Well we made it...11,300 kilometres/7,053 miles. Started out June 20th to cross Canada to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, on to Mid-Ohio track for 55th anniversary classic Mini Challenge racing (49 classics took the starting grid on June 29th), on to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a look, on to Milwaukee Wisconsin for continental Mini Meet East Meets West July 2-6, crossed from Milwaukee to Iowa, South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana & Idaho before popping up into British Columbia to rejoin our outbound route the Crowsnest Highway.
I have included a photo of the historic Kimes race Mini that was beautifully rebuilt by Andy & Rachel Nelson of Canada and was driven by Nick Swift at Mid-Ohio. Nick's drive was brilliant finishing 2nd only to Joe Huffaker's GT-Lite rear wheel drive Mini and ahead of all the 13" wheeled, tub framed GT-5 Minis.
Few issues...a little lacquer or other debris in the 1 1/4" SU on day one but Mini cleared its throat and off we went. Had rebuilt the suspension with all new rubber cones, knuckles, wiggly pins, adj. lower arms, adj. tie-rods, adding hi-los to rear, new bushes throughout, laser aligned...and new cones collapsed almost immediately...so several stops to readjust ride height. We also lightened the load and sent some gear home with a friend (in a Subaru)from Milwaukee, carried no extra fuel etc.
Extreme rain/wind events in Winnipeg, Manitoba and in Ohio saw Mini flooded out, so mcgyvered solutions to first bag the dizzy, then sleeve the coil & wiring with water bottle. After that Mini was OK in other extreme rain/wind.
In Iowa, the clutch stop jam nut came off and throw-out stop walked in...moments to remove stop nut adjust clutch.
The little 1098 hauled us up the hills...slowly if steeper but steadily like the 5,000 foot ascent of Granite Pass (9,033 ft. elev.) over the Bighorn Mountains (some plus 13,000 feet) in Wyoming.
Two bad loads of fuel in Montana, one at West Yellowstone the other in Troy. Both led to misfires and the Mini died on the climb over the Kootenay Pass with the fuel from Troy. Added choke and we got over the top. Clean fuel in Canada and we ran fine the rest of the way home.
Falken tires (165x60x12") were done on getting home. 2 were new up front from Brisbane to Tasmania return (5,000 miles) and on this trip to South Dakota when they went to the rear. The rear tires had been new in Adelaide and were used up front until getting to Brisbane at the end of the 'One Lap'. They went to the back and stayed there until South Dakota...12-14,000 miles maximum for the 4 tires. I'm sure losing the benefits of the laser alignment did not help...but tire wear was extreme. Had 2 slicks on the back on getting home.
Have new set of Yokie A539s and am refinishing the mags before installing them.
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