ALLGBMINI – Page 403 – M&I / GBMINI

Where is NorthAmericanMotoring?

Posted on August 22, 2005 by Ian C.

Although MINI2 is my most frequently visited (MINI related) web site, NAM (NorthAmericanMotoring) comes nicely second – both sites specialise in different areas, at least from my perspective.
The NE regional forum on MINI2 is very active & fun, and most of the MINI events I go to are planned there.
NorthAmericanMotoring seems to focus more on performance mods (engine/suspension/etc) and also has some good discussions on upgrading stereo systems – more indepth than the similar discussions on MINI2.

But since the weekend, I have been unable to access NAM – it seems to be a routing or firewall problem within “theplanet” that hosts it:
C:Documents and SettingsOwner>tracert http://www.northamericanmotoring.com
Tracing route to http://www.northamericanmotoring.com [69.93.166.248] over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 37 ms 14 ms 10 ms
…
6 21 ms 19 ms * unk-426d0e99.adelphiacom.net [66.109.14.153]
7 18 ms 19 ms * p1-00-00-00.a0.cdp00.adelphiacom.net [66.109.1.46]
8 25 ms 24 ms * p3-02-00-00.r0.nyc90.adelphiacom.net [66.109.1.21]
9 60 ms 65 ms 67 ms p3-02-00-00.c1.chi75.adelphiacom.net [66.109.0.101]
10 84 ms 83 ms 87 ms p3-01-01-00.c1.dfw91.adelphiacom.net [66.109.0.66]
11 85 ms 84 ms 84 ms g1-03-02-00.p0.dfw91.adelphiacom.net [66.109.3.78]
12 85 ms 99 ms 83 ms eq-dallas-1000M.theplanet.com [206.223.118.3]
13 133 ms 83 ms 88 ms dist-vlan31.dsr3-2.dllstx3.theplanet.com [70.85.127.30]
14 87 ms 86 ms 84 ms dist-vlan21.dsr1-1.dllstx2.theplanet.com [70.85.127.67]
15 89 ms 85 ms 83 ms car4-1-v2.dllstx2.theplanet.com [12.96.160.49]
16 * * * Request timed out.
17 * * * Request timed out.
…
Trace complete.

I tried contacting “theplanet” and they very unhelpfully suggested I contact the website(!); luckily I was able to contact Mark Ferguson (who runs NAM) – he very quickly replied and confirmed that I am not the only person having issues and he also believes the problem is within “theplanet”.
So hopefully the issues will be identified and resolved soon; meantime I’ll have to check NAM from the office 😉

MINIs at the Movies

Posted on August 20, 2005February 10, 2017 by Ian C.

About 20 MINIs met up to tour the Budweiser Brewery, enjoy a BBQ on top of Pack Monadnock, drive back roads to Ice Cream, and end the day watching movies at the Milford Drive-in (Derek (MetalMiniMayhem) organized the event on this MINI2 thread)

I joined the other MINIs at Pack Monadnock in Miller State Park, where we filled the parking lot! The road up the mountain is fabulous, with exhilarating twisty bits and switchbacks in a short run with no scary drops to the side – better than Mount Washington in many ways!

Minolta DSC

At the top, a BBQ grille was prepared and everyone gathered to chat and wait for food; the weather was not great, with threatening rain and near zero visibility, but it had no effect on the fun factor of MINI owners gathering …

Minolta DSC

After lunch, we headed back down the mountain and drove some wild back roads (a little too quickly!), to arrive at Ice Cream!

Minolta DSC

Then it was finally time to head to the drive-in movie, where most MINIs chose the “scary adult movie” (Skeleton Key); I and two other MINIs picked the “G” rated “Valiant” instead, which was fun; the drive-in also offered good snacks at a reasonable price.

Minolta DSC

The price of admission ($18/car) is good value so long as you have more than one person in the car, and stick around to watch both movies – (not so good for me, on my own and leaving after the first movie)!

(not) A classic Mini

Posted on August 17, 2005February 10, 2017 by Ian C.

Paul & Phil, members of NEMO (New England Mini Owners) have been hard at work converting a classic Mini into something completely different! From the front, you might think it is a Mini panel van with body kit … But wait till you look in the back:

Paul writes:
The Minivan is a 1964. Phil & I imported it as a shell from Wales about 3 years ago and have been working on it since (see all the progress at: www.philds.net/mini)

Mechanical:
427 hp 350 ci Chevy tied to tubular steel chassis and roll cage;
Porsche G5050 5 speed transaxle, inverted and converted to side shift (same as the new Ford GT40);
Fiero coil over performance struts and disc brakes in the rear; Metro 8.4″ 4-pot calipers in the front;
Custom 13″ Minilites up front, 15″ 5-bolt Minilites on the rear with street-legal drag slicks;
Custom 10 gallon fuel cell up front behind Saab radiator and Vintage Air condenser;
Master brake and clutch cylinders relocated and pedals cut/reshaped fro improved accessibly.

Body:
Bumper moved back to the body and welded to the body;
All steel ground effects with air dam to improve cooling;
Headlights frenched; LED parking lights frenched; LED tail lights frenched;
All body lap seams cut, butt welded and smoothed;
Roof gutter removed and reshaped over the doors;
Hood corners rounded and hood hinged from the front with remote power opener;
Wiper holes filled; One wiper relocated to over the window;
Exterior door hinges removed and converted to suicide (front opening);
Sliding glass windows removed; Power windows and power door latches installed;
2″ x 4″ frame rails from front wheel wells to rear suspension;
Scratch built all steel dash to cover Vintage Air heating and air conditioning unit, including Dakota Digital instrumentation, center console, A/C vents, misc switches and lights;
Scratch built firewall with window, insulated for sound – lower half removable for access to front of motor;
Fiero seats, cut down 6″ and re upholstered;
Tilt steering column with 13″ X-Force steering wheel, matching shift knob and emergency brake handle;
Custom steel rocker panels/ground effects and wheel arches;
Side scoop to bring cold air into engine compartment;
Rolled rear pan with screened vents;
Wheelie bars;
Rear doors modified to internal hinges, “Suburban” style windows, power opener, license plate cutout;
DuPont Hot Hues 3 stage pearl paint.

Wow! This machine is going to be stunning when finished (Paul says I still have to wire it, plumb it, install the brake lines, and build an exhaust system)

Better than a new MINI?