6/14/13

Okay, I have exactly two years and five months until my fiftieth birthday.  Tomorrow we’re going to Little Elm to, at the very least look at, and most likely buy that Mini.  I sent an e-mail to Mini Mania asking if the “Fuel Economy” engine I have will work with their installation kit.  They say it will.  What I forgot to ask is if the remapped ECU they sell will work with my engine.  That, in hindsight, is what I was actually trying to find out but didn't quite know how to ask the question.  I suppose it doesn't really matter since I probably wouldn't buy the $7,050.00 kit which includes the ECU anyway.  No, if I do go that route, which we all know is most likely, I'll get the middle-of-the-road kit which includes the coil-over shocks and radiator with the sub-frame and suspension.  If I'm not mistaken, it is something like $3,160.00… which is the exact amount.  I know because I just looked it up again.  Anyhoo, I also have the $1,195.00 coil-over rear sub-frame on my Mini Mania wish because… well, I guess because it is only money.  Now, I think it suffices to say that if I drop $4,355.00 on shiny new sub-frames and suspension bits, and plop a relatively modern donk in there, the thing can't be left all rusty and ugly.  Say what?  Okay, that is exactly the opposite of what it will be!  The thing will be a Rat Rod Mini with really cool underpinnings and years of patina on the outside.  I just erased a bunch of malarkey about driving away from various cars at the lights and in the twisty bits.  It was pure crap… unlike the watered down crap I usually spout here.  Okay, I just went back to Mini Mania and added a few more items to my wish list.  I added a big brake kit and the kit to allow that kit to be installed.  With all of that stuff, I'm still $590.00 under the $7,050.00 ultimate VTEC installation kit.  Hang on, I gotta go look for rear brakes now!  Okay, adding the “Big Drum” kit and a handbrake handle thingy, which I'll ‘splain in a bit, bumps my wish list to $6,672.90 before shipping.  That is still $377.10 below the ultimate kit, which includes the ECU I might not be able to use, but has no rear brakes or suspension.  Methinks my PayPal MasterCard might get a big balance again in the not too distant future.  Of course the Datsun floor-pan is still in the running, but… well, I just don’t know.  Oh, so here’s the poop on that handbrake thing I mentioned.  It is some sort of little hoozis which goes in the parking brake handle.  What it does is basically reverse the operation of the button.  To SET the brake, you pull the handle and push the button.  To do pikey handbrake turns and stuff, you just yank the handle and then let it go.  How it works, I have no idea.  There has to be some engineering voodoo in there… but I want one.  So there’s all of that going on.  Okay, I guess I'm just about talked out for today.  I'll let y'all know how the trip to Little Elm went when I talk to y'all again on Monday.  Oh, one more thing.  I decided to drive The Seven to work today.  I'm a total fuck-tard for even thinking about buying this Mini… much less dropping another seven large into it.  The Seven is plenty of toy car and I really otter put the Mini money into new shocks, springs, and tires for it.  But I have always wanted a Mini…  Well, we’ll see what happens tomorrow in Little Elm.