anywhere and everywhere in it.  

Sadly, when my marriage collapsed in a heap - this was the penultimate thing to leave the family household.  (The final item was yours truly).  I simply had no need or space for it at my new house, so it went off to @Spottedlaurel whose daughter and son-in-law drove it all the way to Croatia on a banger rally and then..err... all the way back again.  In their hands, over the last 3 years, they've taken it from 272k to 288k and have lavished a lot of time, money and love on it.  For that I will be forever grateful.  It's had a full belt kit, clutch, tyres, some weldering, a new radio and countless other shits and bits.  

So - what does a 288,000 mile, 26 year old car drive like?  Well I had a good A/B comparison (jumping straight out of a 105k Yaris) and it is ASTONISHINGLY good.  The clutch is the best it's ever been, the gear change is tight and precise, it pulls strongly and does everything with zero drama.  The only thing that needs attention soonish is the steering rack; there's a bit of play right in the middle where you can twitch the wheel and the car just blanks you.  Otherwise, it's brilliant.

Plan (so far as there is a plan) is to get the stickers off and try to find a new paint-man.  The colour, when in good condition, is sublime - but plenty of lacquer has now disappeared and the paint at the front end is, unsurprisingly, a bit thin. 

Other than that I'm just going to drive it and drive it and drive it.  Clearing the 300,000 mark by Christmas will be a tall order but it's doable.  

Thanks again to the Spottedlaurel family for - well - everything really! 

Here's to more memoirs, hopefully not from the hard shoulder.

 

 

[Spottedlaurel]

Great for it to have found its way home after an adventurous life over the last three years!

When I picked it up after dropping off the LS400 for an MoT the other week I was impressed with how well it went, definitely quicker than the Carina E.

[Dj_efk]

Congrats! It’s lovely to hear someone has managed to regain an old friend that they regret selling.

[SiC]

14 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Clearing the 300,000 mark by Christmas will be a tall order but it's doable.  

Is this of the age Toyota where they (mildly infuriatingly) stop counting when they hit 299999?

[BorniteIdentity]

41 minutes ago, SiC said:

Is this of the age Toyota where they (mildly infuriatingly) stop counting when they hit 299999?

Just the Prius. These will keep on soldiering 

[Popsicle]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

Is this of the age Toyota where they (mildly infuriatingly) stop counting when they hit 299999?

Someone mentioned this to me a few years ago, chap was a bit of an oddball, so I thought BS. Is this really a thing? Why would a manufacturer program that in?

[SiC]

8 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

Someone mentioned this to me a few years ago, chap was a bit of an oddball, so I thought BS. Is this really a thing? Why would a manufacturer program that in?

When I googled earlier, it seemed to be one particular OE supplier that happened to have the limit. It's very arbitrary amount that makes no technical sense.

[BorniteIdentity]

On 05/05/2019 at 21:03, BorniteIdentity said:

What an incredible day. 24 hours after passing its first MOT for 22 years, I entered the Mini into the Ipswich - Felixstowe Historic Vehicle Run. 

Thanks lie entirely with @alf892; this wasn’t straightforward. That is to say - the car took 5 maintenance pauses on the way to the MOT test alone. Somehow it ran just long enough for the test process to take place and, through a miracle, we coincidentally bumped into the biggest Mini hoarder within a 30 mile radius whilst at the test station. He, whilst eccentric, did sell me a complete carburettor for £5 English pounds. Without it, and Alf spending every waking (and sleeping) moment - this would never have actually happened.

The Mini now runs brilliantly. We’ve done 250 miles this weekend alone and it hasn’t missed a beat since the carb change. Something is now banging away which I think is either a driveshaft or CV wotnot, but I don’t give a shit.  It was truly lovely to take the Mini home once again. Buzzing around streets familiar to the car was utterly surreal. Roads we trundled along when I was 7, my Nan at the wheel, chatting shit as you do. It was out of this world. 

It’s this exact weekend that she died. 29 years ago. 

Serendipity.

Cheers, Nan. ?

 

 

^This is Nan’s. The perfect picture to end the perfect day.

Six years later - I came good on a promise to the family and the car, and got the Mini back on the promenade.  

The weather was a far cry from some of the early May sunshine we've enjoyed in previous years, but that didn't seem to tame the crowds or the participants.  700 vehicles and, at a guess, 10,000 humans watched on from various vantage points along the route and viewed the cars in both the park and on the beach.

For me, it was a bitter-sweet day.  This is an event that I've enjoyed most years since I was a boy.  First holding my Dad's hand, then letting him drive MY car to the event, and then 2019 when the whole family joined us with the Mini (and have done ever since).  However, my mother's deteriorating health meant they were absent this year - and it was keenly felt by us all.  I doubt the event will ever be the same and, because of that, this may have been my last outing at the event.  That said, it's now a thing for me and MY sons - so who knows?

Anyway - 200 miles later, we're home.  I'm sitting in silence for the rest of the day because, let me tell you, an A series droning away at you at 60mph becomes very, very tedious!  Next time I'm wearing ear-plugs/headphones.

(And yes - that wonky decal on the offside front fucks me off too - I've ordered another set.  Never try to fit them outside on a windy day!)

 

 

[loserone]

On 13/04/2025 at 19:49, BorniteIdentity said:

friends - it's back.

Dan, I'm really, really pleased for you.  

 

Good work.

[Dan302]

It's so nice to see a mini that isn't a cooper replica or modified, yours is how I remember minis in the 80s when I was a kid, lovely 🙂

[wuvvum]

Has it really been six years?  Bloody hell that's gone by quick.

[MJK 24]

Nice to see the Avensis back.

I do love a bog standard Mini that’s not pretending to be something it’s not!

[Floatylight]

Just seen on FB

[BorniteIdentity]

On 07/05/2025 at 12:06, Floatylight said:

Just seen on FB

Lovely when someone uses my photos without a credit or tag 

[greengartside]

God I still love that Sierra 🥰

[BorniteIdentity]

Clearing out has occurred. The Corolla was brilliant but surplus - and I had a bill arrive quite swiftly which was best paid via asset liquidation. Bram picked it up on Saturday. 

Truth is, I never meant to sell BOTH the Corolla AND the Supercub - one was enough. However both garnered interest so I took their money. That headed off earlier on. 

The Avensis spotted this very in-opportune moment and seized it swiftly, giving me a wheel bearing that sounded like it was about to stop the entire car at any given moment. Meanwhile Mother Identity has become desperately unwell, leaving me to do a 160 mile hospital run in… 

It managed it, but it’s not a happy bunny. I suppose having half an exhaust and something amiss with the carb will do that. 

Cars / Life eh?

[Split_Pin]

Sorry to hear about your mum 😞

[Dj_efk]

Go on, admit it - you’re missing the A2 aren’t you?

 

Hope your mum bounces back quickly.

[comfortablynumb]

Know exactly how you feel about those sorts of events @BorniteIdentity, we used to go to the harpenden classics on the common show with my mum's '65 woody traveller, my dad used to drive it, and he loved talking to everyone about it, letting kids sit in it and have their pics taken, or pretend to drive it, a showqueen it wasn't, even though it was beautiful.

When he got ill, I drove it there, with him in the passenger seat, and my son following us in his '62 105E Anglia, with my mum riding shotgun.

The mini departed about 4 years ago, it did 35 miles in a year, and mum was worrying about it, so it was better to pass it on.

Dad died about two and a half years ago, we did go to the show last year, with a MK2 cortina estate, and a 2 door range rover classic, but without the mini and family it just wasn't the same.

 Apart from being 80ish miles from home, it's likely I won't go again, end of an era

 

[BorniteIdentity]

Ye Olde Avensis has been back with me for a week now and is even better than it was when I purchased it (again) back in Spring. 

The growling noise (first attributed to exhaust) I quickly identified as being a wheel bearing.  The garage then identified it as being both sides so both were done.  Whilst it was there for a few days I asked them to replace the inner tie rods so I could drive in a straight line and they did the rocker box gasket at the same time.  Quite why NOBODY builds anything to last these days is beyond me, but it seems that 26 years and 290,000 miles is all a small piece of rubber can withstand. 

Strongly worded letter to Toyota being drafted as we speak.

Upon collection, a new agreement was reached with the garage where I pay 80% of the bill and don't receive a sheet of paper.  I put this down to their printer being out of ink and them reaching some sort of limit with their bank account.  Anyway, whatever.  More excitingly than that, the owner took me to one side and - in hushed tones (where the other cars couldn't hear) whispered to me...

Quote

Your camshaft lobes are flawless

I was quite taken aback by this and - a week later - I still think it's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me.  It seems those days of blasting up and down the A1 did it no harm whatsoever, and that the 6,000 mile oil changes may well have helped.  Jokes aside, it's also quite reassuring as - from about 150,000 onwards - it's been on a diet of 10w40 rather than 5w30 just to stem it's modest consumption of oil.  (a litre every 5k).

So, I'm feeling quite jolly about it all right now.  All jobs are pretty much up to date on it now (save for a set of leads) - so it's back on frontline duty, visiting Mum.

 

[Split_Pin]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

6,000 mile oil changes

Absolutely this.

Great stuff that it's going well.

PS your mechanic is a perv 😂

[wuvvum]

I tend to use oil one grade thicker than what the handbook says in my high mileage stuff.  I figure that the tolerances have probably opened up enough after 150k+ that thicker oil will do more good than harm.

[Dj_efk]

I think the fact this car has gone a further 140-odd k on the thicker stuff - and the internals are that good that the garage mentioned it - backs your theory up.