CarlB

See you all there. Hopefully we will get dry runs

sorry I missed you guys. I ran first and worked second. It was too cold and too much rain to stay around. Hope to see you guys at the BMW event.

Faith and I will probably be there. They have soft shell crabs for dinner!!

I think GreenCactus should drive Tiger down.

Can't wait! On Monday I go to the Brewery and restaurant in Silva to make sure we are set for the beer run I lead. But I will be back for Dinner and am game for whatever. I have never been to Tapoco

I agree they can't get the weather right more than 3 days in advance.

I will be getting ready to go to the Dragon. I can't make it this time.

I will probably join you guys. Faith isn't going because our friends will be with their kids.

I run the BMW and SCCA events. My car is set up for STX. In SCCA the car isn't competitive but there are a few MINIs to judge your driving against. BMW has a MINI class. You guys should come try it.

On some cars the parking brake adjust by backing up and applying the parking brake. I do not know if that works for MINIs, but it is easy to try. Back up slowly and pull the hand brake up several times and see if the handle to the parking brake stays closer to the floor.

Second gen cars have direct injection. That means the fuel is injected directly in the combustion chamber. First gen cars inject the fuel in the port leading to the combustion chamber. The problem with carbon on the valves doesn't happen on first gen because the fuel washes the oil coming down the valve guide off. The oil lubricating the valve to guide interface can build up deposits because there isn't anything to wash it off on second gen cars. They now have chemicals to clean the valves so you do not have to disassemble half the engine to clean the deposits of the valves.

We enjoyed having everyone. Faith and I had a great time. We need to do something in the summer around our fire pit.

Our drive is all clean. When you get here pull down by the garage and turn around. Let you passenger' out and park on the right side going back towards the house. The last people to arrive can park in the parking area close to the garage. The drive is wide enough so someone can get by between the garage and house if you park there.

There has been a lot of snow melting. We shouldn't have a parking problem. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Directions to my house are: 5386 Summit Drive Fairfax VA 22030 I live off of Lee Highway just on the Centerville Side of the Fairfax County Parkway. Summit Drive is the first traffic light after the Parkway if you are on 29 Lee Hwy coming from Fairfax. Turn Left on Summit Drive In about 100 yards the road splits. Go to the right at the split. We are the third driveway on the left. Look for driveways you will not see the house. The second and third driveway are side by side.

I think I have a plan for parking. More to come

I have cleaned out my driveway and we can probably get about 10 cars. I will check with my neighbors to see if we can park in one of their driveways. The road is open but only one lane currently. Parking will be a issue. I guess we will make a call on Friday. If it is rain we should be good, but it might be more snow.

We are looking forward to the party.

Two feet of snow is a problem everywhere, but we live on a very small road and I do not think we will see a snow plow until Sunday or Monday. We are looking forward to seeing everyone next week.

hopefully it doesn't snow. The street I live on, Summit Drive, is very narrow. This is a old community. Parking will be a big problem if it snows. Let's see the weather report later in the week. They can't predict the weather more than three days out.

I believe Chad uses it.

You do not need to do the walnut blasting to clean carbon anymore. CRC has a product that cleans the carbon of the back of the valves. It isn't easy to use on a direct injection engine because you need to introduce it into the manifold, but it is much easier than disassembling everything to walnut blast.

Check the ignition wires. Look for traces of gray. That will tell you the spark is jumping. The best places to look are anywhere the cables touch. A black spot with gray around it is a problem. If it misfires while idling look under the hood at night and you can often see the spark jumping.

Don't feel you need to do everything the first year. You are on vacation, slow down a little. The real attraction are your 900 closest friends who all have MINIs. Check out North American Motoring and Motoring Alliance. They will both have threads for people looking for and offering rooms. Fontana is the best place to stay, but you will have a good time where ever you are. Sign up for some drives, The Cherohala Parkway is really spectacular. Don't be bashful. Everyone there wants to meet you and we all have a common bond to get the conversation started.

Edge is making Chili and we have plenty of Beer

Pulling the cross member is the way MINI says to do it. If you decide to pull the cross member you will need a good jack that is maneuverable and a friend to line up the steering. The power steering reservoir does not have to be disconnected. remove it from the firewall clamp and it will come out the bottom with the cross member. I personally would not remove the cross member to change the control arm bushings.