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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
I'll give it a go, my son & daughter both say it's pretty good but then again they didn't grow up on real NY pizza. Usually I just make my own.
Good to know you make your own. I like to make my own too - Pacific Northwest style. Here is one with most ingredients made from scratch, down to the smoked sausage, dough, and sauce. There are smoke sausage, enchovies, capers, jamon, wild shrimps, cuttlefish.
I decided to finally replace my lower control arm bushings. Tail of the Dragon is coming up so I needed to get them done. Which method, Drop the whole sub-frame or do the saws-all method? I decided to do something in between and I figured I'd change my inner balljoints as well. I started out thinking that I was going to drop the sub-frame and get it all done, that was until I got the the steering knuckle and the power plug for the power-steering unit, those were going to be PIA. I started thinking, why don't I just lower the sub-frame enough to get to what I needed to get to. That worked, I lowered the frame enough to unbolt the inner ball-joints and pull the lower control out with a crowbar. I used the control arm bushing tool to remove/replace the LCA bushing, that was pretty easy. I did have trouble trying to put the CA back in once the bushings were in. I looked at our favorite guy on youtube who makes it look so simple, didn't work. I used a simple pair of plumbers pliers to grab the back end of the LCA bushing collar and the lip on the control arm and I was able to squeeze the control arm into place. Once I figured it all out on the passenger side , it took me 30 mins to get the control arm in with the new inner ball-joint and the LCA on the drivers side. All in all, it wasn't that bad. No more clunking and the front-end is TIGHT!!!!!!!
Put a set of new spark plugs in, NGK BKR7EIX. Found 3 of the 4 plugs were finger tight and one of those had worked its way out even more! Torqued the new ones down to 20 foot pounds and took it for a drive. Wow, what a difference! Now it runs and accelerates smoothly like it should.
I torqued the original plugs when I installed them so these just worked their way out.
Soooo... today's PSA; Make sure you torque your plugs and check them on a regular basis.
It took two tries to get the right sized decal shipped, and the company is in Moldova, so about 4 weeks each time .... but I finally installed my go-faster stripes over the weekend. I still think I need bonnet stripes too:
For the upcoming track day, I give the Mini a detail inspection. I am glad I did as there were many loose fasteners I caught. Very bad things can happen when you are at the edge of adhesion at high Gs or going 115 mph.
top up with Costco cheap petrol
then go over the Mini carefully on all the critical parts and fasteners
I found one lock nut for the rear lower control arm on the passenger side has worked loose. If I didn't catch this it could lead to crash and burn - not good.
Lastly Mini's dirty butt got a good wash. The windows have been wiped clean.
I already had a B&M SSK, so directions calling for the trimming of shifter stalk did not apply to my application. Nice fit, very well made and attractive craftsmanship. Waited a month for it to be made and another two weeks for delivery. Well worth the wait.
After installing the Recaro seats, the relative position of shift **** to where drivers hand was in natural position was not correct. This shift **** provides perfect placement, is weighted as well.
Center console removed. 3 holes for ring attachment needed some enlarging with drill.
Installed S-lites rims with 215/45s. It looks way better and really matches the car. I just wish they are light. These should be named S-heavy. Hopefully gas consumption won't be affected greatly as I am getting 600 kilometers in a tank of gas. Also poured 1 liter of mini oil in the motor.
Last edited by Shotgun_banjo; Sep 23, 2017 at 11:35 AM.
Installed S-lites rims with 215/45s. It looks way better and really matches the car. I just wish they are light. These should be named S-heavy. Hopefully gas consumption won't be affected greatly as I am getting 600 kilometers in a tank of gas. Also poured 1 liter of mini oil in the motor.
I have always called them S-HEAVY (all cap emphasis their mass), but I refrain from saying that on NAM since I have X-lite, as it would come across as attack on others' choice.
The windows have been wiped clean.
