The terrible Cooperflags install

Posted on by Ian C.

Sad to report a rather stressful afternoon … hard as WheelDynamix tried (and they tried EXTREMELY hard) they were unable to win the war with the full roof cooperflags Union Jack.
The problems were cutting exactly along the edge of the roof (the flag is supplied much bigger than the roof), and eliminating the multiple creases in the front corners where the curves of the side of the roof meet the curves of the front.
Here is an early picture of the work (here you see Jeff of WheelDynamix still smiling – this was not how he (or I) looked later):

I will not post any final pictures because currently the roof is NOT finalized; the flag may yet come off and be scrapped 😦

NEMO annual meeting

Posted on by Ian C.

Today I drove to Rhode Island to the NEMO meeting to discuss the clubs activities and nominate some new volunteers. The discussions included proposed events for the year, and the replacement of long term volunteers including treasurer and contributing editor. For better or worse, I volunteered myself for the latter.
NEMO is an established club, and there is some (semi)friendly hostility to the new MINIs … there was a lot of talk about the recent explosion in membership (due largely I expect to the new MINI, and the fact that Hrach, NEMO President, works at MINI Peabody. I expect that many new members, being new MINI owners, will not remain with the club unless it improves its relationship to the new cars.


The other side of the Mini/MINI discussion is that there were only three MINIs present at the meeting – two owned by the hosts, and mine – the classic Minis are all “tucked up in bed” for the winter (which seems sad to me).
I was very pleased again with the performance of my new car; the rain sensing wipers worked very well, as did everything else. The trip computer claimed that I averaged 33mpg (and 54mph – easy traffic). My manual calculation suggested 30.7mpg which is still good (better than my old MC was doing recently).
Talking of my old MC – Hrach told me that it was sold by him on Friday. I hope the new owner enjoys it as much as I did.

The Hot Pocket

Posted on by Ian C.

More enjoyment driving the new MINI today – still amazed how much better the engine performs; easy responsiveness even accelerating from 65+ on the highway.
Surprisingly I am getting attention again (I thought that had worn off); maybe it is just because the car is new & clean, or perhaps it is because it looks better than the old black one?
I also installed the “Hot Pocket” to give some more storage space; I think MINI should do something similar as standard production:

Monday afternoon I am getting the cooperflags Union Jack by WheelDynamix; after that I have run out of modifications, until it is warm enough to work on the rear foglights!