Hi all,

Just joined NAM a few weeks ago and Monday we had a monster hailstorm in the Denver area. My r53 is a total mess. Up to officially measured 3.9" hail stones, my area was like tennis *****.

My r53 was just beat to death, every body panel badly dented, most glass broken, tail lights smashed and lots of water inside.

That day I Just put on new Wilwood big brakes, and poly bushings for all control arms. So now the rebuild starts. All new glass first then body work.

My best to any other owners in the Denver area that were impacted by this storm

Doc

 

At almost 4" they were as hard as a baseball not a tennis ball. Not that I want to open and old wound but you have some pictures of what it looks like before and after?

Sorry for your loss.

 

r53coop,

Thanks for the commiseration, what I meant was that the hail at my location only got as big as tennis *****. I have some after pics. Never was too much of a picture taker before, I was waiting to finish the upgrades then post the final (HaHa) after it was done.

 

Where's the pics???
Also, so sorry that mother natur took out her wrath on your R53... So sad!

 

Here are some pics after the storm.

 

Physicsman,
So sorry your Mini has taken all those shots. I hope you can get it back in shape soon!

 

Thanks guys,

Not going to be a quick fix. All the local shops a way behind on glass work and finding someone to work on a 13 year old car the way I want it done is hard in itself.

I'll get it don but it's going to be a slow process, most likely most of the summer.

Then I'm back to the question that brought me to NAM in the first place. Anybody know a good Denver based Bytetronik tuner ?

I was planning on running some local Autocross.
I have:

Koni racing shocks.
Wilwood big brakes.
Poly bushings on all suspension points.
All new suspension arms.
Larger intercooler.
19% supercharger pulley
Bigger super charger (waiting to install)
17X9 Rims w/BGF 17-245-30 TA/Comp tires.
New shifter assembly.
M7 Strut tower brace.
M7 Frame braces inside and under chassis brace.
Sparco street/racing seats.
4 Point harness.

Just about ready to go tuning when the hail hit.

So any suggestions are more than welcome.

 

Very sorry to see what happened to your MINI. I saw the news footage for this storm it was no joke.

If not insurance co route, eBay has some sunroofs up for sale. Drop in, betting you could tackle that yourself, and there are tail lights up for sale in NAM.

Give a call to Arthur. He is "based" in my area, but travels and chases these storm areas as they occur. Bet he is already in your area and he does marvelous work !

http://bostondentpro.com/

Tell him MINI Cooper Dave sent ya....

GL!

 

Thanks, I'll do that.

 

Once you get the MINI to "dry land" and windows sealed up, lift carpets best you can to dry out. Shops usually remove the seats and whole carpeting, but that depends on how much water is on floor pan.

And these will help to remove moisture.

https://www.griotsgarage.com/product...om=Search&cx=0

 

Everything is out and sitting in my friend barn. Car is "in line" to start body work.

Sounds like you've been around Mini's for a while.
Do you know anything about sunroof delete panels or weld on metal fender flares ?

 

I know of some custom carbon fiber panels jobs....

http://www.superstreetonline.com/how...mini-cooper-s/

But considering all the work they put into it, Wonder if just having sheet metal welded in, ground down and painted would have been easier / less time consuming.

Would have to do something with the headliner afterwards....

 

Problem is that none of the local shops I've found do that kind of work. The roof panel does require some shaping not just a flat panel. Nobody around here want to do that for a reasonable price. The only two I found want $7,000.00 and $12,000.00 respectively for just the metal work no paint.

Thanks for the thought.

 

Ouch!


...or should I say... OUCH!


Motor On!

 

$7K ?! Guess it would take a fairly large English Wheel to shape it too...lol.

Alternative would be a total roof cut and replace. New unpainted roof panel from MINI is about $600.00. Old roof cut at top of pillars and new one welded in. Would also have to replace upper rear window frame and trunk lid hinges to match, another $200.00. I get the whole weight reduction of this mod, especially for autox. Best guess would put that job in the ball park of almost $4K.