Well, Mini4ever, had you attended a Mini Meet you would know that it is the locals who complain about the mid-week schedule. We know who you are, so in the interests of your personal safety its best you stay away and there's no way you have 20 friends. If you have 1 friend I'd be surprised.

I guess whichever state or country you hold the MMW event there is always resistance and unhappy people. And these unhappy people are mostly the ones living far from the venue, well it's normal. But in my opinion, San Diego as a venue for MMW is perfect. the only problem as Spank pointed out is the driving force from organizers.
Whereas in San Francisco, the number of mini enthusiast there is overwhelming, the Shasta mini group to name one is a very active mini group. But to me,  Sanfo as the venue is not so perfect compared to San Diego, and when i say not so perfect, i mean to say the roads are not so suitable for minis, as we all know, San francisco has lots of hilly roads, almost 80% of the roads are very steep, one thing minis don't like.
If you drive your mini going up a 50 degree angle hill, by the time you reach the top, your 850cc mini would be smoking like hell.

I'm in agreement with you, Thorty.

I personally felt there was a lot of outside pressure to hold MMW in San Diego. Admittedly, I was one of the staunch opponents of San Diego hosting the event because I could not commit to helping as I felt I should and I did not feel our informal SD club had enough dedicated resources to pull it off.

I recognized long ago that my opposition was based on my ego, narcissism and my own self-importance.

And I'm humbled to say, it appears I was wrong and that MMW 2016 has the absolute best people involved in organizing and bringing the event to fruition. I have consciously stepped aside from Day 1 because I knew if I was not going to be able to help, then I'd damned-well better not be a negative force to inhibit their momentum and progress.

Steve Alexander took the reins and said the right things to the right enthusiasts and everything started snowballing. Co-Chairs Joanie and Susan are an unstoppable force of combined newbie enthusiasm and grizzled experience. Both have previously put on conventions for tens-of-thousands of participants and are packing the same amount of energy into an event for a couple hundred! The attention to detail that I've seen snippets of is astounding. MINI/mini enthusiasts are extremely fortunate this scenario has worked to create the Best-of-All-Possible Outcomes.

If there are people in the Bay Area who want to host the event, by all means let them host the event. For all of the people who want to sign a petition and create outside pressure to determine the next location, let them put their $ where there signatures are and let them be willing to put up a minimum $100 seed money in pre-paid partial registration via a go-fund-me account that is also non-refundable in the event they decide not to attend because the event is on the "wrong" dates, at the "wrong" venue, or "doesn't offer ala-carte pricing" (or any host of other complaints that surround any event).

Showing your verbal or written online support for an entity or group of people is wonderful. But be careful to not cross the line into social-media bullying. I'm not sure where this petition for a Bay Area Meet rests with regards to that spectrum, but I think that by saying "I support the decision to hold MMW 2017 in the SFBay area" is tantamount to saying, "I will dedicate my time and energy to hosting this event" OR "I am pledging that I will attend the event if you host it in the SFBay area and here is $100 to signify my unrefundable commitment to the event."

Spank, we don't have kids in school (grandkids only) however timing for Canadians with children in school just doesn't work as exams for graduating students don't begin until June 20th in British Columbia. Result, no younger families coming south from Canada.

However, every Meet involves compromises and I'm glad to escape most of the decisions/ramifications. We will head south on June 2nd looking to take photos to tell a story to those at home.

We have booked all accommodation down and half way back up...when I got to Lakeview, Oregon I said I've got to find a better way!

Look forward to visiting 'moose & parka free' San Diego!

Mini Meets that are held mid-week are those that are hoping to attract out-of-towners to the event. Out of town travelers can take just 1 week of vacation from work and spend the weekend before and after traveling to and from the event location and at a much more comfortable pace. It gives 9 consecutive days "holiday".

For weekend events, they cater mostly to the locals who don't need to travel to or from. For a weekend event, people who are a state or so away must take off at least Friday and Monday and possibly more and then have to potentially go straight to work the day after they return.

Or this would mean going to work for 3 days, Mon-Wed then taking off Thursday-Fri to travel to and attend a weekend Mini Meet and then take off Mon-Tue to travel home and returning to work for a Wed-Fri shortened work week. The mid week event doesn't force travelers to break up 2 different work weeks.

As a local who has a child in his last week of school during MMW and who is only 30+ miles from the venues, the dates are not so great. But we'll all attend what we can.

The other consideration is affordability and venue accessbility. Some people were practically crying to have San Diego host MMW in earlier threads. and with graduations taking place all over the San Diego the week after Mini Meet and with the jump in hotel rates for weekends and for later summer dates, my understanding is these were the best compromises for venue accessibility (like autocross and car show and hotel) and for encouraging people to travel to America's Finest City for fun and minis/MINIS. There would ALWAYS be something to complain about, though. But I'm already looking forward to MMW 2017 in NorCal!

If you are local, pretend you are going to make this your 1-week family Staycation and come have a ball ALL WEEK LONG.

I still can't exhaust thinking WHY the MMW 2016 is being held on weekdays.. Right in between the 2 weekends, as if  they avoiding the weekends, i dunno what's with the weekends.  What about the mini enthusiast who wants to see the event but works on weekdays?  I invited about 20 of my friends to come and see the MMW , but they all asked me the same questions "Why On Weekdays?".
and they all told me, maybe because minis are for retirees,, i said nah,its for everybody who are free spirited and who wants to have fun.

Deleted by SxS

Rick, we may see you on the road on the way down if you are taking the coastal route. We are headed out Thursday June 2 along the coast and then headed back using inland route. You can keep track of where we are by following our blog of the trip..

//mmw2016trip.blogspot.ca/

6 pages of banter and now it's only less than a month away. I sure hope everyone who pushed for this to happen in So Cal is going to be in attendance.

There are a lot of folks working tirelessly to make sure this goes off spectacularly, with Joanie and Susan leading the charge.

If you haven't already made your arrangements, get on the stick!

And you'd better bring your car out to the autocross, too! Steve has whipped up a course that'll be talked about for the ages. Perfect for everything from casually cruising around in your mini with magic wand 850 with single leading drum brakes all the way up to to mind-numbing full race spec cars. No guessing which way to turn at a cone-- it'll be all marked out and lined from start to finish. If you don't care about your time: GREAT! Minis don't have to be pushed to the ragged edge to remind you of how fun they are. But if you get an itch to put pedal to the metal (or carpet), we bystanders would love hear the tires talk!

MMW is All-inclusive-- one price gets you everything whether you are in a mini or a MINI. Life (and MMW) is short, so enjoy it ALL!

//minimeetwest2016.com

With regards to the swarf John i use grease on the drill bit and it seems to catch the swarf. You might try Moss Motors for the track rod ends. 

Rick, those are the same as I recently recieved from MSC - no grease nipples.

I'll see about taking one of the old ones apart and look at how thick the cap is.  Most of the online images show a thin washer under the zerk fitting.  In order to avoid swarf getting lodged behind the cap, I'd rather not drill into it fully assembled.  It may not be worth the effort though ...

Just a thought John couldn't you drill the cap tap the hole and install grease nipples ? Try it on one of the old sets first.

This item - as seen on ROO - is available from Hunter Classic Sports Cars...should be generally available...not sure why not.

Sorry for the potential detour on the way to MMW 2016 -

 

I ask because in our host's part descriptions, as well as other descriptions from UK Midget and Sprite suppliers, I didnt' think they came in 7/16UNF threads as per our host's equivalent 'longer' mini rod end.  Granted, I've never measured the threads on my mini's steering rack, but the usual items have simply screwed on without difficulty.

 

These are our host's long GSJ158-Steering-Tie-Rod-End-Outer-Long-Midget-After-1972 - which fit the mini, same as the normal 'short'

GSJ100 ends.

And our host's Spridget version with grease nipples: STR136-Track-Tie-Rod-End--Sprite--Mg-Midget---Morris-Minor-After-1959 which our host states as being 5/8UNF and fit midgets/sprites up to 1972 or Morris Minor after 1959.  Which of course, didn't look like they'd fit -

jeg,

The track rod ends are for Sprite so you should be able to find them.  I got mine from a local supplier who supplies TR, MG bits etc. as well as Mini.

Rick

Rick, where did you get those steering rod ends?

 

I received a box o'bits from MSC a couple of weeks ago and planned on finally getting to a few small jobs on the front suspension.  I've got new C-STR687 cones, new C-AJJ1572 longer steering rack rod ends, ball joint shims, knuckle joint cups and a full compliment of bushes (offset and combo-poly) and so on, but I haven't come across any of those greasable ends before.  While it's dismantled, I'll also be replacing the shafts and bearings in the upper arms.

 

These will be the 3rd pair of steering rack ends that I install in my 17 years of owning this particular mini.  Not because they're horribly worn, but I replace them when they get relatively sloppy.  It'd be really nice to be able to give them a shot o'grease every now and then, so I wouldn't mind shelving these that I have and getting those greasables! 

 

I hope you chronicle your trip - always fun to read.

Can't wait....I'll be there with my Inno!

After ROO landed in Canada in January 2014, I found I needed a new clutch master near the end of May.

I also decided to put hi-los in the rear, new rubber springs front/rear and check/reset the Koni dampers up front, new HD adjustable lower arms & tie-rods/control arms, new wiggly pins & bushes for the new lower arms, new steering rack rod ends (longer, greasable Spridget type), repack the rear wheel bearings while swapping over to Cooper S drums.

All followed by a laser wheel alignment to set up at <1 deg. neg. camber f/r, 3.5-4.5 deg. caster at front, more on the ditch side for road crowning, std. toe-out at front, zero toe at rear.

Front rubber springs were 4 dot & rear 3 dot...the latter collapsed as we headed across Canada.  Two stops to adjust the length of the rear trumpets before getting to Sault Ste. Marie.  Coming home we had a Club friend in a Subaru carry some of our extra gear west from Milwaukee and we gave him everything we would not need when we got to the Missouri River, as he had to sprint on ahead.

After I got home I swapped out the 'new' rubber springs and replaced with Moulton Smooth-a-Ride set.   And thanks to my seatmate, tossed the thoroughly trashed Falkens for a new set of Yokie 539s.

So, before heading for San Diego in late May/very early June, I will check all the drive shafts, suspension & brakes over for leaks, torn boots & torque everything to spec.  Like wise check over the cooling system, the ignition system, lights, battery/charging system etc.  Check tires for embedded screws/nails/glass, torn/damaged sidewalls...and give an oil change & lube including the greasable steering rack rod ends!

Check tools & spares, wash, wax, clean interior & glass...load camping & personal gear, turn ignition key and roll!