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- betty |
Betty the Mini 25
B394 GFS, aka Betty, came to me in September 1998, oh it seems such a long time ago! Yet she had covered less than 100 miles by February 2000. You can tell that there is a sob story to follow. £275 of hard earned (thanks Dad) bought a the fine 1984 Mini 25 you see before you. One problem - the clutch and crankshaft had had a difference of opinion some months before. Ah well, ever keen to learn! After much work, with the help of Mr Haynes I discovered the crank was finished (I also developed some new combinations of colourful Anglo Saxon language). Time to find another engine for the smallest possible outlay. After a couple of options disappeared I heard about an F reg engine that I could have for free. Hooray!! But I would also have to take the red heap of crap Metro which surrounded it. Boooooo!! Never look a gift horse in the mouth. I'll find somewhere to ditch the shed later. 
This has brought us to early 1999 and I have an "on-the-road" target of June 19th for the Scottish Mini Weekend. It didn't happen! By June 19th 1999 F578 LGB had become a cube after donating her engine (the only good thing about Metros?), but Betty was still suffering. I drove to Kinross in my Dad's Escort (thanks Dad), but I couldn't face taking it inside. So I parked at the service station and got a lift into the event in Keith Tait's (now sadly missed) mini - Alfie. Alfie is in the background here, on my front lawn. Anybody in Edinburgh should be familiar with this loud, dark blue mini with the numberplate on the bonnet. Unfortunately he stuffed Alfie in the Borders with terminal results. 
The summer brought on a bit of a purple patch in Betty's development. Over a period of weeks I (with a some help) performed a heart transplant before trying to drive her home from Edinburgh to Stirling. She wouldn't start, although she had before. So we had to tow her (thanks Dad). This was a faultless, uneventful journey for about half a mile! I can safely say that, from experience, it is not a good thing when your front left wheel rolls past your driver's window! Three nuts on each wheel, we continued. And we made it! She was delivered to our friendly, tame (mini expert) mechanic for a pre-MOT and test, and after a bit of a delay she hit the road on February 10th 2000. Definitely in time for the 2000 show!!!! Since then Betty has taken part in the Thistle Run in 2000 and 2001 with no complaints. Her only real problem was during the depths of winter 2000/2001 when she froze and burst her heater martix (yes, I know that's my fault!) 
Many thanks to: - Ross Sutherland for putting me in touch with the previous owners, and for towing the heap of shit Metro to my home. And Finally... Thanks Dad! * * * UPDATE - Betty is awaiting restoration after failing the dreaded MoT in January 2002 * * *
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