punkncat
09-24-2008, 11:27 PM
A fellow brought in an old Minimag today at the shop. It had an older classic valve, lazered Minimag, and was a really low MM#.
I am no expert on the older valve, but I would guess at this being a lvl5 valve. It had a nut on the back at the velocity adjuster. The bolt itself was recessed, rather than having the Lvl 7 "dome" inside. I did not actually take the powertube apart, but I noted than in the left over bits of his rebuild kit it had springs that I know were at one point found in there.
He had an old Nitroduck 3K/118 adjustable on a cradle, had an old rusted and worn out pro-connect. The bottle is near the 15 year mark, so IIRC it would not be worth rehydro. We took it off and kept all the cradle bits.
The marker itself was not particularly notable otherwise, with composite frame missing the safety, SP wood grips, Armson barrel and a polished mini body. Since the only Minimags I have seen stock came with a vert ASA setup, and this one didn't have a hole in the front of the rail, I was of the assumption that it was not the original. I also suspected that given the age of the valve, I would have expected to see a metal frame, rather than the composite.
So, am I correct on my assumptions, and is there anything particularly collectable about the lvl 5 version if that is what it is?
I actually worked on it for a moment and got it to fire. It will need a new bolt spring, and a rebuild wouldn't hurt it.
Is $50 too much or too little to offer for such a thing?
I am no expert on the older valve, but I would guess at this being a lvl5 valve. It had a nut on the back at the velocity adjuster. The bolt itself was recessed, rather than having the Lvl 7 "dome" inside. I did not actually take the powertube apart, but I noted than in the left over bits of his rebuild kit it had springs that I know were at one point found in there.
He had an old Nitroduck 3K/118 adjustable on a cradle, had an old rusted and worn out pro-connect. The bottle is near the 15 year mark, so IIRC it would not be worth rehydro. We took it off and kept all the cradle bits.
The marker itself was not particularly notable otherwise, with composite frame missing the safety, SP wood grips, Armson barrel and a polished mini body. Since the only Minimags I have seen stock came with a vert ASA setup, and this one didn't have a hole in the front of the rail, I was of the assumption that it was not the original. I also suspected that given the age of the valve, I would have expected to see a metal frame, rather than the composite.
So, am I correct on my assumptions, and is there anything particularly collectable about the lvl 5 version if that is what it is?
I actually worked on it for a moment and got it to fire. It will need a new bolt spring, and a rebuild wouldn't hurt it.
Is $50 too much or too little to offer for such a thing?