Cleaned and vacuumed the interior. What a mess after a few months of winter grime. Plus I haven't vacuumed for weeks - all that dog hair yuck.

Need to order summer tires this week from my tire guy... really leaning towards the Hankook Ventus V12 Evos.

 

Installed my Redstuff pads and ATE orbital-slot slotted rotors yesterday.


Taking a sick day today. My back didn't like all the yanking on wrenches while sitting on a tire and bending down to reach into the wheelwell. I wish I had a lift in my garage.... Getting old sucks, but the alternative sucks more....

C ya,
Dutch

 

You know the old saying, "you have to be tough to get old".
But, I do feel your pain. Happens to me all the time when I use
muscles I usually don't use or maintain positions out of the norm.

 

It's like driving off the lot each time I give my MINI's interior a good vacuum and wipe down.
As for tires, I've managed to get 15k miles out of my OEM Pirelli runflats, and still have some tread left to wear, but it'll be right into a set of Hankook V12s as soon as they do. discounttiredirect.com often runs specials on Hankooks, and coupled with free shipping and no sales tax, they're a great deal.

 

I actually saw my MINI today. I had to change the fluid in the transmission, transfer case, and both differentials on the JEEP. The whole time I was working in the garage, I was wishing that I was pulling the motor on the MINI so I can send it down to RMW for the rebuild.

Oh well it's the thought that counts, and turning a wrench is turning a wrench.

On a side note, I dumped a bottle of LUCAS transmission stop slip into the JEEP, with 180,000 miles on the clock it now shifts like butter.

 

I've been checking around at various US and Canadian sites and my local tire shop is only slightly more expensive and I can have them mount/balance at the same time. I don't mind spending a few more $$ to support a local shop owner. Besides, somebody has to help him pay for his heavily modified Nissan GTR parked out front all the time.

 

Today I washed the windows, and wheels since the car wasn't too dirty, then installed my St. Andrew's cross magnet on the rear.

 

What I would give to be able to do that again. It takes me probably 5 minutes a month to go out and wipe the dust off of mine.

 

Amen.

 

Drove it to the MINI dealer. Posting this from the customer lounge while Der Krautenkuper gets a free, full service and check up.

Later, I'll drive it home.

 

Today I must have felt that my MINI was thirsty. I set a gallon of unsweetened iced tea on the front passenger seat. Well the lid was on crooked. About a quart of iced tea leaked out on to the seat (Leatherette) and on to floor behind the seat. I soaked up what I could here at work. Used a ton of napkins as I had no towel. This really sucks.

So that is what I did to Comet.

 

^^^At least she drives responsively. Unsweetened..
Took Nimbley for a drive to Panera Bread for some great tasting blueberry bagels. Yum.

 

Next time put the tea in the passenger footwell using the elastic net. Works great for a gallon of milk. The gallon put in the passenger seat doesn't hold well, even with the seat belt. Ask me how I know.....

Mike

 

ruh, roh....hope your Mini doesn't smell...uh....sour..ugh..

 

Drove Desmond to Panera today myself on lunch break. Found out they changed the Turkey Artichoke Panini... What a let down, the new recipe is gross. Told the manager and found out the new recipe isn't selling well, so they are removing it from the menu soon.

 

Put on the CF door handles and gas cap last night. Just need the CF head/tail light/washers to complete the CF accents for the exterior.

 

Don't you hate it when a place has something good and then they change it and mess it up. Maybe they'll go back to the original recipe.

 

I used to like Panera til I had Cosi. It's very similar but much better flavors and menu, now I can't stand Panera. I just wish there were more Cosi's around (there's only 1 on all of Long Island, luckily it's 2 mins from work ).

Let's see what I did to my Mini... last night I replaced the cabin air filter, wow that was dirty and probably has never been changed before.

Today I went to Starbucks during lunch and parked next to a black R53 with an aero kit and BBS CV's

 

No Cosi's down here. We're lucky to even have Panera. LOL

 

Enjoyed my new brakes on the way to work.

The protective coating on the rotors wears off nicely leaving the unswept area coated and presumably protecting the rotors from rust. The resulting shiny/rough metal finish contrasts nicely, too, and looks great.

I also did the first "hard stop" (as prescribed in the break-in procedure for the pads) on a back road on the way in to work. Then I peeled myself off the steering wheel so I could continue driving.... I'll do a few more on the way home to make sure they are well-seated. They're very smooth and very grabby compared to the old pads, which the dealer put on before I bought the car a couple years ago. I should have no problems getting the ABS to give my right foot a massage now, even on dry pavement....

C ya,
Dutch

 

Those ATE's sound alot like Zimmerman rotors which is what I've got (cross drilled), love 'em. The EBC redstuff is also great. Glad you're enjoying them.

 

Got the 35% Tint put on all the way around....

With a nice wash...

 

I gave mine a little facelift with a black grill surround, and I stopped with the surround because I couldn't get the JCW grill to fit correctly... Going to be getting ahold of Vinyl Styles to get rid of the rest of the chrome shortly. Also got a nice set of floor mats from a fellow NAMer, and those went in today as well.


And Yesterday, I signed it up for a new auxiliary water pump.

 

called road side service... hopefully they will be here soon so i can get back to driving places!

 

Noooo! What happened?