Dave Posted October 4, 2019 Share Posted October 4, 2019 So, been thinking of late. We are looking for a new house in the Scottish borders due to the local teenagers here becoming ferile rats! We'll be moving to a wee village somewhere (once we find the right house, which we may have done now fingers crossed). Unfortunately, we struggled to find a house with a double garage so have had to settle on a single built into house garage. There is scope for building another one out the back though at some point. Which got me going down the same road I did when I had Ruby, Lexy and DD (for those that don't recogise the names, my 1998 civic mb6, 2011 Civic TypeS and my 1999 Civic Aerodeck) in that I'm thinking of downscaling how many cars i've got (yes, here we go again).My current cars are a 2008 Mini Cooper (Carly Cooper) which has been an amazingly fun daily runner (cheap to run, and lots of fun),and Mindy (my mk1 MX5) has only been here a year and was meant to be a project. Oh, and DD, who is one that is deffo staying no matter what. First thought I had was this........We'll call this plan A.....sell Carly and Mindy and buy a newer MK3 MX5 with folding hardtop to have as my daily. The mk1 only comes out in the decent weather, so not used very much (although we have done over 3k in year in her) so would be nice to have one that I could drive all year round. Would be as much fun as Carly (maybe even more) although not as cheap to run. Then there's plan B. See, the mk1 mx5 was a car I always wanted, and Gayle also loves Mindy. Another thing about the mk1 was it would be a wee investment. So kinda torn about selling it, but know I'm not getting any younger (heart attack proved that!) so restoring her will become harder. Still, there's something about a mk1 so Plan B is sell Carly, keep the mk1 MX5 and put DD on the road as the daily. Would mean her being on the road all year round, even in the snow. Would also mean driving her when there's tons of salt on the road. I would be changing back to her original oem suspension if she was a daily though, can't be arsed with a lowered car as a daily. What does everyone else think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_broon Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 So long as DD is staying Why is Mindy just for fair weather? Is there anything that could be done to make her more winter proof? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Lol these MX5s dissolve in the rain mate! Plus being the soft top, shes an easy target for thieves. The area where i work has loads of undesirables so would be stressed out every time i left her parked. The other things are these mk1's are are pretty basic, unrefined cars. I love driving her on a hot sunny day along all the A and B roads, but in winter, hood up, theyre quite noisy. Deffo not the kinda of car id have as a daily! Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gel Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Sell Carly, garage Mindy and use DD as your everyday car. Thus far you've been lucky with Carly i.e. BMW Mini's are notorious for expensive woes. There is another solution.........move to a hot climate....lol 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 34 minutes ago, Gel said: Sell Carly, garage Mindy and use DD as your everyday car. Thus far you've been lucky with Carly i.e. BMW Mini's are notorious for expensive woes. There is another solution.........move to a hot climate....lol Lol now that's no funny Gerry! We'd originally planned to move to Spain but that idea has been canned! Lol (just back from there too and i already miss the sun! Lol Deffo correct on the bmw money pit though! Everything's got lots of £££££ signs where they are concerned, including the MINI's. Just wondering how old DD would cope with the daily use. Work would be around 38 miles one way, so almost 80miles a day, 5 days a week. Think she'd deffo need to be on oem suspension as they do get the snow bad down there. Do love driving DD, although she's just a cruiser. Doesnt have the power or handling of the mini to have fun in, but then i don't drive DD that way anyways. Thing that worries me most is if someone crashes into her (not just during winter) would break my heart to see her smashed up. Know she would be written off too. Suppose its something we need to just accept might/might never happen. Suppose it would do her good to get more use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KiNK43 Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 Underseal her properly in and out. Keep her clean and maintained and drive with sympathy. Will make a great daily for many many thousands of miles. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 5, 2019 Share Posted October 5, 2019 2 hours ago, KiNK43 said: Underseal her properly in and out. Keep her clean and maintained and drive with sympathy. Will make a great daily for many many thousands of miles. Thanks Jake and good advice. Have done the whole centre floor of the car (from bulkhead to rear end of sills. Need to get inner wings done and rear arches/boot floor. Think if she does go daily, I'll deffo need to whip the side skirts off and maybe see about getting dinitrol injected in there. Still got vtis side skirts sitting in the wings but not sure if I'll fit them or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gel Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 The mileage you intend covering isn't too much for DD but you'll be losing exactly what makes DD endearing to folk and collectable i.e. the low mileage and meticilious service record. IMHO 24,000 miles p.a. is just too much for an ol' girl like DD. Having a Mindy of your own has been a lifetime ambition for you Dave.....and don't forget how Mindy kept occupied after your life changing illness. Decisions decisions....who needs 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 50 minutes ago, Gel said: The mileage you intend covering isn't too much for DD but you'll be losing exactly what makes DD endearing to folk and collectable i.e. the low mileage and meticilious service record. IMHO 24,000 miles p.a. is just too much for an ol' girl like DD. Having a Mindy of your own has been a lifetime ambition for you Dave.....and don't forget how Mindy kept occupied after your life changing illness. Decisions decisions....who needs 'em. Shit is it 24k a year???? Bloody hell, hadn't thought of it like that! That is a hella lot for any car. Yeah, having Mindy to work on was great therapy, although after the illness i wasn't allowed to work on her (not that that stopped me! ). I can now but tbh, the stuff that needs done is mainly the new sills at rear (although they're solid enough for now, just unsightly) so that's holding up getting the bodywork ready for respray (plus total lack of funds!). Underneath needs the whole lot wire brushed then car sent away to have dinitrol or something similar done inc chassis rails injected along with the sills. I cant get the car high enough to be able to work comfortably underneath. Needs some of those raisable ramps at around £300 a pair. Theres plenty to do, but i dont have the time, money or equipment to do it just now. Did also fancy learning to weld so i could tackle that side of things myself but then theres the cost of the course, time, money for the welding gear etc.. You're right again Gerry........ decisions decisions, who needs them!!!!!! Lol Will need to think this through carefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dr_broon Posted October 6, 2019 Share Posted October 6, 2019 What about swapping the mini for a cheep run around that you can just run into the ground without it worrying you? I used to do 80 miles a day, and after having an incident which killed my EG, I went through a series of cars for a couple of hundred quid. Cavelier, 309, carina. then got tubs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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