Yo V,

You coming to Cascade in May? I'll be there for the 3 session on Sunday May 5. I just had my first track day last Friday with HOD and was consistently 5 seconds off of where I left off end last season.

~Mitch

 

I really have no have no idea what it can be. Still running the zeitronix which is still new so will reserve judgement and see if it lasts longer than a month haha.

 

Wow a brand new charger. Where did you pick that up from. Very nice indeed

 

Hi Mitch. Good to hear from you and you started your season already. I don't plan to run with Cascade's mixed classes again as there is just too much disparity. I plan to spend a lot of time at ORP, and may be with HOD or BMW at PIR this season. If I get everything sorted I plan to be at ORP this weekend.

 

Just curious-what makes for the disparity? I wonder if you run into issues I have come across.

 

In those events that I drove with them, they only had one HPDE run group. So there were big disparity of car capabilities, and worst driver skill levels. Additionally you are only allowed to pass on the front and back straights. There are drivers that just got blessed to solo that morning, and there are drivers that has been tracking for years all drive in the same run group. It could be that I miss the organization's intensions for these events. It seems that if you are there to drive with an instructor and eventually get a racing license they are good for it, but no so much if you are have good track experience and want to challenge yourself safely.

 

I hear ya!
I have avoided various organizers for those reasons. I need to be able to trust the people I am out with.

 

The new supercharger is in and Desire is pleased. As I bought a new JCW supercharger it came with a 12% pulley. The Cravenspeed pulley puller that I bought to remove the standard pulley couple of years back cannot be use to remove the smaller JCW pulley. I wanted to avoid having to buy another pulley puller I went to Cravenspeed to see if they can help since I have bought the 15% pulley from them as well. To my delight they were super helpful and gave me a brand new JCW puller as a free loaner, not even wanting a deposit nor name or address from me. That is customer service at its best . I returned the pulley puller within the hour.

The next day I tried to transfer the 15% pulley from the old charger to the new but ran into another snag. the pulley would not come out and it appears that I need a really smaller common puller to help it out. My pullers are all too large and I knew better not to try plying it loose. I did try to break it loose with a brass hammer by giving it a few modest wracks but not wanting to damage the bearing by hitting it too hard. Checking Cravenspeed's installation instruction to confirm there is no instruction on the removal. Again I drove to Cravenspeed for help. It turned out the pulley is designed with a removal provision - just not documented. While I tried threading two socket head screw into two of the four holes I didn't realize their intended use. To remove the outer half of the pulley you need two longer screws. When the screws are fully threaded they bottom out against the inner pulley half and this action separate the two halves.




While I now have removed and installed the supercharger three times now, and the process is not getting faster. The reason is I know the gravity of making a mistake of this process and I spent my time to make sure I don't have to tear the front end apart again. Better safe than sorry when so much is riding on doing each step right. Mini is very unforgiving and that is why it is so expensive to pay someone to work on these cars.

I actually forgot that I bought the large SC horn gasket as well as the intake pipe gasket; the o-ring for the water pump is another thing you don't want to reuse unless you are absolute in a bind without a new one on hand


the new inlet pipe gasket I bought is Victor Reinz and I inspect it side by side against the OE one just to be on the safe side


The feels of the material are on par that they both are very pliable as they should. Next I visually check the construction, features, and dimensions. while they both have the same physical features I noticed the OE one is more supple in some profile. Checking the inlet pipe flange I cannot tell if this minor difference will cause any material difference in how well it seals. I know there have been a lot of complains from people who had trouble with the inlet pipe leaking but I never find any evidence the design is poor or defective. You just have to be very careful and attune to the fact that there are 5 connections to this inlet pipe and 3 want to play tug of war against one another. I have reused the OE gasket each time so far and never suffer a leak. Guess what I decided to do this time? I decided to reuse the OE gasket rather than taking the risk with the new gasket as I see no deterioration with the old gasket.



in this profile shot you can see the Victor Reinz (lower) is less supple than the OE (upper)



new water pump o-ring


while this one is only a few months old it got flatten slightly as the very original one that was 40,000 miles old


once the front end is all back together refilling the engine coolant is as easy as pie; I reuse all that I captured and only need to add a small amount to make up for the inevitable spills


I made sure the coolant system is all bled and filled and the fan functional before bolting the bumper cover back up




next is to de-winterize the motorhome and gave it a good wash


I re-install the winch that I stored away from old man winter


here is my neighbor's newly acquired Cayman; I told him I like the sound of his boxer six driving by my house

 

I have a lot to sort out on Desire. Among these are the axles which I suspect is the cause of a subtle tremors that follow braking hard before a turn at speed on tracks. Unlike other German cars that I have we don't have access to the replacement CV joints to rebuild our axles. I have been struggling with which axles to get, and I read horror stories with Cardone rebuild with right axle problems.

Only if the OEM rebuilds aren't that expensive I would be willing to pay up to $500 for the pair knowing they are German CVs. So I finally chose to go with DSS from AutohausAZ. I have no disillusion these are most certainly from China. The best part is they get here in just two days when I thought there is no way in hell they will arrive in time for the next track event.

The other nice thing is it comes with everything you need including the carrier bearing and bracket for the right hand side. No need to transfer or buy new dust caps either.

 

Desire enters into 2019 with a long list of deferred maintenance. My plan was to devote a few weeks to sort everything out before signing up for track events. I would turned out there were no few weeks to sort this long list of things out. There were only 8 days or so. The main thing that worried me was the driveline shakes and I have not decided which axles to order until this Tuesday after I completed the supercharger replacement. Normally here in the West Coast most parts takes 1 week to arrive from East Coast. I am very fortunate that I decided to buy the DSS axles from AutohausAZ. The axles arrived in 2 days from California. I figured if I do everything right I can get Desire ready for the track event as oppose to taking a chance of breaking an axle on the track.

The axles arrived before lunch and I immediately get to work. The driveline shake has been gotten worst in the last few months. Quite significant front end shakes that are like a badly out of balance wheels or out of round tires. Even the steering wheel shakes. I checked the wheel runouts, tire roundness, and balance and just could not be certain. Only when I put Desire up on the jack stands and spin the front wheels at speed in second gear and third gear that I was quite certain the problem must lie with the axles.

When I spin the wheel at high speed on jack stands there is absolute silky smooth. No sign of unbalance wheel, worn CV joints which make a very strong case. Why? Because when spinning the wheels with the suspension in full extension, the CV joint contact points are at the spots that are not worn. With this test result I felt confident the problem is indeed due to the axles.

up onto the Quickjacks Desire went again; at full extension the Quickjacks afford generous working space under the car


I removed the brakes to make the job easier and to protect the soft aluminium calipers from damage


these BP-10 pads work well for street driving; there is almost no wedging


I bought this 4-lb sludge hammer from Walmart months ago planning this job and I would need every once of the mass to break free the frozen splines


In 2017 I tried to remove the axles from the front hubs to no avail. I could not separate the axle splines from the bearing hub and I suspected it for some reason is rusted badly and seized. Strangely is Desire never seen road salts.

I sprayed the splines and the hub with BP Blaster and WD40 hoping they would help but little they did


only many well aimed hard blow with the 4-lb sludge hammer slowly move the axle inwards, and I had to fight every mm of movement with more blows


the left side wasn't seized as bad



I quickly did some dimensional checks by comparing the new against the new; you never know what surprise may lie to ambush you with aftermarket parts especially from China


tied the calipers safely out of harm's way


to get to the center carrier bearing bracket it is easiest if you remove the power steering fan and the lower engine restraint


I had a hard time seating the inner spline of the left side axle until I reshaped this snap ring


once the right axle is separated from the bearing hub the evidences are clear that the spline is seized to the hub due to bad corrosion


rust in the hub side spline too



the inside view; note the wheel speed sensor as well as the tone ring on the hub


I conducted some quick dimensional check of the right side axle between the new and old and everything checked out good


The DSS axles came with everything you need so there is no fuss to install the dust caps and the carrier bearing brackets. I am most grateful for these.

since I have a spare brand new dog bone I decided to install it even though the old one looks just fine


Sliding the new axles into the differential to seat them took a bit of struggle and I didn't want to just hammer them home. I took my time and eventually they both seated fully. I lubricated the splines with moly grease and motor oil well before connecting them to the wheel hubs. I took my time reinstalling all the ancillaries and torque them to spec. It is very easy to forget something and the price can be very dear. I spun the wheels with the engine while on jack stands to make sure all is well.

I then went for a low speed test drive around the blocks and immediately I knew the problem is solved. Even at low speed the car is so much smoother. There is no longer that subtle rumbles all too common with front wheel drive cars. I recheck everything and took it for a highway test drive. All is good. No more steering shakes and the ride is silky smooth. It is amazing how the axles can creep up on you in gradual deterioration over time. It pays to know your car to accurately diagnose the cause.

Desire is now 1/64 Chinese with these communist built axles. She is super happy that she is now all shipshape for the upcoming track events.

 

I know you’ve already installed the axles, but here’s an option to check for future parts.

I follow a Mercedes master mechanic guy on YouTube who recommends FCPEuro parts. They offer all parts with lifetime warranty, etc including wear items. They are an enthusiasts favorite. YMMV, of course.

Good luck at the track!

 

I am not surprised about the splines being rusted together. Water in tight places on steel tends to do that. However, I would have thought that you would have done the reassembly with Never-seize instead of the grease. Do you have a particular preference for that?

 

I looked into FCPEuro last year when someone on this forum mentioned it. I didn't see wear items like racing pads, rotors for after market BBKs. My impression is just like any insurance it is a hedge, and you have to be willing to pay the premium to guard against potential loss. I am the contrary of mindset when it comes to insuring against loss. I never sign up for extended warrantees. I see myself as my own insurance rather than paying someone else to hedge against losses.

To be honest to grab my tube of anti-seize never crossed my mind. I just wanted something cheap and dirty that will do the job. Seeing the rust and the large surface area that needed to be covered I grab the moly grease left over from a previous job. I figured that since the original assembly has no oil nor grease by applying some will go a long ways. The grease should fill the minute voids and not to be displaced by water and air, and should make next removal a lot easier.

It just dawned on me for an explanation why my axles seized so bad to the bearing hubs. I had long ditch the center wheel covers especially the ugly looking ones that came with the X-Lite. Without the center cap water gets in there and hence mine has more rust than average even those exposed to winter road salt. This realization changes nothing though. I will continue to not have the wheel center caps as Desire looks tougher without them.

 

No tech inspection is too thorough to prepare for a track event. Since Desire just had the supercharger and front axles replace too many things can go wrong. There are also the unfinished job like punching a depression on the front axle outer locknuts that I didn't want to rush and do a bad job in the dark.


we went for a test drive in order to put a few more miles to see if there is gearbox oil leak around the new axles mating the differential


Today's business is to swap in the Raybastos ST-41 racing pads, and to give Desire a 100-point inspection. This including checking all the fluids and noting anything that are in need of attention soon. I would be glad that I did this as there is a list of parts that need to be procured from this inspection.

up on the Quickjacks Desire went again



and yes, I did forget to tighten the two hose clamps for the intake air; also I had to top up the coolant reservoir with may be a quart of water (yes they will mix with the coolant just fine)


BTW, this is the spark plug socket that I used to bash the right side axle to persuade it out from the wheel hub




the left side axle



no sign of oil seepage from the seal



the right side axle also no sign of oil seepage from the seal


the outer half of right side axle



I double-checked all the fasteners that I disturbed during the axle replacement and didn't find anything amiss. Next is to install the ST-41 racing pads. My set of ST-43 is still on backorder.







they use NRS backing plates to make these pads


I made this brake pad puller; what I should do is make one with two hooks so I can pull the pads out evenly rather than askew.



I could get the titanium shield on as the pads are quite thick





Next is to do a thorough inspection of the rear suspension and brakes. The rear brakes have always wear very slowly but the rotors are showing signs of in need of replacement soon. I check for excessive brake drag especially the right side which R53 Mini tends to stick more. Both sides are very even, and additionally the pads wears are all very even.







the rubber boots developed some crack on both sides so these are added to list of parts to order












I like to use this rubber mallet to look for loose suspension parts and it had served me well.



Desire received a clean bill of health with this inspection. She can't wait to get out to the tack and stretch her legs and test out the new wheels.

 

Hey, when I did my brakes on my R50, the left rear doesn't seem to be doing all of what it is supposed to be doing, i.e. I think that the piston is stuck as the outer side of the rotor is showing 0 wear. I know this because in my rush to get the job done as it was getting dark, I put one pad in backwards.... yes I know, a moron mistake.... it also happened to be the outside rear left pad. My ABS and flat tire monitor light is also on so a wheel speed sensor could be bad. I know the ABS is working as a person trying to run across the street on Hawthorne caused them to activate.

Any Idea on how to get it unstuck if it is stuck?

 

The rear brake piston needs to screwed-in in order put new pads in. If you were able to do that, then the piston isn’t stuck. Also, if the piston side of the rotor shows wear, then the piston is moving. Usually, if only the piston side is working then this is a sign of the caliper sliders being stuck. They may not seem to be stuck when just moved by hand but they may stick when the are side loaded from the brake application. There are kits that have improved bushings that would make great replacement.

 

I did retract the pistons when putting them in. It is hard to tell if the piston is moving as rears don't wear like the fronts. I'll have to find time to pull the rear wheel off and check to see of the slider is stuck. Thanks for the help!
Craig.

now back to your regularly scheduled threat talk....


sorry for the hijack.

 

Not hijack at all as this thread is to talk about all things interesting of Mini's, as well of interesting cars. No all electric except those like VW I.D. R or the next car that goes beat it - rumor a Portland local small car builder might give the giant automaker a run for their excess of money.

Desire and I were both tied up performing reliability testing at the track. She racked up 250 miles and drank 44 gallons of fuel. That is a record for sure. The new set of Nitto NT01 is close to done. Most important order of business is to keep the supply line humming so I ordered a set of Toyo R888R this morning.

Desire intimidated this supercharged S2000 to submission


now Desire want to go soaring like a bird seeing what flew above


Desire received multiple praise like "wow, that is a very fast Mini. what do you have in there?". I continued to hone my left foot braking skill. I found it makes a huge difference in tight turns like the half pipe where you need to initiate turn in and yet want to minimize the time off the throttle.

 

There were a lot of interesting cars during the two day club days. There were a Miata ND with Edelbrock supercharger, AC Cobra replica, GT3 RS, few older Caymans, Corvettes Z06 and Z07 supercharged, BMW 2002 with a M3 engine, M3, 325, and this with a aftermarket mod plus BBK. So Desire is the humblest ride of the weekend.




Mini is one car that utilize the same hydraulic disc brakes for parking brake. This approach has always difficult to keep the parking brake from dragging and seizing. Some cars like Volvo simple not bother, but has a separate center drum for parking brake. This Alfa and Audi R8 has dedicated mechanical caliper just for the parking brake.

There are few possibles that cause draggy rear brake on our Mini:

• poorly maintained piston auto adjust mechanism for the parking brake
• parking brake cable less than smooth
• tired returning spring and the parking brake activating lever on the caliper
• poorly maintained sliding mechanism of the floating caliper

It take some care and attention to diagnose your problem and bear in mind there may be more than one cause.

The first thing you should do is to jack the rear up and perform a series of hand spinning tests. The key is to determine if you have excessive drag on one side or both. Then pull and release the hand brake a number of time and try to note the changes of the drag. If you observe more drag on one side, try manually help the returning spring on that side to see. It is very simple if you pay attention of how the mechanisms work.

 

So I had patiently waited until after driving these Konig Dial In 8x15s on the track before ordering another set. I wanted to make sure there is no fender rub even at full suspension compression. I am delighted to report these wheels are the most under appreciated for the Mini. They are incredible light and strong, and the best part is has tons of clearance for the Wilwood and not needing to deal with spacers. I also like the evenly spaced radial spoke design as that makes the most engineering sense. I want to have a spare set of wheels so I went ahead and ordered another set.

 

Nice that you can left foot brake with the Gen I MINIs. Not with the R56 S. As soon as you touch the brake, it drops the boost and cuts the engine. Itt takes longer for the turbo to spool up than it does to just right foot brake. Also, I don’t have any turns on the tracks I go to where I am not downshifting going into a turn.

Hey, BTY - I have a NEW toy. Check my signature.

 

Yes. I did see the email notification on the other thread when you first announced it. Strangely I didn't get notification on subsequent replies including the one you posted with the photo.

Congratulation and you must have been good.

here it is for everyone's benefit to see it



My R53 track Miniac is getting the new GP, but I hope we can duel it out in our R53s for quite some time to come that I am getting familiar with his home track.

 

Brake, brake, brake! I can still hear my instructor yawling at me. Brake and rubber have to be the most important things for track driving. So I tried the Raybestos ST-41 compound. It was my second choice after ST-43 thinking it would be too extreme for Desire driving in sub-50 F ambient. Well Desire bit off every bit of friction. These pads worked great and last better than the Wilwood BP-30s. There is no brake fade that I could detect. At occasions I managed to lock up the front brake(s) briefly. The wear is a lot more even. These photos were taken after 110 miles of hard driving.



There is some wedging which is to be expected. I flipped them for the second day and I put 140 miles on the second day. I haven't inspected them yet but I know they are quite worn going by the illumination of the low brake fluid light.




the other long edge


I estimate I might be able get two more track days out of them. Oh, I should mention that it was such a relief to not having to worry about breaking an axle going 100 MPH now with these DSS communist made axles. Desire with her FWD (fun wheel drive) configuration was chasing two Porsche early Cayman S's and beat one into submission and my lap time was only a bit slower than the AC Cobra replica.

 

I am humbled by your gesture of posting my picture. Thank you.

Your thread here has inspired me to create an “Albert” thread:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4466699

At its heart are the MINIs that inspired it and why they did - Fun, Enjoyment, and Smiles (and a little ranting).

 

Brakes, Brakes, Brakes and their respective pads...
As you know those have been one of biggest rants, pads especially. Glad you found one that is working for you. Actually, the pad you used is the one I would have picked. I like a flat Cf curve in a pad. The ST47 has an early rise and tapers off a bit. Not sure that would work as well in a MINI as the ST41. I find that big initial jarring of the car upsets the MINI. For me, it works best to first set the car, then haul the car down in speed.

Oh, and how was the wear of the rotors with those pads?

For now Smokey will be doing track duty. Headed to LRP in 2 weeks. Looking forward to that...