Just another day sitting pretty in paradise, ready to go to the beach for a sunset.

 

Had dinner on the beach and caught a sunset, of course we took the MINI, wife has become quite the passenger princess.

 

Hi Jason,

I sent you a PM a few days ago. Did you see it?

By the way, I didn't know you're in Florida. I am from Boynton originally...

 

Replied to message. Wife and I just moved to Fort Myers from Cincinnati on 12/28.

 

I got the message and replied. For some reason that link takes me to a DMCA'd website.... Is there any other?

From Cincy to Fort Myers, that's so stereotypical. It's said that the Florida West Coast is populated by Midwesterners while the East Coast and South Florida are by people from the Northeast. Anyways, enjoy your Florida winters

 

We’ve been enjoying the beaches. Every Friday I spend a day with the wife on any beach from Sanibel Island to Marco Island, just depends on mood and what she wants to do for the day, for me I just want to sit there, drink a few beers, and enjoy all the scenery 😉 Plus driving the R53 around here is fun and she gets to enjoy the view. Naples beaches and Marco Island are the only ones we actually take I-75 instead of the scenic route down the coast. We both will take a solo beach day from time to time, 20-60 minutes (snow bird traffic is stupid) to Fort Myers, park in the $2 lot, and enjoy the spot. Not a horrible lifestyle, work and beach while driving a R53, I’m cool with no more snow and salt, sand vacuums out 😂

 

Marco Island is beautiful and Florida in general offers a totally different lifestyle. I spent six yeats in Chicago so I know it firsthand When you get bored with the beach, you may want to visit St. Augustine, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Augustine,_Florida - one tne of the most historical places in the whole US, and Florida Caverns https://floridacaverns.com

 

Don’t think get bored with the beaches will ever be a thing, it’s the reason why we moved here.

As for the R53, yesterday I finally fixed the rest of what Safelite F’d up. So my windshield had a crack and we finally got the Florida insurance taken care of back in February. I just filed a claim for it, $50 deductible so why not. Well that 50 bucks cost a little bit more than one would have thought. Took them 3 trips, one week of the R53 sitting in the garage with no wind shield because they didn’t have the white replacement clips that go under it and easier to install with windshield out, 2nd trip the set the glass to find it had a huge scratch in it that was in about the same spot as the crack was, and had one that ran side to side in line of view. 3rd trip, they scratched my dash, bent the chrome trim, didn’t even install on the clips, broke one of the screw holes on the chrome trim, and didn’t have or couldn’t find the clip that holds the black trim piece right above the a pillar. So basically she had to be a garage queen again due to open hole and chrome trim not properly being seated on the windshield, she’s 20 with no electrical issues so I’m not trying to introduce any via rain. I got all new clips for the trim and the one clip for the A pillar from ECS, and Willmek Auto Parts sent me a set of chrome trim, once cleaned they looked new. Yes I called Safelite and went in there and they basically told me it was my problem, so I think I’m around $130 for the pieces I had to pick up and all the frustration I had to go through, but like I said beach and beer does wonders. Some pics.

Shameless plug, he’s a great guy located in Sebring, OH. Looking for some rare R53 parts, Adrian might have it and fair on price.

Yeah we can’t find this clip, so open hole.

Look what I found, have a spare.

Fixed

New to me chrome trim

New to me chrome trim

And of course she got a bath yesterday as well. Yes Nik those MINI badges will be next. All in due time sir.


Marco Island last Friday. We took the paddle board and she was gone for at least an hour. Water was so clear she could see the schools of fish swimming under her. It truly is so beautiful down there.

 

Haha

Car looks great!

 

Well, it was actually yesterday....but who's keeping track, really?

Oil/filter change at the standard 5,000 mile mark, just a tad early because the garage will be occupied for the next month with the Chile Pepper rebuild. Then went to the car wash, sprayed it off, hosed down the engine bay, and gave her a partial wax (roof, hood, barn doors).

Looks good enough for the work week


Oh, that vacant spot with the dark patches? That's where the Chile Pepper has been sitting, waiting patiently for the engine repair.

 

I started a brake job on my daughter's R52S this week. What began as investigating to confirm the front pads were low, has expanded in scope a bit.

I confirmed the front pads were low and ordered those. The wear sensor had also been activated, so that was needed. Checking my parts stash, I found I had already ordered the front and rear sensors, so I have those on-hand (bonus!).

When checking the rear wear sensor (it had a broken wire), I also thought those pads looked a little low. I took off the rear calipers and found a few more issues:

• the RR caliper needed new caliper pin bushings, so I ordered those and cleaned out the corrosion from the bushing holes in the caliper so that the pins wouldn't be pinched and prevent smooth movement.
• I also found a tear in the RR caliper piston dust seal, so I ordered a repair/replacement kit for that. The piston turned and retracted back into the caliper OK using the Harbor Freight brake caliper tool, so that was good - it's not frozen.
• Then, on the RL, I found that half of the inside pad had disintegrated 😮. I have a fresh set of rear pads on-hand, so that's good.

• I decided to replace the rear rotors, too, since I also had new replacements on-hand - I found them in the trunk of a Mini in a U-pull junkyard a couple of years ago.

So, it all wound up as a little more involved of a repair than I was hoping. But, once it's done I can rest assured knowing that the brakes for my daughter's car will be in tip-top shape!

 

Unless you regularly service/garage a vehicle, rear brakes are generally a box of chocolates......

Nice work, and man do I wish we had pick-n-pull yards here in CT. Grew up with those in Illinois and always had a fun time scavenging with my father.

 

You’ll rest better knowing that your daughter will be a touch safer now with the new brakes and knowing that the job was done right.

 

Victory Auto Wreckers (in Bensenville) and Route 14 Auto (in Woodstock) we're my go-to places when I lived in IL.

Here in Michigan, it's been the U-Pull & Save in Mason and Pontiac 😁

Another benefit of getting this done will be having fewer warning lights on the dash! 😄

 

Began the valve replacement project.....disassembly complete!

Valves, springs, guides and seals should be here in another day or two, and then it gets sent off to the machine shop for refresh.

Off with your head!

Houston....we have a problem

Engine tech has come a long way in my lifetime!

Neighbor is worried it won't go back together LOL

 

lol, famous last words

 

Over the long weekend, replaced the battery, and changed some transmission fluid. (Sorry, no pictures)

Battery wasn't too bad, just a bunch of panels in the engine bay to be removed before it slides out. Then, used Carly to register it to the DME.

Transmission fluid was pretty easy too. Fill plug is right on top, under the air box. Drain plug is two-piece design with a level tube and an overflow drain plug. Start by removing the air filter box. Then remove the fill plug. ALWAYS remove the fill plug first... Then, under the car. Remove the under panel. Remove the inner overflow drain plug. Then remove the level tube plug. Fill with your choice of fluids. I used Ravenol T-WS. Bought (2) 4-liter bottles, because I wasn't sure how much I would need. Ended up using 6 liters between two drain and fills. Dumping what came out into a clear gallon jug, looked like ~2.5 liters came out on each drain. I did two drain and fill cycles, with a drive around the block in between to be sure to mix the fluids.

 

I was able to get the rear brakes back together this evening on my daughter's R52S.

I had to replace a torn caliper piston dust boot (used a Carlson 15277 kit). Here's a pic of the old and new dust boots.


And here is the reassembled RR corner.

Besides the dust boot on that caliper, I had to drill out new holes for the retaining spring tangs, as the old ones couldn't be removed.

I also replaced the rear brake pad wear sensor.

 

This morning I removed the camshafts, rocker arms, and lifters from the cylinder head on The Chile Pepper, then dropped the head off at the machine shop for valve service. It's getting all new valves, guides, seals, and springs, along with a resurface.

Estimate for the machine shop work is about $600. I think the total for the head refresh will come in somewhere around $1000, which I think is very reasonable. No Chinese parts.

 

Not today - but last week I'd lost my only working remote key Fob in a parking lot where I reside. It's without a doubt someone found my key and decided not to return it.
Having only one key coupled with the unsetteling realization that whom ever has my other key now has access to my Mini;
Earlier last week I wired in a 2wo sequence kill switch masterfully hidden/desguised (they'll have to tear the interior apart to find/ trace the wires)...
Whilst nothing is 100% fool proof at thwarting skillfull criminals;
Yesterday, I invested and installed a GPS tracking device that I can monitor my Mini's location via my smart phone. So far it/the app seems fairly accurate.

 

Changed the rear brake pads on my R56 Cooper S. And I live in the rust belt. Yes, I know, everything rusts in the rust belt. Even things you might not think about. Like, under the spring clips that hold the pads in place in the caliper holder. Being aware that things rust, I popped the spring clips off and found a little rust that seemed to come off with a wire brush. As you might have guessed, it didn’t. And the pads didn’t fit. At first thinking that the pad backing plate was cut wrong, I cursed the incompetence of the manufacturer of the pad. Then, I thought it might be smartest to take the caliper holder off and inspect it. Yup, it is I the incompetent one. There were tightly adhered rust mounds under the spring clips that narrowed the space for the pads. Ugh! These took a coarse cut file to get off, but once I did the pads fit fine.

All is back together and I hope the pad manufacturer didn’t hear me. Lesson learned. Pads don’t fit or get jammed up after years of use, check the caliper holder for built up rust.

 

Good story
Sorry you had to do more work to get them back together.
Did you take any pictures of before and after??? Visuals are a great way to share frustration

 

First oil change for the F60 while in my possession last night. MUCH easier than the N18 engine….

 

If it's anything like the F54 - I guess so.

The annoying part about the N18 is the required movement of the coolant tank. But the B46 motor, with that integrated drain in the filter housing is in the same vein for me.

 

Last night continued cleaning of the block surface on the Chile Pepper, installed new water pump, and pulled off the oil pan to fish out the bits of timing chain guide. Clearly someone's been in here before - pan was installed with black RTV, so now I have the fun job of cleaning that mess up as well.

Will pull out the oil pump chain tonight, the Schaeffler/INA kit included that so may as well install. Digging through a box of parts I bought last year uncovered some goodies I forgot I had, including a new front crank seal!