Of course, working in the shade is the smart way to go. Sun or salt....choose your poison if you're a car, or for that matter, a person! (We have a few more to choose from, of course!)

 

Oil and filter change.

Then, swapped out my side markers for some smoke versions, and added LED bulbs

 

What could I possibly be getting ready to do?

Been 30,000 and it’s time. And yes she is clean pre working on her.

Got up early this morning, can’t sleep anyway, started the coffee and went down and popped both plugs. Come up make my coffee and headed back down. Pumped fluid back in, cleaned everything up and back on the ground in an half hour. Just enough time for the coffee to cool down, easy peasy.

Next time I’ll just do it with an oil change, and just kill 2 birds with one stone, but it was time.

 

Oil change and expansion tank replacement on the Recluse. When I was installing the valve cover last week, I bumped the small hose enough to snap the outlet nipple off. Fortunately there was enough left to still connect the hose and drive. Decided to 'upgrade' to one of those aluminum expansion tanks.



snapped nipple

Looks good enough


sight glass to check level


Oil change was due anyhow, so perfect time to swap out. Install smooth, looks good. Can't see that there will be any issues, and I won't have to worry about this happening again. Personally, prefer the aluminum look over the ugly yellowing plastic. I actually wanted to relocate this to alleviate the issue of having to remove for filter service, but where the heck would it go.





hose is tight, but it clears.

you can see the level, was worried about the positioning but it works.

 

@spaktacular - Nice placement and it's awesome to also note how clean you've kept your engine.
My philosophy - "If it's dirty on the ouside ; one can only imagine how dirty it must be on the inside".

 

I do 98% of my own repairs, and it just sucks working on a filthy engine. Of course some dirt/grime can't be avoided.

 

Moar gauges!!!!



Battery 13V, water pump 12.7V@8A.

Gauge beeps and red-screens the backlighting if the voltage at either drops too low.

 

Rear brake pad service showed up on the wife's CM and the dealer wanted $400 to change the pads, told them no way. So today I installed new pads and rotors for a fraction of what the dealer wanted. Rotated the tires too. Is it just me or are dealer services getting super ridiculous?

 

They are getting stupid ridiculous real fast. VW quoted us $1000 for brakes, I really didn’t feel like doing them in 20 degree weather before we left for Florida, but I did because parts alone was $250, and that’s OEM. Oil change at VW, here Fort Myers, Fl, $143 and some change for filter and 6 Qts. I’m pretty sure the Liquid Moly kits I get from ECS are $80-90. I get they have bills to pay and techs, but we all know damn good and well they get their oil in bulk from wherever.

 

There are certain services I stopped having done by dealers looong time ago. Brakes are one of those maintenance items I started doing when I got my first car. My dad taught me right. At $400 to pay the dealer to replace only rear pads, you can change all four corners with pads and rotors. Add a bit more and get all new rubber parts and a brake bleed too.

 

Service is the money maker for an auto dealership. While auto manufacturers make record profits on car sales, dealerships make very little per vehicle on a sale. Service is the lifeblood for these businesses. With the improvements made in automotive technology and materials, there is less service required; it's not difficult to see why 'simple' procedures have a higher cost.

That said, virtually all service is sold by industry 'standard' repair times, and the actual techs who perform the service are put in the questionable position of having to perform this service as quickly as possible to maintain a high performance standard, and also to increase their revenue. It's a rigged system that really isn't benefitting anyone other than the dealership principal.

 

Embarked on designing a 3D-printed, orange backlit (LED) shift boot delete insert for a Gen 3 F5X manual transmission. Other repairs are being made, but I plan to put it into the vehicle before the end of summer. I have one spare prototype (of the same quality as the final version) if anyone is interested.

 

Whoever says braces don't do anything to our cars is ********! After I installed my JCW strut bar I immediately noticed the difference. Car handles like it's on rails all the vibrations I would get when I hit potholes are all gone. There's a specific way how you have to install it and make sure there's no preload on the bar before you tighten it down. Car needs to be jacked up before you tighten the adjustable nuts. It's funny how the official install instructions doesn't mention it. Very important to get full effects of bar. To make matters even better I purchased it from local seller from FB marketplace for $40 😎😃

 

Is that M7 rear brace? Can you give review of this brace please? I'm thinking about getting it!

 

I’m pretty sure it’s a first version M7. I bought it used off FB and that is what I was told. It has been in my R55s and currently in my r53. It greatly reduced the body roll the clubman tends to have, which kept that thing a bit flatter in and out of turns. The R53 on the other hand, I never really had that issue, I think the cabrio braces did more with stiffing the front, but not why we are here. The R53, to me, feels like a better built, non squeaky, rattly mess, like the R55s, but she has had all these braces within the first month of ownership. As you can see though it gets in the way, but I can still pack the car for 2 for a day at the beach so I make it work.

 

Removed the antiquated console Cell Phone Docking station. That gave me a bit more depth within the console interior. Lined it with red felt today.

 

Yesterday - In a further attempt to pin down the source and curtail an obnoxious mystery rattle emanating from my exhaust; I replaced the lower engine mount on my '04 R53.





I also went as far as to upgrade the large bushing end by adding the powerflex urethane insert. I R&R'd the powerflex bushing from the small end of my existing engine mount and transferred it to the new one as well..
As a process of eliminating causes for vibration - Adding the new mount with powerflex did not solve the source of the rattle.
Other than having 8k mi on my previous mount - there was really nothing wrong with it. But the new insert makes for a nice "upgrade".

I was as little concerned with adding more powerflex/stiffness to the lower engine mount at the cost of adding more possible vibration to the chassis. Honestly it really didn't add any vibration that I could discern.
In contrast - the results I felt in performance when I hit the gas were worth the trade off if any..
The engine seems "more connected" to the car.

 

Yup, that is what I found when I made that PowerFlex upgrade to my F56.
I also found that gear changes were easier and smoother to make.

 

Is that an Aliexpress tank?

 

I ordered a custom leather steering wheel cover from AliExpress about a month ago and finally got around to installing it. I contacted the seller to have a full leather cover with orange stitching and an orange marker on the top.
Read the instructions watched a few YouTube videos and decided I could tackle this without removing the steering wheel (if anyone else decides to do this I recommend removing the steering wheel first)
Turned out really well. I had to destitch a few sections and start again and I still need to do some tidying up.

 

I bought on Ebay, but it's likely the same thing. Have had no issues with it, about 2000 miles in now.

 

I have the same tank. Solid, works well, cold level settles in nicely around the height of the welded seam near the bottom with my car. Wish it had two sightglasses. Had to grind a bit off the power steering pump mounting bracket to ensure the hose didn't rub, because sillycone hoses are thicker....

 

Different location on the Gen II cars, and of course there is no power steering pump to deal with

 

A couple of years ago I'd spent quite a bit of time, money and effort repairing the curb rash and repainting my S-Lites with genuine German silver wheel paint by WURTH. While the initial results were an impressive OEM color match; The cost
for the paint @ $34 can x3 (shipped), 3 cans of WURTH lacquer clear @ $28/can, ceramic coating @ $50 ± , a couple of years later the finish had suffered from (mostlikely) heat from the brakes and 27,000 miles of cross country road environment.
Tired of seeing how bad my S-Lites had become...

Today, I decided to (once again) start the process of refinishing the wheels...at least the front 2wo wheels for now....


Stripping and sanding. No curb rash to deal with this time around.... I learned my lesson while backing in along a curb.
A side note: Personally I would have liked to have the wheels sand blasted and the aluminum/magnesium clear coated. But...

As usual, the case as it is; residing in an apartment - working on cars in the parking lot is frowned upon. So I hit the road down to the valley to a truck stop I frequented when I'd first arrived here in the desert, several months ago.










This time I opted to "shop local" (Home Depot & Walmart)...
Rust-Oleum High Heat Semi-Gloss Silver 1) can = $12 and Rust-Oleum Premium lacquer 1) can = $13 was more than enough to finish both wheels with a half/can ea left over for one wheel.






Not bad. I'm pleased how they turned out and even happier as after applying the clear how closely the paint matched the WURTH German silver I had previously used. I'll be refinishing the rear wheels next / as time permits.

I'd spent the entire day (14hrs), as I waited for the wheel paint to cure = 5 1/2 hrs pulling, stripping, prepping, paint & clearing the wheels..
The remainder of the time was spent under the car cleaning/degreasing the oil and wasteland dirt that had accumulated over the past few months during the monsoon season.

 

Nice! Rustoleum High-Heat Silver... I'll have to see about using that for my winter wheels...