Maybe you could attach some fabric just on the very backs of the seats with stick on Velcro and you could just peel it off now and again and toss it in the washer but the fronts and sides would still be leather?

 

oops. sorry for the repost for those who read it before I could edit. laptop has been acting up on me and had the 'blue screen of death' while I was posting!

gbsim - good idea on the velcro thing. I may have to experiment some.

 

cool. be sure to post pics when installed. It should look very nice.

 

Nice to see some postings on our Week 32 thread. I confess that I've not driven Phantom since this past Thursday. Back in the "saddle" tomorrow, though.

gbsim, I wish your husband a speedy recovery!

I can highly recommend Nero, too. It's great on vinyl and plastic. I did send a note to Nick at Detailers Paradise asking what to use on the Leatherette seats. Here's what he advised:

"You can use Nero on any of the vinyl and plastic surfaces. For
cleaning, Nero has a little cleaner in it, but if you need more, mild
soap and water will usually do the trick."

Motor On...

 

Any update on the engine noise?

 

I found this thread that contains an explanation of the engine rattle that many have reported:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...=engine+rattle

 

Kinda curious about what the noise might have been? Noticed Tu13es posted on the thread. I'm still just learning about Hilla, I've read about different kinds of engine noises from rattles to whistles and whines. Hilla makes some noises, but I don't think they are one of these so far. Mostly they sound like different things either clicking on or off, but since it seems that several in our group have had some minor issues I was wondering what the problems were and if they were resolved?
One thing I did notice a couple of weeks back was a bit of liquid on the clutch pedal. I haven't noticed any change in it's operation nor any additional fluid or whatever it may have been. At the time I thought I had brought it into the car from outside, but I always get suspicious when others have had problems.

 

Hi everyone! Lucy has been taking a vacation in the garage as we took off for a long weekend trip to Disney in my husbands Clubbie! I didn't spot any other Clubman's, however we did pass a few Mini's and I am happy to report - most waved!

It was a comfortable trip, and people definitely look more at his mini then mine.. and I think it must be because of his color and strips... I think. (CR/B) He did point out a whistle the car makes, it is not from the engine... but we can't figure out where it is from. One issue we discovered is that the odometer is off 3 miles. He'll have to bring him in for a service on that. Otherwise - 2 thumbs up, he is enjoying his Mini very much!!

Nice to return and see week 32 thread still very much alive!!!

 

We just returned from a trip to North Carolina where we attended the Corvettes at Biltmore gathering. I know this is a Mini forum, but this event has revelance because on Friday we took a 250 mile road tour to run the "Tail of the Dragon" (we had 47 Corvettes). It was our first time on the Dragon and we plan to go back next Spring for "Minis On The Dragon 2009".

The trip to NC was beautiful - it's 650 miles from St Louis to Asheville, but overall we drove 1600 miles. The foilage on the trees in East Tennesse and North Carolina was awesome - as are the roads. Great Mini or Corvette driving / motoring! Weather was fantastic, although we had rain showers while on the Dragon. No rain in Asheville or at Biltmore Estate. If you have never been to the Biltmore Estate, it makes for a great road trip. The estate is amazing and the motoring in the area is exceptional. We have been to Biltmore before, but this time we were able to see the Christmas Candle Light Decorations.

We counted 19 Minis overall on the trip, including one we saw at Biltmore. We had 71 Corvettes in attendance with folks coming from Oklahoma. Florida, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Georgia, Virgina, West Virginia, and of course North Carolina. We were the only ones from Missouri. Believe it or not, some Corvette owners like to Motor, just like Mini owners...

 

Thanks for the note... you had an incredible trip. I love that part of the country, too, and hope to get to the Dragon sometime next year.

I second the recommendation of Biltmore. It is a fantastic place to visit, and I hope everyone has a chance to get there sometime. I've been twice, I think, but not recently, and never during the Christmas season, which is supposed to be the highlight of the year (I think the Christmas tree in the dining room of the house is supposed to be something like 40 feet tall - or maybe taller).

I was happy to get back to driving Phantom this morning. The smiles just never end.

 

The Biltmore really is not to be missed. The first time that I went there, I had my four young sons ages 5, 9, 10 and 12. I had to be talked into going because I thought that four young boys would be bored to tears but they loved it and it was a highlight of the trip (the headsets were a big help). A week later on the trip we were in Washington DC and decided not to bother with going to the White House because I was afraid that it might look like slum housing compared to the Biltmore!

 

I have had the joy of going to the Biltmore myself! Our first time was with our then 15 year old son, he was NOT very happy we were bringing him to this mansion, but just like your kids gbsim, it turned out to be a highlight of our trip! (good tip: the headphones really are a must!)

 

Wow everyone is taking their minis on trips, I got to spent a weekend up in Portland, Oregon but the mini had to stay home cause we flew. I dont get vacation time so the mini had hasn't gotten its highway legs yet. I do have to take it out to Palm Springs this Dec, but that isnt really that far away from my house only an hrs or two.

 

Looks like I'll be doing plenty of road trips over the next year:

Sebring, FL: ~2500 miles
Ft. Collins, CO: ~2000 miles
Elkhart Lake WI (twice): ~1000 miles x 2
Braselton, GA: ~1500 miles

looks like about 8K miles total...can't accuse me of not motoring...

 

Great to hear you had a nice trip!!!
I read somewhere in one of the threads that sometimes the water pump makes a sound that may be described as a whistle. Also some one had a loose mirror cover, that also made a whistling noise. I must be getting a bit paranoid, I keep reading all these problem threads just in case. Is your dealer nearby? I don't know whether it worth mentioning or not yet, but ever since gbsim's trip, I've been reading even more. Gbsim, how is Bernard, everything still okay?

 

I know how you feel, less than a quarter of Hilla's miles are on the highway!! I've never even had a chance to try the cruise control. Since, I don't drive on the highways and mostly stop and go city driving, my gas mileage has been in the mid 20's, which is okay since I tend to enjoy myself every opportunity I get!!!! She just likes to go quick on the corners!!

 

Yea sad thing is I only have like 600some miles on my car, i just dont live that far away from work. My old car was 7 years old and only had 30,000 miles on it when I sold it.

 

WOW! I struggled in the past to stay under 25K a year with my leased Suburbans. I leased three different times for 3 years/75K and only made it under once... had to pay the other two times.

Also had one that I put over 250K miles on and another with 190K. The fun part was when I figured out that it was about 230K miles to the moon, so I had driven that one to the moon and part way back.... or was I still going further?? And it's about 25K miles around the globe at the equator, so it's always fun to think about driving around the world several times in a year!

It doesn't help that the nearest store and the town with schools etc is 10 miles away and the "city" of Baton Rouge is 25 miles one way.

Also if I have a choice of drive or fly.... I don't mind flying, but I LOVE a road trip!!!

 

Hi, everyone. Sorry for the lack of postings. I've been out and about with work - not with the Coop
However, yesterday we actually had a break in the wet, cold weather so it was bath time. A little quality time is always a good thing in a relationship.

Things are going well. I haven't upgraded any more items. Xmas is coming so a few things will probably be on my wish list - black metal license plate holders with the Union Jack and Locking Tire Pressure caps.

What things do you want to add or is your MINI just perfect?

One other thing I'm just beginning to look at is my music. I did not go for the HIFI 7 speaker, but I'm finding the current one a little lacking. It's not bad, but I'd like a bit more richness. Any suggestions?

Well, I've got some makeup reading to do on this site, but I wanted to at least say hi.

 

Hi mrwickham, glad to hear your up and about!!!

I am perfectly happy with Hilla and other than cleaning and getting cleaning supplies, I haven't ordered anything - except the week 32 sticker!!!! Which still need to be installed! I didn't upgrade anything on the sound system since most of the time my wife does not like to have the radio on. I used the CD player once two weeks ago when we took a little one day trip. I found it functioning to my expectations, but I'm at the age when some levels of sound seem to weaken!!! So I kinda thought the extra cash on the high end system might not be worth it to me and I chose all the suspension upgrades I could get instead.

I have been looking around for a good quality tire pressure gauge, anyone recommend a particuler one. I've got a bunch of the old fashion ones from 30 years ago, but I think Hilla deserves a new one. Besides, it's getting harder to read the numbers on the stick!

Agreed on the quality time!!!

Does anyone use one of those hose nozzle sprays which has a soap reservoir? I've been wondering if that is a good idea to get or not. I am also looking into putting in a water filter system on the garage spigot - to soften the water.

 

With that kinda mileage your still going to have a new MINI when the warranty expires!!
I usually drive a total 12 to 16 miles in a day, if I don't make up an excuse to go drive!! We did a couple of small one day trips, just to get Hilla past the break in miles.

 

Wow. And I thought I didn't drive much!

If you take good care of it, you should be able to drive your MINI for many, many years. Sure keeps the cost down if you still love the car. Maintenance is almost always less expensive than car payments in my experience.

Have we ever seen a picture of your MINI? I find nothing in your gallery.

Don't forget to Motor! You at least need to get through the break-in.

 

I posted this in another forum, but thought Week 32ers might be interested, so here it is:

I completed my two-tank mileage test comparing manual vs. auto shifting with the MINI auto transmission. Here are the results:

First tank was shifting manually all the time. I up-shifted, but let the car downshift automatically. Of course, it downshifts only to 2nd gear. I tried to up-shift at about 2000 rpm as much of the time as possible.
439 miles at avg speed of 26.7 mph, used 13.267 gals of Shell 93, OBC = 34.7 mpg, hand calc = 33.09 mpg

Second tank was allowing the car to shift automatically all the time. I still tried not to take off quickly or stop suddenly.
414 miles at avg speed of 26.9 mph, used 12.95 gals of Shell 93, OBC = 33.9 mpg, hand calc = 31.97 mpg

I seemed to do about 1 mpg better shifting manually. I attribute that to being able to take-off from stoplights in 2nd gear, and shifting at 2000 rpms almost all the time. For what it's worth.

 

I posted pics here but that was awhile ago I should put some in the gallery.

 

Please do!!!
I did notice there is a limit on pics due to size in the gallery, I wonder if there is a way to reduce their size after they are already loaded?