agranger

How am I supposed to work for Monday and Tuesday w/ my facebook feed full of Fontana pics?

I'm in Dragon panic mode! The car is in pieces (front suspension is putting up a serious fight... 5 years in Canada + 8 more after that in Texas have caused so many bolts to seize) and I've gotta get the car put together and on the ground so the suspension will settle and I can get the alignment and corner-balancing done. Eek!

Sorry... I saw the notification and forgot to come back to answer the question. Yes... I did the Joey Mod front and back. The front requires removal of the trim ring, removal of the whole headlight assembly, careful application of a heat gun and gentle prying (plus 4-5 clips) to remove the front lens, painting as you wish, reheating and smooshing it all back together again. The rears need to be dremmeled (cut) apart to do the same thing, then lots of epoxy to reseal. In the images, below, you can see 1)the rears where I cut around the sides and re-epoxied everything back together 2) the headlights w/ a screwdriver pointing to the clips you have to mind carefully 3) Installed headlights after the mod 4) a before and after pic of sanding/polishing out the headlight lenses 5) A tail-light pic with a a new lens in the front, a Joey modded lens in the middle and one of the old lenses (UV stained/hazed) in the back 6) the rear end w/ the joey modded tail lights installed.

OK. I went to register and the apple pie run filled up before I could get there (3-4 hours) and I want something more than the Ice Cream run on Saturday, so here it is... something new for my (Texas) Metroplex MINI friends, my new Tar Heel MINI friends (Carolinas) and anyone who loves MINIs! After some ice cream on the scheduled Ice Cream run (1:30pm) I'll be leading whoever wants to go a bit south down to another great: Wayah Road! It will take us about 2.5-3 hours to get back to Fontana. We will be heading south down 28 to Franklin, west across Wayah and then back up 129 through Robbinsville. With a quick stop for gas in Robbinsville and maybe bathrooms in Franklin (depending on need) we should get back to Fontana around 4:30 or so... plenty of time to get to the farewell dinner (doors open at 5, but dinner and announcements start at 6) THE UNOFFICIAL TEXOLINA RUN! SATURDAY, MAY 5 AT 1:30PM - MEETING IN BRYSON CITY, AFTER THE ICE CREAM RUN. Here's a link to the map packet, so you will have my usual turn-by-turn directions: http://www.focusoa.com/MOTD/2018/TexolinaRun-2018_v1.pdf Map: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/125+Everett+St,+Bryson+City,+NC+28713/459+E+Main+St,+Franklin,+NC+28734/Fontana+Village,+NC+28733/@35.2958116,-83.8105028,11z/data=!4m40!4m39!1m15!1m1!1s0x8859485ee3aba50b:0xf6d1813dfb913d83!2m2!1d-83.4465348!2d35.4290094!3m4!1m2!1d-83.449622!2d35.4280101!3s0x8859485943b9de95:0x3e1db50b625ae9fe!3m4!1m2!1d-83.4929815!2d35.3035466!3s0x885936ac48fec5a1:0x52d6b7c6698b7fc8!1m15!1m1!1s0x885924e6d2061817:0xb77d1077e50e2a4f!2m2!1d-83.3733462!2d35.1841521!3m4!1m2!1d-83.5803739!2d35.153923!3s0x88592cb86e69cac5:0xe34b995a5d9eb512!3m4!1m2!1d-83.8381912!2d35.3666405!3s0x885ec7281140fcef:0xd34ac49c20ed20fa!1m5!1m1!1s0x885eb8ee9bc41c5f:0x448b383171bc3f8a!2m2!1d-83.819065!2d35.4356433!3e0 Anyone and everyone is welcome (invite your friends). No sign-up is needed (unless you are doing the Ice Cream Run, then please sign up for that. If you want don't want to be a part of a formal drive, but would like some great drives to have in your pocket when you go (to do at your own leisure, on your own schedule), please feel free to print off that PDF above and these other ones that I'm running on other days... There are turn-by-turn directions with lots of maps and descriptions in each packet, but it's always the last page that I go to when I'm driving... an odometer mileage for each turn along the way, so you know when your turn is coming up. A great drive condensed to one page. Sunrise Drive around the Smokys (Wed & Thursday AM): The Dragon, the Foothills Parkway, Little River Road and Hellbender... great scenery and great roads. This is easily my favorite drive ever! http://minisonthedragon.com/files/SunriseDrive-2018.pdf The Donut Run: The Dragon, the Foothills Parkway & a swing past OutMotoring Corporate HQ and a MINI Dealership, with a return trip to Fontana via the Cherohala Skyway http://minisonthedragon.com/files/DonutRun2018.pdf

I've got the details worked out for the unofficial post-ice cream run... I'll be starting a new thread shortly.

The dechromed headlight rings on the newer cars really cleans up the lines! Nice work! I dechromed most of my R53... headlight rings, door pulls and the big chrome items went to dry-look CF vinyl in a medium grey. Other bits got paint (vents, headlight interiors and tail light interior trim)

FYI: At the bottom of the MOTD page for this drive there is a link to a PDF that I refreshed a few weeks back. It gives a event description, detailed instructions and maps for each turn and, my personal favorite, a single page driver's instruction sheet (on the back) that gives you odometer readings for each turn. Just reset your trip meter where it tells you to and you can recreate the drive yourself very easily... so even if you aren't going to join us at Sunrise, if you print the packet and take it with you, you will have a beautiful prepared drive in your pocket.

I think you found the Wednesday version of this run as well. I'm not leading that one (I'm in transit to Fontana on Wednesday), but I think it's 99% my original route, which is spectacular!

The donut run is spirited but not crazy. It has a new leader this year (me) and I'm a brisk-yet-responsible driver. This year it is a 'build your own adventure' style drive. Just want donuts and then want to head back to Fontana quickly? Great! Want to add on a visit to the OutMotoring HQ? Sure? Come along for part 2. Want to take the long way back to Fontana across the Cherohala Skyway? Join me for the full drive! Those folks that want to go crazy w/ speed on the Donut run are welcome to depart ahead of the main group... I'll be distributing turn-by-turn instructions if you need 'em. My very favorite run of all time is the Sunrise Through the Smokys, which is happening on Wednesday AND Thursday this year (I'm leading the Thursday run). It's early, but we will catch the sunrise while crossing the dragon and get some great pics, weather permitting, of the reason the mountains are called 'smoky'. Little River Road is my favorite place in the world... open the sunroof and the windows, turn on the seat heaters and live! I'm also setting up a post-Ice-Cream-run drive on Saturday... an unofficial drive for friends and anyone who wants to tag along. It will be a 3-4 hour addition to the end of the ice cream run, heading south on 28, crossing Wayah Road and returning to Fontana, passing through Robbinsville (for gas n food), making it back to Fontana in plenty of time to get to the farewell dinner. I'll post details on this drive to the forum once I get 'em all together.

Howdy all, I've got friends over here at DCMM and I've recently returned to the world of MINIs (I had to sell Jango, my first MINI love, 4-5 years back, but I just purchased Rufus, an '05 JCW, and I'm in the middle of a refresh), so I thought I'd post. I'm once again leading the Sunrise Drive Through the Smoky Mountains on Thursday morning at MOTD 2018. It's an early drive, but crosses my favorite roads in the US at an absolutely stunning time. When I am frustrated at work and need to go to my 'happy place,' this is where I go in my mind. Hope to see you there! Aaron

Mmmmm... Pepper white R53! My favorite! And holies to boot! Love 'em!

If anyone wants to ship their MINI west and fly out, send me a PM. I live about 12 minutes from the SFO airport (San Francisco) and would be happy to act as a receiver for the car and pick you up when your plane lands. PS: If you need a reference (that I'm just not some nut saying 'send me your car'), talk to Haemish. PPS: send me a message... I don't check this board that often.

Because Ali has been so cool, I'm going to open up my offer to all DCMM members: If you are going to do MINI Takes the States 2014 (July 26 to Aug 10, 2014) and you want to ship your MINI to the starting point and fly out to San Francisco (the starting point of the event), I will be happy to be the receiver of your car. I'll even drive it out to SFO airport (or a BART station, if you want to fly into Oakland or another Bay Area airport) to pick you up on your arrival. Your car will be kept either in a locked garage or a gated condo complex until you arrive and, if you ask nicely, I could have it washed for you. I only have a few parking spaces, so the first 2 people to contact me will be at the top of the list. MTTS: http://www.tpgevents.com/registration/minitakesthestates2014/index.cfm

So speedy! I knew the MINI community would come through for me! Slow clap for Ali! :congrats:

Howdy all! Who the heck is this guy? My name is Aaron and I know about DC Metro MINIs from my trips to the Dragon and from the national MINI boards (I'm partial to Motoring Alliance 'cause Nathan is a friend of mine, but I spent way too many hours on NAM as well ). I owned my R53, Jango, for 7 years before having to sell him for a move from Dallas to San Francisco. I've also been on some great runs w/ a DCMM member, Haemish, while at the Dragon. My need: I know it's a strange request, but I'm in need of someone from in the Washington DC area... someone who would be down near the White House (1 block north of the White House grounds), Mon-Friday during business hours. I now live near San Francisco, California, so it's not easy for me. I need you to go to the lobby of a law firm on I street and pick up a bobblehead for my wife! :stupid: Here's the story: My wife subscribes to a legal publication called "The Green Bag". Every year, they make a series of bobbleheads of supreme court justices. They are free with the subscription, but you can only get one if you take your certificate and show up at a law firm's office during business hours. They don't ship 'em... it is a pick it up in person or forget about it kind of thing. My wife has a collection of 'em, but the person who has helped us for the past few years has moved, so I'm stuck. In return for your time and energy, I will be forever grateful. As an expression of my thanks, I would be very happy to: 1. I'll send you a check for $30 (plus the return shipping cost) so you can have a nice lunch on me. 2. I'll send you a delicacy of your choice from San Francisco or perhaps a bottle of wine from Napa. There are also some great microbrews up this way that may not be available on the east coast. A chocolate fan? I can set you up! Got another idea, let me know! 3. If you are going to do MINI Takes The States (it starts in San Francisco, this July), I'll offer up 1 night in a twin-size sofa bed, along with secure parking and transport from the airport (10-15 minute drive from my house). I could also be a receiving point if you want to ship your MINI out here to start the drive... I'll meet the driver and take delivery of your MINI so it will be ready for you when I pick you up at the airport. How it works: I'd mail the certificate to you... you then pick up the bobble head at your own convenience (no massive rush... in the next month or so would be nice, so you have some flexibility in time) and mail it back to me. Thank you all for your time.