When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Hello all, I'm been reading around for the past few years as I've been maintaining the wife's R52 JCW. I'll start with a little back story so that my insanity might make more sense. The project in question was bought so my daughter could learn to drive a standard, and she was bound to get a Mini of her own at some point. With that said, she wasn't going to drive an auto until she had mastered the manual since half our vehicles have a clutch.
With some searching, I came across this 2003 MCS on some Facebook group. It had been used by the previous owner as a parts car to improve his R52 that was going up for sale. Now that the R52 had been sold, he was looking to move this car. It had some rough spots on the exterior, and the interior had been stripped of it's seats, carpet, door cards, etc. That said, with a battery it still started up and drove around fine other than a leaking coolant tank and no ps. The exhaust had been straight piped by the kid that owned it before, but overall it seemed to be a good car for my intended purpose.
The wife and I drove to go pick it up, and upon arriving it had a few "cosmetic" changes that made us question the sanity of the prior owners but overall it was as expected. The PS pump was out, but a swap will cure that problem. Once the daughter was done with, I planned on stripping it down for spare parts myself and selling what I didn't need/want. On the way home, I had already acquired a couple of seats and carpet so the daughter had something good to sit on and the floor just wasn't safe to me with all the mounts exposed. Once home I threw on a spare set of wheels I that had decent tires and it was ready for her to master the manual.
After two years of abuse by the daughter, left sitting outside under a tree rain or shine, and generally just an afterthought she was finally done with the car. We started our search for her a Mini and ended up with a 2013 CM JCW with an auto since I was a nice guy...lol That left the Mini to sit another 8 months or so since work kept me away from home and eventually led to a 3 year stint in California that started late 2020. While home, I was cleaning up the house and getting things sorted for my temporary move to the Bay Area. The wife was wondering what to do with the car so I figured I would move it further from the house, if it started otherwise I planned to move it with the tractor. I put a battery in it, and surprisingly it fired right up after sitting for so long. The wife made the comment that it was like a Roach, it just couldn't be killed...lol... and with that the name stuck. I drove it around the house awhile and finally decided it should come to CA with me. Anything that tough has to be worth saving so it's becoming my new project for running around and track days once ready.
Once in CA, I had a list to start working on it. I had previously picked up some door cards as backups for the R52, but they now belonged to the Roach. I found a new 5 piece dash set along with a full set of R56 seats for more comfort. I also found a set of R56 JCW calipers that will also find there way onto the Roach. I'm still deciding on suspension, but I'll also do some maintenance on the engine to get it up to date. Exhaust will be replaced at some point as well since the straight pipe just won't work for me.
Sorry for the long intro, but at least now I can stick to updates as parts get added. Here is the Roach once the daughter was done with him beside the wife's JCW. Such fun cars....
I decided to start on the interior since I had pulled the headliner to fix the leaking sunroof drains after we brought him home. It was the same failure as always it seems, the rubber had come off the tubes on both sides. I wasn't happy with the light stock color of the headliner so I decided to go with a black faux suede to better match the black carpet. I spent the better part of a Saturday cleaning the backboard and laying out the material. I ended up using about 1.5 cans of the Permatex Headliner Adhesive. It worked well and I let the headliner just sit in the spare room for several days before installing it back into the car. I figured this was best to ensure the glue was set and all was dry. It took a bit to remember how I removed everything, but it eventually all came back to me...lol
Here are the brakes I picked up, I got disc's ordered but I'll probably wait until I tear apart the suspension to replace everything to install. I see I'll need some 10mm spacers for the R105 wheels to provide clearance, but that's just another good reason to add a stud kit for the hubs so as to move away from the wheel bolts. With all the stock brake stuff rusty from poor care and lack of use, it made sense to use that as an excuse to upgrade!
Man, these should provide some serious whoa for the Roach!
This weekend I was able to score a set of R56 seats for a great price, both front and rear seats with jack kit for $150. They aren't the S version, but they were comfortable and way better than the old R53 seats I had in there. With my height a rear seat will never allow for someone to sit back there, but having the flat floor was somewhat weird and I like having somewhere to throw my junk. Also, the rear seat is easily removed for track days so it's a win-win!
The seats are a black/grey combo which will blend well with the black interior accents and the Dark Silver exterior color. I also have another update planned next which will tie the color combo even more so. Enough with the talk, here are the pics. I will add I got the driver's side rear seat installed, but my blade went dull so I was unable to modify the passenger side. I'll pick up another blade this week and finish it off. Nonetheless, they look great in there and I lost no head room over the R53 seats which is weird considering I had read the R56 seats sit higher. Maybe that is only the S seats....hmmm
I had no idea r56 rear seats fit into a r53, those bolt right in?
Not hard to fit at all, first you'll seen the R56 center bracket for the upper section to replace the R53 center bracket. Then you'll just need a tool of your choice, dremel or similar, to enlarge the slot on the side metal of the car to fit the larger R56 side pivot post on the upper section. Once that is done, they slide right in.
Ever since I picked up the Roach, I've not been a fan of the alloy looking dash trim. It was never a problem in the past, but now that I'm taking Roach in a different direction it had to go. I was able to pick up a set of Anthracite dash time that will match the door cards, and both will blend better with the black/grey seats. This will maintain a constant color theme for the interior and make the overall look much more pleasing.
The was a good project for me. It took a couple of days to complete, but I was able to better learn how the dash goes together. I was able to do some cleaning along the way, and it will make it easier for me to take things apart later when I'm ready to tackle the butchered radio wiring so I have tunes again. I do have the side pieces for the center lower dash, but I'll hold off on fitting them until the radio work is done.
Overall, a big visual upgrade for only a little bit of work. I found a replacement glovebox so that will resolve that one remaining eyesore. Enough with the writing, here are the pics!
I had a new experience today, I went to a Pick-N-Pull which was a blast. They had 4 R53s there so I was able to snag a few bits for the interior that I needed. Along with interior door handles, door cable, and various fasteners I was also able to grab a full set of silver trim rings for the interior. I was looking for Anthracite, but these looked good and they will match the speaker grills and the speedo dials so as to not look out of place.
After washing everything well, I started on the passenger door first. It needed the door cable so I figured I might as well do the tough side first. I had to pull the hinge to get it hooked up correctly, but I took my time and it wasn't really that bad of a job. Once back together I checked the window for issues and found I had run the cable on the wrong side of the guide. It wasn't big deal, just pulled the door handle and swapped it around. Fortunately I checked before buttoning up the door card. Final check for all the door handles to confirm operation along with the power locks, and it was time to fit the door card and assorted trim. This is done until it's time to pull it for a radio system upgrade.
With the passenger side done, the drivers side was next and it was pretty quick considering it didn't need a door cable. Just needed to check all the handles and power locks before closing it up. I'm glad I have facelift door cards as I really like the longer arm rest over the shorter version in the early cars.
Next on my list was to add the various trim rings for a finished look. I'm still waiting on my glovebox to deliver so I went ahead and pulled it just to unplug the light so it didn't drain the battery. The silver gives just a little bit of color to the interior to brighten it up!
I picked up a new bit this week so as to get the other side of the rear seat installed. The R56s post is larger so the R53 panel slot has to be enlarged for it to fit. Not a hard job, but time consuming to do it right. The new bit worked much better the the older one last week so it didn't take 10min to get it done. Once finished, I checked up the mess and dropped in the seat for a completed look. Wow, the R56 seats look so much better than the stock seats and they are much more comfortable as well.
It was too late to start anything big, but I had to start looking at the radio wiring. The previous owner has made it a mess, but I've just about got most of it sorted out. I grabbed a Mini radio plug at the Pick-N-Pull so that I could solder the car's wires onto it so at least I'm back to a stable place. When I decide on a head unit, I'll just grab an adaptor kit so things are much easier.
I found an XM wiring bulb that appears to be aftermarket plus it was wired into the ignition. The car originally had satellite radio with the Nav system so I'm not sure if this was added with the head unit change or if this was in addition earlier on. I'll trace the rest of the wires and see where it goes just in case it was dealer added or something....
After running wires for an hour, I decided it was time to start closing up shop for the day. I got the vacuum out and run it through the interior again once as I'm pretty happy with it right now and need to pivot to the exterior body next so I can get it looking better. A quick wipe down in all the jambs and under hood before I was done.
Not any actual work, but I was able to pick up a lot of great parts. I had to drive 5 hours each way, but it was so worth it!
My hatch was rusty in the normal areas to the point that it was not salvageable to me. I dropped a note on the state Mini boards and got a hit. A damaged 2006 from a front end wreck, but the rear hatch was perfect. It was the same body color with a black spoiler so it leaves me only need to paint the roof which was planned anyway.
After getting the hatch, I was offered whatever I needed since the car was going to the scrap yard on Tuesday.
I scored:
complete rear hatch, stock radio, HK amp, emergency brake boot and handle, shifter boot, change holder, o2 sensors, both hood hinges, floor mats, complete dark grey inerior roof trim to replace my white, air bag cover, self dimming rear mirror, right rear beltline trim, body color hood scoop, and various spare fasteners.
I through the hatch on to close up the car, and I'll finish aligning it once the harness is run and out of the way. The rest I'll add on throughout the week since tomorrow's focus is to finish the taillight repair work and start on the hood chips.
Some pics of my scores, all a little dusty/dirty that a little cleaning before install will take care of...
Well, with the trip to get the hatch and parts over it was time to get back to the body work. The rust at the lower taillights was cut out and fixed, and I also started on the hood that had some chips that had developed some surface rust that needed addressing. Finally, the front bumper had been bumped or bumped something so I had an excuse to get my plastic welder back out.
I'll apologize up front that I'm not good at taken photos during the process, I get caught up and with the process and forget to grab all the steps.
Taillights...no pics during the metal work, just after the filler was sanded and glaze putty added. The next photo is after prime was added when I stopped. It will need some more sanding and likely another coat of primer before I'll be happy with the leveling. The final picture is just another test fit of the taillights, and the opening will need a bit more blending and contouring to look right.
The front of the hood was next, mainly looking to get rid of the chips on the front since some of them had surface rust forming. I blocked myself heavily to keep from going further up the hood, no creep needed, as I don't want it to perfect since it will see street and track duty. I removed the grill as it the lower part was damaged, and I wanted to go with a JCW style since I prefer it.
Finally, just a little work on the front bumper to fix those mistakes from a previous owner....
No need to worry about the overspray on the front bumper from the hood. I planned to spray it wall, including the wheel flares, body color so any overspray on them isn't a big point.
I'm done with body work for now, I'll hold off the final painting until after I get some mechanical work done under the hood as I don't chance scratching the bumper when removing or hood. My new taillights haven't arrived yet, and I still need to sand/polish the headlight lens. I'll need to order me up some new MINI emblems for the front and back to finish things off. Coming together nicely, and this is already a big improvement visually even in primer.
I forgot to add, I've placed some orders to start get the mechanicals up to speed. I'll also pull the SC to change the oil and add a 15% pulley for a little more zip. A bunch of gaskets and o-rings to replace those I've read on here have a habit of leaking. I'll pop on a new water pump while the SC is out, but the current balancer looks as though it was replaced at some point. I'll check it more closely while everything is apart to see if it's questionable or not. I finally ordered a tensioner release tool since it seems I'll be using that thing alot...lol
What's the current favorite method for cleaning the engine and surrounding area. I figured there is a lot of yuck under there that will need removed so it's much more presentable. Let me know your recommendations!
Well, this week has been taken up by work, but I did get the consoles trim swapped out and put together. I put in a new baseplate for the emergency brake cover since my was broke along with the leather boot I picked up last weekend.
I grabbed the shift **** off the shelf from some previous build, and it works for now. I do like the extra leverage it gives me...
I also grabbed several things today while at the local yard:
- Complete stock intake box and hoses- Rear bumper trim and backup light assembly- spare xenon bulb- various clips and fasteners- intercooler stands and bolts- power steering fan
When I was leaving the yard, I saw an ad on Facebook Marketplace for a rear stock exhaust section. Since mine was missing in action, I picked it up as well for a temporary solution to get rid of the crappy straight pipe setup. A great score until I decide on a Milltek or something else.
I got all my ordered parts plus the tensioner release tool so I'll start tomorrow on the maintenance and upgrades...
Well,.packages from FCP and Detroit Tuned arrived this week. Therefore, it was time to take a break for interior/exterior projects and dive into the mechanicals.
From Detroit Tuned, I picked up a SC service kit along with their 15% pulley package. With the car going to see track days, the 15% was beat to keep heat soak down.
The box from FCP Euro was full of stuff to fix some problems and hopefully prevent others. I got o-rings for the crank/cam/dipstick, new water pump, valve cover gasket set, oil pan gasket set, a new crank bolt for the future, new oil pan plug, and plug wires.
To assist with the above, I got a couple of tools through Amazon which are the tensioner release and a scan tool.
I knew the car was leaking some oil on the front, likely from the crank sensor o-ring, so it was going to be a messy job. Here is the front after pulling the front end.
I took some time to look around to get a feel for things. It definitely shows most of the oil came from the crank sensor, but the oil pan has some seepage as well. I thought a new balance was on the agenda, but it appears to have been swapped before. It looked to be in very good condition so it will be fine for awhile. No idea what the blue paint was for...
I started pulling parts beginning with the alternator and dipstick tube. I got my bearings on the various vacuum tubes and other lines so I could remember to put them back later. In no time the SC was off...
I pulled the water pump, which appeared to be in great shape. I'll still replace it, but I'll hold onto it as a backup. I pulled the plugs and drained a good amount of oil out of.both ends of the SC, whew. It was black and stinky like always, but at least it wasn't empty!
After emptying the fluid, I pulled the covers to check out the internals. I was very pleased, looks to be hardly no wear. It does appear the SC has been replaced at some point though since the 2003s didn't get the teflon coating originally. I didn't grab a picture of the end,.but it looked good as well. I added the new gasket and closed it up followed by a quick fill of fluid in both ends.
Now it was time to pull the stock pulley and install the new Crave speed 15%. No issues here, I was worried about this part but it was probably the easiest job all weekend.
WIth the SC serviced and upgraded, I swapped out the o-rings on the crank sensor and tube. I figured out the cam sensor is on the front of the block so I'll save that job for the tensioner swap later on.
I then moved to the valve cover gasket, plugs, and wires. This was where I hit my first problem, 2 of the 3 bolts for the intercooler support on the intake snapped off. With soaking and being gentle, they were quite seized. The third bolt was rounded off so I ended up having to pull the intake to get the valve cover off. It seems I'll need to drill them out or get a new intake so I'll save that for later. Once the valve cover was off, I was pleased to see it fairly clean and the chain was in good shape. Nice tension on it as well so that was a plus.
I swapped out the new cover gasket and installed the tube seals. They looked in great shape and no oil was on the plug threads, but I was in there so might as well replace them. I went ahead and swapped the new colder plugs for the pulley, and then closed it back up with the cover. Once buttoned up, I installed the new plug wires to finish it off.
At this point I was done for the night. I had determined it was best to replace the intake so I planned to swing by the local Pick-N-Pull to grab a replacement.
I was up early this morning to hit the Pick-N-Pull to grab a new intake. While there, I figured I could grab a couple of vacuum hoses if I saw any in better shape than mine. I scored, a nice intake with bolts and a couple of hoses. One nice thing about CA is the weather so no rusty crud to deal with.
Once home, I cleaned the new intake and started swapping the fuel rail and injectors. This was quickly done and I was back to installing the new intake. I had noticed earlier when pulling the intake that the source of the crappy throttle response and funky idle was cyl #4 injector plug. I had thought it was just desperate for a tune up, but the wires for the injector plug had been cut as they were clean against the connector so it wasn't a break.
I striped the wires and got out the soldering iron to make the repair, less than 10 minutes and I was back to reassembly. Running on all 4 cylinders should be an improvement...lol
From there on, it was pretty general. Just a matter of fitting the SC back on while avoiding damage to the water pump o-ring. It was more trouble getting all the water hoses lined up.
After bolting the SC part way, I went ahead and put the throttle body and tubing back on so things could be moved if needed to line up. After finishing up the bolts on the SC, I moved to the tensioner bolt and it gave me fits for a while. I ended up wrapping the oil serpentine belt around it and used that newfound leverage to pull it into place so as to allow the bolt to start. With that bolt in, the dipstick tube was thrown in followed by the alternator and the intercooler up top.
I decided to stop here for the night, but not before installing the new shorter belt. I know I'll just have to release it again next weekend to pull the oil pan, but I just wanted to verify the fit.
One question I need to answer. The loom that splits off the alternator down to the A/C compressor is missing a plug. The connector seems to have been torn off so I'll have some more soldering to do once the new oil pan gasket is in place. I guess this explains why the a/c didn't blow cool even though it had a new compressor installed right before it got parked.
Overall, the top end of the engine and the S/C looked in great shape for a car with 216K miles. I have pondered if it had an a swap at some point, but I'll withhold further judgement until after I pull the oil pan.
The old Roach is well on his way, and I'm already starting to look at track day schedules!
I was able to get out in the garage for a couple things last night. I swapped out the original off white interior trim for the new dark grey trim that blends so much better.
Two things to address...
1. The mirror has homelink and auto dim so the plug is different than the plug in have in the headliner. Will have to investigate this swap further.
2. The map lights are to be swapped for the original clock, but again the wiring is different for this as well. The hole in the headliner looks different as well, but I may be mistake there. Nonetheless, I'll have to swing back and cut off the correct plug from the donor car to wire it in. Not sure if it's that easy or not....
Another night that I was able to spend a few minutes kn the garage. My replacement glovebox showed up today along with my e spoke multi-function wheel.
I just had to get them installed...
Definitely a much better look!
I also got in the fan resistor for the cooling fan so that's on the agenda for tomorrow night. Time to pull out the soldering iron again.
I installed the new coil on the A/C compressor which was easy, but then the new bolt with the kit snapped so an 1hr job has been 4-6. I had used threadlocker per the Mod Mini video, but then I wasn't able to drill it out cleanly. Off to get a drill and tap to get a slightly bigger and better bolt....
The oil pan is finally off, one of the 15mm bolts was just seized so I ended up have to cut it off as ll of my other options didn't pan out.
Looks surprisingly good for 200k+ miles....just dirty due to the oil that's been in it forever it seems...
I don't see anything questionable and up by the pistons look good too!
From snapping a bolt in the A/C compressor to fighting a seized trans to oil pan bolt and finishing that off with a stock exhaust install to get rid of the crappy straight pipe.
I was able to pick up a helicoil kit for the A/C snafu, but no on had a tap or 17/64 drill so I'm waiting on those to arrive. Hoping the tap works, but I'll helicoil it if necessary.
Disassembling the old parts here.
My low speed engine fan wasn't working so I installed the new resistor since it came on this week. Easy repair here, now just waiting on the new radiator support to deliver since the original was broke. Once in hand, I'll swap over the fog lights and such as well.
Then I had my seized bolt on the oil pan that I spent way way too much time messing with it. I finally cut the bolt head off and then the rest of it I was able to back out with a hammer and screwdriver until I could grab it. At least the bottom end looked good so that made me happy!
While the oil pan was off, I decided to install the new power steering pump since I had more room. This was a fairly easy sway, main trouble was getting the plugs on all the way since I have big hands. It will be nice to have PS on this car, and I picked up a fan at the local Pick-N-Pull since mine was missing.
I cleaned up all the gunk before installed the new pump. It will help when checking for leaks afterwards
My X-Force 4-2-1 header hasn't delivered yet, but I went ahead and pulled the junk straight pipe and installed a stock exhaust. It won't be permanent since I'm looking for a JCW or a Milltek as a backup. I just needed something to quiet it down for now. While there, I replaced the rear O2 since the present sensor had been cut. This should take care of the light temporarily.
the one piece stock exhaust was a bear by myself, but thankfully done..
That's it for the weekend, now just waiting on a few more parts to arrive to finish up the engine mechanicals. I'm looking forward to seeing how much of a difference the pulley, header, and all 4 cylinder will make over...lol
With brakes next, I need to make a decision on the stud conversion kit so I can get that ordered this week. I have the rest on hand to install the new R56 JCW brakes which will be fun. While I'm there, I'll also fix the cracked strut mount with ireland plates though again I haven't decided on the fixed or adjustable yet.
