Hi all! Names James, new guy in town to Minis, used to rock a few hondas, please hold all booing and hissing till the end of the thread. Anyways, we will get into a little pictoral history of my cars, sounds good? no? ok here we go!



First modded car was a 1993 Honda Civic CX I got from a guy for a whopping $800. I drove it in all its 70hp/93ft/lbs of glory through my remaining years of high school. I hit it big when I found a gent with a wrecked integra LS(non-vtec) for another $800, the car had 70k on it. Overnight, with the help of my father, I went from 70/93 to 142/127, absolute plug and play. A few suspension mods, an actual exhaust(muffler, not a coffee can) and that was it for that car. I drove it like that for about 2-3 years, until one fateful day I went to my tech school and sawwwwww.....



A 1996 Honda Civic DX in Midori Green, it may look like a booger, but that color was limited to 1996 hatchbacks only, limited number made. The kid I got it from had some pretty lame mods on it, lucky for me I pulled the motor out of the first car and transplanted it to the second.

-LS motor
-GSR trans(shorter gears)
-Koni Yellow shocks with adjustable perches
-H&R Race springs
-Function 7 control arms
-VIS CF hood
-Recaro Speed seats
-Takata Racing Harnesses

...and then it got stolen, from a lit parking lot at an amusement park. It was a crushing feeling, having my hard work and hours and thousands of dollars just relinquished from me because some other people felt they deserved it more, the car was never found.



This nightmare was my last purchase, I bought it already swapped from a guy off Honda-Tech. He had pages of vouches about his work and how quality the car was, came on some awesome wheels, looked great, he even delivered it to me. The car really was spotless, shiny as can be, sounded mean, and absolutely screamed. That was until I was tinkering and found the check engine light bulb had been removed, the header was cracked at the merge, one of the HID ballasts had blown out, and then the end all be all...the damn thing caught on fire. Apparently Mr Fancy Pants thought he was a mechanic and tried rewiring some parts under the dash, well the wires were bare, and tucked back up in there, resulting in the local hook and ladder shoving a fire hose in my car in the middle of november, happy thanksgiving yall. I managed to get it all fixed, but it was just never the same after that, my passion was gone, and I realized no matter what, that car would always be an omen to me.

A few lame cars later and here we are!



Its been a fun little car, of course until I said, "ya know what James, you can TOTALLY do a clutch on one of these!"...



But shes all back together now and running great, so far the mods are MINImal...get it? dad jokes

17% pulley kit from WMW
Powerflex LCA Poly bushings
Powerflex Gearbox Poly Bushings
Powerflex Dampener Poly Bushings
WMW Tensioner Stop
Valeo SM Clutch Kit

of course while all was apart I serviced the charger and changed the waterpump. For now all I want is an exhaust, intake, header and a tune...maybe some JCW injectors, new intercooler and a pony or something.

 

Welcome to the MINI world!

 

Welcome to NAM! I'm a relocated CT native. I grew up in Stamford Greenwich area. Enjoy your MINI and you're courageous digging to swap out the clutch. I have read it is a brutal experience!

 

Congratulations, shout out from Trumbull! Check the low speed fan resistor; mine was shot.

 

Congrats on the R53 and the clutch job. Some 4x100 honda wheels will fit the MINI.

 

Welcome to NAM! Good work on the Mini! If you ever need any help with the DIY work on your new to you mini, be sure to take a look at our tech articles. Enjoy!

-Luccia