Don't worry I'm sure you'll get a PM or two when this goes down.

 

Well I'm off to MINI's in the mountains, without a MINI. I swear I hold the MINI5280 club record for the most meetings/events attended with cars other than a MINI.

 

So, you're going in an all white, in white, with white stretch Hummer? That would be unexpected........ If so, don't forget the umbrella girls.

Have a great time at the event,
Steve

 

No Steve no big elongated HUMMER, Just a POS Ford Ranger that I tried to volenteer to burn, just to get a firetruck out to fill up all the barrels that are holding down the tents. Its Hard to get the umbrella girls when you drive such a beast.

Well now that the hangover from the brew swap has loosened its grip, I guess I better walk back to the parking garage and see who all has showed up.

 

You should either rent one, borrow one, or ride passenger in one. Whatever you decide, make the best of it.

 

Uggh, Sucks. I've taken out the Bearings on mine twice now. Both times it took the crank down beyond repair. The 2nd time I caught it VERY quick and was amazed it had damaged the crank the way it did. One of the MAIN reasons I got away from the Mini Crankshafts and into another Crank that uses Another bearing type (and Rod) so it won't fail as easily.

 

Sorry havent been on my own thread for a while. I have decided that one of my toys needs to go, and after a lot of thought and consideration, I came to the conclusion that one of them just needs more work than its worth. So the Suzuki Samurai that I have been building up, beating up, and just plain fabricating for the last 5 years, is the one thats going away.

It has been a great little beat'em'up truck, it was a fun project, lots of good times where had (even with the constant break downs) and it will be missed. It is just not worth the constant maintanance, and upkeep anymore. All the local trails that I built the thing for are permenantly closed, or on their way down that road (Thanks in part to all the Hippy Enviornmentalists, and the irresponsible few who think that 4Wheeling is about tearing stuff up), and it is not built by any means for daily street use. So I just cant see holding on to it any longer.

That project has tought me how to weld and fabricate parts more than I have ever immagined, it has tried to kill me on a few sepperate ocasions, and it has been the most FUN out of any car I have ever had. Once I drove it from Denver to Nashville, no top, no doors, no padded seats, 55 MPH the entire 1200 miles, just for the hell of it. I almost sent it tumbling down the mountain more times than I can count, and even made a believer out of more than a few people when demonstrating its capabilities.

In the end it's all just memories, and hopefully a decent chunk of change to put into the MINI's new engine.

Goodbye ZooK, you will be missed but not forgotten.

 

Hoping Zook goes to a good home, and you get the $$$ you need for the new MINI engine.

 

+1....

C ya,
Dutch

 

So this is the weekend, the hood is getting vented, will post pics of my adventures or misadventures :(
Measure 3x, only cut once.

 

What scoops are you using?

Cutting the factory sheet metal is easy enough, it's the measuring and layout that will get you. You need to test your template on the top of the hood to make sure you get the look you want but, you also need to check it on the underside to see how much framing needs to be cut away. Also you need to check measurements down to +/- 1/8" for clearance on engine bay objects, airbox, plastic cowling, strut braces, wiring aparatti, etc. If your measurments are off, it could mean lots of $$ for a new hood!

I haven't done much poking around under the hood of an R56, so I'm not sure where anything "can" fit. I would like to see some pic's of the install though.

 

''"Cutting the factory sheet metal is easy enough, it's the measuring and layout that will get you.""

Cutting up any factory sheetmetal is easy as long as you only plan on doing it once.
So anyway, heres the build-up, I couldnt get the daggone old NAM quick reply box to take my pics, so I just whipped up a quick HTML sheet, heres the link:

http://ihiconnectsme.com/minihoodlouvers.htm
I think they came out pretty nice overall.
Lessons learned (pretty similar angst to dicing up the 92 GP):
1. Make the template opening slightly bigger, I had to do some hand fitting and they were still a PITA to pop in.
2. Drill the stud holes first, tore the sheetmetal at one corner when the drill bit bit in like an English Bulldog. Nothing bad, the louver covers it all.
3. The bracing under the hood is a PITA too, still have a little clean-up work to do there.
4. The air cleaner is now going to get dripped on. Big. May have to do something about that, its a K&N Typhoon and the top is open.

 

What did you use to remove your antenna? Sure it wouldn't be too difficult to find a plug of some sort at ace hardware.

 

I just left the hole! For some reason BMW thought they would mount the antena through a square hole. That makes plug choices verry small, not to mention the fact that I hate looking at plugs. I'm looking for some small shark fins that I can paint to match the roof, that will cover the 1/2" or so hole the antena left in the roof.

 

Today I went out to wipe the dust off of the car (It might be broke but that dont mean it cant look good) and had a couple ideas of things to do in the future.

For one I started thinking up a new airbox design (since somebody took my last one, and decided to call it theirs!) I think I got it figgured out how I want to do it, it's just taking all the measurements necisary and geting the supplies to do it.

I also pulled my JCW bumpers down from the loft, and did a little thinking about splitters, under body trays, and a rear defuser.

The airbox will be coming first, Im doing some draft's now, and might do some test pices soon just to see what I will be getting myself into. My welding skills need improovement again.

 

I just spent the past 3 hours reading this thread, non-stop from page 1 to 23 haha. You sir, are an mad scientist of sorts and I LOVE IT! Your car is such a beast.. apart from the latest major problem, everything has seemingly gone off without a hitch. Sorry to sound like such a fanboy, but you're quite the inspiration to the DIY community! Keep up the great and creative work!!

 

Thanks, more will be coming sooner or later.

 

So you gonna put an Aero kit on it?

 

Yep, I'm cloneing the R53 Challenge car's (well mostly) and all of them originally had the JCW aero kit. I'm doing things a little different though like always.

 

Knowing you, you'll be molding your own stuff.

 

I have always wondered if the front bumper had the brake ducts built in, or if they started with a standard aero bumper.

 

They started with the standard bumper, and most of the owners added the ducts. I kinda want to keep my fogs now though, so I'm not sure what I will be doing.

 

I might have some pics/altered pics of what my front clip MIGHT look like up tomorrow. If it still looks good sober, I will more than likely keep the new design. (Looks more agressive, and adds a touch more KICKASS!!!)

 

The blue tape is going to be black, or carbon, and I need the lower grille, but you get the idea.









What do you think?

 

Wow damm nice ! I like that hood !