Vikram's 1960

[John Gervais]

Vikram, How long is a piece of string?

[MiniDave]

Ha!  John's right....there is no end, you've only just begun!   ;D

[94touring]

Teaser pic

[Vikram]

More teasers please....... 4.gif

[94touring]

Boot lid is done too but I need to spray your hinges and fish out the handles.  I hope you have the boot cables too.

[Vikram]

All the handles, gaskets and hinges should be together.
I don't think I have boot cables, I can always install those though.

[94touring]

Well the problem is the boot can't be opened easily without the cables but I'll put it on and you'll need to not open the lid fully till you get cables.

[MiniDave]

Vikram, are you coming to get it and driving it home?

Dan said something about you might be shipping it?

[Vikram]

Yeah, I'll be careful with the lid.
I will be shipping the car back, although I do wish I could drive it back. It's probably the more sensible idea, given school and the fact that the car still has to be broken in.

[MiniDave]

Did you rebuild the engine? I thought you bought a used engine for it......unless by break in you just mean getting it sorted......

[Vikram]

Yeah, getting it sorted, bedding the brakes etc..
It will need an alignment I assume too

[94touring]

Honestly you could drive it back.  Things may break, but you could technically do it.

[Vikram]

Perhaps, but the cost of gas and an overnight stop makes it basically the same as shipping it.

[jeff10049]

But the experience is priceless.

[MiniDave]

I can see both points, when I bought Buzz in Baltimore I bought him off a MiniMania ad, the seller sent me pics and we emailed back and forth, but I flew there from KC on a one way ticket. Had I not bought the car I would have bought another ticket home of course but we made a deal and I drove Buzz back to KC - 1100 miles - in two days. When you do that you really get to know the car you just bought, and by the time I got home to KC I had a substantial list of things that needed doing!

OTOH, Vikram's car has been completely rebuilt - by him - and he's a novice at this stuff, new engine, new suspension, new brakes, new everything - there are a LOT of opportunities for "continued learning", and doing it on the road with no support would be frustrating and potentially dangerous.   9.gif

But one hell of an adventure!   71.gif

I think in this situation it might be smart to have it shipped, then drive it in the 'hood while you get confidence in the car and could get help if it let you down......BruceK was in a similar situation when he imported Emily form England, I kept prodding him to drive it from the port in Houston to Dallas, but he decided to ship it. Probably was a good thing too considering the state of the alignment when it came off the boat.

[gr8kornholio]

I'd agree with Dave.  I bought mine in Wichita, only 350 miles north of Dallas, but there was no way I felt comfortable driving it home.  Thankfully the seller offered to trailer it down for me.

I've spent the last 8 months just driving close to home and have been compiling a list of this and that to do to it.  Along with discovering the lack of tower bolts on the front subframe!  Thanks Bruce.  Hoping to soon have a complete and confident car to drive further distance.

[MiniDave]

My drive home in Buzz was full of trepidation, but the further I went the more confident I got that I would at least make it home. The internet is a wonderful resource - I have made friends all over the world thru my Mini affliction, and was able to take advantage of that on my trip, stopping in Columbus Ohio to meet up with some internet friends and use their shop the next morning for a couple of small tighten this adjust that's before I continued on - point being that there are Mini owners all over and I've never met one who wouldn't jump at the chance to help a fellow Mini driver in distress.

[Vikram]

I agree that the experience would be amazing and I will definitely take the car on a road trip somewhere once I am comfortable with it and sure that the car is in good shape.
As Dave said, I am still a novice and even though the car is completely rebuilt I'm still a little wary. Dan has been finding quite a few little things like the brake fittings for example that I didn't do the best of jobs on, and I don't want to discover more of my mistakes somewhere between OK and NY....
I barely got the chance to drive it before I had to take it off the road, and as it is an old car I am sure there are some quirks to get used to.
A few weeks ensuring that the car is road worthy, will allow me to enjoy it for what will hopefully be a long time.

[94touring]

Doors be did.

[Vikram]

Alright! That seems to have come together faster than expected. Nearly all done with painting right?

[94touring]

Flares, hinges, and I think that does it.

[94touring]

Last bits so I can do the final assembly on my end.

[Vikram]

Nice work, counting the days now....looks like its going to be out of your hair pretty soon!

[94touring]

Some minor tuning left and the rest is on Vikram!

[MiniDave]

Runs and drives now? Brakes work too?  ;D