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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.
Today I installed the armrest in my 2003. Because it's pre-facelift, I needed an adapter plate for the rear of the base. I used 1/8" steel plate and 1" M6 stainless button head screws. Primed and painted flat black. First time I've welded. Not perfect but I'm happy with it, particularly since it's completely hidden.
The end result. It angles down more than I would like -- I need to investigate if there's a way to adjust so that it stops at horizontal. This photo shows it in the position I would like, not where it ends up once I rest my arm on it.
I've worked and enjoyed fabricating with fiberglass for nearly half of my life as well as in my former career. I absolutely detest all these aftermarket body "add-ons" made of PUR these days.
This is a project I've been looking forward to doing for quite some time now.
While not necessarily "today" - I designed and fabricated my lower "duckbill" rear hatch spoiler in the beginning of February.
Because of the colder temperatures; I waited 3weeks to ensure that all the chemical products have fully cured.
Today was a beautiful sunny 61°. I took the opportunity to finally install it.
I didn't document all of the process. This is not a "how to" as it is more of an experiment...(in which I may elaborate upon in a future post).
I initially started off by cutting and shaping a piece of foamcore to the curve underneath the back window of the hatch.
My intentions were aimed at creating a simple duckbill design. Having been somewhat satisfied - I moved on to fiberglass.
A few hours of lay-up, sanding, prep & paint...
I mounted the finished duckbill to the back hatch of my Mini.
12 hours labor, $70 materials (pro rated) and 3weeks total cure time during the process.
I'll lay the vinyl stripes in a couple of weeks when the weather stabilizes and the spoiler has a chance to acclimate.
Aesthetically, I think it would look nicer if it was made wider to go the full width of the hatch. I was fortunate enough to get a West Coast Mini mid hatch wing, which was one of about three designs available back in the day. Mine mimics the top spoiler, and was my favorite out of the styles available, though they were really designed for the convertible, which lack a spoiler.
I've had a pretty full day.
Mounted my duckbill spoiler, Polyflex lower engine mount, 3hrs thoroughly washed, poly treated the body, wheels, glass and washed/degreased and wiped down the dirt from the under body.
What could be next?
I burnished out the oxidized plastic and clear coated the seat restraint catches.
I've had a pretty full day.
Mounted my duckbill spoiler, Polyflex lower engine mount, 3hrs thoroughly washed, poly treated the body, wheels, glass and washed/degreased and wiped down the dirt from the under body.
What could be next?
I burnished out the oxidized plastic and clear coated the seat restraint catches.
Tomorrow's another day...
Looks great!
By burnishing, what do you mean? What sort of tool did you use?
The result looks fantastic!
I can relate to the mania of being irked by the chalkiness!
Did mine a couple years back --- just a light sanding with fine grit sandpaper and adding linseed oil.
The coolant bleed was smooth for me, so happy about that.
Went with a Nissens rad this time, installed a Behr unit pretty soon after I got the car, like around late 2018, so it had an effective service life of about 4 something years before it started failing which I don't think is so great, started leaking at the common point of upper elbow, I tried my damndest to get a Canadian-spec OE rad but it was a major difficulty and didn't have time for waiting on an intergalactic backorder.
I also installed an ebay cheapie MTC intake pipe, not sure about my choice of grey color, and also slightly alarmed at tight fitment as it rubs right up against the horn, will keep an eye on it --- does anyone know if the more expensive ones like Forge have better fitment? I don't even know why I was compelled to swap out the stock in the first place tho, do these things actually make a difference? LOL may end up just going back to stock, unless someone has a good review of the Forge piece (or similar brand), but I'll keep this one on for a few weeks at least to gauge how I feel about it...
Great work, as always. Looks factory. How is it attached to the hatch? Does this change the airflow such that the rear window will stay cleaner?
Thanks.
2wo hidden mechanical attachment points and a few strategically placed strips of 3M VHB double sided.
Observing from the rearview; the exhaust vapor from below is diverted and dissapated away from the hatch. Sadly, No- the duckbill does nothing as a deterrent to the accumulation of dirt against the rear hatch.
Originally Posted by Oldboy Speedwell
Looks great!
By burnishing, what do you mean? What sort of tool did you use?
The result looks fantastic!
I can relate to the mania of being irked by the chalkiness!
Did mine a couple years back --- just a light sanding with fine grit sandpaper and adding linseed oil.
By burish: I used a chamfered wooden clay sculpting tool. A tongue depressor would work just as well. For the more agressive areas; I used the back edge of an exacto knife(blade). Wet 320 and Scotchbrite brown. Isopropyl on a Q-tip.
I've never used Linseed. Sounds like a good idea. Solvents from the laquer clear may not be the best for plastic long term.
Thanks.
2wo hidden mechanical attachment points and a few strategically placed strips of 3M VHB double sided.
Observing from the rearview; the exhaust vapor from below is diverted and dissapated away from the hatch. Sadly, No- the duckbill does nothing as a deterrent to the accumulation of dirt against the rear hatch.
By burish: I used a chamfered wooden clay sculpting tool. A tongue depressor would work just as well. For the more agressive areas; I used the back edge of an exacto knife(blade). Wet 320 and Scotchbrite brown. Isopropyl on a Q-tip.
I've never used Linseed. Sounds like a good idea. Solvents from the laquer clear may not be the best for plastic long term.
Nice!
Thanks for sharing the tip, I would have never thought of using something like that but now that you say it I can totally see it.
And the vibe is chill which I dig --- was running previously the Powerflex big yellow 70A bush with the black 95A insert in the factory mount and man was it rumbly vibromatic at idle, perhaps I should have left the 95A insert out to begin with as I've read many people do just that --- regardless, I'm happy with the new one even if effectively I was using the same thing already, I just dug the way the fancy new one looks, like an aesthetic preference man.
Thanks for sharing the tip, I would have never thought of using something like that but now that you say it I can totally see it.
Oh, BTW:
I neglected to mention - I wound up using a soft artist's brush to smooth out the lacquer clear. The first attempt - the clear was "bubbly" and did not flow/smooth out after a few minutes as I expected.
I let it cure for 20min, wet Scotchbrite'd the clear, dispensed some of the lacquer clear into small dixie cup and then applied the clear with a soft artist's brush.
I figure using clear fingernail polish might have been an (less fussy), option - (if not better).
Last edited by Here2Go; Feb 22, 2023 at 03:19 PM.
Reason: wrong word = ARTIST"S brush Not painter's brush
Oh, BTW:
I neglected to mention - I wound up using a soft painter's brush to smooth out the lacquer clear. The first attempt - the clear was "bubbly" and did not flow/smooth out after a few minutes as I expected.
I let it cure for 20min, wet Scotchbrite'd the clear, resprayed and then smoothed over with the soft painter's brush.
I figure using clear fingernail polish might have been an (less fussy), option - (if not better).
Excellent.
The lacquer will likely preserve and protect it I'd reckon --- maybe I need to do that too.
Initially I was looking into dyes to try and dye it but never could find anything that would have been suitable.
What's the deal anyway with those stupid things? What material is it? Never have I experienced such a thing with something as trivial as that, but it really really got under my skin and I simply couldn't stand to have them looking so chalkily oxidized, got on my nerves bigtime and I angrily curse the beancounters or whomever specc'd & stamped approval to that crap.
And the vibe is chill which I dig --- was running previously the Powerflex big yellow 70A bush with the black 95A insert in the factory mount and man was it rumbly vibromatic at idle, perhaps I should have left the 95A insert out to begin with as I've read many people do just that --- regardless, I'm happy with the new one even if effectively I was using the same thing already, I just dug the way the fancy new one looks, like an aesthetic preference man.
Thats awesome we just added those. BSH speedshop is no longer making those and TS version is on backorder.
And the vibe is chill which I dig --- was running previously the Powerflex big yellow 70A bush with the black 95A insert in the factory mount and man was it rumbly vibromatic at idle, perhaps I should have left the 95A insert out to begin with as I've read many people do just that --- regardless, I'm happy with the new one even if effectively I was using the same thing already, I just dug the way the fancy new one looks, like an aesthetic preference man.
Yeah - Agree and looks pretty sweet
I finally installed the powerflex, smaller end, bushing the other day as well. I had replaced my lower engine mount (OEM), 6years ago. My Mini has always idled super smooth but I noticed a few months ago that I could feel the engine "lift" upon take off.
Sure enough,once again, the small end was shot from all the oil, grime, wear and tear.
My larger end (stock/OEM), rubber bushings have never failed. Only the smaller end - so I only powerflex'd the small end. Boy, what a difference.
BTW: I chose not to do powerflex/or inserts on the large end due to my concerns about/for the reason you stated above = vibration.
I instead had opted to fill the voids in the larger end bushing (never failed anyway), with silicone. My reasoning was: silicone is softer, flexible and may dampen vibration while still offering structural integrity.
I'm glad you posted your results with a summary having installed the large powerflex bushing. It helps to know this now
Yeah - Agree and looks pretty sweet
I finally installed the powerflex, smaller end, bushing the other day as well. I had replaced my lower engine mount (OEM), 6years ago. My Mini has always idled super smooth but I noticed a few months ago that I could feel the engine "lift" upon take off.
Sure enough,once again, the small end was shot from all the oil, grime, wear and tear.
My larger end (stock/OEM), rubber bushings have never failed. Only the smaller end - so I only powerflex'd the small end. Boy, what a difference.
BTW: I chose not to do powerflex/or inserts on the large end due to my concerns about/for the reason you stated above = vibration.
I instead had opted to fill the voids in the larger end bushing (never failed anyway), with silicone. My reasoning was: silicone is softer, flexible and may dampen vibration while still offering structural integrity.
I'm glad you posted your results with a summary having installed the large powerflex bushing. It helps to know this now
Fersure man, the NVH harshness at idle is a real moodkiller, and quite annoying, dunno how I put up with it for so long to be honest, and dunno why I didn't yank out the hard 95A insert either, because "racecar" LOL not like I'm Juan Manuel Fangio or anything haha, for real the vibration was intense and just stoopid for a daily driver --- this new one with the yellow 70A and the smaller 80A purple is perfect for me --- I almost went with the 80A purple with smaller 95A because hardcore 4 life but glad I didn't...
...honestly all the small stuff is small, but added all together it does make a difference,, or at least that's what I like to tell myself LOL in my opinion it is a good trait to be overly critical because that will usually lead to improvement even if you yourself may not immediately recognize it due to the striving for that sort of perfect personal spec or whatever and perhaps complete satisfaction is an unrealistic endgame but for me it's just fun to chase the dragon, sometimes it's very small and incremental where I don't really fathom the depth of progress I've made, and then sometimes like today when on an extended test drive I'm like totally wide smiles because everything just feels so right, and I'm so damn happy, and jazz flows like bebop on the dizzy, and the world keeps spinning, and my little car can't challenge a Challenger but that ain't the point, slow down, speed up, up around the bend!
...speaking of Challengers,
it's always fun to me to be able to out-maneuver one of those badboys, and that happened today on the highway because the driver just didn't eyeball the lanes correctly --- initially he had come blasting past me but then I caught back up and went rightlane sidestep on extended whine time, dude was rearview never to catch my neck again LOL and I ain't usually an expressway hoondogger but sometimes when times is right it all kinda just clicks like a Tetris onna slot of evermore RPM...
Today I installed the armrest in my 2003. Because it's pre-facelift, I needed an adapter plate for the rear of the base. I used 1/8" steel plate and 1" M6 stainless button head screws. Primed and painted flat black. First time I've welded. Not perfect but I'm happy with it, particularly since it's completely hidden.
The end result. It angles down more than I would like -- I need to investigate if there's a way to adjust so that it stops at horizontal. This photo shows it in the position I would like, not where it ends up once I rest my arm on it.
Although I preformed this "fix" a while back - FWIW - I figured I'd share my successful modification with the community with recent pics....
When I had installed the nearly, same identical slide top armrest about 2wo years ago; I also felt the need to address the slight downward slant. Although, in my case it was barely noticeable but I had decided to address it anyway. Here was my novice approach:
2wo "pan framing" screws....
Lift up the armrest. At the inside lower arm at the rotation knuckle, insert a self tapping pan screw with a long extension on a cordless drill, just below (1/4") the "notch".
Do the same on the other side/arm. * I know, I know - I went in crooked on my first side....
I then cut off a small piece of 3M double sided tape and covered the screw heads to cushion the contact point to avoid marring.
The end result. I preformed my solution a couple of years ago so I don't have a before pic.
An addendum to the common slide top armrest issue: The slide top itself... (unintended sliding)...
I preformed this fix at the same time when I had originally installed my armrest.
In the photo above: you can see I used a Dremel to chop down the inside lower catch and glued a Neodymium magnet in place....
Did the same to the underneath of the upper slide top. *You'll need to slightly Dremel down a small flat area on top of the inside ridge on the underside of the slide top for the magnet to sit flush.
The end result for this easy modification is that: #1_The top will no longer slide unwanted, #2_The top slides shut with a nice gratifying *snap* when the magnets make close contact
A couple of weeks ago I was forced to turn around in a residential neighborhood blocked by some big a$$ construction trucks .
There was little room to turn around even for a Mini. I inadvertently swung my front fender & trim along a rock retaining wall....
ARRGH!
I don't have a lot of options, financially, these days to afford/replace with new trim. Unfortunately, there has also been a severe deficit in 1st Gens hitting the salvage yards for good used parts in the past 14months.
Good for their current owners. Bad for us.
Time to go to work...
I honestly didn't think I could pull this off and having it turn out looking as well as it did.
I can almost guess what you're thinking. "WTH? Another 'WDYDTYMTD' post by H2G??"... "What's with this guy???"
Earlier last week I discovered rust in my coolant expansion tank.
This morning I fired up the Mini to set out to a little place I like to call hell.
Also known as my job.
While the Mini was warming up, I was compelled to pop the hood to look things over.
To my dismay, I discovered the expansion tank was leaking at the seam. I thought it was only 8months old but looking back at my records; it was actually 8years old since I'd last replaced it with my only backup.
Luckily my local Advance Auto crap store opened at 7am and is only 3/4mi away. After a quick jaunt, I was able to have them order a Dorman replacement and have it on the delivery truck set to arrive before noon.
Another new expansion tank, DIY paint job and installed by 2pm.
This "What did you do to your Mini today" forum thread seems to have become more of a repository in lieu of a H2G "build thread".
@Here2Go Thanks for posting the how-to for leveling the armrest. Very helpful.
You are most welcome.
Having revisited what I had done earlier; I figured posting a visual documentation might be warranted in effort to help others.
I hope it works out for you.
Just finishing up getting a new rad + support fitted --- deleted the green a/c sticker and went old school for namesake.
It's late now, so will bleed tomorrow --- any tips or tricks for bleeding are appreciated because last time it was a total bubbly bugbear that had me cussin' hardcore LOL hoping this time it'll go smoother.
Hey @Oldboy Speedwell what radiator did you go with?
I've never owned a water cooled so I have no experience but I was/am looking to replace/update my original '04 factory one in my R53.
I think you had mentioned somewhere about the aluminum Canadian OEM version and may consider it. Any reason you might recommend that one?
I admit they're a bit outside of my budget but if you have any lower cost options or opinions regarding this or other radiators - I would really like some advice.
Thanks!
