It took all day, but I think I got it. Fingers crossed!

Leaks suck!

 

That one picture looks like the pipe was up against something that rubbed a hole through it. 😱 If that is the case hopefully you fixed that.

I plan to use the AC repair to try out an indy shop I found who says they work on MINIs. I have other work for them if this works out.

 

You are correct on the rubbing!

It's not touching anything now, plenty of clearance all around. Now when I was taking it apart to fix, I found the radiator surround broke on the driver side lower corner. The radiator and stuff had been ziptied in place and as you can imagine it was moving all around so I'm confident in saying it rubbed the hole before it was finally parked. The Roach is in good shape in all honestly, but I can easily see why it was parked as the lack of maintenance finally caught up with the owner. The bill to pay someone to fix would have been astronomical, but it was pretty easy for me and cash outlay wasn't terrilble.

 

I drove the Roach to work today and it run awesome while keeping me cool at the same time. Very happy with the little car!



I was scanning the car on the drive home just to monitor the vitals since guages are nonexistent in these cars. Two things I noticed;

1) I'm only getting around 11.5-12 lbs of boost. The car runs great, but I was expecting over 14. I've read about the Detroit Tuned BPV so I may have to check one out at some point. Not a huge issue until I'm ready for track days.

2) The car is still throwing a code for the front O2. I'm on my second replacement so I can't be that unlucky to get two bad sensors. The O2 is responding and giving good feedback so I don't know what up.

One thought on the O2 and boost. I'm running the X-Force 4-2-1 header with no cat through the stock exhaust. Is it possible the higher flow is throwing off the front O2 sensor as in it's "exhausting" to quickly on the stock tune to compensate? I didn't think a header required a tune....

Also, could the stock exhaust be creating too much backpressure limiting overall boost? I know some is good, but could I be creating too much?

Just bouncing around different thoughts. It runs awesome but I'll keep digging...

 

My exhaust cheater pipe started leaking today. I'm going to go a different direction this time as I ordered a flex pipe so there's some give in the system.

I ordered both a 10in and a 12in to see if ones a better fit. I measured 12in flange to flange, but I don't know if there will be enough room to slip it between. We'll find out....lol

 

Not a lot done today, but I did make it to the local Pick-N-Pull to grab a replacement ballast for the passenger xenon light that went out. Less than 5 minutes to swap and all was good again.

While there, I also grabbed another stereo plug since it had the additional black plug in the harness. No idea what it's for as most of the stereo components were missing, but I grabbed it just in case I need it in the future. My Nav screen doesn't light up so I'll have to dive into that at some point....



I got the two flex pipes in today so I'll play with them this weekend to see which offers the best fit to allow for engine movement while resoling the leak for good.

 

Well, the lap exhaust band clamp didn't arrive yesterday so I figured I might as well tackle the parking brake cables.

The old cable were junk as I noticed the wires were frayed when I installed the upgraded brakes. Plus I needed R56 cables anyway so it was a win win.

I had a hell of a time getting the old cables out due to corrosion, but the icing on the cake was getting the clips to release on the handle end. I had read a 12mm socket did the trick, but I ended up needing to use an 11mm to get them to release. From there on it went pretty smooth.

I laid out an R56 cable with left side after I removed it. It's easy to see a difference...lol



I started by running the new cables through the rear subframe, and then I slipped the caliper end in place held by the clip.



Once the rear half of the cable was bolted down, I went ahead and inserted the front ends through the body and snapped the cable into the holding clamps.


Now the the cables were in place under the car, it was time to jump inside the interior and connect them to the brake handle and adjust the slack.



I reinstalled the brake assembly after locking the cables in to the balance bracket. From there it was easy to take up the slack, and with the wife's help I adjusted it so it holds solidly after a few clicks but doesn't drag a brake when off.



Once done, it just had to put all the brackets and trim piece back in place. All wrapped up and I have a working parking brake now. Bring on the sloping parking lots!



Once I get the exhaust clamp later this week, I'll tackle the exhaust leak later this week or next weekend.
​

 

We'll, I've been enjoying the Mini so only a few things have needed done.

I did get the new flex pipe swapped in after the header. I ended up welding the rear flange on the flex pipe so no clamps were needed. In hindsight, I should have done it this way on the beginning. No leak after 4 days so it's nice to finally hear the SC whine again! Unfortunately, I have no pics as they got deleted when I was wiping some stuff from work....,😠

The big sad story is I got a leak in the A/C system l, and it let go while sitting in traffic. I had dye in the system so I checked it this weekend, and it seems I have dye everywhere. I have narrowed the leak down to a couple of hoses where the metal crimps hold the hose part. I'll have to do a search and see what part I need to order to fix it.



I also have been trying to figure out why my OBC on the tach doesn't work. I kept thinking I must have done something wrong, but in the end it appears my LCD screen at the bottom of the tach is bad. It's great that all the fault light works but that's it. Once the A/C is repaired, I'll start watching for a dual gauge setup to replace the bad set.

Everything working but the lower screen on the tach...


Really enjoying driving this car, but I need to start ordering suspension parts and bushings do I can tighten things up underneath.

 

Just a quick update on another thing fixed.

I kept getting a fault light for the precat O2 sensor, and even swapping in another didn't fix it. I also had a leak detection fault show up that my research lead to the the pump itself, the valve up front, or the gas cap.

I decided to try the easy option first, and ordered a new fuel cap. I swapped it yesterday, and I enjoyed my first day with no CEL since I started driving the Roach! Even the O2 fault code didn't pop up so I'm not sure if that was luck or the gas cap was somehow affecting it. I guess we'll see how the rest of the week goes....

I also bought a rust free spare R53 front subframe this weekend that I'll pick up Friday. I decided I'll have more fun cleaning/painting this one up and then install all the new bushings and parts on it. Once ready I'll just swap out my existing sub for this one as it will also me to bypass pulling the old parts since all the bolts look similar to those that I struggled with when doing the brake upgrade and hub swap.

 

Refreshing the suspension is highly recommended off course, feels like a new car

 

The bushings are pretty easy, but I'm currently mulling over the Bilstein PSS10 coilovers. Not totally decided yet, but they are the leader so far.

 

I made the short drive to Sacramento today to pick up the front subframe. It's in great shape thanks to CA weather so it will only need a little scuffing prior to paint. It will be sweet once it's built up.

Forgot to get a pic prior to wrapping it up, but I'll have better pics as I document the build.

 

The Bilstein PSS 10 will be a nice, especially with the bottom adjusters. Another option would be the Ohlins.

What will you paint the subframe with?

 

If I do paint, I'll likely use an industrial coating that is more robust than pretty since it's not a show car. I have also been considering ecoat or powder coat, but I'll have to see what coaters are available in the area.

 

I did a quick search on the Ohlins and they are priced close to the PSS10. Are you able to provide a comparison between the two, or is there a review somewhere? I'm not finding a lot for either online from an actual real world user.

 

I have seen other people on NAM who have used POR-15 products for this. Don’t know anything about them, except people seem to really like them.

 

I used that stuff once on a frame, and it seemed to work ok. I wasn't too crazy about the appearance, but it's claim to fame is to convert rust I believe. I had blasted the frame beforehand so no rust was present, and I just believe there are better options out there for durability and appearance if the part is in good shape.

 

The only thing I know about the Ohlins performance-wise is what friends who have them have told me, one of whom I helped to set up his MINI. I know nothing about the Bilstein coilovers, but expect them to be really good if my B8 shocks are any indication. I expect that performance wise and adjustability to be about the same, given that for both the adjuster changes both the jounce and rebound. This is not the norm for single adjustment shocks. Most only change the rebound. Both are bottom adjustable. Both are inverted piston designs, which makes the struts more rigid than the MINI style shock. The Bilstein comes with a variable rate spring whereas the Ohlins is a fixed rate. The Ohlins come with listed spring rates with a stiffer spring rate up front compared to the rear, which would pair well with a big rear swaybar. Not sure about the Bilstein spring rates. Most coilovers don’t list their spring rates. The Ohlins have less drop than the Bilsteins, which is good to prevent the roll center of the car from being too low and hurting handling.

I have leaned to the Ohlins when I have thought the about getting coilovers, but only because of experiences of my friends. No, I have not gone that route. I like my MINI the way it is with the B8s.

Not sure if that helps at all... Sorry, but I have found the same lack of info and I have found a lot of “conventional wisdom” MINI setup info to be wrong... And it doesn’t help that most coilovers don’t list their spring rates, which is very important to setting up a car.

 

Thanks for your thoughts, that was more helpful than many of the threads I have been swimming through this morning...lol

My biggest gripe with the PSS10's are indeed the progressive springs so those will have to get swapped as I prefer a consistent feel. That said, it seems the Ohlins have softer springs so an upgrade there may be needed as well.

I do like the inverted approach, and I have seen other Bilstein setup at events. I can honestly say I haven't seen Ohlins on a car yet, but maybe that means nothing in the scheme of things.

For me, either set will need better springs and camber plates. I don't plan to lower the car much if at all since I prefer to have all the suspension travel I can get. If I could get away with IE fixed camber plates I'm good with those as well.

It's nice to have options!

 

Soft front or rear or both for the Ohlins? I thought they were about 400#/in up front, which I thought was pretty stiff, especially in comparison to the stock springs. I am still on the MINI sports springs for the track. To some extent compliance, but not too much, is good.

Neither set of coilovers will let you be at stock height. Ohlins are the closest with a 0.8” min drop, which would be really good for a MINI. The PSS10s are 30mm (~1.25”) min drop; a little too much for a MINI in order to keep from having roll center issues. There are modified ball joints for the Gen I MINIs to fix this in lowered MINIs. If you change the springs and raise the car that way, you will likely run into shock travel issues as it will sitting at or close to the end of it extension travel.

 

Ok... The Ohlins are 343 #/in for a R53 and I found mixed numbers for the amount of lowering, but it is still less than the PSS10s.

 

I'm seeing around 1.3-1.8 in drop for the PSS10. I didn't say it well before, but I'm ok with it dropping a bit but getting it low is not my reason for buying coilovers.

My only reason for changing springs will be to move to a linear spring, not to get more or less drop. I'll keep searching for reviews of the two just to make sure I'm happy with the choice

 

No real updates, just been putting some miles on the Roach. With no exhaust leak and CEL lights on it's been very enjoyable. I'm missing that A/C, but not enough to dive in yet...lol

I'm current chasing wires on the radio. Only my rear speakers work so not sure if that is a radio, map, or speaker problem. The radio and amp were pulled from a car where they worked, but none of the front speakers are doing anything. Trying to see if I got bad wires or bad speakers.

 

My 2012 lost its AC a while back and has been in the shop twice to be “fixed”. Still has a slow leak...

Radios in the MINIs have something going on where they “filter” out the bass going to the rear speakers. I have read some stuff that indicates that this might be a thing in the computer that is set and can be un-set (I could be really wrong here). I say this because, if my foggy recollection is correct, your radio issue might be in the computer if it isn’t in the wires.

At any rate...

 

Thanks, the A/C is the low pressure hose I believe based on the leak detector. I'm just taking a break from pulling the front end apart since I'm getting to good at it ..lol
Thanks for the tip on the radio, the rear sound is very bass heavy so that makes sense. Only have around 50 more wires to check it seems...