About 18 months ago I bought a GP2, almost by accident. My wife and I were on a flight home from Europe and she turned to me and said "we get free internet if you want to catch up on anything." I got connected and was checking email when bing! A notification from Bring A Trailer popped up. I had set a watch on GP2s as I had wanted one ever since my 2012 R56S had burned up when my garage went up in flames in 2020. The auction was ending in 3 minutes so I checked it out. Hmmm, looks good, it's right across the bay from home, no shipping required, and wow, that's cheap! I bumped the bid by the minimum, the timer reset to 2:00, and tick-tick-tick 0:00 Congratulations! I had to turn to my wife and say "Uh honey, I umm uh just bought a MINI..." She was pissed (rightfully) but didn't kill me on the spot so I figured she'd eventually get over it, which she did, although after using it as a justification for a few splurges she wanted to make.

I haven't done much to the car as the GP2 spec covers most of the mods I had on my S - JCW brakes, Ohlins R&T coilovers, engine undertray, JCW rear bumper with GP2 diffuser, plus a lot of smaller stuff. After spending most of last week getting an oil pressure gauge installed I thought I'd start a thread here to record the journey.

 

The car has been in California its entire life and had under 70K miles so it's in great shape. There's no corrosion, but some sun damage. First few projects:

• Removed the GP2 stickers since they were cracked and peeling from sun damage. The hood needs to be repainted, the clear coat is cracked where the decal around the hood scoop was.
• Replaced the cowl below the windshield since it was sun damaged and the battery cover had broken off. I did both sides.
• Got rid of the turbo muffler and installed a Forge silicone tube.
• Did the cruise control retrofit. There's an old thread on the process here: GP MFSW retrofit complete! that was really helpful
• I had installed the Cravenspeed water temp and boost gauges on my S which I really liked, thread here: How To Craven Speed / Marshall gauge install for dummies if you're interested in the details. The boost gauge on the S was fun at first but didn't really provide any useful information so I got water temp and oil pressure for the GP2, I wasn't happy with just having a light that turns on once there's a serious problem. After building wiring harnesses for the gauges similar to what I did on the S I got the water temp gauge installed, pretty easy.

 

Continuing the gauge install - my first attempt to install the oil pressure gauge sender ended in frustration. Following Cravenspeed's instructions, I had removed the turbo hoses and coolant tank and dropped the fan down. I was able to reach in and remove the oil pressure switch then thread in the adapter. But I quickly realized that since the adapter moves the switch out a couple of inches, there wasn't enough slack in the cable to reconnect it. I put everything back together and the project sat on the shelf for a while.

Last Monday I decided it was time to get it done. First up was getting the front end into service mode so I could get access to the cable to splice a few extra inches in. On the R5x LCI cars that means putting the front end up on jackstands, removing the GP2 engine undertray, removing the wheels, removing the wheel well liners, releasing the clips on the front of the wheel arches, removing all the screws, clips, and plastic push rivets to take off the front grille and front bumper cover. Then remove the front crash bar, the screws for the headlights on each side, the coolant tank, turbo hoses on each side, and the bolts by the shock towers that hold the U shaped bar that runs around the front of the car and supports the radiators, the manual calls it the lock bar. Then the radiators and fan can slide and tilt forward. By the time I got all that done I was questioning my life choices and wondering if it was going to be worth it.

Over the next few days I spliced the wires to lengthen the cable for the pressure switch, which wasn't as simple as it sounds because it's part of a harness of sensor connectors that all had to be disconnected, then take off the cooling hose for the turbo to get the whole bunch up out from below the turbo and behind the thermostat hoses so there was enough room to work on it. Doing the splicing was the easy part, then I got it all re-routed back to where it belonged. OK this was starting to feel like progress!

Next up was getting the adapter for the pressure gauge installed. The adapter is a beautifully machined hex bar that has a male threaded fitting that goes into the block where the oil pressure switch was and has ports on all six sides to connect the tubing that goes to the remote pressure sensor. The original oil pressure switch then screws in the end. You have to install the adapter, tighten it, figure out which one of the 6 sides has clearance to install the tubing connector, remove it and plug the other 5 holes, then put it back in. The connector for the tubing has to be screwed in after the adapter is in place because there's no clearance to screw in the adapter with it. Instead of using the connectors and 1/8" copper tubing provided with the Cravenspeed kit, I purchased a 90 degree swivel fitting and braided AN-3 hose from Summit Racing which added some extra challenge. Getting the adapter threaded in meant dropping it a couple of times into nearly inaccessible places, shifting it with a long screwdriver to where I could just barely get my fingers on it, and trying again.Through a near-miraculous combination of persistence, dexterity, and luck I got it all together once I had made the required blood sacrifice and turned my right forearm into hamburger. Even with those extra few inches from moving the radiators forward it is still really tight in there!

I think it was Thursday evening by the time I got the adapter, fittings, hose, new oil pressure sensor, and original switch all installed. I quickly reconnected the coolant lines and turbo hoses, plugged in the gauge, crossed my fingers, and started the engine to check for leaks. Whew! No drips or seeps. Here's a pic showing the adapter, swivel fitting, and AN-3 hose to the pressure sensor, and the original pressure switch with the extended cable. I zip tied the sensor to the lock bar under the connector for the hood release cable.



Friday it was time to start putting the car back together. After getting the radiators back in place I was about to put the front crash bar on, then decided as long as I had everything apart I'd install the Wagner intercooler I had saved from my old R56S. Many of the large aftermarket intercoolers for the Gen2 LCI cars require cutting a notch in the lower crash bar since they are much thicker than the factory intercooler. Fortunately I had been down that road before, out came the angle grinder. A few iterations of grind / test fit / repeat and I had clearance, then I touched up the notch with some black spray paint. I was feeling pretty stoked and went to put the front bumper cover on. Crap, the lower grille was hitting the intercooler on both sides. That was a sign to put the tools down for the day and go fix dinner.

Saturday morning I got started early. With a fresh mind I looked at where the grille was hitting the intercooler. Ah ha, just a little trim of some of the plastic required. The Dremel tool made quick work of that, the bumper cover fit, and I put the bumper cover back on. Right after I put the last plastic pop rivet in place I saw the brake duct that I had forgotten to install, so I had to take off the bumper cover and crash bar, snap in the brake duct, and put it all back together again - wheel well liners, GP2 undertray, wheels, get it down off the jack stands, and go for a drive around the block. The oil pressure gauge responds nicely, no leaks. To celebrate I washed the car.

 

What's next? Some things I have in mind:

• The car came with a brand new set of Hankook Ventus V2s in 205/45-17, they're not bad but I'm thinking of switching to Michelin Pilot Sport Cup in 215/4517 size. Or maybe Yokohama AD09s or Falken RT660s in 215/40-17.
• Rebuilding the front brake calipers with new SS pistons and high temperature boots. While I'm at it, SS brake lines - already have these on the shelf - and either EBC or Carbotech brake pads.
• And the brake rebuild means a flush with high temp brake fluid.

Then it's time for a track day.

And eventually, a set of Ohlins R&T coilovers, I loved those on the S and the stock Bilstein setup is way to stiff for city driving.