February HMMS Meeting Minutes

Houston MINI Motoring Society
February 6, 2010
Momentum MINI

Twenty-two members and guests came to the club meeting at Momentum MINI on this sunny Saturday morning. All our cars were parked, lining up along the drive separating the BMW and Jaguar dealership. I’m sure MINI customers arriving at the dealership were curious as to what was going on. The meeting started at 11:03 am.

Club Stuff

Call to Order and Club Stuff

There were no new members to announce, but we did welcome back Paul Dille after a long absence. He had learned about our pancake breakfast plans at Ronald McDonald house and didn’t want to miss attending.

Treasurer Juha (sikamini) gave the Treasurer’s report. The club had a starting balance in January of $1236. Deposits during the month were $306, and expenditures were $1229, with $444 of that being the polo shirts and $781 for club hats.  Balance for the start of February is $312. The club account will quickly be refilled as people pay for their polo shirts. So far we have 17 paid members.

The Vice President Jeff (Scooper) passed out spotter cards, and noted that the club website has over 50 subscribers, and passed 20,000 hit mark.

We have a few adult t-shirts left, and they are for sale at $12 per shirt. The youth sized shirts, and maybe also adult small size shirts, will be given away to kids at the Ronald McDonald House pancake breakfast. The club will now be giving to new club members baseball caps rather than t-shirts. The club hats have been made, and were shown at the meeting. Existing members can buy club hats at $10 each. Thanks to Ron Pickett (Ronsminnie) for his help in finding a vendor and coordinating the purchase.

The first group purchase of polo shirts is complete. The shirts look great and everyone seemed pleased. A second group buy has been started with about 6 orders already placed. We will continue to take orders until February 20^th, at which time we will place an order with our shirt vendor. The shirts should be ready before the March meeting. Shirt prices are $20 for S to XL, and $22 for XXL and larger. President Deb bought a light jacket with the club logo. These jackets are also available at $25 each. Contact Juha or Jeff to place your order.

Deb asked if people had an interest in magnetic badges with the club logo. A few people raised their hands. Since the minimum order for badges is 50 pieces for $200, we decided to wait until our club funds increased before considering this buy.

In regards to pull tabs, Paul Dille (Dillepa) talked about how RMH collects and sells aluminum pull tabs to raise money for their facility. He asked that we bring our pull tabs we have to the pancake breakfast. He is also looking for a large plastic pickle jar to keep pull tabs in.

Trouble Shooting, and Show and Tell

For Show and Tell, President Deb said she got new tires for her MINI. She got Bridgestone Potenza 760 Sports, on the recommendation of John (JCScooper). She is very happy with them, and should cut off a second or two from her autocross times!

Under Trouble Shooting, Jeff said his front tires wore down to nothing in about a month after he installed his camber plates. Installing the camber plates changes the toe in dramatically, and he should have gotten an alignment soon after installing the plates. He soon will be getting new tires and an alignment. Doug (bochi2002) said he recently had the strut bearings and CV boots replaced on Chiqui. There was a grinding noise coming from the car when turning, which got worse during the cold weather. Avelino (MiniCoog) said his ’04 has a faint ticking noise when the car is stopped and running in neutral with the clutch let out. Many members said this is a common noise coming from the clutch throw-out bearing. Paul mentioned his car is a ’03 build with 115,000 miles (probably the oldest MINI, and with the most mileage, in the club) and still has the original clutch. MINI technicians are amazed when he tells them this.

Happenings

Recent Happenings

Doug gave a quick synopsis of the BMWCCA annual banquet. The Beattys, Scherwins and Conleys were in attendance. The banquet was held at the City Club in the Greenway Plaza area. Door prizes were handed out (Doug didn’t get one L), awards were given to autocross winners (John got an award for 3^rd place in C class), there was a “name that part” contest which was really difficult, and there was a slide show of pictures taken at BMWCCA events over the past year.

We talked a bit about the past beach clean-up effort. Ted Ramirez won a $25 gift certificate for finding the most unusual piece of trash. He found a huge bone (from a mastodon?) and the remains of a fan blade from a ceiling fan.

There was no report from the January autocross since no one who went to autocross was at our meeting. John was in Florida at the time of our meeting, and Jeff missed autocross since he was in Atlanta.

MCOW Report: MCOW (MINI Club of The Woodlands) will meet Wednesday, February 17th at a location to be announced later. Check out the HMMS and Metroplex websites for an announcement.

MINIFunDrives report: Ronald Watt (MINIPlay) had a casino drive on January 30^th, and is planning a Bluebonnet drive on March 27^th, and a Galveston drive on April 24^th. See his website www.MINIFunDrives.com for more details.

Upcoming Events

February 14^th – Ronald McDonald House pancake breakfast: This event is in full swing. We have all the volunteers we need for cooking and serving the food. Most all of the food and equipment has been committed. We will meet at Ronald McDonald House at 9:00 am on Sunday, and serve food at 10:00 am. Paul Dille gave us a pep talk, and gave us great advice stemming from his coordination of this event in past years. See the HMMS website for more details and to sign-up to donate items. Besides the breakfast, we will be donating hats and shirts to the kids. Paper towels and pull tabs donations will also be greatly appreciated.

The BMWCCA autocross will be February 28^th. Contact Jeff, John or Deb if you are interested in participating for the first time. Anyone is welcome to watch. Gates open at 8:30 am, and racing starts about 9:30 to 10:00 am.

MINI Mod Day has been set for April 17^th. This will be held at Jeff Conley’s house in Sugar Land. So far Avelino and Ted have expressed interest to do mods (short shifter & brake ducts). We can handle more, and if you are interested, please contact Jeff. Jeff will also have a hamburger/hot dog cookout, which is open to all club members, late in the afternoon. More details will be firmed up as the date approaches.

Activities Under Consideration

President Deb would like to have a club bluebonnet drive sometime in March or April. We discussed when the best time would be to have a good showing of bluebonnets. March may be too early. Deb is also thinking about a two day (weekend) drive to the hill country. Also the Brenham Blue Bell Creamery tour (weekday event) is on the table. This drive would include a lunch stop at the Brenham airport. Bob Swank (RJSMini) offered to run his Stagecoach drive in June.

Next Meeting

The next meeting will be Saturday, March 6^th at LaFiesta Restaurant on I-10 and Blalock Road.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at approximately 12:30 PM.