TAaron's 2006 MCS
 

Hi All,
Wanted to share my Mini I'm building. I got into building cars 5 or 6 years ago in my free time after buying my first "sports" car, a 2016 Ecoboost Mustang. Before this car I couldn't change a tire let alone do anything I can now. This sparked a huge addiction I've been feeding ever since, which leads me to today. I've always loved Minis; The Italian Job came out when I was a kid and ever since then its just always been my dream car. With the release of the Mini SE, I last second found one near by and started looking into picking up a new one, in order to capitalize on Federal and Colorado taxes. Unfortunately it didn't work out, but it made me realize, now was the time to finally get my dream car.

Enter Copart. I've bought a few cars from there (Miatas, its a separate problem) and I started searching for a Mini near me. I hate dealing with salvage titles so I searched for exclusively clean, and found one that looked to be in relatively good shape. It was stripped of trim pieces and the interior but didn't look like it had been in any type of accident. Instead of thinking logically and going, "Someone probably stripped the interior to get every dollar out of it because the car is dead" I said, "Looks like a deal to me!". At this point I put in my offer to Copart and they called the next day to say it was accepted.

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A week later the car showed up in the middle of a Colorado snow storm. Absolutely covered in snow, we had to MacGyver it off this trailer and up my steep driveway with running systems. Eventually we got it, and there was just as much snow outside as inside the car. It was drenched. I didn't realize earlier this was a taste of things to come.

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Once I got it home, the thawing process began. I had to get all the snow off and start drying the interior. Thankfully I had no seats or anything to remove as the PO had stripped it. Some fans and a few days of Colorado humidity (or lack there of) had her dry real quick. This allowed me to start digging into the issues. I managed to get a hold of the PO using Facebook; I asked him how much trouble am I in for. A lot. He sent me videos of his gauges not working, car running without the key, him having to hotwire the car to start it. Didn't look great.

Going to save the troubleshooting process, but if anyone's interested you can find it at the link below. Long story short, water damage had corroded computers and wires. New BC1, New tach, and a lot of wire tracing and ISTA diagnostics.
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https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-problems.html


After some pain, I got the car running and driving. And its a blast; sounds nice and healthy and drives great. I've been adding back all the trim parts using junkyard visits on the weekends and have something that resembles a mini again.

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I even went ahead and got my hands on some replacement wheels (going with the stock bulbous spokes).
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And I replaced a bad post cat O2 sensor hopefully fixing my last CEL. CO is an emissions testing heavy state (at least in Denver) so thats my next big chore. I need to do fluids and general service as well, but waiting for a warmer day. Also, if you aren't fortunate to have a lift in your house and have some extra cash, I can't recommend these quick jacks enough. Had the car up in the air in 2 minutes.

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That’s awesome that you went from a non-car guy to being able to get a potential nightmare MINI with electrical problems fixed and running in a fairly short time.

Which Quickjack is did you get, and did you have any setup difficulties? I’ve seen a few reviews about missing fittings or leaking hoses.

Thanks! Its been hard work but its worth it.

And I got the 5000 SLX. Its held my Jeep fine and my Datsun fine. I was able to get the Mini in the air in less than 5 minutes with minimal effort, and slid under with plenty of clearance. I'm probably going to wind up getting the extensions because its a little short for the jeep mounting points.
I had no issue with setup, took a while to bleed the system. I think it honestly still needs more bleeding as the two don't rise perfectly in sync, I'm just too lazy to go back burp it again while they aren't in use. It had all the fittings I needed and knock on wood I've had no leaking issues. They provided me with Loctite-esque thread sealer instead of the tape which may help. When putting it on, I brought everything inside to cure for 48 hours before testing it, and knock on wood its holding up fine.

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Placement looks worse than it was here, but extended brackets will make me feel better about it.

Got the rest of the trim mostly on. Not sure the side skirts are on totally right but it's close enough for now. Also got my new wheels on, Im a much bigger fan of these.

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Haven't posted in forever but wanted to shoot an update.

Painted the car myself last week and couldn't be happier with the result. It's not perfect but for a 200$ paint job that I did myself, it's more than good enough.

Been driving her more regularly now that it's registered (when Colorado isn't getting snow) but can't wait for the summer. Few things I need to take care of maintanence wise. Sunroof is having issues and there's definitely a back of engine oil leak (assuming oil filter gasket). I'm also hoping to do a 15% pulley mod and get a nice exhaust on it (anyone selling a milltek?) This summer as well.

Still can't believe that I got the car working and working well.

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Excellent, excellent progress. Quite a transformation, and she looks great in black. :thumbsup:
I also have to echo RB and commend you on the newfound skills.

I’ve had a Copart R53 in the back of my driveway since Jan myself, and started a second build thread not long after. Ahem.. rivalry.. ahem :lol:

Cant wait to see more (or more of that Datsun!)

I really like this look!!!! NICE WORK! ;) Back in Black.

Glad to see another R53 saved! You've inspired me; I've been crawling under jack stands for too long! My next purchase will be some quickjacks!

I agree, matte black looks stunning!

Any new updates on the build?