Irish Mini Owners Club

Last show of the year for me, the indoor car show at Laois Shopping Center, a round trip of 336km / 208 miles. Total journey time of just under 4 hours with a quick toilet stop.

Drive down had a few hiccups, drivers side wiper blade tried to escape, the little tab on the end had worked it's way out from the arm. Just needed pushing back in and ensuring clips were secured. Then indicators stopped working, tried reseating the flasher unit, but no joy so had to continue on and hope that it wasn't too busy at the M50/N7 junction, which thankfully it wasn't. I reseated it again at the services and they started to work...that's another job for the winter list.

Show was good, but very cold, hard to keep the 14 Month old from pulling his hat and gloves off! A great selection of cars, and a good showing from the club.

Drive home was constantly raining, passenger side mat is very wet now from the rain working it's way in, again another winter job to fix - it's either the wiper arm bush or the blanking plate on LH side that doesn't have a gasket on it. A liberal amount of sealant should sort it out.

I'll more than likely remove the front carpet and underlay to make sure it not wet all winter.





Total mileage is now 3686km, not a bad effort.

Great to see you Colin. Your mini was looking fab! Glad you made it home too as that was some round trip with the young fella. I think my gang are starting to get excited about my own project now. So no pressure then...

A tight squeeze...



A quick stop under the cover of the lean-too patio roof, awaiting a underbody wash and air dry..



Removed the front carpets, a fair bit of water in the underlay, thankfully the floor is relatively dry, but will leave the windows open to let the air circulate.

Started the underside clean down, got drivers front and rear done.



Noticed the bushing was loose on the rear shock, that would explain the knocking noise that came on on the last drive home. I thought it was the child's buggy wheels that I had in the boot.



There are a few bits of tar and a few small stone chips, mainly just on the flitch panel, but I'm very happy with how clean it is and how well all the paintwork is holding up, both the body paint/raptor stonechip and the brushed on hammerite on the suspension parts.

Got the passenger side cleaned up today, this side was a bit dirtier as expected, but thankfully no signs of any cv joint grease from the split CV boot on this side. Also checked the rear shock absorber top bushes, but these seem fine with no movement at full droop.

Gave it a quick wash overall then into the shed.

Will make a list of jobs that I want to get done over the winter, then hopefully get all the required parts on the minispares black Friday sale...no doubt there'll be something I'll need a week after getting my order!