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A long-overdue update but I've had to hold off for a bit as things have been in a bit of turmoil regards the future but I can now report on that, but first a catch-up.
As mentioned before I had Georgie booked in to appear at a show called Rustival. It's organised by a few UK YouTube channels and is held at the British Motor Museum in Gaydon. This called for a valid MOT to be obtained so back in September I got her prepped and took her for one, which she promptly failed for a small rust hole by the rear subframe mounting on the driver's side. That was quickly fixed by a local garage (not sure of the quality, probably crap but it's on a bit that needs replacing in due course anyway) and a fresh MOT was acquired on the 27th. Cutting it super-fine as the show was on the 28th!
It was a bit of a wake-up for her that weekend as she went from not moving for nearly 15 months to 250 miles in one day to the Travelodge near Gaydon in one hit, with no issues at all! She even had to endure a cold night outdoors and was covered in dew the next morning, which revealed a hint of the old Boy Racer stickers that adorned her when I bought her:
She started up perfectly though and made it to Gaydon on time so I got to display her along with a massively eclectic selection of cars of all ages. HubNut on YouTube (one of the organisers) did a massive walk-through video of the show, starting and ending right in front of where I was parked and each time completely missed her, which is rather apt as I'm not happy in front of a camera and she seems to be the same!
This was her at the end of the show, I was too busy wandering around to take a picture while the rest of the cars were next to her.
The drive home after the show was great too, came back cross-country so had plenty of fun along twisty roads and having thoughts towards the future and what to do with her in 2025. When we got home I parked her up and applied her Rustival sticker, sort of a badge to show to myself I got her back up and running after having to deal with a lot of crap since the London To Brighton run in 2023:
I would have updated all of that back then but there has been a lot of thinking going on and decisions to be made between then and now about multiple things that directly affect this project's future. The short story, as some of you may know via my posts on here, is that I lost my dad in October 2023 to cancer just after I had to quit my job in Bristol due to being unable to afford to move there. This led to me taking an extended time off dealing with all of that and I didn't get back to work until February 2024 and even then it was only Agency work, which meant no steady income and no stability to make plans etc. This is still the same now so the restoration fund has taken a bit of a beating to cover periods of no work, pushing things further back. The other issue that has been delaying things is that with my dad gone we, as a family, had to see what was happening with my mum and the family home. This is where Georgie is stored and worked on as I have nowhere at mine to do so. We delayed any decisions for at least 12 months after dad's funeral and those decisions have now been made. My mum cannot realistically cope with the family house on her own as it's spread over 5 floors with a big two-tier garden and due to her health and mobility issues it has been decided that she will move to somewhere more suitable. The time for that is still open though so it's not going to happen in the next few months or maybe even the next year but it has thrown up an issue that I didn't want to happen. Mum knows how much Georgie means to me and also how happy dad was to have me not only getting my dream car but also that his workshop (that he built just before he and mum met!) was being used as intended. This meant she was unwilling to make any decision about the future as it meant losing that space and most likely ending my project. So to remove that issue I told her that her future was more important than any toy project of mine, this allowed her to announce over Christmas that she will be selling the family house sometime soon in the future.
That means that I won't be able to complete this dream project of mine. That's hard to type but it is the truth. I just cannot risk starting the rebuild process, it being held up by money or time constraints and then delay any move and cause stress to mum. So sadly I am going to have to sell Georgie.
But not yet. I plan to have one or maybe two final summers of fun with her before then! The next month or so will involve a bit of work on her to make her the best I can right now, plan a few adventures and put the fellers out for any interested parties in taking her on for the future. If I am going to have to part with her I want her to go to a like-minded person who will keep her going and not part her out or destroy her. I've got the time to find the right next home for her rather than take the first offer or maximise the selling price. In the meantime I can dedicate funds to getting her fit and ready for more fun, the parts package is already ordered. So the adventures and updates will continue for now (that's if anyone is interested and the forum allows) and I hope the remaining time I have her for will be good.
Thanks for posting,I have always looked forward to a Georgie update , sorry that it's going in another direction.
I really hope you get some good adventures planned for the sunnier days 👍 👍
Sorry to hear it's not going to go the way you'd hoped, but sounds like you've made the best decisions given the circumstances.
Looking forward to any future updates you're able to share 🙂
Time for the 2025 update!
This year started out with doing a few routine jobs that have come around, namely the rubber bits. The tyres she came on are now approaching 10 years old so they had to go. Rather than go for the Yokohamas she has worn since I bought her I fitted a set of the Nankangs that are the only other option in this size. This may sound like a backwards step but they are a much newer design, have 95% of the grip of the Yokos in the dry but actually work in the wet. They are also a much softer construction in the sidewall so ride comfort is markedly improved. They may not look 'period' or anything like that but they work much better.
The other bits that needed doing were the rubber cones. These are the spring in a Mini and the go hard and collapse over time. They're easy to change at the rear but the fronts involve a special compression tool and disassembling half the suspension but they needed doing so that was done. No pictures of the process as it's hard to document but the difference between the old and new is rather stark!
With all that done it was time for a few adventures!
I really didn't take many pictures of her this year as I was just enjoying driving her at every opportunity I had, even if that was just for a quick 30 minute blast. The highlights were to a drive out round the Beacons with some car friends, a random drive to St Davids for a chippie and walk along the coastline plus many drives up to near Pen Y Fan to get an ice cream because why not! There was also a 'secret' meet with some acquaintances to a Range Rover breakers that features in a lot of Urbex videos, it's an active business and they were going to collect parts but it was still a great opportunity to have a nose around. 
I also drove her to North Wales when I went to watch the Saturday of RedBull Hardline, meeting some friends at their campsite and leaving her there while we went in a bigger car with more seats. The drive back that evening along the west coastline was magical as the road, lighting and lack of traffic was just perfect.
All that was left for this year was taking her to Rustival 3, a show run by a few YouTube channels and quickly filling the space left by Festival Of The Unexceptional now that Hagerty have taken it past it's humble beginnings and the 'money' has got involved. But I'll talk about that in a separate update in a few days.