Project Snicket, Hard Work Pays Off

Today was the day; Recheck day.

Everything had been building up to today. All the work done, all the money spent, it all comes down to a pass or fail today.

First thing I needed to do was get the alignment sorted. I had booked for an alignment first thing this morning, so that I would have ample time to get that done and still make it to my recheck booking. They got onto it straight away

And within no time, I had this sheet in my hands

Yes, that is 21.5mm total front toe, when it should be 1mm total! No wonder it was scrubbing the front tires hard. With that sorted, the car drives much nicer now, and the steering wheel is finally straight when driving.

After the alignment I shot home and refitted the front carpet. Its torn and ugly, but looks better than the bare floors. Remember, I’m trying to make an impression so the inspector plays nice 😉

I hooned in for my appointment. This confirms my suspicion that the car doesn’t really suit 100kph motorways. It gets to, and holds, that speed OK, but it’s pulling almost 4000rpm and there is some tasty shaking at times. Need to check the wheels for balance, which I may do next week. I suspect it’s out. I may even paint the wheels while I have them off as they are a bit rusty.

Looks good just sitting there

I went away and killed some time and when I returned, lo and behold, this happened

For the first time since 2012, Snicket is road legal! With the standard black plates still!

This was a car that when I got it, barely ran, had no brakes, had no lights, leaked oil a lot, various things were loose and missing, and had been used as a parts mule. Now it runs like a champ, it’s great fun to drive, and best of all, it’s a viable classic car again. Others would have just scrapped it and we would be short one more awesome classic Mini, but now it’s actually worth investing time and money into, and being able to enjoy it.

I drove home the back way, arm out the window, enjoying the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, whilst listening to the sweet sound of a 998cc A Series purring away. I couldn’t help but stop and grab a couple of quick pictures

It’s a great little car, and though for what I have spent I could have purchased a tidier one that was already on the road, I wouldn’t have been able to save this car.