so i bought an r53 off the auction. Salvage title, 33xxx miles, h/k system, xenon's, heated seats.

I plan putting everything i do with it on NAM. Topics include: rear passenger side suspension replacement, wish bones, audio, rim(s), quarter panel, gasket changes, airbags, head liner and more minor topics. So let me introduce the r53. I bought the r53 off the auction like said. It was hit in the quarter panel, sustained suspension damage, punctured rim. The previous owner was a young buck with the all out sound system, boombox with amp and pioneer stereo. The previous owner, i'm guessing was the second owner because he had the car only for a year and with such low miles. I plan on doing lots of things with it, and i want to walk you guys through the whole process. I will post a topic at a time due the large amounts of stuff i have to say and the amount of time it takes me to submit the posts. I will do my best to keep updating this thread. Check out my r50 post to find out more background info about me and how i obtained my daily driver an r50 and more info about auctions. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...iladephia.html

Finally got around to making a post. please ask if have any questions.


WISHBONES:
So the first thing i did was remove the wishbones because at that time i thought that it was the only thing that need to be replaced. To remove the wishbones you need to have a good hour set aside because it will take a while. The hard part is when taking the bolt off the main body. Very tight space and i could not manage to fit the socket on either the bolt or the nut. So i used two combo wrenches. I took my time unscrewing the nut, due to the risk of stripping either nut or bolt. It took me a while , but i did eventually get it off. When installing the new one it also took a while, because i couldn't get the bolt through the wish bone. Small hands would be the best approach to reinsert the bolt. Best of my advise when changing the wish bones is to take your time, don't stress about it if its not working. Just don't strip the nut/bolt.

 

Let me know what you need I have 10 parts cars. and I have that entire quarter panel you need really cheap if you pick up in Atlanta.

 

Ill be watching your rebuild. I had a similar side collision that I'm still rebuilding from as well. I still have the dent but it is safe and on the road. Airbag replacement is easy. It might be cheaper to replace the airbag control unit. I paid a local shop to clear mine. It came back on a few months later. Then purchased an airbag code reader only to find out my airbag control unit went bad. So I purchased one from here on a non wrecked mini. Man I spent a lot of money turning off that code. When I could have just bought a $40 part with a clear code.

 

The image of the conte arm is that upper or lower?

Looks a lot like what I did to my upper...from a pothole. Lower would be a lot harder to tweak like that

 

Good luck on the build! Cant wait to see progress.

 

i do need a headliner with no sunroof, right side of steering wheel the *** for wind shield washer fluid controls.

 

I already have the wiper stalk listed on the website
http://www.waymotorworks.com/wiper-s...0-r52-r53.html

I think I have a headliner, but you would have to come pick it up as it would cost more to ship than a new one cost.