Yes, but I fear there are not a lot of these kinds of cars in Tucson.  I'll read some of the clutch articles and check back later, thanks.

It seems like you have a lot to learn. You'll find all sorts of advice here that will probably overwhelm you. Your clutch problem, for example, could have several solutions. Hopefully you can find somebody knowlegible in your area and go by what he/she says.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.  This is the best picture I can find, sorry I don't know more.  We did have a new engine put in that was quite expensive but the car has just sat in the garage for about a year after my divorce.   The shop said to start the engine every few months and that's all the activity the little guy gets.

Now today I cranked it and the starter makes a cranky noise but the engine does not "catch".  The battery in the trunk is somewhat new, an Interstate, I have a "trickle" charger (?) hooked to it that says 13.2.  Before today it did catch but putting it into gear made a horrible noise, hope I am not doing something wrong.

Sxsman yes there is a story there, not sure about wanting to bring it up just yet

Welcome Suemini...

   Love the colour too....

 But hey if I can work an a motorcycle ..I know you can work on your Mini..

, lot's of helpful folks and a few over-enthusiastic ones here.

Kind of a John Deere paint scheme there, a number of race cars still run those colors. Jeg's right, fill in your profile, there might be a local mini club near you. Information and fun (also help) might be close by.

Have fun, look around, and if the hounds get to frisky, we'll take em to the Vet and get them neutered.

You pups behave, ya hear ?

SxS

Ps, I'm going to guess your car is an early 80's car. Need more info.

You've got me wondering about the picture of you, car in storage locker and ex.

You look surprised, he looks like he could be on one knee, any story there ?  

No he's not but quite a few of us are profesionals and there's a whole host of good mechanics who arn't profesional! As has already been said we need to find out what year and spec your car is unfortunatly what it says on the title is not a reliable source for this info! Lots of cars got earlier titles applied to them to allow import and registration. So good photos of engine compartment and interior/exterior will make it a whole lot easier. Plus a location would help we dont need an address just a general idea! Mini people generally are a good bunch willing to help out a fellow sufferer...........................Paul

Hello Sue , Wecome. Please get us a picture of your motor. Thats where we will start. Having someone come to your place to look at what you have will pay off. Knowing what motor you have will be helpful when you order parts. As nice as Velocity might be ,always verify with us before using any of his advise. Voodoo doesn,t fix cars mechanics do. Cheers from the great white north.

Thank you velocity, are you a mechanic?

Welcome Suemini...

Classic minis are easy to maintain, but if i were you, since you are a girl and very pretty,i'd just ask somebody to do it like perhaps your brother or uncle etc,,,honestly if you live anywhere near me i can do all the oil change and everything for you free of charge., i can even do a wheel alignment on your mini.  Well, just like what jeg said, pls fill up your profile information and we'll go from there.

We are very happy to have you on board,,you're in the right place, people here are nice(uhm) and very helpful.

btw, i'm drinking some wine now while working on my mini's ignition system.

damn, why can't we send private messages to members in this forum? that function is better than sxsman's smiley face icon...calling on jemal!!!

As silly as it sounds, if you finish filling in your profile, there might be a local club or boardmember local to you who can help you out. 

Otherwise, start with one step at a time.  Hard to start sounds simple enough - is it because you don't use it and the battery is low or you've got a poor ground connection because the vehicle hasn't been serviced?

The basics - distributor cap & rotor, spark plugs & wires, oil in the carburetor suction chamber, ignition points gap, air filter, blocked fuel filter or carb float chamber needle-valve won't make it hard to crank over, but could contribute to poor performance when it is running.

Later on, we'll collectively teach you how to grease your ball joints, suspension arms and radius arms.  And so on -

I like the colorscheme -

Cool colour.

You'll learn a lot by reading some of the articals.....particular about Identifying your car etc.
From your picture we can tell it's not a 1965 car ...can't see the dash or door so can't count out MkII, but the boot lid is saying MkIII+...more pics...keep them coming

ok thank you hopefully I have done this picture right, this has the ex-husband in it which i cannot photoshop out unfortunately!

On the title it is a 1965 Mini Cooper S model.   He got it in Birmingham and we drove it briefly.  I would like to drive it, honestly I love it to death,  but it is difficult to start cranking and also hard to get into gear.

I'm afraid to take it to a repair shop because I would like to learn how to take care of it myself and I realize how bad the bill can be.  I hope this is helpful.  Thanks for the article links, I hardly know where to start.

Welcome -

I always recommend that newcomers to this community check out the articles pages on our host's site.  Not that you need to do your own diagnosis or repairs, but to help orient you as to what you've got and you'll know what folks are talking about when they go into details.

In these articles pages, //www.minimania.com/article_list.cfm you'll find many different catagories; everything from technical, historical and social.

Enjoy -

Sue...tell us what year your car is, engine size etc....and a picture of it inside and out.

The clutch on these can be a bit tricky, but could simply be out of adjustment

And Hi !

Hello i have a mini classic, yellow.  Hopefully this forum can help because I've tried searching but it is a little confusing.

I do not drive it very much and am wondering if I am shifting wrong.  It is very difficult to put into first and I am grinding the gears.  Sorry for the silly question.

Sue