As suggested by Kanu-
see http://www.mini2.com/forum/showthread/t-30055.html
There is unofficial talk of having a pulley party in Hawaii, location and dates undetermined.
Just checking for interest from MCS owners as the pulley is only for MCS.

Two possible tuners can do the pulley install easily:
Chris from Helix out at Philly
Randy from mini-motorsports out in Colorado. Randy also has a ECU flash going.

Need at least 10 or so interested owners for it to happen and a garage to work out of. Could be done out of a shop over a weekend. Randy was doing it in different cities for as little as $400.

I don't think either installer knows we are officially interested although Chris did post some replies on mini2 and indicated he was up for the trip. Could consider different islands if the interest is there.

Remember all this voids your warranty so serious people only. Think about it and reply here and at mini2 if you have a membership there.

 

I'm interested. Count me in. Although what I'm really interested in getting next is the Qaiffe LSD and light flywheel. Cost much though. Do you think they could install these also?

 

Hello HI-Mini
Well the response to my post on a pulley install for Hawaii looks nil except for the two of us. Perhaps many MCS owners are not on MCO and don't even know about the pulley at all. This is possible- people think that the power of the MCS is already good so no further changes need be done.

As we form the new Mini club of HI we can get a feel for this upgrade from talking to members. We could invite someone that really knows how to install pulleys out to HI but only if there are at least 10 owners interested. Since the pulley upgrade voids the warranty I don't think it will be that popular at least for now when everyone has a new car. Maybe within a year. The Pulley is about $200 and the install cost varies from $300 to 500.

LSD is good and helps keep the wheels maintain traction but the part is about $900+ and the labor is very expensive.
Light flywheel is nice esp on the track but not really needed for daily driving. It is lighter and usually is sold with the new clutch for about $500-600 and is expensive to install by a transmission shop. Also the lighter flywheel might idle rougher.

So is there anyone else that wants a pulley so we can have a PARTY?

 

I'd *like* a reduced diameter pulley, but I can't afford one at the moment. Does that count? :smile:

If someone gets the pulley I'm sure we can find someone to help out, especially if they get the super-special-ninja tool that pulls the old pulley wheel off without taking the entire front half of the car off first. Then again, I think that tool is like $150 through Minimania, but I haven't checked on it lately.

-Andy

 

Just got H-sport springs & madness rear bar from Randy. Thinking of pulley but still a bit concerned about warranty. If we really have pulley party at reduced cost i'll probably want to go for it. Understand that Sonicmotorsports installed one last week on MCS. I'm having them do my springs/bar when they arrive next week.

 

bgrpph-
I just installed the H-sport springs and a pair of H-sport rear adjustable camber control arms on my MCS and I already had the madness rear swaybar all from RandyBMC.

First impression- a little rougher ride on non smooth surfaces. Some rough roads (freeway Honolulu bound at Wahiawa ) make it seem that all of the front dash is rattling and squeaking. I never noticed that before. Maybe 10 times worst rattles than before the springs were changed. But on smoother roads it was fine. minimal squeaks.

Weight
Old springs 9 + 6 pounds =15
New springs 9 + 9 =18 (would you weigh your pairs to confirm this!)

Old camber arms 9 pounds per pair
New H-sport control arms 6 pounds per pair, I added only the lower pair.

I can see that the negative camber is quite a bit more like maybe -1.5 degrees on the rear. The instructions say set to -.75 while Randy says to try -.5 degrees. Most shops do not have capability of doing a check on the amount of rear camber you have. Their machines are set for stock cars and might be unreliable. I was referred to Island Brake and alignment in Pearl city- will have to call them- closed on weekends. They can try a hand calibration and adjust the control arm. Problem is with only one pair of adjustables I cannot correct for toe in. I have to get 4 control arms to do that.

I used to have the swaybar set to firmest (I have two holes) but now I have it on softer and the backend seems to have more understeer than before. Randy suggested this setting (softer) so I will have to see how it works for me. Tire pressures make a big difference so try adjusting them up and down, more in the back and less in the back and see what works for you.

I drove the car about 100 miles today all over the place from Mililani to town and back twice. On the freeways and regular roads. Firmness of the suspension was OK. Maybe a little firmer and bumpier than before. Only once did the car really bump hard on a concrete connector joint on the freeway. Cornering was OK- feels softer and less tight with the soft setting on the rear swaybar- I think I can feel some rear understeer. I may change it back to firm later but I will drive it around like this for a bit longer. When driving at normal speeds you don't really work the rear swaybar much at all.

Thinking about adding the BMP aluminum tower strut brace in the front engine compartment. I was told that the BMP red and blue tower braces are powder coated STEEL and heavier- so only the highly polished silver looking model is all aluminum. Otherwise I was looking at the H-sport strut support and thinking of painting it another color- how about indi blue?

Latka-
Yes it does count that you are interested. No telling when we are able to get this party going so save those pennies and eventually it will add up to a 20HP mod.

_________________
03MCS-IB/W, aero grille, white tail lights, MB Quart speakers, euro parcel shelf, Madness intake/ rear swaybar- Get In.Get Out.Get Even-Motor On

 

Hmmm, looks like you guys are getting ready for the Aloha 500!

 

So far 2 or 3 interested
and 2 thinking of pulleys
Still need a bunch more-
Depending on who we invite out we can add the ECU portion.
With the pulley we can also do a group purchase for the pulley tool- or maybe work with another region who might have purchased their own pulley tool.
Will look into the options if we get close to 10 at some point.

 

Ordered the BMP aluminum Tower Strut bar for the front. Coming in a few days. Will need to modify and cut the intake box with the madness intake.

I reset the rear antiroll bar to firmest setting and will have alignment shop adjust the rear suspension camber to negative 0.75 degrees tomorrow morning.

Then will drive it around more and see how it all works. I tried more hard cornering today and the rear antiroll bar and H-sport springs worked like a charm. Gotta drive it pretty hard to get the right feel. If you go easy you don't really get much response. I guess this is the progressive springs at work.

Can't go over speed bumps very well- much worse than stock springs- you have to take it very easy.

No rattling problems at this time- so far so good.

New Quicksilver exhaust coming and new Team Dynamics 17" wheelset on backorder for a month more.
Cheers

 

Just a short note to say that I got a four wheel thrust alignment done at Island Brake and alignment and it made a big difference. Much better now- smoother on the road and my toe in for the fronts were way off. I got my rear camber to -0.75 degrees and had front and rear toe in adjusted to factory specs. see my other posts on adjustable Camber plates

 

Minihune,

I'm interested in the pulley mod w/ ecu upgrade.

 

>>Thinking about adding the BMP aluminum tower strut brace in the front engine compartment. I was told that the BMP red and blue tower braces are powder coated STEEL and heavier- so only the highly polished silver looking model is all aluminum. Otherwise I was looking at the H-sport strut support and thinking of painting it another color- how about indi blue?
>>

Hi Doc, (the jelly floor mat guy here!)

It's my personal opinion and also that of the two race Minis I saw race at the Grand Am 250 in Holmstead FL, (Sterling and Nuzzo Motorsports) that you can save your money on the front tower cross brace.
I think the manufacturers are just adding a gadget for us to buy.
The current Mini is so damn stiff in front that it's just not needed.
These cross braces are popular with the cars that flex like sticky rice...

Before I buy one I'd like to see a test done first. Something like coincentric tubes bolted between towers with sliding in/out markers. Then go out and corner under race conditions and see how much the markers move... if at all. It it moves greatly then we'd know.
But I'm not sure anyone has done this test. (the popular thing being to just bolt one on because everyone else is doing it...save the bucks and the weight)

So until someone does a test, buy it if you want to impress when you pop the bonnett---otherwise buy a pulley.
(I just don't think it's a worthy $240 (plus) mod).

The "Y"
2003 MCS, EB/W, airbox mod, Madness intake, MagnaFlow,
Waiting for H-Sport camber plates...forever! then KW coilovers, H-sports swaybars, rear camber/toe struts. Hurry H-Sport!!!

 

808mcs-
Aloha and welcome to MCO.
Hope to see you sometime soon- we are starting up a mini of HI club. Next event is the June 1 british car get together at Kapiolani park waikiki shell parking lot at 830am. The Minis were invited so we will go.
What other performance mods are you looking to get?

 

I'm planning to get the Alta intake, MagnaFlow exhaust, H-Sport springs, and 18" rims (either OZ Superleggera or BBS RGR). However, I'll have to wait till Jan. of next year because I'll be in Honduras for 6 months. By then, I'm sure tons of new upgrades will be available. I'm looking forward to meeting some of you guys at the British car get together.

 

i have the pulley already and am sending the ecu to randy sorry i can take my pulley of and have him do it . I will ask around on the big island .

 

dtmmini-
Sorry you could not be at the Waikiki mini rally last night- about 50 to 60 minis roaming in Waikiki. We took over.
Many were modified MCS at least 5 were very heavily modified. Not sure about any pulleys except for you. Maybe others would know-I will see them and talk this sunday at the British car event.

One would think that with so many MCS out there and 440 minis sold in hawaii already that we could get together about 10+ people for a pulley party and invite Randy or Chris from Helix13 out here.

Post to this thread about how you like your new ECU with pulley- that is some excess HP- What do you do with it all?
Most useful on a track or long long straightaways. Once you are done you should think about bringing the car to the Hawaii raceway park for a driving school event.

One other thing- there has been posted on MCO that Harmut from Renntech has done some testing of fully modded MCS with pulley and ECU, headers, throttle, intake and exhausts that show that most upgrade exhausts are not up to the task of reducing backflow or allowing for straight through low restriction exhaust. Even the Magnaflow has trouble with the Y-piece. Only Borla sports exhaust faired well- this applies to the fully upgraded MCS.
What this means is that once you get to a certain point of upgrading, you might get limited returns by adding more power mods because your magnaflow can handle only so much.
So before you consider an intercooler or throttle upgrade you might look at exhaust like a manifold header with sport cat mod to allow for better exhaust flow. Just something to think about.
Did you add a front tower strut? If you did, Did you think it made any difference?

 

HiYa to all you MCO folks in Hawaii! I have just recently started checking this board, and came across this thread. I am over on the Big Island, and might be interested in participating in an upgrade event. Please keep me posted, I'm always up for a little more torque!

Jim Cohn
JCIP@hawaii.rr.com

 

I know one more person who is interested in going to the pully party. He is the guy who has the mini S logo on his rear window tint. He wants to know about the chip upgrade too. So how many more people we need?

 

>>I know one more person who is interested in going to the pully party. He is the guy who has the mini S logo on his rear window tint. He wants to know about the chip upgrade too. So how many more people we need?

I have an email out to Randy to ask him about coming to Hawaii in the winter- will post info here when I get a reply.
I also asked about ECU upgrade and maybe a package deal for both.

So far pulley party guests:
Kanu
Minihune
HI-Mini
bgrpph
Latka (interested but not ready yet)
808mcs (after January-deployed out of state now)
JCIP (on the big island)
"R" with the dark silver MCS/wings and S logo on rear window without a wiper.

We can have about 7 installs per day. More with beer provided.
Figure max 21 over three days.
We need a garage or shop to do it in.


_________________
ALOHA

 

ok take the "maybe" off & show me as ready- i'd also like the ECU along with pulley- I also spoke with Randy about coming over. He's a former United pilot with access to flights so it may easy/cheap for him- (lets call his wife & tell her to bring the family for vacation)- Does anyone have contacts where we could get nice hotel for cheap? perhaps bringing family on vacation will entice him to come.

 

bgrpph
Ok got you covered.


How big a family does Randy have? I know he has a wife and son at least. I was going to offer putting him up at my house if there were not too many people coming over. Anybody else willing?

_________________
ALOHA

 

Minihune, I spoke with Randy today- hope you've got hugh house. They have 3 young boys (3,5,7) and girl due in Sept. Talked to him about coming and he sounded interested. Guess with baby due in fall, timing may be issue but he didn't say that. So we need to get 10 brave folks signed up.

 

Not really a problem- I got a 5 bedroom home in MINIlani Mauka. Just got to figure out the logistics. I have a room free to spare and can set it up for his gang. Probably better to travel after the baby is born maybe early 2004. Usually not a good time to travel close to due date (unless you want a Hawaiian born baby) and not good to travel right after but maybe 6 months is OK. Will have to think about it. 3, 5, and 7 is no problem. Mine are 12, 16, and 19 and the oldest will be going back to mainland school in late August (hence the spare room).

We also need a garage or shop for a weekend. With 10 we will need two days most likely. Max is 7 a day and at least 10 to make the trip worth it. Hard to find 3 days to make 21 pulley jobs unless we can find a good three day weekend.
Not many to choose from after august. Only labor day (too soon?), thanksgiving, MLK birthday?

Well lets go and recruit a few more people. Can anyone reach John B.? His car is still at Island sound. I don't think he has the pulley yet. Latka- save up your pennies so you can join us. Maybe do the pulley only, no ECU. Do the ECU later. Lots of options. At least Randy is fast so he can do plenty pulleys.

 

not sure if i want a pulley yet, but got a thought for the timing of the installs.

try timing it with a scca solo2 event so that randy can show us the potential of a mini @ scca. having a driver show you the true potential of your car is an eye opener and will give you a gauge to how well you are doing with it. (yes, it will use up an install day, but may be more valuable than any mods we ever do)

side note: a national champion 240z driver came down in april and drove curtis lee's 240z. he ended up beating curtis by half a sec. in curtis' own car. for those of you not familiar with solo2, curtis is the man to beat(or try to get within 5 seconds of).

b

ps: come watch mini-t kill some pylons this weekend on the 10th. with my car!!! oh well, cone smudges rub off(unless you hit the pointer cones which feel like a jack rabbit at 90mph in a rental car in a desert...not that i know anything about this) remember..never swerve.

 

IF you have dates then let us know-
In general at any one of the driving schools if you let one of the many good instructors drive your MC or MCS you can begin to see what it is capable of. No need to get Randy over here to convince me of that. Certainly a driver skilled with MINIs would be extra fun. That's why we have the driving schools so that we can do that much better.

Kill pylons? Nope no need for that. Just practice missing them is good enough. Close enough to make them rock is fine. Just scare them pylons- they are your friends.