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I don't know... dark silver with red looks pretty good - although this car is screaming for cobra style or dual stripes in red on the bonnet too... I think the opposite color scheme would look pretty darn good too!
My Orranje wing got here from Seattle and I decided to paint it. Way easier said than done.
Found a company here in town that has all the codes to mix auto paint colors. I was a little leary on the color match but he said they had Chili Red 851and could put it in rattle cans so... here we go. Wing blade, fins& headlight surrounds all getting paint.
Fins are going red. Used some auto primer first, then sanded so more.
Chili Red
So if I ever do this again... I know what I used.
My head light surrounds were chrome to begin with. Then they were black which was better than chrome. Took a gamble with the color match and dang... I think we have a winner.
Take Aways:
Industrial Finishes paint match is awesome.
Painting is tedious. There are 1000 ways to mess it up and only 1 way to do it right. It helps to have the surface your painting be horizontal to avoid runs & rattle cans like to be vertical. This adds another degree of difficulty.
I'd rate my paint job a 7. From about 3 feet away its good. Now I need to put it all back together.
Did you get these cans from a body shop or was it a chain store like Sherwin Williams? I need to see about getting some in the same color.
Brake pads:
Eddie07S & NC Trackrat - Thanks for the info.
I have been really impressed with the Carbotechs XP10 pads.. They are my first track pad and they have given me way more confidence when I have gotten into 100% braking on the track. I just swapped back to the Carbotech 1521 pads for street. (which has been nice going back and forth) The XP10s have at least one more track day in them so maybe I'll give the rotors a good cleaning/sanding before the next track day and use them one more time. The 1521s are basically brand new and show almost no wear. Could the mix of the two pads be causing the build up? I ran the XP10s around town for a day (hoping to remove any 1521 in the rotors)and then bedded the XP10s before the track day.... Maybe I'm doing something wrong there?
Mirror caps:
The car came with chrome mirror caps... (First picture in this thread). I am not a chrome guy and I have eliminated almost all chrome on the entire car... inside and out.I like to keep things pretty clean and simple & I like black and red together. Probably not changing the mirror caps... . But I did find a matching red when I painted the wing and headlight trim pieces. Hmmmm
John Jordan
You are digging deep in the thread....
The paint came from a place called Industrial Finishes here in Portland. They had a code for the Chili Red.... so I rolled the dice and when for it. https://industrialfinishes.com/tualatin-or/
Nov 1 2023 drained about 2 tablespoons out of the catch can.
I am trying to keeping track of roughly how much oil comes out the catch can.... I think the last time I drained it was 11/2021.
Nov 1 2023 drained about 2 tablespoons out of the catch can.
I am trying to keeping track of roughly how much oil comes out the catch can.... I think the last time I drained it was 11/2021.
Thanks for that info on catch can oil accumulation.
I change my oil frequently, 4.7qts of 5W 30 (every 3,500 - 4,000 mi) and also check the contents of my catch can at that time.
Given the location of my can; I have to use a syringe to suck out the contents. Usually, about 1/2 a tablespoon is extracted/accumulated between intervals.
The only time I've extracted more than 1/2 tbls was when I changed the oil adding 5qts opposed to the 4.7 I usually add.
I often wondered what others have been seeing/extracting from their catch can by comparison.
I'm going to be replacing the rear upper shock mount bushings to Powerflex this winter. I have a few thoughts on adding to this project. (I am not replacing shocks/struts at this point, eventually I will go with coil overs but that's a different animal). The rear sway bar bushings have already been upgraded when I upgraded the bar.
Options:
1- Add the bushing inserts OR replace the bushings in the Rear Trailing arms. I'm leaning towards replacing the bushings but then I started thinking about option 2.
2 - R56 aluminum trailing arms. There's a guy near me that has a bunch of Gen1 and Gen2 mini's he's parting out. I could possibly go pull the rear trailing arms off of one for cheap. Then I just need a few parts/ R56 rear bushings from WMW or Almag to get the job done.
Completely subjective question: Is it worth it??? Lighter weight?... yes 6 pounds each side. Does it change geometry? evidently it does.
Full read https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...onversion.html
I'm going to be replacing the rear upper shock mount bushings to Powerflex this winter. I have a few thoughts on adding to this project. (I am not replacing shocks/struts at this point, eventually I will go with coil overs but that's a different animal). The rear sway bar bushings have already been upgraded when I upgraded the bar.
Options:
1- Add the bushing inserts OR replace the bushings in the Rear Trailing arms. I'm leaning towards replacing the bushings but then I started thinking about option 2.
2 - R56 aluminum trailing arms. There's a guy near me that has a bunch of Gen1 and Gen2 mini's he's parting out. I could possibly go pull the rear trailing arms off of one for cheap. Then I just need a few parts/ R56 rear bushings from WMW or Almag to get the job done.
Completely subjective question: Is it worth it??? Lighter weight?... yes 6 pounds each side. Does it change geometry? evidently it does.
Full read https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...onversion.html
This thread you reference has a lot of good information in it, and I would say that what WMW has to say about reusing the MINI bolt is true. You can reuse it. However, there is a caveat or 2. That is, you can reuse the bolt as long as the threads in the aluminum have not been damaged. As was said, the bolt must be perfectly aligned when being reassembled and hand threaded. Someone mentioned 10 turns, that would be good to ensure correct engagement.. Also, the bolt must not be over torqued. But there is no torque spec for a reassembly only for the initial assembly. BMW/MINI used self tapping bolts on initial assembly and their torque spec is for cutting the threads and for proper tightening. The reassembly only requires torque high enough for proper tightening. If I remember correctly these are 14mm bolts same as the wheel bolts on the R56. So, I figure that is a good spec; 102 ft-lbs. The Sparco wheels I have said 90 ft-lbs. So that would be another option. Wear of the aluminum is another issue with these with disassembly and reassembly. So I would add a bit of never seize to the threads to minimize this from happening.
If you use a time sert (as was mentioned in the reference) buy the whole installation kit. It contains a special drill and tap for installing those and take extra care to drill out the hole as exactly as possible. The shop that installed them for me got the hole oversized and the insert pulled out on me. Fortunately it happened when I was changing the shock and not during one of the track days before that… The option that I had to go to in that case was to install a thru bolt with a nut on the end. That was a bit of a PIA.
If the aluminum ones you can get your hands on still have the OEM shocks on them, I would say you are good to go, if that is the route you choose. It would become more questionable if the shocks have been replaced.
I'm going to be replacing the rear upper shock mount bushings to Powerflex this winter. I have a few thoughts on adding to this project. (I am not replacing shocks/struts at this point, eventually I will go with coil overs but that's a different animal). The rear sway bar bushings have already been upgraded when I upgraded the bar.
Options:
1- Add the bushing inserts OR replace the bushings in the Rear Trailing arms. I'm leaning towards replacing the bushings but then I started thinking about option 2.
2 - R56 aluminum trailing arms. There's a guy near me that has a bunch of Gen1 and Gen2 mini's he's parting out. I could possibly go pull the rear trailing arms off of one for cheap. Then I just need a few parts/ R56 rear bushings from WMW or Almag to get the job done.
Completely subjective question: Is it worth it??? Lighter weight?... yes 6 pounds each side. Does it change geometry? evidently it does.
Full read https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...onversion.html
Yes going to the R56 aluminum arms is a great upgrade as it doesn't sound like much, but it is a reduction in unsprung weight so it has a larger effect than just the weight removal.
You also will have more tire clearance with the R56 arms.
We have the bushings to make the shocks fit correctly https://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-re...k-spacers.html
06-22-2023, 09:16 PM
The option that I had to go to in that case was to install a thru bolt with a nut on the end. That was a bit of a PIA.
