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I searched the forum and the internet for guidance but getting overwhelmed. I have a 2002 Mini Cooper S with over 200K miles on it... While changing out my clutch per say , I tore the bushings on the release bearings. I searched ebay and found a few short shift kits that seem to come with metal bushings, would like to know if anyone has purchased any of these?
I am not looking into performance, this car is my daily driver and just need to commute back and forth to work. Just need a solution if anyone has one on what would be the most cost effective fix please.
Those bushings that come with the short shifters are for bolting the shift assembly to the body of the car, completely different than what you are looking for.
The metal bushings in the B&M short shift kit that we put on our R53 had 4 solid bushings that are used for bolting the shift housing back in. Picture below.
The actual bushing on the clutch release fork arm in the kit is in fact still plastic.
Our tech article for the install has more pictures and details about it.
Thank you for the replies... See attached images for reference of what I was referencing. I continued my research and came to the conclusion that the only way was to replace the whole assembly from the shifter to the transmission. Therefore I have attempted a fix which I will describe and perhaps it may help a few who search this issue as well.
I am in the aviation industry and we have a product which is a sealant/adhesive that we use to seal aircraft fuselage for pressurization and weather when we have to install antennas or run wire through the pressurized area. It cures hard but maintains a very rubbery attribute and it holds very very well.. We call this stuff pro seal. If you look at at the attached images you will see how I applied this and so far it seems to be holding up. It has been a couple of days but it is my daily driver. Not sure how long it will hold up but we can use this post as the around the time I accomplished this fix and when it goes, if I remember I will come back and post again. If you need to find some call around your local aviation shops and see if they can spare any. Sometimes they have some they can spare and you really do not need a lot. I will also put a link where you can possibly get this. I recommend let it cure all the way before you start driving. You can get them in different cure times from .5 hrs to 2 hrs but I would give it 24-48 for a full cure.
Hope this helps anyone that is in the same situation I am. I am sure the automotive industry may have something similar but this stuff I know works and is tested at very high altitudes and extreme conditions. It is a MIL SPEC item.
If you can see from the first picture, there was still rubber there just tore. What I did was apply it around that rubber then put it back in its place; and to make sure it stayed I applied some over it as shown on the second picture. The underside is still clean and should be able to be removed if needed again. Next time, I will use the right tool. =)
However, if you do end up applying it all over, it is possible to remove. We do it all the time when replacing antennas or re-opening up the fed-thrus. It might take you a while to remove since this stuff does dry hard yet it maintains elasticity. It pretty much resembles the rubber that is around the bushing.
