Hi Guys!

My name is Andy. I picked up my first Mini mid March 2018. It's a 2006 Cooper S 6 speed with just over 100k. I've been always been a huge fan of the mini. Being a pretty big guy( 6ft 2 in 300 llbs.), I never thought of it as being a practical daily driver for me. A family member purchased one last year and I was able to test it out. I was surprise. It's not as small as it looks. At that point I was sold on the idea of buying one. I started my search. Looked at many minis. After months of looking, I found one that spoke to me. It was stock and in fairly good shape. Clean interior and exterior aside from some rust on the tailgate and right tail light area. It didn't have all the options I wanted but something about it felt right. I took it home the next day. I now own a mini!

The Mini is a fun car to drive, great on gas, and professional looking. It's a good balance. I'm coming from a racer boy 2005 Subaru Sti and gas guzzling 99 lexus lx470.

I have a few plan for Watson. My goal is to build the ultimate budget daily driver. Funds are limited as I am also building my an expedition vehicle and my subaru still. I do not plan on any major engine work and will be focusing on handling.

Plan to do:

• Baseline maintenance. Tune up, filters, etc
• Brakes. Front and rear.
• Coilovers
• Sways
• Adjustible end links
• Rear adjustible arms
• Front control arm bushing
• Super charger service
• Fix oil leaks
• Bolt in type roof rack
• Air horn
• Hella tones
• Deep clean
• Buff and polish whole car
• Replace hood and lift gate struts
• Black out belt line and chrome bits
• Back up cam
• Replace driver door trim

Things I've done so far:

• Fix the rust.
• One ball mod.
• Afe stage 2 intake ( will be selling. Want to switch to m7.)
• Replace dipstick
• Install light n' sight
• Alta intercooler air diverter
• Custom built rear seat delete. For more space for my dogs. ( dropping off may 4 for fitment)

Things waiting to be installed:

• Wilwood Front bbk 12.19
• Euro cubby
• Greene performance coilovers
• A pillar gauge pod
• Parts for Navi Retro. ( twin gauge, navi warning lights. Selling navi screen. Want to do Android install.)
• Team Dynamic wheels 16x7 et35
• Honeycomb grille
• M7 front Strut bar
• M7 Lower brace

some pictures.

Eww
More eww
Rust be gone
If it fits it ships
Mad photography skillz
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looks good , did you do the rust repair or have it done

 

Isn't the rust on the rear tail light covered in a recall?

 

I had it professionally done.

unfortunately not. It was out of warranty from what I was told. The rust warranty was only 12 years from production date.

 

<br /><br />I had it professionally done.<br /><br /><br /><br /> unfortunately not. It was out of warranty from what I was told. The rust warranty was only 12 years from production date.

 

Good looking MINI. Love the color.

I too was surprised at the size of the MINI. I would be happier if it was a little smaller!

Keep us posted on your progress.

 

I recently picked up a R53 as well. Enjoy the car!

 

how do you feel about the one ball mod? Thinking of having it done next weekend and having some aftermarket tips installed as well. But any drone to the exhaust? Cabin discomfort?

 

Thank you! I sure will!

Thank!

I enjoy it. It's a very subtle change in sound. Not much louder. No interior drone. No cabin discomfort. You can definitely hear the pops better.





UPDATE:

Watson is at the audio guy having the rear seat delete made. Hope it comes out good. I should be done Monday. I will post pictures up.

My 2nd hand set of Greene performance coilovers came in. Thanks Thumpermcs! Can't wait to install them once everything else comes in.

 

You have a list of well chosen upgrades.

 

Nice project list! I’ve heard great things about the Greene/BC coilovers and would have bought some if I knew about them before I bought my ST’s.

On your NAV/Android mod, have you researched it? The brains of a MINI is in the center cluster the car was built with. It’s not just a simple swap from center speedo to NAV or Chrono pack. It can get really expensive and a lot of coding and programming is required. A used center cluster will always show the mileage, options, and VIN from the donor car and this info will get “sent out” to your gauges and modules. Also, you might also trigger the mileage tampering indicator on the cluster because of the mis-match of mileage between the donor car and the one or two modules still in the car which store this info.

Make sure you don’t get rid of any of your old gauges and center cluster.

I think the only successful transplants I’ve seen used new center clusters, programming from a dealer that knew what to do, and lots of $$$.

 

Welcome to NAM.

Great looking Gen1 MINI. So, how many times you been told your car is "cute?"

 

Thank you!

I've heard nothing but good things about greene. I hope they are all true. Can't wait to put them on.

As for the retrofit.. I've done the research. I know it will be tough but not impossible. I've read that someone has done it with used items. I may not go through with it thought. Its just a wish list plan.

Many times lol.



Update:

Rear seat deletes are almost done. Some minor finishing touches left. So far so good.

 

I prefer people say my Mini is cheeky and nutty. Cute? Try to pet it only with your dispensable hand.

 

Great looking R53 and congrats on the mods, but that winter kills the back end, once you fix the rust the car will look so much better on the back end. We have a lot here with that problem in the rust belt.

Team dynamics + wilwood = one hot R53

Congrats

 

Nice R53. I just picked one up myself and plan on starting up a journal as soon as I get back from my business trip. That rust clean up came out amazing!

 

Wipe that grin off the face, for I know how you feel.



I have a few questions on the wheels, as I am considering a set. I know you have done much research.

• Did you get them new, and what make you choose ET=35?
• Did you weight the wheels before mounting the tyres? Outmotoring claims they are 16.2 lb but I tend to trust that of someone weighted it themself.
• Are these wheels lug-centric? Outmotoring offers different bore sizes, but that does not necessarily mean they are not lug centric. I prefer lug centric so not to deal with hub rings at all.

 

Congrats looks like your well on your way.

 

pnwR53 -

I also called Out Motoring about Team Dynamics, 16" wheels this past Tuesday. They told me that 16" were available with the 56.1" hub diameter, and a 38mm offset. They also said that more should be in in about two weeks from the distributor.
They do seem to be about the lightest wheel out there. As far as "advertized" numbers in a few different websites. I believe I saw somewhere on this site a wheel weight thread that was started a few years ago, but seems somewhat kept up. Team Dynamics are listed, and are on the lighter side according to the list.
I'm not sure about the 38mm offset. I don't want the wheel rim outside of the fender at all.

I'm waiting a coupla weeks to see what (if any 16's) they get from the UK. I'd feel better with a 40mm offset...we'll see.

Mike

 

Thanks for chiming in, Mike. I really don't know where the limit is for negative offset. I know 40s is comfortable for not rubbing against the fender lip. 38 is so close to 40. I did note that Outmotoring has note that says ET45 is best for Min but this can just be very conservative. But like OP he has to worry about rubbing against the coilovers which typically need more clearance than the dampers and springs. Being 7" wide rim I suspect ET35 most likely OK and depends on the tires. I would be nice to hear from OP as to his thoughts, and know the actual weights of the 4 wheels. Vendors can pick and choose a light wheel's weight to publish and there is little you can hold them accountable. Right now I am only mildly interested in getting another set of wheels, mostly for winter tires as they tell you not to drive on extreme summer performance tires or else chunks can fall off.

 

It had it fixed already. Car looked like a million bucks after. Can't wait to install the wheels and brakes. Still waiting on a few more suspension components.

Awesome! It's always nice to take a look fellow member build journals. It's always a lot to learn from other members.

The rust repair did come out quite nicely. The rust was more severe than originally thought. They ended up cutting out most of the metal. Very happy with the job they did.

The wheels and tires are brand new but I purchased them secondhand. Tires were already mounted.I wasnt planning on going with an aftermarket wheel setup. It was a good deal I couldn't pass on, plus the weight was what really sold me. I hope their claims are true. They are a direct match with the mini hub. I found mix input on ET 35 offset. Some people said they rubbed, others had no problems. There are too many factors. I'm just going to try them and if I don't like them I'll sell them.


Thank you! I have an order coming your way! :D


Update:

More parts came in!

• Rear control arms. I'm doing all 4. From r53parts.com
• Bracket for rear headlight level sensor for aftermarket arms. From r53parts.com
• Front and rear adjustable sway bar end links. From r53parts.com
• Air horn. Used
• Hella super toned. x2 sets
• Rmw headers catted. Used
• Schrick cams. Used

I haven't had much time to do any major work on the car. It's been a busy few week. I did a few minor things. Euro parcel shelf and License plate relocation. I've also made an appointment for the vinyl guy wrap the chrome bits. Hope to find time in the coming weeks to do all the work. I really need to get the maintenance squared away. I think my alternator is failing. My speedo and power steering loses power after letting off the gas after hard pulls.

I told myself ( and my wife) I would keep it stock... lol

stay turned for more updates.

Ricer
Practical

 

Update:

It's been a while since my last post. Summer is a busy time for me.

Watson has been out of commission for the last month or so. The harmonic balancer failed. I replaced it with ATI Harmonic balancer. attempted to take it for a test drive, didn't get very far as the parking brake cables seized up and wouldn't release.

Decide to put it up on all fours and start to do all the needed maintenance. I was hoping to finish up a few other projects before I started on Watson. Things never go as planned.


​​​​​​Purchased a few more parts as well. Parts pile is getting out of hand.

• r56 rear trailing arms (used)
• Pro alloy intercooler ( used)
• Dinan throttle body (used)
• Gen 2 sprintex supercharger ( used)
• 550cc injectors (used)
• HSport front and rear comp sways ( Used)

More to come soon.

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