Put in a new valve cover gasket last night. Got tired of the leak.

 

Not sure why this isnt stock... But put it on this am!

 

How many miles?

 

39k miles. No drips but was seaping more and more. No warranty and didn't want to pay Mini $300+ to tell me I had a leak and needed a new gasket so I just bought one for $50 and did it myself. Nice slow easy 2 hours of work.

 

I got my car clay bared and waxed recently and unfortunately today a street sweeper was sweeping my neighborhood streets that had just be scraped by road repair crews (who are preparing to put down the oil and asphalt) so i had to drive through a cloud of dirt and dust and then also today some guy driving a beat up green acura nsx looked over at my car and spit on my front windshield (on purpose) and hood then sped off. So i've spent the day so far crying and subsequently cleaning waxing buffing and more waxing and polishing.

 

Added my new rear strut brace bar. It was easy and made driving through the park fun.

 

Drained and replaced coolant on "Der Krautenküper" and the Ol' Lady's "Frau Blau". Onky got about half the coolant out through the lower radiator hose, so I will make it an annual thing.

Easy enough to do:

Remove cap from overflow tank.
Remove splas shield.
Loosen (do not remove) vent screw on thermostat housing.
Slide hose clamp off end of lower hose, and remove two plastic clamps.
Position large tray to catch coolant, and pull hose off radiator.
Be sure to pull hose down to get as much old coolant out.
Replace hose, hose clamp, plastic clamps, and splash shield.
Tighten thermostat housing vent screw.
Fill overflow tank to about the HOT level mark.
Loosen vent screw again to release trapped air.
Add more coolant as level drops, and tighten vent screw if coolant flows out.
When fluid level stabilizes, set heat and fan controls to maximum, then start car.
Add more coolant when level drops below the COLD mark.
Loosen vent screw again, and tighten when coolant flows out.
When coolant level is stabilized at the COLD mark, replace cap on overflow tank.

Done and done!

 

You should carry spare change next to you and if someone ever does that again, throw all the coins at their car. That's what I did one time for someone throwing a drink at my car. Karma:-)

 

Damn still that's super early for something like that to get fixed at 39k miles. My '11 had 55k miles when I had to replace the valve cover...lol

 

Today changed the oil, spark pugs, put a KL&N drop in filter, and installed a noisemaker delete! Yay Roxi!

 

Put some LEDs in.

.

 

Sorry, Panther MINI , but it is customarily known that people can sometimes just suck.

 

Got some wheels today, ASA 17X7 and a new chrome rear hatch handle. The wheels edges need a little cleaning but over all, pretty good shape.

 

Very nice. I look forward to seeing them on.

 

Ahh just trying to finish my work so that could go for a long drive

 

And just severely beaten with an ax handle to make a point clear that was not acceptable!

 

finally finished my retrofit, more pictures in R53 General Chat.

Time to clean and buff them!

-B

 

Yesterday, on the way home from work:



On lucky Friday the 13th, no less...

 

I did the NOISE MAKER delete with a 1" threaded plug and also installed my DV from Way Motor Works

 

Installed the upper control arms. The rear suspension is almost complete (for now)

 

Put Lamin-X on the driving lights and put LEDs on the upper fog/running lights. No more yellow! One step cheap on the halos!

 

Replaced my AC clutch coil...I've got AC again. I saw a lot of grime around the power steering pump so it probably time to shop around for one too see if I can find a deal before it goes out. I also cleaned the wheels since I had it up in the air.

 

Upgraded my R53's booty today.

New R53 Euro taillights! (OEM, only difference is the clear center turn signal, but it makes a big difference visually. Love it!)

Also a rear window wiper delete, and a new rear badge; my badge had finally stated to peel after 10 years in the sun.

 

Today I dechromed with Plasti Dip. My Mini has about 107,000 miles on it and the chrome pieces were pretty scratched up. I also sprayed my mirrors and front grille pieces that were rather greyed out from sun and age.

I'm soon to have my rear hatch repaired due to rust spots over the hatch handle. I'm looking forward to the repair so I can ditch the bumper stickers that are covering the spot repairs.

 

More sample pictures. Headlight trim rings too. Once I got started I couldn't seem to stop.