And we're off. The 2013 car show season is underway

Finally, it's here! The first two meetings of 2013 have been completed.

Last weekend was Mini Day at Brooklands Museum. This is usually one of the top attended events at Brooklands Museum, and this year, it was going to be a struggle against the elements for event. Wintery showers, a bitingly cold wind, not a lot of shelter, unless you ventured across to Mercedes Benz World or hid in the Bus Museum.

I woke up at silly o'clock on Sunday morning, about 2:30am, and went off to find a drink, before going back to bed, I decided to have a quick peak out of the window....

To be confronted with....

One of my lovely neighbours had decided to park his van into my car. Nice! Impressed, I was not! A note left under the windscreen, I grabbed my keys, and off I went to the workshop to check out the damage.

It doesn't look a lot, but he has managed to scuff the bumper, and left a large mark. A replacement bumper is required then.

At least I got the car clean for Mini Day!! It was a fairly good turn out of Minis and MINIs at the museum despite the cold weather. The day was spent venturing out into the cold with my camera, take a few pictures then dive back into the car and warm up. Coming up to 2pm, that was it, everything was frozen, my hands, face, feet and camera!

Another Mini Day completed at Brooklands Museum. It was fun, albeit chilly fun. It was good to meet up with the Surrey new MINI club again and also make our club stand one of the largest at this years event. Lets hope next years event is warmer and we get even more cars on the club stand!!

Roll on show season!!

The new look, 2013 Dinky has now been completed. Well, albeit apart from a wash!

It's taken a few months of planning, a bit of faffing around on eBay and a few MINI websites; Sign My Ride,  My Beautiful MINI, and thanks to Dan @ surreyminigraphics.co.uk for fitting the roof decal today (after a slight delay due to the snow last week!).

January has been filled with tinkering. New parts fitted for 2013;

Genuine MINI black spot lights
R112 16 inch alloys
SMR cleaning instructions decal
Genuine MINI spot light covers (R56 ones!!).
New radiator hoses (not a mod, just a requirement!!).
Union Jack interior door pulls and glove box button cover
Union Jack sunroof decal
DM centre wheel caps
Matt black mirror caps (they suit the car better than the UJ ones!)

And that's it!

The first big show we are attending this year is the Mini Day @ Brooklands Museum on Sunday 24th March. At least it's a nice local meet to me!

Now the car is finished for this year, I think it's time to start playing the resurrection of the Monster!!

A small update

As January 2013 chugs along slowly, the depth of winter has arrived to the South East of England. Snow, floods, a bit more snow, cold, dark and damp. In other words, it's just like summer, but with a bit more snow!!

In my world, not a lot has changed in the past couple of weeks. The car is getting dirtier, the Monster is a bit more dustier and the day job is going along slowly.

I'm working on plans for next month already. The starter motor needs to be taken off of the Monster, so fingers crossed the workshop will be a bit warmer in February. The MINI needs a good clean before the next Mini night at the Ace Cafe and then there is the LSMOC Breakfast Meeting on the 10th February. The little local car meetings will slowly get me into the spirit for the 2013 MINI show season, which starts again in March!

I think it is now time for a bit of shut eye.

LSMOC Breakfast Meet January 2013

Just a little bit of icing sugar.

2013, The New Beginning

Well, it is finally here. 2013. We've had 20 hours so far, and the sun has shone, and I've been out to meet some friends, that I only seem to see on New Years Day.

So, a list of resolutions for 2013. Sod that, who keeps them?? I just have a list of jobs to do, and get them done in the best way possible. Hopefully they will be completed without the aid of a bodge job here and there.

At the tail end of  2012, I managed to get organised. A new tool chest, some new tools and I made some space in the workshop. Work is currently under way on the old (now 20 years old) Ducati Monster, to hopefully rectify the escaping electricity. A new battery has been ordered, the starter solenoid and wiring has been checked. Lets hope the new battery cures this annoying problem!!

 Chaos in the workshop

Now onto the MINI One. Well, the top and bottom radiator hoses split on Saturday. The car is off the road, until tomorrow. The replacement hoses and clips were ordered on New Years Eve at my local BMW dealers and should arrive there after 12pm on Wednesday! Tomorrow will be filled with a bit of paperwork in the morning then some refitting of hoses and bleeding of the coolant system. Exciting eh??

A nice clean engine bay

2013 is starting well. It's looking organised at the moment. I've even started (yes, I've actually started) planning the restoring of a 14 year old Suzuki GSF600n. It hasn't moved under it's own steam since 2006, and has been stored under the stairs at work since then. I could end up with a classic Suzuki Bandit and a working classic Ducati M900. Now, that would be a good year if I get both working.

Off I go, back to reading the workshop manual for a Suzuki Bandit.