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Hi!

Well, when I started the restoration of my Mini I promised myself I wouldn't be precious about the car...so this past weekend I took it on the Rush to Gold Bridge - a two-day mixed-surface tour through BC to the remote mountain mining town of Gold Bridge.

It was 40C/104F in Lytton - traditionally the hottest town in Canada - and this would turn out to be the hottest weekend of the year! We took a reaction ferry across the Fraser River (the ferry is powered by the flow of the river and only holds two cars)...



The ferry took us across to a dirt road that traverses a ridgeline to the town of Lillooet. This was where I learned that the Mini does NOT have very much ground clearance! Clank, clunk, bang!





I had some cooling issues on the climb up the mountain...the 40C temps didn't help! Luckily I had lots of water on hand.




The final stretch of the day up to the Bridge River Valley and the Chilcotin Holidays ranch was very scenic and challenging.







Nothing like being greeted by cowgirls on horseback!


I'm not sure I'd do another gravel run in the Mini...it would need some more clearance to start! But I'm glad I did it. It was a great adventure with some fun friends and certainly one for the memory banks!

Full story and a bunch of other photos of the other cars is up here: http://www.classiccaradventures.com/201 ... ge-photos/

That looks like a totally fantastic adventure!

Wow! That looks a bit different to the supermarket run! Amazing scenery too.

I think you did well to only have the cooling issue!

formulaphoto wrote:Hi!

Well, when I started the restoration of my Mini I promised myself I wouldn't be precious about the car...so this past weekend I took it on the Rush to Gold Bridge - a two-day mixed-surface tour through BC to the remote mountain mining town of Gold Bridge.

It was 40C/104F in Lytton - traditionally the hottest town in Canada - and this would turn out to be the hottest weekend of the year! We took a reaction ferry across the Fraser River (the ferry is powered by the flow of the river and only holds two cars)...



The ferry took us across to a dirt road that traverses a ridgeline to the town of Lillooet. This was where I learned that the Mini does NOT have very much ground clearance! Clank, clunk, bang!





I had some cooling issues on the climb up the mountain...the 40C temps didn't help! Luckily I had lots of water on hand.




The final stretch of the day up to the Bridge River Valley and the Chilcotin Holidays ranch was very scenic and challenging.







Nothing like being greeted by cowgirls on horseback!


I'm not sure I'd do another gravel run in the Mini...it would need some more clearance to start! But I'm glad I did it. It was a great adventure with some fun friends and certainly one for the memory banks!

Full story and a bunch of other photos of the other cars is up here: http://www.classiccaradventures.com/201 ... ge-photos/

...brilliant !!! good fishing there to.!!. i went in 73...one life live it !!....

Chris64 wrote:Wow! That looks a bit different to the supermarket run! Amazing scenery too.

I think you did well to only have the cooling issue!

I may have a few other things to tend to, now that it is sitting in the garage again. Either the hydrolastic has settled (nothing like 100km of bumpy roads to get all the kinks out of the system!) or I've got some issues. The car now has some "rake" to it...the front is sitting quite low, while the rear still has its correct ride height.

I think I've also either torn an engine mount, or the bolts have come loose. I haven't dared put it up on jackstands to explore underneath the car yet - the skid plate certainly looks a little more bent than before the event!

All in good fun...lots of stories to tell now!

Hello Warwick

Well, congratulations for your beautiful mini on a great trip!

I particularly liked the mini color, could you tell what is the color code?

Cheers
Luís Santos

http://WWW.LS-Motorsport.net