Replaced the rocker cover gasket and was curious how it would look under the cover. I was happily suprised how clean it was.





I was waiting for new bolts to arrive. For anyone wondering, you need m6x35mm bolts. The washers cannot be bigger than 18mm in diameter. I bought m8 16mm rings (I couldnt find 17mm rings at the supplier). Also ordered a new PCV valve, which is underway.





Below the cover



And one of the new replacement bolts with re-used sleeve and new rubber washer.

 

I like the new look. I may have to do this when I pull the valve cover as well. Where did you source the hardware from?

 

Thanks man!

The rubber rings I sourced from here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/124243782254

The m6 bolts and m8 rings I bought from a local dutch site.

 

nd how many miles are on your car? I don't think I've ever torn into a motor and found it that clean inside!

 

About 161.000 kms or 100.000 miles on the clock. I was just as shocked as you are haha!

 

Some small updates

Created an extra guard for the power steering pump fan. Had that ventilation guard lying around, so quick & cheap mod.



Replaced the PCV valve. Old on the left, new on the right.



Easy to reach space (fortunately)



Added heatwrap to the rest of the exhaust. It will stay a while as I wont be driving this a lot, and also not in the rain or snow.





Havent driven it yet with these mods, might have to test it tomorrow

 

Let me know what you think of the heat wrap after it's been on there awhile. I'm getting an OBX header for mine and have seriously been thinking about wrapping it from the head to the flex portion to keep the heat out of the engine bay.

 

Heat wrap works! I have wrapped a header in the past (see pics below) and it made a huge difference in under bonnet temperatures. I want to do the header as well, but its a stock header (which isn't stainless obviously), so no go for now. But, I still have some left and will do the downpipe of the Volvo in the next 2 weeks (I have my summer holiday now).

 

10 horsepower extra mod, the bolts for the side mirrors :P They are rusting, so decided to replace them with fresh new stainless M6x70mm bolts.





My Mini next to a younger brother, the R56

 

I swapped my R113 reps over for 2 other sets of wheels. Apparantly the guy needed to get rid of both, and on pictures they looked alright. Had a fitment session and decided to keep the Team Dynamics wheels. They arent the lightest, but they look good on my black Mini. So I will keep them for now and sell the R130 wheels.

1st Set: Team Dynamics Monza R (17 inch)

Weight: 18kg with 205/45/17 tyres on them with 6mm profile








2nd Set: Mini (Ronal) R130 Twin Blade Spoke (17 inch)

Weight: 18kg with 205/45/17 tyres on them with 6mm profile







Quite the difference if you compare them with the 16 inch R87 wheels, which make the Mini looks "dull".



And I started with this

 

Team dynammics look nice

 

Yessur!

 

The Team Dynamics do look nice. They look similar to a set of Konigs I want if i can ever sell my current setup. Its interesting that the R130's weigh the same. I don't think my little R50 would even have the ***** to turn wheels that big

 

Thx dude!

Its a tradeoff, unless you throw some bigger bucks at wheels. But it all depends on our wallets, and I would like to spend some money on other things.

 

Ordered the ATI Super Damper 2% and a crank pulley tool (car just passed the 100k mile mark, so roulette at this point ) . The money saved on wheels in invested in this

With the JCW pulley, this will bring me a 13% reduction for now. The plan is to add a 15% pulley in the future, but no rush

 

I still need to datalog a run after installing the 2% ATi.

I think I was around 12.5 psi before installing it. I’ll post both logs soon.

 

Mine is running 0.9 BAR (13 psi), so precisely what stock JCW should do

Thanks for the effort!

 

Made some more pics, because why not :D

I like the stance





And the side view shows me that lowering isnt really necessary. Stance is fine as it is

 

Epic thread man, nice work! By the way, you are missing a wheel selfie! LOL!

 

Ow ****, you are totally right hahah!

I received the ATI Super Damper 2%, but unfortunately, it had a small deformation. Fortunately, Orranje has good customer service. So I was able to send it back and a new one is underway already.



Damage on 1 of the fins





Pic of the backside



New dipstick, which cannot break. Its a little bit longer, so need to keep that in mind.

 

I was cleaning the Pipercross filter not to long ago and it basically disintegrated, so I had to buy a new one. I was looking at ITG filters, but stumbled on the Vecchio Engineering (UK made), which looks identical.





Difference between Pipercross & Vecchio













Head to head

 

Finally received my replacement ATI Super Damper 2% Overdrive edition, as the other one had a slight deformation. Went to work yesterday and was done in about 2 hours, which went way better than expected.

I used the Laser Tools (6142) pulley remover, which I highly recommend > https://www.lasertools.co.uk/product/6142









Upgrade ATI vs oldskool tech



Small advantage in reduced rotational weight (2.72kg vs 2.68 kg), but don't forget the ATI is also 2% larger in size.





And its bolted in place!



I performed the installation by myself, which is perfectly doable. I only jacked up one side of the car, put the gearbox in 6th gear and used a large lever on the axle bolt to give resistance when torqueing the new crank bolt down to 116Nm (85 ft lbs).



Complete picture



Testdrive will be done later, I only let it idle (which was smooth).

 

Testdrive done, highly impressed!

It was strange, as the Mini felt slower in the beginning. But I found out why I was experiencing that. The power delivery transformed from "spikey" to "buttery smooth". Power delivery feels perfectly lineair, as a supercharger should be.

So it felt slower, but the speedometer proved me otherwise. I drove way too fast!

All in all, I highly recommend it. I invested in this part, as I want the Mini to be "bulletproof".

 

Swapped 2x shitty Goodride tyres & 2x 9 year old Pirelli P6000 over for some mint condition Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres. Major difference, which was to be expected.

Looking at the patient from the waiting room



But I was able to visit the operating room :P





Also swapped the gear **** from the classic "orb" type to a sort of a "handle" type, which made all the difference. I read the tip somewhere here on NAM

 

I'm not a fan of the factory Mini shift *****. A buddy has a weighted porcelain **** he said I could have but I'd need a mount. It looks like a Q ball. I might go for it. I think it'd match the roof and mirrors on my car nicely.