After 2wo weeks, since my transmission broke and clutch failed, experiencing the horrors of the public transportation, wasting time and money while my Mini sat at an inept repair shop, then finally flatbedding my Mini to a RELIABLE MINI repair shop -

This guy fixed me right up and I finally got to take my Mini home today...



Got a few more things to work on but looking forward to heading out to AZ-74 someday.
Thanks again, Way!

 

And know this is a great feeling !

 

Got this from amazon for $15. Is a little tall so I had to take a pair of scissors and put a slit about 3-4 inches right in the middle for it to fit around mirror.






also got a red one for ‘Chili’ and did the same slit so it would fit.

 

Took Smokey out for a well deserved spin on a gorgeous day (yesterday). High 60s, low 70s for the temperature and a sky that looks like this in all directions.



Smokey - the “track MINI”

Just at the start of the leaves changing colors for fall. A few rattles from what I am sure sway bar links that need to be retighten from putting in the new shocks. Other than that, the car is a joy to drive. In the not too distant future the track tires and brake pads will come off, to be replaced with more street compatible counterparts. Then he will be tucked away for the winter, only to be driven when it is dry with no salt on the road.

Enjoy and motor on!

 

The day before I picked up my Mini from having the trans and new clutch installed, I received a notification from a salvage yard that an '06 had just landed. I've been trying to score a pair of good condition Facelift projectors for a friend. So after picking up my Mini from the repair shop I headed straight out to the salvage yard. Taking the long way 30mi through city streets to start breaking in the clutch.
When I got to the row where the Mini was set, I was surprised to find it hadn't been picked over yet. Unfortunately the Mini was "just a" R50 with full anthracite interior and a few upgrades but the headlights were not projectors. However, both front (sport) panther black seats were in pristine condition. My driver seat is severely worn and cracked but my passenger seat still looks brand new since I rarely had any passengers.

This morning I went back to the salvage yard to skin the seats. Unfortunately, someone had been there the day before to pull the cam and had laid the oil drenched rockers on the driver's seat. To further add insult to injury; they damaged it even more by laying a lit cigarette on the seat leaving a horrible burn mark that went through to the cushion.
I sat there for a while looking at the seats and it finally dawned on me that the driver and passenger side seat covers were identical in pattern.

Today I skinned the passenger sport seat from a salvage R50 = $21 cash & carry. I will recover my original cracked an patched driver seat skin with this one...



After arriving back from the salvage yard; I pulled the front (B4) struts off my Mini and finally installed the front Bilstein B14's that have been languishing in a box, in my livingroom for almost 5months. I'll install the rears tomorrow.






Coincidentally;
A little over a year ago I had upgraded my front struts with a pair of Koni (FSD) "adjustable" yellows. 8 months later I met a another Mini enthusiast that was working on his second Mini. He had just installed Koni yellows on the rear and had an extra pair of perfect panther black front sport seats. The trade was made - 2wo struts for 2wo seats . Since I live an an apartment, I had no room to store them so he offered to store the seats for me. 2wo weeks before my trans bit the dust; he had texted me to ask if I still wanted the seats because someone had offered to buy them from him for $600. I gave him the go-ahead to sell them and in return he gave me $400 in lieu for the front Koni's I had originally traded him.

 

Doesn’t look like much, but this was about two hours of fighting to get trans stabbed, after having to pull the flywheel because it was dead shot, and having to grind off 3 of the pressure plate bolts on the other flywheel to get it off. And yes I did the rear main seal because it was about to go on this donor. But fresh paint on the block and trans, a little something with the valve cover logo


for funsies… not putting the JCW badge on since it isn’t. Once the JCW is rebuilt one day we will swap it back and keep this one as a spare again.

new MTL fluid in the getrag, fresh oil and filter, all mounts on, all wiring and hoses connected, just needs the axles, suspension, brakes, and front end installed and coolant to be ready for more adventures. Will try to finish it tomorrow after cars and coffee.

 

2 of my MINI caps fell off so I got these to replace them. The quality is excellent but they were a tad too large so I had to spend some time filing them down to fit and the adhesive didn't seem adequate so I added some extra to be sure. And while I was there I got some new valve stem caps.
The car handles much better now. Should take a second or two off my lap times!

 

Saturday we picked up a "new" one to replace our much lived R53 "Grumpy." Grumpy will get a few final fixes and be posted up for sale. He's been good to us, and us to him, considering his history, and we hope he'll find a good home.

On to the new arrival! 2011 R55 Clubman S. Hit Chocolate Metallic over brown Lounge Leather. One owner, 48k miles, HK sound. My wife is loving the new ride, thus far. Needs a little clean up, some new cowl trim, and we're looking into the FRM Recall, which is showing open. Plans are to refinish the lips/barrels of the BBS wheels currently on Grumpy and use them on the R55.

 

Congratulations!
The "new to you" R55/Clubman looks really nice.
I've been after a 2011 - 2013 (before the tailights went horizontal), for a couple of years now. I had come across a couple but they didn't appear very well cared for.
I always loved those seats too.
Envious.

 

Thank you! We are excited for it. I was seriously considering an nearly identical car 8 years ago before I found my current E46. Love the combo of size and practicality the Clubman has.

 

Last weekend I installed new front Bilstien B14 coilovers.
Today I finally installed the rears.


Pretty easy swap from B4s to the B14s's....

However - Adjusting the rear ride height was a major PIA. The underside of the rear = trailing arms, mufflers and hard brake lines made it an exasperating ordeal in effort to find the right amount of room to work the tool/wrench and adjusting ring .


As much as I dislike going against the intended design of a tool (unless I have to); a slight kiss of a 3lb hammer made all the difference in the world so the wrench could clear the obstructions.
Glad I made the slight alteration = The modification to the tool now makes quick and easy work for turning and locking both front and rear adjustment rings while avoiding any interference.



I dialed in the front coils/ ride height by 4threads (from bottom up) and 6threads for the rears.

These Bilstien B14 ride really well and the Mini feels much more "grounded" without being harsh despite how low the car sits right now.
Tomorrow; I intend to raise the ride height just a bit as to allow the front axles to reside closer to horizontal/factory.

 

engine in and working!

 

^^^ Oh man , That's gotta feel good!

 

Repainting a 'new' rust free door that I picked up on eBay for $100. I like Allmag, but their prices are becoming outlandish on some things. There are a few sellers on eBay that offer quality parts at a third of the price as Allmag. RPMMINIPRO is the seller I bought from.



Door had 3 or 4 small dings on the outside and one slightly more major bulge toward the bottom front. Turns out that that was from a bolt that had wedged between the inner and outer skins. Gave it a couple hammer blows to create a small dent and then filled it with Rage filler and gave it a nice smooth coat of glaze after. It's going to be 78 this afternoon, will fire up the heater in the garage to get it closer to 80, spray a coat of sealer on the outside, 3 coats of base on the outside and 2 on the inside, and then 3 coats of clear. Absolutely not one speck of rust on this door, inside or out!




Ready for paint!

 

Installed a scangauge 2 with mini specific firmware in my 2024 JCW convertible. Now have EOT (engine oil temp) and EOP (engine oil pressure). Not sure how accurate the EOP is. It reads 14 psi (1 bar) when engine is off.

 

New cowl trim and battery in Ziggy yesterday. Lots of the associated cleaning that goes with that, including pulling the battery tray to remove a mouse nest. The cowl trim was high priority with the FRM Recall that has no remedy available. I have not had a chance to actually inspect the FRM, yet.

 

Yesterday was prep day for upcoming Mini’s Slay the Sleeping Dragon. Oil change, all other fluids checked,
and checked torque on any bolt that I have touched. 2 hours of rolling around on creeper and a few heads bumps on various spot under the hood, she is mechanical set and ready to go. Then she got a bath, quick wax, wheels waxed, and all trim done. Now she is all pretty and leaving me with conundrum of do I even drive her for the next 3 days or take the stupid minivan. R98’s are pretty when clean, but aren’t fun to clean at all.

 

Installed the new Maxton Design splitter on my ‘23 S. Perfect fit


.

 

We Finished the engine swap on Alex’s Red Hot Chili JCW and took for test drive last night.

no leaks, no issues, other than what I suspect is a failing DV as it wasn’t snapping closed fully every time when I played with it before moving engine over.

Didn’t change while out of car as I wanted to minimize variables since we were already doing a PFL engine and harness into a FL chassis amd the donor had 0 CELs

 

As KRS-One famously said

whoop-whoop! That’s the sound of the police!






took it to grocery store to get lettuce for salad. Found this when I came out. Had to take a pic.

 

That's really CLEAN!
Nice work.

 

While I have no idea who KRS-One, is - but the sandblasted hood on that Sheriff's car is one of the main reasons I left Austin, TX.
As much as I enjoyed Austin; It didn't take long for the environmental effects to cause minor yet noticeable damage to my Mini.

Gad to see you guys back up and running again!

 

@Here2Go old school rapper from the 80s-90s.


austin has really mild weather, out here in the desert southwest it is the 355 totally cloud free days a year that kills the paint. That’s not sandblasting, that’s pure sun damage ate the clear off it. We are far closer in El Paso to phoenix, or even LA than Austin.

 

Drove her 4 hours to get closer to the Tail of the Dragon. Got a cabin booked for Mini’s Slay the Sleeping Dragon weekend.

Fully loaded down, 2 pit stops and somehow shaved 30 minutes off of Waze suggested time 😁

 

Thanks, but a lot of that clean came from the place we bought it from. All on the surface, but I got things much better under the cowl panel, now. Full thread to introduce Ziggy to the NAM community coming soon.