My Pelican order arrived, so I:

Changed the drivers door brace / detent thing. So much better having the door stay open!

Changed my brake callipers to R56 ones and some remsa pads, then bled them with my new motive power bleeder. I seem to have incorrect discs, so will have to send them back and get new ones!

Still have the fuel filter, timing chain tensioner, and thermostat and housing to change next time I have off. And the new discs!
James

 

While waiting for AWE Tuning to update their intake, I got to thinking about the OEM intake. It's a closed system, the air has no choice but to travel into and down the plastic distribution tube from the front of the radiator to the air box even though the entrance is parallel to the air stream. If I remove the air box as is required with most CAIs, will air still travel down the distribution tube? Without some testing who knows? I made a couple of deflectors just to see what would happen.

 

The OEM air intake is very well engineered. At best, any aftermarket cold air intake will not change the horsepower output, most actually reduce horsepower output. Mostly they only make more noise.

 

Finally got the lug key to get my wheels off. Once I got the key, took Mini over the the tire shop to break the bolts on the wheel, cool. Got home, car up with the tires off, now to remove the torx bolt on the rotor, NO GO!! Had to now go get a Impact Wrench. Lesson learned, need the right tools to get the job done... Didn't have time to do the rears, ran out of day, but I also swapped out the fog light with LED




I'll get the rears done this weekend and post pictures, looks nice against the white rims..

 

Did my first attempt at plasti-dipping my rims. I'm pretty happy with it so far though I need to do some touch ups over the next couple of days while I'm off work. Probably do it when I replace my power steering hoses.

 

I hit 3,000 miles post work that I did and still no leaks. He is running really well at the moment.

Although... I suspect I will have a transmission clutch coming due here shortly... 117k miles is an eternity for me and a clutch.

 

Must be doing something right! Is it showing any signs of needing to be replaced?

 

I hope! hehe

Yes, clutch pedal is growing light and the engagement point has changed... there have been a few instances where I was in a "spirited" mood and took off and I find myself wondering if the clutch will hold. It is not a solid go go go feeling... Perhaps a perception in the amount of power being delivered to the wheels is not what it should be? I believe the T/O bearing is starting to go as well. You can hear the difference depending on whether or not the clutch pedal is pressed in or if it is out. (ever so slightly)

So I have fallen back to driving like a civilian to get more mileage out of him from Pt A to Pt B. Would like to see if I can get to the New Year before biting that bullet. But it will be nice when it goes so I that I can go back to my normal programming...

 

Those are some indications, for sure. On the other hand, 117k isn't all that bad under the circumstances.

 

Yeah, we are getting there I think. There has been one or two times where I took my eyes off the road (being caught in traffic and inbetween gears) where I have hit the accelerator and looked down to see if the tach is bouncing. It wasn't but I had that feeling.

In all honesty, 117k+ miles on a clutch setup is not bad for my mods and driving style. I am not that aggressive all the time, but when the mood strikes me...

 

Looks pretty good. I was pricing to get my wheels redone. $480, I think $60 will work much better. My only concern is that my wheels are white and will scuff marks show more on the white surface. Will they scratch when you scrub/clean them at the hand car wash?

 

These darned Minis are major mood strike enhancers!

 

I think it all depends on how many coats you do. I've heard and read that it's pretty durable and will stand up to car washes etc. We'll see.

 

Hit 175k miles on my way home from work yesterday!

 

Installed the Rennline skid plate. I ran over a semi truck's tire tread that had come off on the freeway several months ago.

 

We took a quick early morning 1 hour Roadster ride, top down of course, while the turkey was in the oven yesterday. Plus we needed to exercise the Mini, charge the keys and have a little fun of some of the twisty roads in the hills around our area in fading (very faded) cloud filtered sunshine. Roads were clean and dry, but clouds were getting thicker as we headed back to the house and could see the mountains disappearing in snowfall to our west. Light snow had just started to fall as the top went up before getting back into the garage. Temperatures were in the toasty range of 30 to 32 degrees the whole way.

This time of year, you have to get out on the nice days in northern New England. They can be few and far between from December to March. We didn't see another Mini on the road this time, but strangely enough we got a bunch of waves and smiles from other motorists on the road. Must have been the Holiday mood settling in. It became a snowy, icy and sloppy scene here only a couple of hours after our short ride and the gloomy weather continues today, cold, damp, a little foggy and seeing some freezing drizzle coming down on top of the thin layer of new snow. Life in Maine. Might not see another nice weather day with dry roads for several days. The price we pay to live in snow country.

So today, the Mini is out of the nasty weather inside the garage, waiting for the next "nice" day to get out on the road.

 

Great pic! As rough as it has to be to live in, it looks beautiful up there! I still cant get over the pic of the house with the deer footprints from last year. Beautiful setting.

 

That is beautiful country! When I was living in New Brunswick I made many trips down through Maine to explore and buy snowmobiles. Mostly to buy snowmobiles actually but the scenery made it that much more fun and the people only added to that experience.

My wife is insisting on driving our MCS regardless of the weather so it's not as clean as yours unfortunately. I'm just glad she is having fun with it after it sat for two months while I sorted out all the issues. It's actually pretty good in the snow despite what many people think.

 

It's been pretty nice up here up until the last week or so. Winter had to eventually make the show. We had a sunny and pretty dry late Spring through late Fall period, so can't complain. Lots of nice top down driving and bike riding weather. It's time to pay the piper, as they say, plus we really need the rain and snow. At least the ski season is on. Good for a change of pace. Keeps things interesting.

I'm still toying with the idea of a Winter Mini. Small front wheel drive cars make great snow drivers with the right tires. It's all I've ever needed to drive. Right now our Winter gift to the Maine road salt gods is a 2008 Vibe. It's a manual and has no ABS or traction control. Does well in the snow, as long as the snow tires are in good shape, but it's about as vanilla a driving car as you can find. Corolla underpinnings are basic and come from whatever generation the 2003 Toyota product was. So a Mini would be way up the ladder of driving enjoyment compared to the Vibe.

Maine has been a great place to live the last 22 years. One of the best features is our proximity to New Brunswick and Quebec. You guys have a ton of great drives up there. We try to get a trip up into your region every once in a while and feel lucky to have covered quite a bit of Canada, from BC to Nova Scotia. Talk about great people. We haven't made it to Newfoundland, but that's next on our travel wish list north. It's the only Province we haven't traveled to... other than the northern territories. Those are a little less accessible, although a trip up the ALCAN Highway is still something I would like to do.

Our Mini isn't always so clean. We were pretty lucky to get back before the sloppy weather hit this time. Doesn't always work out that way.

 

Wrapped the top of the rear bumper. It was pretty easy using some knifeless tape.

 

Blizzaks. First time having snow tires, lets see if it's worth the $

 

So, this all happened on Friday, but it feel it's just a relevant to mention now as it was the other day.

So, after 10 years, 4 months, and 27 days, I officially retired Egan as my daily driver. Got him on June 29, 2006, and on Nov. 25, 2016, it was the last official day I drove it as a daily driver, and begun my new daily driving adventure. I DID NOT however sell Egan. Hell ****ing no would I ever get rid of it. Instead, it will become my first weekend/project car, while I daily drive my new 2014 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk. I am very happy with this change as I can now put away Egan for the winters ahead, while I barrel along in the Jeep...and maybe take it on a few trails.

My next endeavor with Egan is to replace some parts this upcoming winter season as part of my Winter Project (I'm planning on making a thread detailing it all), which includes mostly suspension, but also a few other odds and ends as well. Egan has just over 160k miles on it, all still on original suspension, and clutch. Still drives, and runs as well as it has ever.

 

Well deserved rest for Egan. Glad to here it's not up for sale but will be enjoyed on weekends. Have fun!!

 

Thanks, man! Yeah, Egan does deserve a rest I think. On 4/15/14, Egan hit 111,111 miles. Today, as I drove him back to my garage, it was at around 160, 710. So in a span of 2 1/2 years, I put on nearly 50k miles, 22k of which were from June of last year to January of this year. I work in road construction primarily, so I drive a lot, and I also felt it was time to have a vehicle better suited for that particular work.

Egan has gone above and beyond in getting me through everything over the years, and has run like a champ every step of the way. And when I went on my 3,443 mile trip this summer to the Appalachians, including a few runs on the Tail of the Dragon, I had never felt more safe and happy driving Egan as I did on that trip.

Long live the R53!

 

traded for 2011 ford edge sport