Garage Clearout

Dear fellow Scampers,

Bad news: I've been diagnosed with a condition that means I can no longer drive.  Consequently I shall be putting my Scamps up for sale.

Moreover, if I can't drive, tinkering with cars as a hobby loses much of its appeal.  So a heap big garage sale is in the offing: Scamps, spare parts and tools will all be up for grabs.  I'll post a list in the New Year.

Bob

Hi Bob.
So sorry to hear this, after your restoration of  Rum Tum to her former glory you must devastated not to enjoy the fruits of your labours. Take care. Best Wishes from John and Jan

Hi Bob,

Very sorry to hear this news, especially after all your good work on Rum Tum Tugger!

Still looking for a Scamp at the moment so PM me with details when you feel up to it.

Take good care of your self; best wishes and the best of luck in the future Rob G.

Hi Bob,

That's really sad news......I hope you can keep up your other hobbies.

All the best for now.

Dave & Alison (& the Kids)

So sorry to here of your problems,you will certainly be missed by one and all........especially around the camp fire with your superb and very witty songs. Your memories will live with me forever,from the smell of your cooking experiments in France and that wonderfull impromptue barn dance with all of those nationalities trying desperately hard to keep up! To the early picnics with your friend and a squeeze box to accompany you,such brilliant,brilliant memories. Keep in touch Bob, we will have to make a special effort to come and visit,maybe a pub meet in your area.
Keep well my friend.

Well said Chris,

I can just remember those early "Ottershaw" picnics with squeeze box accompaniment, wonderful memories - Thank You Bob.

Hopefully a pub meet near Rum Tug can be arranged in 2014, good thinking Chris. Have a wonderful Yule Tide/Christmas Season One and All.

RG.

Thank you all for your kind messages of support.  I might indeed be able to arrange a pub meet locally, or even a camping weekend - there's an excellent site not far away.

Things could be much worse: at least I'm (more or less) physically fit, I don't have to get to work, and I get free bus travel. There are even compensations: I shall save motoring expenses comparable to what I pay in income tax, and will be able to drink as much as I wish!

Sorry to hear this, Bob. We love the fact that you're keeping your high spirits up though... the show must go on.   

Wishing you a Merry Christmas & All the Best for 2014,
Elaine&Reg.    

So sorry to hear that Bob. I know you will be missed at all events - a meet up in your area is a great idea.
Wishing you a very Happy Christmas in spite of your news. It is good to see that you are looking on the bright side.
Take care

Hi Bob, 

I'm absolutely gutted for you. Especially since you've given RTT a new lease of life.  

So the Mk1 Scamp known as "Rum Tum Tugger", owned by me since it was built in 1973, is up for sale.

Brief spec: Mildly tuned 1100 engine, some suspension mods. Soft top, hard doors.
Last year's makeover included rebuilt engine & gearbox, and a professional paint job.
Currently SORN'd.  MoT till August.  Tax exempt from April.  Full history since 1980.
Driveable as it stands, but work is needed to make everything as it should be.

Included with the car are a matching 5' x 3' goods trailer and new & used spares enough to fill it, including 4 wheels fitted with Hakka M&S tyres. N.B. Car should not be used for towing until engine has been run in.

Detailed spec:

• Engine: 1098cc, A+ (ex 1978 Clubman), reconditioned, +.020" rebore. Mini Spares Stage 1 manifolds (LCB) & exhaust. Piper 255 cam, 1.3:1 roller tipped rockers. 70 amp alternator.
  
• Gearbox: reconditioned, with 4-pin diff & centre oil pickup.
  
• Suspension: Standard 10" steel wheels. HiLos all round. Negative camber bottom arms. Adjustable dampers.
  
• Brakes: 7.5" Cooper S discs + drums with ½" bore wheel cyls (less liable to lock up). Servo.
  
• Body: 4-seater. Volvo front seats. Professionally repainted last year. Modified front panel, detachable. Ali skinned doors (supplied by Robert Mandry as part of hardtop kit), fitted with acrylic sliding windows. Soft top. Spare wheel carrier under rear seat. Stowage for hi-lift jack. Tow ball fitted directly to chassis, which is suitably braced.
  

Work needed (I'll be honest about this):

• Oil leaks from diff covers, guess I messed up the bearing preload.  Might be fixable in situ, at least the shims are fitted on the opposite side from the exhaust.
  
• Doors were braced to stop the window frames flopping around, but do not now fit correctly.  This job needs to be redone: I'd use pop rivets & filler, but for perfection, ali would need to be welded.
  
• Soft top is showing its age (30 years) and will need to be replaced before long.
  
• Underside of rear cross-member needs a patch welded on.  Nothing to do with rust – the handbrake cable apertures were put in the wrong place.
  
• Roller rockers need to be adapted for small bore head (as described by Keith Calver in Mini Magazine).
  

I shall be sorry to see it go, especially with the improvements I'd planned unfinished, but under the circumstances I really don't see any point in trying to keep it.  But I don't mind passing on the torch to somebody with more enthusiasm than sense the enthusiasm of youth who can carry on where I left off.

Life is a bugger sometimes but so long as you can find things to keep you happy and busy it'll all pan out in the end (i hope - cos that's my working theory)

sorry to see you getting shot but hopefully as you say keen people will take up the challenge.

Hope you keep well.
Regards, Alan.

Well folks, I'm glad to say that one of what I think of as my extended family (don't ask) has agreed to buy the Mk1.  So it should stay in circulation for a while yet, and I'm hoping you may even see it again at Club events.

The Mk2 is a rebuild job - 6 months to a year at a guess - and is described in another thread.  Club (all right then, forum) members thus can have first refusal before I get around to putting it on e-Bay.

That leaves the garage clearout.  I have the following to dispose of:

• 1100 A-series short engine.  Reconditioned 1999, removed after 6500 miles (so nicely run in), dry stored since with bores oiled.
  
• Mini gearbox, A+ type, together with clutch housing & transfer gears.  In use until last year with no problems.  Currently attached to...
  
• 998 Metro HLE short engine, ready for a recon.
  
• Flywheel & pressure plate, need refacing, together with new clutch disc (pre-Verto).
  
• 3 differentials c/w FD pinions - just the works, no cases.  Two, and possibly the third, are for the old rubber Maltese Cross type couplings.
  
• Two radiators, leak-free.
  
• Engine trolley - a steel framed platform 84cm x 47cm (2'9" x 1'6") on casters, preferably after the engines & gearbox have gone.
  
• Reclining seat, sound structure but upholstery needs attention.
  
• Gantry for engine hoist, fits over Scamp, dismantles for storage/transport.
  
• Hand winch, currently fixed to a trailer coupling.  The reason for the front towball on the Mk1!
  
• Wardrobe-sized cupboard full of new & used spares.
  
• Extension frame to convert a Mk2 to a 6-wheeler.  Running gear not included.  Needs some welding.
  
• Pair of ramps
  
• Pair of axle stands
  
• Steel framed workbench, 7' x 2'8". Preferably after the stuff piled on it has gone.
  

Offers approaching £100 are invited for each of the first two items, but just good homes for the rest.  Goods will need to be collected from Ivinghoe, 9 miles from M1 junc. 11.  Anything that isn't spoken for by (say) the end of May will be Freecycled or scrapped.

Pictures and further items may be added - watch this post!

.

Refresh - a few changes have been made to the list.

Oh dear, two years on and I've still got a lockup half full of clutter...
Another break-in (nothing lost, the little that was worth nicking had been nicked last time) prompts me to action at last!  Most of the stuff described in the earlier posts is still there.  Anyone interested in anything, please let me know by Easter.

Oh and I still have the Mk 2, although the knowledge that I shall never be able to drive it is proving a bit of a disincentive to further work.

Perhaps someone could post an advert on the Facebook page for you assuming that's any more busy than it is on here.

Yes please, if somebody could.

I don't know if the Facebook things is any busier than it is on here I'm not allowed on there, might get some interest as Mini bits seem to be getting expensive.

Is there anything to stop you using a Scamp on private property. Could you make the Mk2 you have for off road use only, you then have the problem of getting it there though.

The only off-road place it would be suited for is a canal towpath...

It would be a shame to mess it about as it has a history but would it take much to put it back to a more normal Scamp style ?

Could be done: it seems the builder started with just a chassis, modified the front end a bit, added the cab framework and scratch-built the body from materials to hand.  The front end could be remodelled without difficulty, retaining the sloping bonnet and the extended front end (and the front radiator), but chopping the cab would need a lot more work.

And as you say, it would be a bit of a shame.