GOOD luck on the A/C issues, hopefully it will get sorted.

 

Hey Meno,

It's been pretty quiet on the K front lately. Any good news? How's the A/C?
pm sent

 

All is well.

Been on vacation for a week.

SmallZilla is in the stereo / alarm shop. They now dislike her on account of all things small. I am supposed to pick it up tomorrow to see the "nearly" complete product.

Apparently the door triggers for remote keyless entry with the Viper system doesn't fit. Sooooooooo anyone have this problem before and can offer a fix?

A/C is not fixed but isolated to (2) issues:

Hondata Tuner locally agreed with Norman that now that the ECU is running the A/C (previous MTB systems ran separate of the ECU), a return wire (forgive my intellect) which sends the on signal needs to be run / connected. Last I spoke with MiniTec, Norman was going to track down the schema and suggest the fix to the local company.

Other possible complication is that the heater valve is stuck open (this is a separate but related issue).

This week I need to register the rodent and purse door triggers and A/C solutions. Hopefully by the end of next week I'll have all in place...hopefully.

The Sacramento Valley is too hot for a black daily driver without A/C...and I'm short and fat to boot so I'm at a handicap from the onset.

Performance has been spectacular other than my mis-shifts from 2nd to 3rd. First couple of weeks I never missed, now I can't seem to make it but 50% of the time. I am slowing down though which is nice for everyone locally.

I need more alchohol though...the liquid injection type for the motor not the stuff in red wine although both are reddish.

She's a rock star still around here...people all stare and despite my genuine good looks, I doubt I'm the subject of their gaze.

D-Mini...PM sent...start a thread? Yeah, yeah, yeah...I know.

Be good.

 

I want remote locks... Does anyone know of a good kit that they'd recommend?

As for lack of AC... are you REALLY expecting much sympathy, Meno? I mean... Jesus.... anyone that's been following this thread would drive the thing with the windows up in July with a trunkload of space heaters tutrned on full blast if they just had the chance to sit behind the wheel...

 

Well said!

 

Where is the "gas face" emoticon?

....this will do.

Nonetheless when doing business while sweating profusely one is not in the "best foot forward" position. And yeah, despite the heat and the glazed donut look, I'm enjoying the drive.

 

Don't you get enough wind through the open windows at 120 MPH to make sufficient breeze?

 

Agreed! Folks forget that this little rodent is your company car.

 

My vtec is a toy and can't picture myself driving it everyday.















but since you have to.....i hope you'll never out grow it.

 

Looking at the website now, it looks like it is 25,500 for the D-series and 29,500 for the K. If you only paid 26,000 for a K with a super charger-- you got a hell of a deal! Am I missing something? Did you supply the car? Or was that 26,000 before all the options... i.e. leather, LSD, AC etc. etc.?

If I could get your car for 26,000 I would be headed to the bank and making a withdraw. According to the current price list, by the time you add the options and then something for the supercharger; your car should cost easily 10,000 more than what you paid.

I emailed Norman last week and told him I wanted a K series mini sometime in the next 2 years... since your car took like 9 months to build, I am thinking I should plan on getting it started sometime this next year if I want it to be finished in two years. Or I could just buy your's two years from now, when you are done having fun with it... heheh

 

Sportspack seats are also *very* tall seats, not to mention they foul the rear seat bins when you push 'em back. I would think the Miata seats would be a good compromise. I've always wanted to check out a set myself.

 

True. You have done your math wisely. I'm in it bigger than the original 26k...quite a bit more actually when all things are considered. Approximately over 1 million to be exact...wait a minute, that's not right either.

True. You have done your math wisely. You must order your car many moons in advance and never tell yourself, "Oh, that's just worst case scenario." Speed for MiniTec is what they build, not how they do it.

 

Latka, I actually like those orignal little seats best of all for looks, but my Miata seats are actually, as you said, a good compromise...better than I expected. Have you seen Tim's car yet? Have you fixed his photo post? (You're the IT guy on MM)

El Profe, did you mean to insert a picture? Your last post has a big space in it and I didn't know if I'm dense, there's techical difficulties at play, or you forgot to insert the photo.

 

I was actually going to ask you to do some seat measuring for me. I'm pretty close to picking up a ...well, it has factory AC and it's a Mini. I'm looking for options to make my gargantuan gorilla form fit in the car. The low-back vinyl seats in my '71 Mini have been the best so far. Most uncomfortable, but allowed me the most room! The Sportspack seats, while gorgeous and quite luxo, also afforded the worst headroom for me. I'm 6'6" (and just under 300lbs), so one might describe me as a gigantic sack of potatoes. Why I like Minis I will never figure out... you'd think I'd be into humongous 60s Caddis or something!

Anyway - The SPi seating we're going to get with the car is ok, but they still foul on the rear seat bins when I put 'em all the way back. I wanted to find out how "My" seats compared to the Miata stuff. I'll e-mail ya when we finally get the car.

As for Tim's stuff, no I haven't been over to Maui yet. I need to do that soon, 'cause it sounds like a little beastie. I must have missed his photo problems, so I'll have to have another look through to find out what was wrong. I'm not the IT guy, but I can fix simple stuff - only cause I'm good at making messes myself.

Looks like elprofe added 12 line breaks for dramatic effect.

 

Latka - you are a freaking big man! You and I could have done "Twins", the poor people version. I naturally would have been Danny Devito.

I think the Miata seats won't be good for you. They are very, very close to the full back late model Mini seats in size but better in style and comfort...for a garden gnome such as myself anyway. BUT I will gladly do as you request. Sit in a Miata for feel if you are afforded the opportunity because the seat seems to be sized for we half-lings.

If I were to do it again, I think I'd go with the original style seats...for what my opinion is worth.

...for "dramatic effect", eh...man, I am dense...and short.

 

I had a buddy with a '95 Miata. Great little car except for the part about my head sticking up over the windshield! The seats were comfy though.

 

Hey Avalanche,

If it were $26K, I would have already wired Meno the funds direct to his account!

 

Brakes failed on me Sunday enroute to church. Now stop the cat calls...that really IS why I didn't make it to church.

Anyhow, an odd issue happened with the pin at the hub nut which allowed the calipers to spread. Balance bar was adjusted so lightly for the rear brakes (Norman's preference on account of hard cornering not doing well with rear brake lockup) that frantic pumping didn't help much. Secondary reservoirs are nice but not much help when the rear brakes squeeze less than a mid 70's Peugeot 10 speed.

Soooooo...Seven Industries is exactly 11.1 miles from my doorstep (so says mapquest). Who knew? Actually I did and planned to ask them about rear sway bars but didn't think about them when I needed some brake warranty work done. I wanted to attend their open house in May...yada yada yada.

I dropped it off with them (referred to me by another Vtec owner for the brake SNAFU) and they fixed that and then added some goodies. So I'm excited all over again.

My rear tires had rubbed a bit when I received the car. Since I had a stereo system installed in the rear it really began to rub during turns and a triple that when I added the wife and kids to the payload. I was running a 185 70 13 (Norman's suggestion for a daily driver with no adjusted final drive). Now I'm running the Yokohama A048R's at 175-50-13. The freeway RPM's will increase but traction and handling should too. I will get a new final drive hopefully in a few months to equalize the buzz.

Also I am adding (unless complications have arisen) a KAD rear sway bar, KAD rear camber bracket and some rear springs - no more rubber cone. The springs reportedly soften the ride which will hopefully improve the 50 series adjustment. We shall see.

A/C electrical is next. I need to take it to a Hondata tuner for that.

Whewww....that's a lot of motor mouth.

 

good to hear you are on the road again.

 

At two places now I'm just a smidgeon over 2 inches of ground clearance...yikes! But oh my does it ride nicer with the rear springs! Tires are quieter! Exhaust is quieter! Shifts smoother! Gears are smoother!

How much clearance is safe anyway?

 

My newest Mini is waayyyyyy too low in the front. I drag the exhaust clamp bolts when I go over speed bumps if I don't remember to hit them at a 45º angle.

2" is probably as low as 'ya want to go if it's being driven on the street. It's cool to be in a Mini, but it would *not* be cool to high-center a mini on a speed bump!

 

I'm required to do the 45 degree approach for sure now. I measured a stock Cooper S at Seven (a real one so I'm told) and his lowest point was 3". Funny, before the change of tires and adjusting downward of the suspension I never once gave ground clearance a consideration...now I'm paranoid like Cheech. I noticed my oil pan has some scrapes too...not good.

I'm curious what most people run...

 

Hey Meno,

Maybe a sump guard (don't you love that euphamism?), aka skid plate is in order. Did you ask Minitec about one? I'd much rather see scrapes on a plate compared to warning signs on the oil pan.

Many years ago, I killed my father's rabbit (VW rabbit,that is) when I bottomed out the oil pan on a road hazard. I was too young and dumb to immediately pull over to check it out. Five miles later, the rabbit fell over dead--crank seized.

Your scratches are probably from speed bumps. You'll know it when you make contact. It's rarely subtle.

 

rebound with all that weight up front is terrible.
I would suggest raising to safer point. This is from someone whose header sparks in hard turns.

 

El Profe - what do you suggest as safe? My lowest point is 2 inches...do I raise by 1, 2 or 3 inches?