At some point I had to realize choosing between two 20-30 year old bmw's to drive each day wasn't going to cut it, especially as I'll be in downtown Pittsburgh for school the next two years, so I decided to pick up something more sensible; a 2004 Mini Cooper S, in British Racing Green(the only real acceptable color).

Stock minus KSport coils, Alta cold air intake, extended lugs and 5mm spacers.








I bought it, tagged it, and drove it up to my girlfriends house in Pittsburgh all the same day. Absolutely loved it, super fun and still got me 35mpg on the way up!

Then while I was up there, it decided it didn't really feel like having coolant.
So it 22 degree weather I set about trying to fix it, it appeared to be the hose, but a new one would take 7 days to get to me, and I needed to head home. So I fixed it best I could.

So I got it drivable and headed the 4 1/2 hours home. It made it, was perfect the entire way!



Until I popped the hood the next morning.









So at this point I'm assuming it's the radiator, but I'm not really sure and I'm not really feeling spending $150 for that to not be it.



Anyway, have a photoshop of the wheels that are going on it in the meantime.

So I did some snow drifting








Got the car even more dirty, thanks to the state of Maryland and their excessive salt use.

Is there a reason I'm not allowed to post at all? All my posts are either requiring moderator approval or saying they're being a rejected...

I'm on about 6 different forums and have never encountered this before...

too many posts too fast? dunno. anyways welcome! and good looking mini!

Thank you sir!


I have more updates I'll try to get caught up on here. But here are my other two cars in the meantime.


1991 318is with a 306ci SBF swap, full ground control coilovers w/ Koni adjustable shocks, custom valved. Not really anything stock on this one.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartrussell/11436650474/http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartrussell/11436650474/]1476034_194165774106262_1327447361_n[/url, on Flickr

Thank you sir!


Unfortunately I think I'm about done with this forum, it's not letting me post any pictures so no use in having a build thread.

thats unfortunate, i never have problems posting pictures, try uploading them instead of the IMG tags

I see your photos. They look fine.

Work fine for me too. I want to hear more about this hillclimb build...

Looks good from here, too. I'm surprised you can get away with running the car so low on Pittsburgh roads. I don't know how they class hill climb cars, but if you are on coilovers, you are probably in a class that also allows for a smaller supercharger pulley.