Not sure how this will pan out, but had an hr to kill, and stuff was on hand. This 2 inch pipe insulation works well for home heating systems so should help some. Used one quick tie and OEM strap, and some trimmed up aluminum to aid to trap heat below area where air enters grille and towards intercooler.

Principle is sound, and if it works I'll do something a bit fancier. And while it doesn't direct air under the IC to aid flow, this mod is more about cost effective heat management. It's about 80* here today so will be good time to run some temp checks with SGII.






Shield is up against base of IC.



Used OEM Front IC bracket mounting points for shield

 

Sprayed the front 12" of the hood with 3M Paint Defender. Very pleased with the results. Hopefully it can keep the paint chips down.

 

this id like to see, i have 2 kits in the garage, just haven't decided to try or no

 

I think he was talking wheel horsepower but every bit helps.

 

After two weeks (and one day) of owning Yoshi, I decided to take a drive through the mountains and up through Jerome, AZ. All was going good until got my first speeding ticket :( how do you expect me to do 20 through the zig zag :/ then ended up going back the way I went into Jerome (was dark) so didn't even do half of the zig zags.. oh well better luck next time, was still a nice drive with plenty of rain throughout the drive!

 

Wow, I am surprised they were gunning at that time. Makes sense, easy area and small town. But I can't say I have ever seen anyone looking for speeders on the uphill zig zags.

Bummer... maybe the officer wanted to see your MINI up close? hehe

 

Well it was the last couple turns out of town and passed the cop going opposite ways then before I knew it he was behind me :/

 

Not quite today, but almost: Dropped my Clubman off at the trucking terminal for the ride home after MTTS.

 

Wiped the R52 down, and cleaned the glass.

Still waiting for my MC40 to get back from paint. Maybe this Friday.

 

Topped off the oil... refixed the brake wear sensor again. Tomorrow she gets walnut blasted and I pick up some mirror covers and MTL.

 

Post up pics when you get the MC40 back from paint.

 

Over the past few weeks, Fenimore has been used as feline transport. I got heavily involved with the TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) efforts for the feral cat population around where I work. I kinda burned out on it, though. I trapped eight cats, one of them twice. Most of them were young; kittens or juveniles. Hopefully the neutering will help keep the population down next year.

 

Im sure the local bird population appreciates that.

 

We support and participate in a similar program here in Paradise, TOPCats.
It's run by the bartender at my local watering hole, and they work their butts off dealing with the feral and abandoned cat population here.

We've been here 17 years now, when we moved here the area was literally overrun with a population of feral cats, some of which we tamed over time and they became family members, others were trapped and spayed or neutered.You rarely see one in our area now, the program really works.

My R53, "Georgette" has carried many a kitty when not carrying a French Bulldog or Great Dane.Amazing who you can get in the boot with a bit of creative platform making.

Mad Gepetto

 

Installed these, very cool!

 

Plus ordered JB+.... next ( when I get some time) lowering and JCW Brake kit instal

 

Also just installed!

 

Finally finished drilling out the bolt in the steering knuckle on the passenger side for the strut so that I could replace the strut tower mounts. The bolt heads on both sides sheared off, even after liberal penetrating oil application. New mounts installed and new-to-me muffler installed in my one-ball system (Thanks, jskeith111!). Back on the road!

 

New set of yokohama avid envigor's and an alignment

 

Had my JCW Exhaust installed, the shop also fixed the belt tension pulley bushings by replacing them with bearings instead of the factory plastic bushings. Also had the oil changed out.

 

Hmm bearings, don't the bushings serve a sound dampening purpose or something?

 

A bearing used as a bushing in this type of application will become sloppy because of brinelling. Granted it won’t fall apart, but it will get noisy.

 

All I know is that the dampener was super noisy with the bushings worn out and now its quite again. The shop has done a couple other conversions like this and all are still running just fine with no additional noise.

I was going to go with the polyurethane bushings (powerflex) but I was told by them that they dont last, and I have to assume that they are not telling me a story as they had five sets of them in stock that they could of sold me.

 

Realized I have the power fold mirrors...after 2 years and driving 2 hrs to pick up non power fold mirror covers :(

 

I am surprised at the noise reduction of my sunroof after installing this. I purchased it at Pepboys for just $40 and it was well worth it! I haven't tested it at excessive highway speeds but I am guessing it will work just fine!