Thank you Werewolf, Minerva , and Hunter2. I really appreciate all the great advice and “ food-for-thought” that I am receiving. It all comes together in a way that increases my chances of finding a mini that I will be happy with. Regarding the A/C , I have decided that it would be well worth having, even though it makes things more cramped under the little bonnet. A worthy trade-off, especially since I haven’t heard any horror stories about the A/C being big trouble, or even troublesome. Certainly no more than any other car with A/C The same goes for RHD vs LHD. I feel fine about owning either one, with only a slight preference for LHD. Either would make me happy. As some have pointed out correctly, the car is only about 4 1/2 ft wide ! So I thank you all for such great help, and shall keep everyone up to date on my progress. If I start having other question ( likely ) I will first try to search for an appropriate existing thread to add to. I think that is the correct approach ( ? ).

Thank you all , my mini friends. Very best regards, Darren.

PS- because I don’t have a Mini yet, I decided to place a picture of my faithful and furry friend Lupin, my cat as my Avatar. :)

BC, I would not change from RH to LD drive unless it was a steel sided Van.  When I brought the Aussie Window Van home I was more than curious about driving on the RH side.  But the 'Greenhouse', very similar to driving a Mini sedan allayed all concerns.

Our JDM came from Craig Hunter with fully functioning AC. It works great...as we found in Abbotsford BC during MMW...temps in the mid 30's C and we drove with the windows up and the car quite cool. Yes it is cramped under there but removing the grille helps access. The AC units are Japanese...not Lucas, which is why they work. We don't use it very often but when we do, it's nice to have.

derwood.. I think I would be looking in vancouver for a mini... that is fresh off the boat.. most on the ones on montreal.my guess . have been restored and they are wanting to get back some of their money they have invested.. in the restos.. thus the high prices there..  later bc  ps I have imported and sold 500 plus minis in last 20 years. and I have NEVER owned one with AC.  I see no need for it.  Also. I would NEVER change from RHD to LHD.. waste of good money..

“Budget is the question there's a super clean Mini for sale in the Montreal Area. go to Mainly Minis Montreal Facebook page and you'll see it. Ask martin to add you to the friends ... that is if you are on FB. If not email me rileydeb at Bell . Net and I'll try to get you some info. Deb Mainly Minis Montreal

Keith & Deb Avatar:Turn 1 at the Glen”

I’m sorry I missed replying to a few posts last week while I was ill . The above post is one of the ones I missed. Deb, I have checked out Mainly Minis Montreal and the only car that I see for sale is a beautiful Woody ( can’t recall if it was Austin or Morris , but I think it was a Morris ) in dark blue. Unfortunately the price is out of my range at 25,000$ CDN. My upper limit is roughly ~ 15,000$ CDN. :(

Anyways, I wanted to let you know that I had checked it, and that I appreciate the help that each and every one of you all are giving me.

Cheers and thanks, Derwood.

Thanks very much malsal. I can see what you mean about how much more difficult working on anything located on the bonnet will be if I end up with an A/C mini. It’s VERY packed under the bonnet of a mini with A/C. But considering that it does a fairly reasonable job in keeping things cool in Florida then I feel it would be worth it. I guess I’d put it this way ; our summers are quite short and our highest temperatures are not near as high as the high temps you folks get, so for me , I would say that the extra under-bonnet work difficulties that go hand-in-hand with minis with A/C pretty well equals out the benefits of having A/C in our minis up here. I hope that makes some sense. I basically mean that it’s a compromise that is ( for me anyways ) about even when I add the pros and cons. So now I know that I can feel fine about buying an A/C equipped mini and I can also feel fine if the mini is not A/C equipped. Which is good progress to know. Thank you Malsal. I appreciate you feedback. It has just eliminated a worry for me re the A/C and if I should hunt for it or not. I now see A/C as fine if the mini is so equipped , but also fine if it doesn’t have A/C. Best regards , and XXL thank you Malsal. Derwood/Darren

I rate them as adequate to good. I live in Florida with high Summer temps and even higher humidity and they cope quite well partly i believe because they do not have a large area to cool down. The worse part about the a/c set up in a Mini is how much room that the system takes in the already crowded engine bay, it makes working under the bonnet challenging to say the least.

This one was one of those times that taking a break DID help things out. I now have the Canadian flag, plus I have my cat as my avatar. ????????? Cheers all, Derwood.

Well I’m stumped. I can get in and change my address and get the Canadian flag to appear. Then I push the save button, and I’m still without a flag. I think for now I’ll just drop it and get back to A: Remembering our brave soldiers

B : hunting for my classic mini.

Many times in the past i’ve had to set something that was getting frustrating aside for a while, and try it again some other time and I will have one of those “ aha “ moments where I realize what was wrong. This is a time to leave the flag issue. For now ;-). ??

Peace friends. Thanks for the help all. Darren.

Try changing things one at a time, starting with 'country'. I just tried changing mine temporarily to 'UK' and got Union Jacks in old posts, so it would change everywhere at once. (I'm back to 'Canada'.)

       Drats ! I’ll try again later. I must be low on coffee

       Derwood

         Thank you Dan. I think I may have been successful with placing the Canadian flag into my posts, 
but it may not add it to prior posts. So this reply is both a thank you and a test. To add my Avatar I’ve got
to reduce the pixel count on the photo of selected , but I’ll tackle that later. I’ve done it once before for a
motorcycle forum I belong to, but I can’t remember just now. I’ll work on that later.

    Thanks again and all the best Dan !
      Darren

Derwood - profile editing:

From the pull-down menus click on "My Account" tab. It will open a pull-down menu. Select "Your Account" ( see first image)

Your account page will then open. (see second image)
Click on "Edit profile"

Your profile will then open (see third image)
You should be able to type in your city or town. e.g. "Cavendish"
The 'state' box only allows you to select one of the united states - no provinces.
If you want to indicate your province, add it to the 'city' line e.g. "Cavendish PEI"
Next,  select your "country" from the list - choosing "Canada" will result in the correct flag being displayed, once you save
Lastly, click the blue "Save Changes" button and you'll get a confirmation message.
Return to the Forum, or shopping.

Note: include information you are comfortable with being semi-public.

   Hi Spitz. I’m hoping and wondering if you can tell me how to add our flag to my posts ? It would be
appreciated . I gather you are a spitfire fan too. I think a lot of us mini loves are also cross addicted to other
 ritish marques. I certainly am. Aside from my long gone mk 2 Mini, I’ve also owned and loved an MG MIDGET
and Triumph TR7 ragtop ( a very good car that is under rated imho - I owned and enjoyed mine for 6 years ).

      Cheers and thanks,
       Darren.

             I’ve wondered quite a few times how effective the A/C is on the classic mini. How would you rate
it MALSAL ?

              Is there anyone who could explain how I add my flag to my profile ? I simply cannot figure it out.

   Btw- sorry I’ve been slow getting back to this thread , but I had a sickness last week that pretty much kept
mevin bed for the whole time. I started feeling better yesterday, and am almost completely over it. It was a
bad sickness as I never even checked emails, phone messages etc.

   It looks like I’m going to have to watch good bye Pork Pie. My main fix has always been... wait ; i’ll Give you
a clue....the movie starts with a scene of a beautiful Lamborghini Miura winding through the Apls. That should
be a big hint I think. 
      I have cousin who married a Kiwi, and I am frequently in touch with her through Facebook, so good bye
Pork Pie will surprise her when I mention it. She has been living there 11 years now, so it will be interesting 
to see if SHE KNOWS about the movie.....

     I’d like to ask anoutheropinion , although perhaps I should search for it first. But here goes : those of you
with experience with SPi and MPi on the last minis, is there one system more reliable than the other, and 
is it cost effective to carry an extra CPU and such? 

      Thanks all, I hope you are all well.
       Best regards,
       Darren.

Good bye Pork Pie, a mini cult film from NZ, a must see for all die hard mini types

Just weird with a strange ending

Big AL

Looking at the pictures some thoughts came to mind....don't worry about shipping the car to PEI....the question really is...are you "taking this car to Invercargill"? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMY1Mhc_4jc

Hi Derwood,

The 1980 Mini 1000 I built 11-12 years ago is For Sale in the B.C. Lower Mainland.  Has been on Craigslist in Metro Vancouver.  I can not attest to its detailed condition at present but here are a few of the components that I built in:

1380 with Swiftune Cam & 1.5:1 roller tip rockers, breathing through HIF44 & out via RC40, rebuilt A+ transmission with 2.95:1 FD, fully adjustable suspension with HD lower arms & tie-rods, Cooper S discs/drums, NOW 12" wheels/tires on Mini (I had used 10" Minilites with A008 tires - both sets might be available on purchase), 7.5 Imp. Gal. fuel tank, electronic pump, all new steel - floors, heel board, crossmember, outer sills, wings, apron, new paint, new interior upholstry/carpet/headliner.

Was an excellent touring build.  Yes, it is used.  Worth a look at least.  PHOTOS were given to me by current owner.

Rick/Hunter2

PS - I imported a Mini from Australia - NO DUTY as all vehicles & parts for vehicles 25 years of age or older are exempt - Cdn. Tariff# 9966.00.00.  I owned the vehicle in OZ so was shipping it from myself to myself.  Small dock fee, small soil inspection fee, GST & BC PST on importation

Hey Derwood!
i responded to you email. Sorry about the delay. Work keeps getting in the way....

What is wrong with a car 3500 miles away? 

First of all, minis are cars. Secondly, Canada's strength as a nation is founded in the challenges of getting from one side of the country to the other.

When this thread came up I called a local fellow who had refurbished a MK IV car and was trying to sell it last spring. His first project of that sort, he had done a very impressive job. It turns out a fellow from 
Whitehorse had bought the car sight unseen and flown down to Calgary, got in, and drove it home.

When I heard that, I couldn't help but smile.