Resurrected Mini

She's ALIVE!
As you may recall, it's been a long haul.
April 25, 2008 : the saga begins
July 12, 2008: the continuing story

When last we left Mini, she was waiting patiently in line behind

the '79 Honda cx500 which has spent much of the past year living at the home of a bike fixer. It came home a couple of times but had to go back to the doc - torn stitches or something.

The age plus mystery-black-box-which-has-no-new-market-replacement-and-can't-be-circumvented-so-ya-gotta-find-an-old'en-that-works (gasp for breath here) made this fix challenging but now completed! Stan hopes to start ridin' it to work this week.
Now, to come up with a suitable name...

You can see that Mini welcomed the repaired old man with motherly tenderness & caution.

How do you like the new & improved Mini?

Gnarly?
Gotcha! (Or probably NOT!) That's not Mini.

That's some gangsta' wheels that whistled & tried to pick her up. "Hey, baby, come with me - I'm loaded."

Don't worry, we sent him packing.
(Who would do that to a Villager? LOL!)
Here's the real girl with master mechanic Robert checking out my marvelous mechanic's handiwork prior to starting the heart, eh, engine.
Stan wanted to MAKE SURE everything was hooked up the right way before adding the juice.

And she purrs! Just in time for summer with that frigid A/C! Yea!

Sidebar: Remember that BB had no A/C & the windows wouldn't budge - one reason I so missed Mini? For our anniversary BB got her A/C fixed. For my birthday, Robert helped Stan install a new driverside window motor so now my window goes down & up & down & up & down & up. :-)
But back to Mini: Still a little work is needed before she's officially on the road again - although those two took her for a little spin & got noticed by Mr. Policeman - of course, Mini had no hood & they ducked into a sideroad to quickly buckle their seatbelts (ticketing violation here in FL) & both realized that their wallets were still IN THE GARAGE. He followed them home but didn't stop them, PTL!

Living in the garage has not kept Mini from gaining some new body decor. Rachel claims Maryn is the heart artist but I'm not so sure. I see no signature & true artists ALWAYS sign their work.

Well, maybe not in a dust medium.

Here's a new face. This '89 Ford Taurus is Stan's new SHO car, standard with A/C & a sun roof, power windows & a security system that locks down everything until the proper code is entered in the door keypad.

I call her Beauty (Black Beauty, Beauty & the Beast - it fits!) but Stan wants a different name. Any suggestions?

Beauty is replacing Ranger as Stan's drive to work vehicle when he's not on the Honda. Ranger donated his tag to the cause & has been offered to the kids in age order for the price of transferring the title & purchasing a new tag & ins.

(suspenseful music here)

As Mini's saga ends, there are still some nagging questions:

Will Jacob take Ranger so he has a vehicle to drive when it rains OR will Caleb snatch up this deal so he has a vehicle ready & waiting when he gets his license OR will the boys let Rachel (who's always said she wanted a truck) become the new owner? Did Mini's A/C survive the engine transplant? Will Beauty gain a new name?

I'll keep you posted.