 |
Photos:Miscellaneous:My Poor Little Car
|
|
Moving to New England has been hard on my spunky little
MINI Cooper: A novice stick driver, piles of snow, road salt, and
knuckleheaded drivers who don't note whether the lane is moving before
they try to change into it. It suffers so... but it is cute and
sporty.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6 January 2005
Just a light dusting. Nothing at all compared to the day-after-Christmas storm (and others to come).
|
20 January 2005
Poor car, covered with icicles. At least the salt from the last storm has been washed off.
|
24 January 2005 - Snow Pile
Caught between a pile of snow as big as it... (The guy shovelling in the background told me "My girlfriend said the MINI wasn't getting out until April." We'll see.)
|
24 January 2005 - SUV
...and a giant SUV.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
31 January 2005
Even more salted encrusted now, after a 2nd storm and a bunch of highway driving. One good rain and it'll be time for another bath.
|
Salted and Crushed
1/2/05 - To add injury to insult, I got rear-ended coming home from work and now the back bumper/fender are crushed.
|
Corner view of the damage
The culprit was changing into my (stopped) lane, and so only clipped the corner.
|
Closeup of damage
Stuff got knocked in and makes noises when you drive it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Airbags deployed
I did get hit hard enough that the side airbags deployed on the right side of the car. Here you can see the one that comes out of the roof along the windows and the one that comes out of the seat. My nice leather seats are all ripped open now.
|
More Airbags
This is the other half of the top side airbag. The giant hose and the bar code on the bag crack me up.
|
Inside damage
For some reason, the back of the passenger seat fell off too. Very strange. Dunno if that's related to the airbags deploying or not.
|
Twins
I'm not the only MINI owner parking in the garage at work.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Last Snow of the Season
The winter indignities end, for a time. Alas, the Street Sweeper Follies are about to begin.
|
Visit to MINI Land
May was the month of visiting MINI land for a checkup. My car's evil twin pulled in nect to it, shortly after I arrived. (You can tell it's Evil, because the roof is black and the antenna is broken.)
|
ZOOOOM, my car's evil twin
Closer inspection revealed that my car's Evil twin is named "Zoooom."
|
Old MINI Cooper
An original MINI Cooper on the streets of Cambridge. This little thing makes mine look huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge. (See mine in the mirror?)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stuffed MINI
How much stuff can you fit in a MINI?
|
Stuffed MINI
A lot more than you think. MINI brings the first load from Costco to the new house.
|
Cracked Tail Light
My tail light mysteriously developed a crack during a road trip.
|
MINI Service Manual
Complete instructions for how to disassemble your car, with pictures.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
New Tail Light - front
The new tail light assembly.
|
New Tail Light - back
Back side of the new tail light assembly.
|
Old Light Out
Getting the tail light out took about ten minutes, mostly in getting the nut off the bolt.
|
Old Assembly with Bulbs Attached
Once I had the assembly out of the car, I had to get the bilbs out of the assembly.
|
|
|
|
|
Bulbs out of Light
The bulb assembly removed from the old light.
|
All Fixed
New tail light in the car.
|
|
|
|
|
|
