A classic shape
No Jaguar commentrary this week. Ayuh, they’re still here, but we’re also working the other end of the spectrum, and although they only show up here sporadically, we have two Minis in the shop right now, the right hand drive car here and also an Innocenti.
The white car is in for a routine service, Lube, Oil Filter, adjust timing & carb, check lights horn wipers. In fact we thought we were all done, but we wern’t.
Size
Matters
Butch road tested it to the Putney turn around and back, but I took it down to Westminster, and concluding that repairs were complete, I pulled it in the barn and parked it. This may have been serendipity, because I noticed a strong aroma of very hot brake lining coming from the back of the car. This was puzzling because we know the brake adjustment was correct and the hand brake mechanism wasn’t dragging.
Innocenti badge
One other thing we know is that one of the brake hoses on the front is new but the other one, as well as the rears, aren’t. This is our next avenue of exploration.
Normally, Labor Day weekend isn’t travel time for us, but Friday was an exception, as we had one of our E-type owners flying in from Ireland to have a look at his car which is at the Auto Shoppe of South Burlington, after having been partially dismantled and abandoned by ‘Vermont’s Premier Automotive Restoration Shop’. Because the Innocenti was near Burlington, this made a trip North viable, and I brought the car down to Westminster for a full pre-sale inspection.
948 Sprite engine in fresh paint
From the early sixties to roughly the mid seventies, Innocenti built Minis under license from the British Motor Corporation, although they may be better know as manufacturers of Lambretta motor scooters. Be that what it may, this one is a very well preserved car with virtually no mechanical faults beyond a bad shock on the right front, and it looks like its about to change hands and go to Seattle, Washington
Yesterday, I put what I thought was going to be final paint on the 948 Sprite engine, only to discover this morning that the oval flat washers for the timing cover and oil pan were still in the parts cart, primed and ready for installation. That oversight rectified, this engine now has three coats of paint, and I think it looks very nice.
