Digging out!

Posted on by Ian C.

After yesterdays Blizzard of ’05, Margaret & I spent a while digging out our two cars this morning. We had sensibly parked close to the end of the driveway to minimize the digging – but the road was only half plowed so we had to dig a few feet of road as well!

Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC

Driving GBMINI was OK; side roads were a little slippery because plowing had left an inch or so of hard packed snow (turning to ice) – but so long as I did not ask for too much acceleration, steering or braking, all was fine. Very predictable handling.
Initially on the way to work there was a lot of steering vibration – presumably due to the snow coating the wheels – but it went away after a while.

At lunchtime, a trip to MINI Peabody saw me meeting John, Rick, Chris, Ivan, Jeff and Diane – some service work, one new car order, and some great lunch at Legal Seafood. Good to see you all again!

Filling in toggle switch panel blanks

Posted on by Ian C.

When I ordered GBMINI back in March 2003, we were not allowed to have rear fog lights – but I did not want a gap in my toggle switch panel so I had ordered a fully populated UK panel (from MikeyTheMini)

Now of course we are allowed rear fogs but some people do not order them and still have a gap. One option is to replace the toggle switch panel with a new fully populated one (like I did).
Another option is to buy a single toggle and fit it into the blank space – some people will split their old panel into individual toggles, when they buy a new one:

Individual toggle switch

Today EBMCS03 has posted a pictorial how-to on installing a toggle – if you are brave with a drill and bothered by the gap, check it out!

Lunch at Woodmans

Posted on by Ian C.

Even though “big snow” threatens, five MINIs and eight people headed down to Woodmans in Essex today to say “hi” and have lunch …

Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC
Minolta DSC

Rick & Laurie, Harvey & Terry, Joe & Debbie, Jared & I enjoyed non-MINI chat, fried clams and scallops; Terry was disappointed that there was no dessert but I am sure she can find something when they get home!

Thanks to Jared for organizing the get-together on this MINI2 thread.