I ended up selling another car and coming into a little money, so I'd like to spend some time and money on my mini.

Car is a 2006 MCS 6 speed with 8x,xxx miles.

It currently has:
Cravenspeed 15% pulley
Cravenspeed strut top defenders
Eibach rear sway bar
Powerflex Front control arm bushings
Powerflex Rear engine mount bushing on big end
Enkei compe 16x7+25 and non run-flat tires

Replaced hood and hatch shocks
Replaced passenger and rear engine mounts (can't find the driver side one other than straight from mini)
Prior to purchase it had the notorious o-ring and oil pan gasket done as well as the front shocks and clutch replaced.

Current problems:
Supercharger belt:
It likes eating super charger belts, I'm on my 4th one since replacing the pulley around april. It starts with fraying on the inboard side, then I notice a rib missing. Last time I took it to a euro specialty shop out east, when it ejected a whole rib at once. They replaced it and said nothing looked out of place to a tune of $230. So I'm hoping to address it for real with my regular mini guy.
Thoughts: Some kind of misalignment or wear on the stock setup? I ordered a gates timing tensioner setup and plan on ordering the idler bearing from mini. I'm talking about maybe doing a crank pulley, any recommendations? Fluid damper is what I am currently looking at
https://www.waymotorworks.com/fluid-...ulley-r53.html
I imagine doing a front main seal will be worth while. Anything else while we are in there?

Concerns:
Wheel bearings: Apparently a bigger deal on mini's than I am used to. I've in the past just ordered from the parts store and never had a problem, but I've read about some failures from getting the wrong ones with mini's. I am pretty sure I have the 2006+ meaning the larger 14mm bolt holes. On ECS I see they offer kits, any recommendations NSK vs other? Or is this something I should just bite the bullet and go OEM on? Or is this something I shouldn't do until I have distinct droning or wobbling problems?
Coolant: I've heard the reservoir crack so I ordered an aluminum one with the threaded cap. I've heard the plastic thermostat housing can do so as well, is it worth swapping that one out to an aluminum one?
https://www.waymotorworks.com/alumin...-cooper-s.html
Axles: I've got a set axles recommended by modmini on hand in case the boots or something wears out. I'm planning on maybe doing them with the wheel bearings depending on the answer above.
Strut tops: I have the groaning on slow turns symptom. Any thoughts on replacements? I asked my regular guy and he said with the stock tops they'll come back. I was maybe looking at the ireland engineering camber tops. https://www.waymotorworks.com/irelan...e-r50-r53.html
Thoughts?

Anything else I should look at addressing while it is down for the count? Anything worth doing at the same time as something else? I plan on addressing the inner and outer ball joints on the next clutch. And adding some brake caliper pins when the brakes need a refresh.

The next fun mod I think is a toss up between sticking with cravenspeed and going to get the full short shifter setup with ****, plate, bushing. Or biting the bullet and going with a coolerworx shifter.

 

Something is mis-aligned with the pulleys causing belt problems.....either a pulley is on too far, or not far enough....might look at the crank damper to make sure it's not coming apart

2006 was a break year for 12mm & 14mm wheel lug bolts....my '06 has 14mm threads.....I think the month change was June or July....ECS Tuning can give you that answer

While it's torn down, I would recommend a supercharger service and a new water pump. Crank sensor seal as well

Bryan

 

Seattle,

I have an '05 S and did quite a bit of what you're referring to, including installing the $100 Amazon aluminum coolant resistor.

I also agree with Wing/Bryan, one of the pulleys is out of alignment if it's eating belts. If you keep loosing the inner portion I'm wondering if the 15% pulley isn't on far enough. If you have the OEM balancer/damper, make sure it's not coming apart, [the rubber inner portion].

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ld-thread.html

Might help a little.
robj

 

Cheers for the replies,

I'll add supercharger service and water pump pulley to the list. I'm waiting on the transmission mounts to be available again to kind of tackle that whole section together.

I think the crank sensor o-ring was the one replaced in January.

robj that was a great thread! It is pretty much what I would love to do. The car I actually sold was a "$500" car. 1971 Datsun 240z
https://oppositelock.kinja.com/what-...t-1-1618545599

I think I will pick up the IE plates that you got as well. I've been weighing the pros and cons of taking it to a muffler shop for the one ball mod or doing it myself, I think I'll just have the muffler shop do it and save me some time there. What made you do the stock style crank pulley vs an ATI or a fluid damper unit? What wheel bearings did you end up buying?

 

Seattle,

The SC service and water pump was what I intended to do to start. I bought mine from my neighbor for $500 and it had been sitting a year, [or maybe a little more] after throwing a belt due to a bad idler pulley.
As everything is such a pain to get to, with 80K, while you're in there for the water pump and SC service, I would think about a tensioner, belt, idler pulley, [unless you've done them already of course] In addition I replaced the plastic thermostat housing with an aluminum one and a new thermostat. New hoses as well.

Also, I replaced the cam sensor [was going to do just the O-ring but what the heck] as that was leaking, along with the anti-knock sensor on the front of the engine. New motor mounts as well, [but mine had 150K]. I had some suggest the "poly" engine mounts but I'm not going to be racing, [or at 68, even racing around] and I didn't want a lot of engine vibration transmitted so I went with OEM style mounts from Rock Auto.
At that point I had spent quite a bit on a car I had driven only 150 yards. [but, after sitting a year it started right up, good oil pressure, ran smooth and no codes so it "seemed" ok]

[I also did brake pads and rotors, ball joints, struts, Ireland shock pads, etc...] I couldn't see $300 for a "good" damper. Plus you can actually get to that without taking the entire car apart. I found one on Amazon that has a 10 year warranty so maybe it's made a little better than the OEM.

If the car works out I may end up going with a good damper as it's said the engine idles smoother, but like I said, you can actually get to that.

For the bearings I went to RockAuto and bought MOOG parts. I've always used MOOG stuff in the past and in general it's high quality stuff.

Like I said on the build thread, after doing the "one ball" and despite having a Mig welder and 50+ years worth of skills, I would probably pay a muffler shop to do it. It was not plug and play. The big advantage is they can swage the pipe to whatever size they need to right there. Makes the whole process much faster and easier.

New to Minis myself, I found the "How To's" on Pelican Motors really helpful. I bought their book as well as the shop manual and sometimes find myself referring to all 3.

Good luck, take your time and enjoy the process and remember, "Heat Before Hammer". If you find yourself forcing something, stop and see whats gong on.

And last but not least, keep a neat work area and bag and tag every nut and bolt and take more photos than you think you will need. It almost never works to say, "oh, I'll remember where that goes".

robj

 

Along with everything else mentioned, double check all of the ball joints everywhere. When I was working on my Mini and dropped the subframe, I took the opportunity to replace anything and everything on it, from ball joins to tie rods.

 

Belt Eater
Maybe check your Dynamo (sorry, don´t know how to translate from german ;-) )
Loosen the electric Dynamo when you fitting your Belt.
The Dynamo must be bolt on when Belt is under pressure.

And with your Milange check, or better, change the bearings of the conrods. The King Bearings will be a gooood choice.

Regards
Dominik

 

I plan on replacing the whole front dress to not revisit at least that portion for a few years. I have a new tensioner setup, and I'll buy the idler pulley from mini. So with the crank pulley I think that only leaves the alternator and the ac, for which I have the coil for so that may be replaced as well. I think I'll just skip the stock type damper and go with either the fluid damper or the ATI damper and not have to revisit that down the road.

Found out I missed a big black friday sale from coolerworx so I'll wait till next year for another big round. I think I'll hold off on the joints and tie rods till then unless they show wear, when I picked up the car I was told it was inspected. I want to tackle all the things in a group so I'm also tempted to wait till I have a problem with like the throttle body before doing all the coolant stuff.

Is there a service interval for things like the water pump and supercharger service?

 

I've read 2 different things for SC service, 75K and 100K. I think the 75K is accurate. As it's the most expensive bit on the engine I wouldn't skimp there. Mine was at 150k and the P.O. couldn't remember if it was done, and as he was done with the car and thought it was going to salvage he tossed his file of receipts. What a dumb***.
Lucky for me it spun smooth, gears looked good and no metalflake in the old oil.
I'm not really sure you need an OEM idler pulley . It's a pretty simple devise and probably any "name brand" is decent. And probably half what a factory part costs.
Also, you may not need to worry about the alternator yet at 80K. Mine was stuck from sitting so I had no choice. I got a re-man Bosch unit for $255, $178 after the core return. The OEM on Mini Mania is $365. Almost twice the cost.

Some things I do go with OEM but others, like alternators, that have been remanufactured for 50 years, not so much. I figure they have it down by now. But I do go with "name brand" stuff. Bosch, Delco, Moog, but heck it's probably all made in the same plant in China, even the Mini parts. I think I read somewhere that H.D. alternators come from China. Not that it's bad stuff, if it meets the specs, it meets the specs...

robj

 

For sure something on the belt is out of wack if you are fraying belts. very well could be the supercharger shaft is pushed in or pulled out. If this is the case the front end of the supercharger would need rebuilt to realign the shaft. I wouldn't put a new crank pulley on until you find the cause as you don't want to break a belt and damage a new pulley.

For wheel bearings I only use OEM in my shop as I've had aftermarkets not last long.

Same for axles I NEVER recommend aftermarket CV axles as they have proven time and time to fail. We actually rebuild the OEM axles as we can do it more cost effective and keep good parts on the car.

If you are going to have the cooling system apart then it won't hurt to upgrade to a new thermostat with gasket and aluminum housing. otherwise it's extra work until you actually have a leak.
If you aren't lowering the car the IE fixed plates are a good option and will give you a little extra camber.
I'd just stick with the Craven shifter, it's not worth the expense to change

 

One more vote for pulley alignment issue. If crank pulley isn't failing, then I'm guessing an improperly installed SC pulley, most likely not fully seated (IIRC you said it was fraying on the inside edge) .

Id like to know what shop charged you $230 to replace a belt and tell you nothing was wrong. Other MINI owners in town need to know and stay away.

The IE plates have worked well for me. I didn't lower my car any.

Sounds like you are generally on the same track I've been since I bought mine 1 year ago.

Not sure how much you're doing yourself vs farming out, but if you don't have a good indie shop that you like, I can recommend one I use here in Tacoma.

 

Thanks for the input folks!

Just received my IE plates from your store yesterday :D.

OEM hubs ordered, along with transmission mount and idler bearing. I ordered the idler bearing from mini since it was only a bit more than an after market.

I'm planning on holding off on swapping in the hubs and axles until I can get it in the air and see how they feel.

Coolant stuff I may hold off as you suggest until either the reservoir or the thermostat housing starts leaking just to do it at once.

Is there a way to tell if the pulley is too far in or out? It looks pretty lined up when running. The shop that replaced the belt was some euro specialty shop out over the mountaibs, they were the only euro shop that was familiar with mini's. Guy told me it was probably from some oil or something which didn't really make any sense to me. I was pretty miffed, but without any options and living at an apartment I didn't have any options.

I really didn't want to visit the supercharger service for a while, I may try and install my remote fill kit to top it off for now.

I feel like with the craven shifter, with the corresponding ****, the shifter plate, then the bushing I'm only a little bit away from the coolerworx setup. I'll see down the road. Currently I'm eyeing some rally lights and maybe some uprated bulbs more than the need for a shifter.

 

This was out in Yakima, I don't want to name names, but pretty much only one shop comes up when looking for service. I suppose I should just be glad there is somewhere in the middle of the state, but much happier now I'm back on the west coast.

A bit of an update, car has been going through the merry go around of places. Garage, shop, dealer. I think it has another circuit of dealer, shop, then garage to go through.

The problem with the shredded belt was a crunchy idler pulley. I figured while we were in there, to just replace the crank pulley and the tensioner and have all new front pulley set.

Dealer suggested a brake fluid flush, they found a cracked reservoir which was good, but now it feels like the brakes are almost softer then they used to be.

Trans mount was replaced, but now it looks like my lemfoerder replacement passenger engine mount is going again? It has been just over a year with 8k miles. Is that normal? I did replace the passenger mount first then the rear engine mount a couple months later, then the trans mount about 12 months later. Best guess is that it was putting up with more stress, but now I'm wondering if I should just go with a Vibra Technics mount.

I've got some cosmetics waiting to go in.

I've still been eyeing a shifter of sorts. I think I've even bumped my way up to a CAE ultra shifter territory granted the coolerworx is quite a bit cheaper, I guess a game of whichever one goes on sale first.

I've been eyeing seats as well. I sit pretty tall currently, but I'd like to get a little more into autocross and with a helmet I think my poor headliner won't last. I'm pretty greedy though in that I'd like to keep the seat heaters. Any recommendations on that front?

 

Alternator ?