I just got a call from the shop doing my Helix camber plate install. I guess I can look at the sliver lining and be happy I didn't try to do this myself.

They say it's going to be around 3 hours of labor because the pinch bolts on the struts are breaking when they try to remove them, so the need to drill them out. Now, I don't even know what a pinch bolt is, so I'm just going to go with them on this. Since my car is a year round daily driver in Vermont, rusted bolts are a way of life.

And, apparently one of the front swaybar end links fell apart when it was removed - the ball portion of the joint fell out.

Will my car be drivable for Sunday's autocross? I'm sure it will be drivable today, but probably not ready to be driven in anger.

 

Well, it took $500, but everything is back together. Man, I really do feel like meb.

 

Swaybars attached?

Hopefully the worst is over now.

 

Yup, the front swaybar is attached. Generic replacement endlinks for $70. When the first call came and I was told that the shop couldn't find endlinks, I started looking into getting some aluminum adjustable endlinks. When they called back saying they found some local for $70, I told them to go ahead and get them. I'm not sure if that was the right answer or not, but at least everything's back together.

 

I'll use this thread to share my worst mod experience.
A fellow mini owner asked if I would help out and install new springs and bars for him. I said sure, be happy to.
Well the same thing happened to me Jason, I broke the pinch bolt. Well, there he was about two hours from home with a snapped bolt. I was frazzed to say the least as this had never happened to me before . I felt extremely bad that I had done this and went right to phone and called my buddy at Mini of Peabody and told him that he would be right up to get that bolt removed and replaced and to bill me. They said no problem and I sent him off to get this thing fixed. After he drove off, about 5 minutes later I remembered that I never re-attached his front droplink to the strut. In a panic I looked for his phone number to call him, but it was nowhere to be found. Thank god he ended up calling me saying that he was smelling something burning. I told him to sit tight and I'd be right there. Well, I grabbed my spare front droplink, jack and tools and headed out. He had only made it about 5 miles. Upon removing that front wheel, I found that the droplink had lodged against the tire and had nearly rubbed through the inner sidewall.
I replaced the now destroyed droplink and he agreed that he thought he could make it home. For the next two hours I was pacing the floor until he called and said that he had made it back OK.

This is why I don't work on anyone else's car anymore. Like you Jason, he drove that car everyday in all weather and even his lug bolts were extremely rusty. That job, that I was doing for free, cost me over $300 (repair of bolt and two front tires). He did not ask, I insisted that I take care of it. I still feel bad about that day and have never talked about it until now ...

 

Jasen,

It's those unexpected expenses that add up...are you married, I cannot remember? Wives, those who do not like cars, add another level of stress to the unexpected

How does the car feel?

 

I'm single, so the only stress is from me.

I haven't had the opportunity to hit a corner hard yet with the camber plates on, so it feels about like it did before so far. I do notice creaking noises when driving around at parking lot speeds and turning the wheel.

Has anyone ever had issues with the locator tab on the front strut that slots into the collar on the steering knuckle? The guy who did the work for me said that on his test drive, the tab on the strut bent(?) and made contact with the subframe causing nasty sounds. The tab was bent back, and I haven't had any issues yet... It might be a JCW suspension strut thing, who knows. The installer did say that the clearances up front were pretty tight.

 

There must be some miscommunication or misunderstanding here as this does not make any sense.
Are you talking about the tab that's near where #1 is pointing that slides in the slot of the carrier, where #6 is pointing to?

 

Yup, that tab.

I didn't get to see it on my car, as it was already off the lift when I got there. So they showed me the general idea on a Honda that was up on the lift. But that's the thing they were talking about.

 

OK, ... don't know who your installer is so I hope I don't insult someone that I know, but he is possibly confused, or just feeding you some kind of BS. "If" that tab were bent, which would be quite hard to do, there is NO way that it could contact anything but the droplink. If in fact is was bent that much then the droplink would be in really bad shape.
Tolerances there are not tight. For that tab to touch the subframe it would have to be about 12" long.
What's up with this 'Jasen' (spelled it that way meb did)? Was there some extra cost or something involved with this story?

 

I'll get some more info from the guy who did the work this Sunday... he's one of the local autocross folks. He doesn't have decades of experience, but I dod trust him to do the right thing. His boss is the one that nailed me with insane labor rates. I think he was trying to tell me that he doesn't want to see my car there again (for whatever reason).

I'll see the guy who did the work on Sunday outside of the shop he works at, perhaps he'll be more forthcoming / have a different tune when he's not within earshot of his employer.

Everything is back together and safe - that's not a concern.

Unfortunately, my knowledge and use of terminology is pretty weak when it comes to car parts. There is something "frame rail / control arm" looking in front of that whole assembly on the driver's side which I could maybe imagine being what that tab made contact with.

It sounds like at least part of the problem with the install was a less than perfect install of the JCW suspension upgrade (struts), which was done by the MINI dealership.

 

The tab either fits or it doesn't. I'm with Greg. Once the pinch bolt is removed, the strut slides into the knuckle, or hub if you like, one way and one way only. And, there is zero room for adjustment. When the tab is in line, the pickup for the swaybar endlink is in line and nothing can make contact. If the JCW springs are as wide as the stock springs, I imagine the spring might touch the inner fender area if large amounts of negative camber were used. Other than that, I dunno Jasen.

 

That hurts. They charged me $75 for the installation, plus I got an actual size sticker out of the deal.

 

I replaced my shocks on my 03 a few weeks ago, and one of those pinch bolts (just one of them) was badly rusted - looked like salt damage- but that is unlikely in Atlanta. I was lucky - it did not snap. I agree - there is no way they put it back together and had problems with the tab - you can not proceed in putting the strut back together if the tab does not go in.
Wes

 

I had my first chance to drive hard with the camber plates installed. They certainly do increase front end grip. I think I'll be okay with the rear swaybar I currently have (Helix 22.5mm on softest setting), even though a slightly smaller / softer rear bar would make things more idiot-proof. I purposely tried to get my car to spin, and wasn't able to on the autocross course. I came close, I was a split second from going "both feet in", but I just stayed on the gas and it did pull out of the slide. I had to seriously over-cook a 180° psuedo-sweeper to get into trouble. Lifting off the gas / nudging the brakes mid-turn didn't seem to upset the car much more than it did before, and for that I am very happy. But, hit a corner fast enough and the fact that there's more front end grip than rear end grip becomes obvious.

Hopefully someone got some video from outside the car, so I can see what it looked like from out there. The in-car video doesn't show the oversteer very well. It just shows the car turning (you can't tell that the back end is starting to come around), straightening out a bit (correction), then turning some more (recovery).

 

There is some video of my car from the autocross course, but it's not on the run where I felt I was about to spin. Regardless, on the run that was captured I did feel like the back end of the car was loose, but the video doesn't show much oversteer at all.

I guess I need to get used to my car again.

Here's the video, ignore the cone I punted (and the fact that the video makes everything tall and skinny).

The first time I go through the turn closest to the camera is when the car felt loosest.

http://vermontracing.com/videos/auto...ly_23/mini.WMV

 

I have to stay in the gas to keep mine straight at times ....

It is a totally unnatural thing, start to spin, gun it !!!

 

Great vids. What camber setting are you running snid?

 

Currently at -2.0° front.