Inside the car we connected up to BC1 etc. We opted for the optional extended trigger switch wiring harness to mount the trigger switch over in the blank spot by the E-brake. That way we could plug the empty spot and not have to cut new hole in the dash.

 

Aligned/aimed the rally lights up against the inside of the garage door per the instructions.

 

FYI for DIY'ers, here's all the parts not included in ECS rally light full kit. Depending on year/configuration of R5X, you may or may not need all of this stuff.

 

Wow. Amazing work. Keep the great mods and updates coming.

 

Installed remote trigger button in center console.

 

Completed rally light install project

 

Love all the period correct mods done to the car. Purple Haze has been one of my favorite colors since it was released in 2005.

 

Finally made the move from run flat tires to non-run flats and WOW, what a huge difference! I was expecting a little better ride quality ditching the run flats, but this far exceeds what I thought possible. We were running 3 different brand of worn out run flats, replaced them with 4 new Yokohama S.drive tires. The old fronts exhibited heavy inside wear from the negative camber. So far I'm really liking the new tires.

 

We installed an Ian Cull v7 PCB purchased from a fine member of NAM this past weekend. Having already coded the windows and fabricating a small circuit to auto-up the passenger window, we were really more interested in the Auto fog lights and garage door opener control features of the device.

We previously installed the home-link auto dimming mirror, but it uses the older remote frequency and range was poor on it.

Using the momentary contact feature on the Ian Cull board, we soldered some wires to an extra garage door remote. Now, if I hold the Lock switch down for about 1 second it sends the open/close signal to the garage door opener thru the Liftmaster remote.

As for the Auto fog light activation when the head lights are turned on, I've been having trouble with those, same as many have posted over the years. I think if I turn the headlights on RIGHT AWAY, before the car is fully booted up, the fog lights will come on automatically. This is 1 to 2 seconds after starting the car. Any later and it doesn't work.

The v7 Ian Cull uses the toggle switches to program the device instead of dip switches which is a great idea. But, even though the red LED is working and the piezo is beeping during programming, I'm not convinced any of our programming has ever saved. It's pre-configured almost how we wanted it, so I guess we're lucky in that sense.

 

After many months of bouncing back and forth over which wheels to put on our MINI, we finally pulled the trigger and a set of these babies showed up today! We'd been considering RPF1's, 6UL's, and Rota RB's. The MC40 anthracite R90's might not be super light, but I like that they are original MINI equipment and hoping they go well with the Purple Haze.

 

Picked up a Milltek exhaust header while they were on sale to mate up to the Milltek cat back exhaust we put on the car. Getting installed today along with some other goodies.

 

RMW installed the Milltek header today. They also added a Dominator camshaft, 450cc fuel injectors, and Jan put an RMW engine tune on the ECU.

Wow! Car sounds amazing. Very loud and lots of popping with the header mated to the Milltek non-resonated cat back exhaust. Definitely has more pep with the tune. A new engine mount and fuel filter installed as well.

This car's transformation is nearly complete. Still need to mount some tires on the Anthracite R90's. Hoping to take it to a MINI car meet in July!

 

After adding the header to the cat back exhaust, the Milltek system just wasn't fitting / hanging correctly at all. Hangers and mufflers were rubbing the underside of the body in 3 or 4 spots creating loud vibration and rattles galore. Took it to Muffler Man and they made quick work out of it by cutting 3/4" off the passenger center hanger and bending both of the rear hangers to lower mufflers away from the chassis. This also helped re-center the tips. Now it truly floating on the hangers as intended.

 

Big day, the MINI has 4 new wheels in the boot headed out to get installed on the car.

 

Received our GB badge. Smaller than the typical MC40 badge. I think it's the Paul Smith Limited Edition version which will be a nice touch for our boot.

 

Looking awesome. Great work.

Do you have any photos of the new wheels mounted on Purple Haze? I would love to see how it turned out.

 

Thanks and yes! I'm hoping to snap some pics on Wednesday after a car detail for the upcoming MINI car show in Carlsbad next Saturday. Will post them.

 

Finishing touches before the car show. Installed the GB emblem and re-aligned the rally lights so it doesn't looks like we're trying to spot helicopters. haha

 

We detailed the car today in preparation for the car show this Saturday. The transformation is complete. I think my dad would think it's pretty cool. Lots of blood, sweat, and tears went into this. Great learning experience for both my son and I.

I decided to swap the double sided tape on the GB emblem over to 3M so I yanked it off during the wash. Putting a new ACTUAL SIZE sticker on too.

Snapped a ton of photos today of the finished product.

 

More pics after the wash was complete.

 

Even more outdoor pics.

 

Took some shots in the warehouse as well.

 

Applied a newly cut ACTUAL SIZE vinyl decal (one of my Dad's favorite mods).

 

Wish us good luck at the show. It will be our first MINI meet.

This is my favorite shot of the day.

 

Looks great!
Let us know how it goes!