So, after my fiasco, I'm putting the car back together. I'll start this thread and show pics as we go.

Here Oscar sits on jackstands. The rt front "A" pillar has already been pulled. It was ridiculously easy, in fact, so easy we didn't even put it on the frame machine, we used a pulling post on the floor.



Honestly, I've been in this business for over 26 years and I don't remember ever having a car in the shop that was this easy to repair.... just lucky.

You can see in the right "A" pillar, it's straight, I still can't get over how little damage it did.

Left side was never touched.




Most of the creases/damage on the right door was repaired with PDR. There were a few little dings so they had to be straightened but again, it went well.








9/13/10


The hardest part was choosing a color. Here's lamborghini orange at several angles.











Though the lambo orange is definitely a HOT color, I think the only way it would look good is to spray wheel flares and every piece of trim.

So, I then sprayed out the lime green from a Porsche.

I won't even post pics, it was simply too fast and furious for me personally.

And then the right color... Porsche GT3.



That's not metallic, that's trash...lol. It was just a quick sprayout to see if I liked the color. Normally we spray spray-out cards in the paint booths, this was done outside.







I'm thinking with black flares, black roof, painted door handles and black belt mouldings, the GT3 orange should look hot yet classic. I like the non metallic look on the Mini.

Tomorrow we pull the engine so we can paint the engine bay.


09/14/10


Well, engine is out...





And the engine cradle....






Time to start prepping....

09/14/10 6:14pm









09/15/10 3:53pm


Pressure washed the engine cradle, rack and pinion. Notice the Powerflex bushing kit for the control arms and 27mm swaybar installed while we're at it.




Put most everything back together minus the engine. (obviously waiting for the OS diff and OS clutch assy)





Installed the coilovers....



Tore the doors and hatch off the car. Going to get them cut in tomorrow so I can hang the parts.


09/15/10 4:56pm


So here's what got done today....

Got the parts trimmed in this morning.









Also, got the door jambs and trunk jamb cut in.







Since I second day air'd the OS Giken parts, they will be here tomorrow. I can't install them because I ordered some Red Line gear oil (shockproof) to fill the case and it won't be here till Monday or Tuesday.

Which doesn't matter because tomorrow I'll hang all the parts back on the car and prep the car for paint.

With any luck, the car will actually get painted tomorrow. I don't want to mask the car tomorrow only to let it set over the weekend to be sprayed Monday because the tape will let loose by then.

My goal is to have the car back together and driving by end of the week.


09/17/10 2:25pm

Didn't get much done today... things got screwed up. Somehow my left door jamb got scratched. , ran out of clear that I wanted, I had sent my JCW aero kit out to get sodablasted and primed so I wasn't adding yet another layer of paint and they did a HORRIBLE job.

Boy, did I do some cussing today.

Anyway, did get this in....





Went ahead and installed the LSD in the diff, hung all the doors, hood, trunk, etc to get painted.

Started to mask but changed my mind figuring we wouldn't have enough time and the tape would lift by Monday.

Sorry, not much of an update today.


0920/10


Okay, got back on it today...

Starting painting the outside of all the trim pieces. The trim pieces were in one paintbooth while the car was in the other.






Can't forget the thing I've wanted to do since I bought the car... Paint the damn door handles. Geesh, couldn't stand them chrome, the thought of taking out the entire door glass, regulator and panel just to change door handles was enough to make me stay away from them.





Gascap door



All the trim....





Granted, there is only one coat of clear on the car but it was only like 4pm when I took these pics. Tomorrow I'll post more pics.


09/21/10


Not much happened today... spent the day wetsanding and buffing. Got the transmission back together and will start installing everything into the car tomorrow.



09/22/2010


Got the engine back in.



Door handles, trim, mirror, etc....



Taillights, rear handle, etc...



Had to repaint the door....wasn't happy with the bodywork, saw a small spot that pissed me off.





09/25/10

Well, pulled the engine and trans back out again.



Took the trans off only to find out that the new OS Giken flywheel is 3mm's thinner than the OEM one which stuffs the OEM bolts 3mm's closer to the crankshaft. Point is, it BINDS!




As requested, here's pics of the rear seats that I had made to match the front Recaros.





The pics a little dark but once I can open the sunroof, I'll get better pics.

09/27/10


Got the engine and trans all back in today, buttoned up the exhaust, recharged the ac unit, installed the radiator support and started the car. All went well.




Painted the rotors after I had them turned and installed the hub bearings. (the new ones seem beefier)




Assembled the grill and rear bumper except for some trim which I purposely left off so when I get the clear bra put on, they won't be any need for trimming and generally easier to install.





Installed the front seats and harnesses...




Before I left today, I put the headlight rings and M7 scoop.




Tomorrow, all the JCW aero kit parts can go on.

Hopefully I can get it down to the alignment shop tomorrow and will get the clear bra put on it Wednesday. My goal is to be driving it by the end of this week.

09/29/2010


Color of the candy on the rear spoiler.






09/30/2010


Presenting Oscar alllllmooooooost done. Not quite but just about.

















Almost final mod...













Just for Drew....





Here’s some updated pics...

 

combined all pics and comments to first post for ease of reading.

 

This is going to be fun to watch. The Orange is fabulous. Should be a unique MINI when you get done!!

 

Lambo orange...Sick!!! Can't wait to see this finished.

 

Perfect choice, that'll look sweet! I wish MINI's color palette wasn't so grey and metallic.

 

Can't wait to see this project in stages and then completion! +1 on color choice and a BIG +1 on the MINI factory color options. For such a fun car company....their colors do not reflect their owners passion or uniqueness.

 

I'll be watching, you got my attention .

 

This will be awesome to watch. Your MINI really will be yours. Survived a crash together, now putting her/him back together, doing everything your way...time to break out some Billy Idol "Don't You Forget About Me"

+1 on the lambo orange though. It's such a beautiful color for everyday, but still mean enough for the track. The Porsche, to me at least, screams ricer. But, I hate red and green cars and but loved the CR/BRGII MINIs, so I'm a firm believer that the car makes the color, not the color makes the car, on MINIs

 

Did you mean to say the Porsche color screams ricer? Or the lambo.

I'm going with the Porsche GT3 color, more of a pastel/softer orange. (though it came out kind of bright in the pic)

The lambo color to me is too much... beautiful color, just too much.

Mark

 

combined all pics and comments to first post for ease of reading.

 

I meant the GT3 color looked a bit ricer because it looks so bright in the pics. I thought I remembered the color as a little less...electric-orangey...so i'm hoping it's the color from my recollection and not as bright as the picture makes it.
The one thing about the lambo color is that on smooth angles, it suddenly looks like 10 different colors, which on a MINI, might exemplify that. The GT3 is native to a much curvier car so it's bound to look nice

 

Yeah, the GT3 color really looked BRIGHT when I took that pic when compared to the lambo color. It's actually much more "pastel" much like the mellow yellow I have on the car now.... not too bright, not drab.

The lambo color is a beautiful color but by the time you keep the black roof, black wheel flares and belt trim, it's just too much IMO.

I think the GT3 orange will look much like the mellow yellow on the car now.

I'll post more pics when I get the engine compartment cut in.

Mark

 

WOW Mark! The mini is going to look awesome!

 

What about the orange Lotus uses? Or the green, with all the trim painted either color would look hot.

I am the exact opisite in what I like in paint. You like non metallic bright and shiney paint, I tend to like dull base colors with colored pearls/fine metallics and matte to flat finishes.

 

I hear the old intro to "The Six Million Dollar Man" in my head as I look through these photos: you can rebuild him... better... stronger... faster.

Add in the fact that the car is Oscar and the show had Oscar Goldman... too funny.

 

Mark,

I do not remember but is this the new track car or for street?

PS: Get rid of those A048s. Very unpredictable at limits and just lets loose.

 

No, same ol' car... just going to keep it on the street until I decide to buy another one.

The Advans are my track tires...

Mark

 

I used to run them on the track when they first came out over 5 years ago and found them to be tricky for my driving style. They sometimes just seem to let go in turns without enough warning for me (i.e. noise and slip angle).

 

Subscribed

 

combined all pics and comments to first post for ease of reading.

 

Mark, that is going to look just fabulous. Thanks for sharing your progress. We are seeing views that most of us would rarely get to see. How long do you estimate until completion?

 

Thanks, tomorrow we'll put the engine and wiring all back in. Depending on how busy we are (this week seems slower than normal) I'd like to have the car in the paint shop to be prepped by Monday at the latest.

Once painted, it will be wetsanded, buffed and then reassembled. Feasibly, I should have it done by the end of this month as long as I'm not stuck waiting on misc. parts. (which we've only found a few so far.)

Mark

 

Going to be a nice build for all the wrong reasons.

The GT3 Orange is bright, but I understand you wanting a non-metallic.

Nice progress, good you decided to jump into a color change. As a DD it will stand out and on the track I imagine it would scare some of those folks in the twisties.

Mark are you thinking a new 2011 JCW, if they push the engine upgrade or holding to 2012?

Watching this thread for fun.

Don

 

Don,

I had every intention of ordering a new 2011, filled out all the necc. paperwork and was ready to order.

Having said that, I thought of it this way. My payments are 502.00 bucks per month. I pay 750.00 just to knock it down faster.

The way I look at it is if I buy another mini (and assume I continue to pay 750.00), it's costing me 750.00 per month to have a track car, right?

For the 12-15 times a year I go to the track, I don't see any justification to spend the money just so I can go to the track with a dedicated car a dozen times or so a year.

I can still go to the track, yeah, sure, it may not be as good as if it were a dedicated track car but for now I can have my cake and eat it too.

Besides, I'm not ready to give up this car just yet. I love this car and this is just an excuse to personalize it even more.

So for now, I'm gonna pass on a new mini. (though a countryman is looking mighty cool to me)

Mark

 

This color is going to look awesome. Gonna be one unique MINI.