TGGRRR (Ali)

Tattrat - Were you there? Did I meet you? If so, I didn't associate you to your screen name. The M&G, MachV open house and lunch were all a lot of fun. Ali

So over the winter Tigger's flames got this edging of white crud, it was so bad that to me, it looked like a white pencil outline. After today at the Meet and Greet I felt like a bad mommy. So I tried a trick I saw on YouTube that is supposed to be used by all these high end detailers, I used a wooden bamboo skewer to get at the edges. I first gave him a good washing, then sprayed some Prima Hydro to keep things a little wet, traced the vinyl with the bamboo, wiped the dirt onto a micro fiber towel and kept going. It looks really good, I'm so happy. I then attacked the stuck wax in the logos and between the door seams. Followed it all up with a clay bar and tomorrow he'll get a coat of wax. So if you see the edges of your vinyl getting cruddy, this worked really well, it didn't damage the paint or the vinyl as the wood is very soft. It actually works better as the tip starts to mushroom and splinter out a bit. I did find it also worked best if I kept it a little wet. Ali

Great idea - I was thinking we do the April club dinner there

Chris The only restaurant giving the discount is the one in Tyson's. Ali

It's also been garaged all of these years, so it's been well protected.

Tara Thai in Tyson's corner is our newest vendor. They are offering club members a 10% discount on meals, you just need to show your membership badge for the discount. They have awesome Thai food, I've eaten there a ton of times. Tara Thai is also a MINI owned business, Nick the owner has a MINI and the manager's husband also had one. Nick really wants us to do a club dinner there and line up all the MINIs along route 7. It would be fun to do if we got there early enough to get the parking spots. Anyway - this is effective now, so if you go to Tara Thai (the Tyson's location only) and present your membership card you will get the discount. The managers name is Bo (I don't know how to spell it) so if there is any question, just ask for her. Ali

I heard back and it lead retrofitted, they have the paperwork to prove it.

I dunno, if they say it won't fit...

OK, I will let her know

She told me It had a john Cooper works engine, is that possible with an auto transmission?

It's a really pretty little Cabrio

It's on Craig's list. I haven't seen it but it's low miles. I tried to help her with the listing on Craig's list, she said it has a JCW engine, so I'm assuming that means it's a JCW. I can't answer any questions, but if you're interested call her. It is really low mileage and has been garaged. A 2006 with around 8400 miles http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/2267676359.html

We would love to meet you and your MINI. Can you please come back to the site, scroll up a bit from the discussion and hit a yes on the RSVP? It helps the organizers to plan. see ya soon Ali

What you just described is pretty much how I use the clutch. Especially if I'm the first car at a light, then I want to take advantage of the spot of open road when the light turns green.

I experience where you stop for a second or two, then move a bit, then stop again for just a second. You can't leave the clutch fully engaged for that or you'll go too slow and stall. Soooo, I throw it into neutral and stop, then I engage the clutch to move, but I can't even get it fully out before it's time to stop.

I was heading to my massage, so the urge to get there was strong

The thing i remember most when my clutch was replaced was that the new clutch felt like butter. My bad clutch was so hard to push in that if I was trying to hold it all the way in, my leg would start to quiver. The new clutch was much softer. I believe the clutch was going when I bought Tigger as it was replaced within the first 6 months that I had him. I remember I used to stall him out a lot and thought that I was just out of practice since my last car was an automatic, but I never stall it now. I'm always curious about how to properly drive a clutch. I get concerned when I'm in bad stop and go traffic on my commute. There are times that traffic comes to a complete stop, so I throw it in neutral, then it starts out so slowly that I can't get the clutch fully out before I'm throwing it back into neutral again. It's concerning and I don't know how to deal with it. Ali

Brian you know me too well. Jethro Tull was playing and I was singing too Sorry Greg :itsme:

THAT is the best fortune cookie ever!!!

They probably wouldn't mind if 8 or 10 of us showed up. We should have a Seafoam party!!!

Actually to get the smoke you are not putting it into the oil. You can do the Seafoam treatment at any time. It's going into the PVC valve not into the oil. It's finally getting warm enough to do it again. We need to have a Seafoam party, but where? It's kind of obnoxious with all the smoke. Anyone have any suggestions? Ali

I've heard about this issue and you may be able to fight for it. When Tigger's clutch went they covered it and told me it was a known issue. I know mine is an '06 and maybe has a different issue, but 40k seems really soon for a clutch to go. Can you appeal or something? Ali

exploding heads are bad The design is awesome!!!

Maybe after we can go to the Eden Center for some Bubble Tea!!!! Ali

The car has 57,000 miles on it, so about 27,000 since they replaced the clutch. It was replaced the first week that Passport was open, I think summer of '09 Ali