As I posted in the new-users forum, I recently got my hands on a 70,000-mile 2003 MCS, in good shape all around. It does need a few things already, so I thought I'd put my list-o-tasks up here for comment in case there's anything else I should be doing/looking at while I'm running these issues down.

ASAP stuff
1. Replace failed strut mount. It's torn nearly all the way around, so I'm probably going to either have this done or do it myself on Good Friday. I'm probably just going to do the one right now, since the other's in good shape.

Next few weeks
1. Bang out mushrooming in strut towers, add braces. I was thinking maybe the Madness plates so I wouldn't have to do the banging, but that might lead to the car needing an alignment due to the ride height change, while a strut mount replacement, some hammer time, and the Cravenspeed braces might not. I really don't know either way, so if someone can weigh in, that would be great.
2. Check pulleys and belts. One of them is whistling for a few minutes when I start the car, although it goes away.
3. See if I can work out if the speed-dependent throb in the back end is a dragging brake, a wheel bearing, or just a tire.

This summer or so
1. Make sure the supercharger is in good shape, possibly add one of those MCS Rechargers from Imperial Mini so I don't have to worry about it then. Also crankshaft seals/gaskets at the same time?
2. Maybe get the fan duct for the power steering pump fan?

There are also two other things I've noticed: the first is that I can smell hot/burning oil (or something that smells like it) for the first five minutes or so of a drive while the engine warms up. I imagine that's oil seeping onto some component while the car's parked and burning off when I get going, although I hope it's something transient. I figure it's okay to ignore for now so long as I make sure I'm not running low too often.

There's also a curious noise from the rear end of the car that sounds exactly as though someone's rolling marbles around on plastic when I go around corners quickly, and sometimes it makes noise just going over small bumps. It didn't make that noise when I test drove it, and it did when I picked it up from the dealer, so I'm having a word with them to see what they did to it between my drive and the time I picked it up, but can anyone think of a place where some screw or fastener might have come loose and started to roll around? It's not immediately in sight, at least.

 

The strut mount replacement was annoying in terms of effort required and muscles made sore, but straightforward. I'm going to do the belt and idler pulley next weekend, which will hopefully deal with my whine/whistle. I suppose I ought to put the stethoscope up against any other pulleys I can get to and spin, too, just to make sure that there isn't anything else going wrong (the tensioner seems to be cited as another thing that can cause a whistle/whine, and that seems a lot more annoying to replace).

 

Today I put in strut tower reinforcement plates (the Madness Motorworks ones), which went in pretty easily, although I did have to use the scissors jack to get the struts down far enough to feed the plate up and in.

Air conditioning recharging was straightforward, but it was too cold today to tell if it made a big difference. The pressure gauge says that the pressure is in the right range now, and the compressor spins, so I'll call it done for now and hope it works when it warms up again next week.

The whistle/whine and the noise-I-thought-was-belt-noise didn't go away when I changed the belt. I didn't end up replacing the idler pulley, because the bolt has either seized or was tightened too much before. I couldn't get it out, and the pulley spun exactly like the replacement does, so I left it on. The Mini will head down to the local trustworthy foreign auto mechanic sometime this week for a diagnosis/repair on the whine/whistle.