Internet Explorer won't work with this website for me anymore. Tried pretty much everything. May have been some kind of formatting change on the forum recently.

Thankfully, Google Chrome works. !

(whew)

So, I am back.

Tired of typing 15-20 blank replies...........so.............now I have nothing to say ;-) LOL

I'm here!
Maybe its the browsers or computers/cell phones they are using.

Anybody out there ?????? Big AL

There are a lot of posts lately showing up with no words attached to them.

No... that's him standing beside his Mini in a Saskatchewan blizzard. (He's waving!)

Spitz

Is that you whispering out in Sk ?

Big AL

Well for the life of me I can’t remember how to post pictures on this forum !

In any event I want to thank Joltfreak for doing a lot of leg work for me today. He is very kind. He went and checked out the Mini I though might be worth flying out to view and hopefully buy.

As it turns out, the car that was supposed to be “ rust free “ was certainly NOT rust free. Lots of body filler over a lot of places. Most of them in typical mini spots.

With the car being brown, I didn’t really have a chance to see any rust. But there was a lot of it. Bonds was bubbling up in a lot of places, and the drip of a magnet was inconsistent ! Friends like Joltfreak and the rest of you are my kind of people.

In one regard, the seller was truthful. He claimed that the car ran fine, which it did said Joltfreak. But I prefer wrench work over body work anyway. This car is to be my retirement ( actually permanent disability ) project. I spend about 2 and 1/2 years of serious saving to buy as close to a new mini as I can find and although I’d gladly take a deal on a really good car for 6500$ , such cars are scarce as unicorns.

But to wrap things up for today, my goal is to find the best car I can find. One that has a very solid body and a very good drivetrain. Frankly, I’m prepared to pay up to about 14 or 15 thousand dollars to get the right car for myself. I have waited over 35 years to replace that mk 2 first cat with a really good mini. One that only needs maintenance and small mods etc. It is to be my hobby, not my curse. So I am fully prepared to dig deep into my bank account to get this mini of of my bucket list. I plan to keep it till I die. I honestly do and will.

I do have one possibility, but I think it’s a very good one and it will require most of the money I mentioned above. Today I happened to read an obituary of a person I knew. He passed away a few weeks ago at a fairly young age. This has really spurred me on to get my mini and start having fun. Sorry for being so long winded ( long typered ? ) .

So Joltfreak, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I could have flown up to Hamilton ( one way, which is quite expensive wnen you have to find anouther flight home. Do this too many times and my savings are gone. Joltfreak, this is really true. You helped me immensely.

Hope everyone has a great day ! Darren and Lupin????

PS- as a fellow who has crossed the bridge to the mainland many times I can tell you all that I agree that it’s impossible to see the view from a car or light truck. I can also tell you that when driving a vehicle like the old Niva 4x4 that I used to own when big trucks are banned from crossing, the wind pulls strong and steady at the steering wheel. I don’t like crossing like that. I can tell you all that from my ferry boat trips before the bridge was built, the view was really nice. Peace all. Time for bed as I have car hunting to do tomorrow in the morning ???????

Well, i talked to Darren and seen the mini.

it looks like a true 79 mini (confirmed on wiper motor and boot lid latch).
998 motor started and ran very well. The car was painted a couple times.
there may be a couple electrical gremlins (signals don’t work).
 
Although the body of the mini looked ok but didn’t pass the magnet test.....
they was filler in most the usual spots (bottom of doors, A panels, under headlight etc....)

all in all, the price that he was asking for it was a fair price.
but this mini is better suited as a driveable project that can one day be a dream mini.
A turnkey dream mini it is not.........yet.

I’ve got a little news friends. Tamer is a GREAT GUY ! You folks know that, and so do I . He’s going to look at the brown one for me tonight if he can. Very kind of him ??

I’ll not get too far ahead, because it might be too dark to see the car, but hopefully it’s inside. He’s phoning the seller right now.

I’ve got my fingers crossed... Derood.

Thank you very much Dan. Things have been very busy but are starting to get hectic. I’ve got a couple of possibilities , but for me to get insured in a RHD Mini, it must be 25 years old. My insurance agent says it’s the same in Quebec ( ? ). I always have trouble with one particular company near Toronto, but more on that later. Most of all I want to thank you for your very kind offer regarding travel. Something has to happen soon or it may be spring before I get a mini. I’m waiting to hear from a different company as we speak ( as I type ) . I also have two private sales that are possiblities. The one thing I know for sure right now is that I’ll be driving a Mini next year, if not sooner. I’ll stay better in touch All the best friends ?? Darren.

PS - I’ll reveal the firm that is too busy to give decent service as soon as possible, but I can’t at this time. I may still have to deal with them...

Darren and Lupin ??????

Darren!
We were worried you got lost in the snow somewhere in Quebec. On Nov 14 you wrote:

We though you had gone, picked up the Mini and were en route east.

If you do plan to drive it home, let us know when. If you run into trouble, there are several of us not far from the route who might be able to lend a hand. I'm in Ottawa, Debbie (and the Mainly Minis Montreal club) are in the Montreal area. Mike (ve9aa) is out side of Fredericton NB.

Cheers, Dan

Hi everyone. I’m sorry I haven’t been on the board for a while. Pre-purchase jitters. But I’m pretty well over that. You can see some pictures in the email I sent you Joltfreak. Oh, and please open the email up as soon as possible because I’d like to hear from you about the mini. More news shortly everyone. Darren and Lupin.

PS- I expect to be buying it in a couple of days. I just booked my tickets. Cheers all. Happy and safe motoring.

We also took our RHD down to PIR for the ABFM in Portland Oregon. Anacortes Ferry. No problems.

NO problem driving a RHD Mini into the USA at Surrey/Blaine truck border crossing...or getting home again!

Went to MMW in San Diego 2016 & Can-Am Mini Challenge in Sonoma (Sears Point) 2017 without any issue. 

Darren,
Did you end up in Hamilton to pick up that mini?