Loads of fun ice skating to work this morning in #211 (MC40)

Keep 'em between the ditches

Motor On!

 

Just routine engine oil change and transmission fluid flush. Found a busted drivers side control arm. Will tackle this soon. At 161,032 now, all is well.

 

 

Today was a good day until my rear windshield wiper squirter stopped working. However, I pulled everything apart and fixed it. I'm glad I did, was a lot of rust, dirt and a stopped up line.








Some rusty muck came running out of here.







A lot of scrubbing on this with steel wool. Got it cleaned up and is working like new.



Had to clear the line in this little guy. This directs the water onto the rear window.

 

Anything Else I should add to my $500 order?
I have some leaks and things that a 135k car is ready to be replaced anything else that is an important thing to change now while I tear it apart that is cheap but worth it.
Thanks

 

Nice little Sunday afternoon you have planned there. Let me pre excite you about the oil filter housing....it's a loootttttt of fun!


Brake fluid; and coolant?
If you choose to do the fluid maybe stainless lines?

 

Do you itemize deductions? Create an Indy shop and charge yourself for the labor, lol.

Great job, looks like some epic restoration is about to take place.

 

YUP! Not entirely sure when if I will order things that dont require front end service mode at the same time but we see what I can afford! I also am going to wait til the weather gets a little better then I can start on this "funness"

 

Oh boy I don't know what is wrong with my mini,it has not required any repairs for last 2 weeks,it feels like a calm before storm.

 

alright ordering the parts going to start the last weekend in march if I have everything going to try and take pictures and let you guys ask questions if you need help on stuff I did, its finally been in the 40's-50's outside!!
This is going to be fun!

 

Well on my way home my exhaust manifold finally gave out and when I took it off to put the used one I bought on it had broke completely in half. So my dad and I fixed that this last weekened along with everything else I ordered and boy was that fun.

We did:
Transmission fluid change
Fuel filter
Valve cover gasket
New exhaust manifold
New exhaust brackets/hangers
Oil filter housing gasket
Thermostat gasket
Crank position senser gasket
Water pump gasket
Put new oil in supercharger
And oil pan gasket

Pretty much every seal I could think off we also put a new belt on because the one was starting to look a little frail. It is so quiet with the new manifold and smoother in everyway and as far as I can tell no more oil or coolant leaks but keeping an eye.

If you are leaking oil or just engine is pretty wet like mine take a look at not only the crank position senser but also oil housing gasket because mine was turned into an extremely hard and broke into a bunch of pieces and had a lot of leakage behind the engine.

I was also very happy that the supercharger oil was a excellant level (still dirty) and glad it seems to be in good condition.

I didnt take much for picture but let me know if any one else is going to attempt some of this and and maybe I can help on how I did everything









Have fun!!

 

Car was at the local high school auto shop class for front hubs (maybe I have too much faith?). Got it back yesterday around this time. Great afternoon!! All good today!

 

Last week I got brakes, tire rotation, and new sway... all I want to do is drive my R50!!!

 

Ok I did the drive from Fontana NC to Sarasota Fl yesterday. Nothing broke. Coop ran like a champ. He embarrassed some cars that under estimated his supercharged awesomeness. We did get stopped dead in our tracks at a gas station that had a 'high' tank fill cover on the ground. M7 lower chassis brace hit the raised fill cover and stopped us dead in our tracks but we were going maybe 3 mph so no worries. Lowered Coopers don't like crap sticking up in the road. Moving him up a notch on the coilovers would just be wrong! Basically we did the entire trip up and back without issue. 2 Full Dragon Runs out and back plus multiple runs on route 28. Nothing broke, everything worked. All this on a highly modified 04 JCW with 100k miles.

 

I recently replaced my bushings all around, and installed a new coilpack and thicker rear swaybar. I am impressed with how much better it is to drive. I'm working on cosmetic stuff next. I'm looking forward to the car looking sharp again!

 

I have owned this car for only 5 days and I am in love. If only it was reliable. Love the interior and exterior of my 2002 Mini. It isn't overinflated like some new minis today. It overheats and it is acting erratically but I love it. I have a mechanic coming over tomorrow to swap out the trans fluid. Hopefully they will eventually offer a mini with a lifetime warranty on their transmissions! One can only hope ;-)

 

Anything to add - front end major service

ALRIGHT I am back at it and replacing a ton of stuff in the front end I have a wobble or shake and cant find it and a lot of stuff needs to be replaced on my 146000mi r53 so should I add anything else to this ever growing money grabber

Powerflex front control arm bushings
upper engine mount
bottom powerflex engine mount pre fitted from waymotor works
inner ball joints
outer ball joints
end links
strut mounts
engine cooler gasket
tie rod inner and outers

I am thinking of throwing on the Koni FSD so my mini will feel great as I still have stock suspension
Seems good still but why not

anything else that would be a good idea while the subframe is off I dont want to spend a ton more money as this is already over a $1100 witht the struts but just checking

Thanks

 

Just changed my oil for the first time! (I've actually changed the oil pan gasket and sensor o-ring with a friend before, but it's not the same lol.) Took a good 2 hours, but should take way less time next go round. Excited to get back on the road!

 

I'm from Sarasota! I moved to St Louis now but I still own a house down there!

 

Today I wired in my Spyder headlights LED's so they worked as DRL's and not only when the Headlights were on. Soldered everything in and it works like a dream. Good times.

Spyder projectors w/LED DRL and silly halo's

 

I had my 15% ALTA pulley installed yesterday. 160k on the motor and still motoring on.

 

Yeesh, so in the process of trying to get the brake bleeder valves open to bleed the system (having installed braided stainless lines), I immediately snapped one bleed valve. Removed the offending caliper, to realize it's seized anyway.

So off to ECS I went... that hurt. $1060 for the brake overhaul (4 calipers, rotors, F/R pads, all hardware, etc.) plus the gaskets, studs, etc., that I'll need to complete the project. Add to that having dropped off a box of stuff including the inlet manifold, horns, and some misc brackets... The Mini ran my pockets for a good penny today. Oh and ordered a bunch of stuff to rewire the stereo system in the car (all new speakers, Alpine amp w/ speaker level input capability, add-on Bluetooth to the factory head-unit).

This $2100 Mini has turned into a $6000 Mini rather quickly. D:

 

Took a trip North of the boarder to MINI of Richmond BC to order a new space saver tire. Call it a road trip reward after three weekends of work replacing the original clutch (75500 miles and the throw out bearing shattered). Traffic at the boarder crossing was perfect stop and go driving to break in the new clutch. Great day, wonderful roads, and the wife got to sit in a couple of new Coopers while at the dealership. Oh, we also made a stop at the IKEA store ��.

 

I got rid of all the chrome on my front end except the headlights. Those will be gone as soon as the rain passe.

 

While I can't say that my MINI has nothing wrong with it, today saw no new problems develop! After about 5 days since assembly from the transmission fiasco, I drove it to work for the first time. It was a nice morning, about 75 degrees out as the sun rose gently on my morning commute. Of course, I had the sunroof and windows open for my 30 miles of commuter hell, but I left early and missed most of the traffic. I didn't even get cut off too often by the drivers of rectangular misery boxes on wheels (crossovers) . All was right with the world until I had to put coffee in the cupholder... However, the MINI performed as well as could be expected.

Coming home, I decided to avoid my normal path and take a joyous drive down the gulf beaches of Clearwater, St. Petersburg and Dunedin FL (about 40 miles). I did get stuck in traffic on my way to the Gulf of Mexico, but the windows and sunroof worked flawlessly, in a way my passenger's side door latch never has. The automatic climate control could then be engaged and swiftly brought the car down to a pleasant 72 degrees Fahrenheit. Once there, I opened the car back up and had a pleasant drive going all the way South, then all the way North again. I even averaged 32MPG, which is not too bad. It made all of the stress of the day seem not to matter because, at the end of the day, this car makes me feel happy when I drive it. If it breaks, I'll fix it. It's not my daily and is one of three vehicles I have to choose from. If it needs to be towed, my insurance will cover it. If it needs parts to be chased, well that's what my truck is for. Some people drink, some do drugs but me? No thanks. I drive, and all is right with the world.

Hello from Florida!