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Will do the transmission mount when I tear the front subframe off this coming winter, but curious what all upper mounts you guys are running and how you like them... curious, particularly, about opinions on the vibratecnics and the WMW one. The WMW upper mount looks just like a dual inverted cone solid block of poly, but not sure about what all is inside the Vibratechnics one. Opinions?
I’ve had the wmw upper engine mount for 18 months and 15k miles, it’s tolerable during the summer but drives me nuts all winter with the amount of vibration it transmits to the cabin. It makes it hard to see in the rear view mirror because of the vibration. It does do a good job of holding the engine in place though and shifts are nice and positive. I also had trouble torquing the upper bolt because it spun in the mount. Makes me nervous if I ever have to remove it.
Just installed a new Torque Solutions lower engine mount. Super solid and the Install was super easy: Front up on stands, remove two 16mm bolts, use a pry bar to swing the motor back out of the way an inch or two, pop the old one out, new one in, torgue the two bolt down to 78 lb-ft. The whole install was complete in 15 minutes. I did, however, lose hold of the pry bar when trying to get the new one in and whamped myself pretty good with the pry bar right in the forehead. Didn't hurt all that much (I've a hard head), but I do have a small cut there. So if you do this, be careful of the pry bar potential to slip!
I was surprised by how good shape the old one was in. There was a small crack in one of the rubber 'webs' on one side, but otherwise it wasn't too bad at all. The bushing on the small side was rough, but not torn that I could see. This mount does not have a bushing on the small side - so be prepared for a bit more vibration if you add this mount.
I was initially surprised when I started it up for the first time - there is quite a bit more vibration because of the bush-less side, and while that vibration is there, it isn't overwhelming (but, I also don't think my Borla 'race' exhaust system with a catless header is all that loud either). Then I went for a short drive, and I understood why people like these. The car feels more solid - there is less motion of the engine-trans that you can feel under hard acceleration and/or braking, and less that is transmitted through the gearshift. For $110 through ebay (with free priority shipping), it is almost a no-brainer. If you are one of those people who don't like the vibrations and noises that the first gen cars make, probably not a mod for you though.
Will do the transmission mount when I tear the front subframe off this coming winter, but curious what all upper mounts you guys are running and how you like them... curious, particularly, about opinions on the vibratecnics and the WMW one. The WMW upper mount looks just like a dual inverted cone solid block of poly, but not sure about what all is inside the Vibratechnics one. Opinions?
I'm running a similar lower motor mount and a Vibratechnics upper. I a face-lift car, so don't know how much difference that makes for comparison. I would not do a trans mount. I like my car pretty raw, and when I added the upper it made a huge difference. Tightened up about the same amount again as adding the lower did, but NVH is about at my threshold (running a Milltek nonresonated exhaust too).
Thanks for the feedback guys - just what I was after! The added vibration, at least to me, is only really evident when idling. When driving, it really isn't noticeable to me. One of the reasons for adding this was trying to eliminate engine rocking on the lower side to decrease stress on the flex joint between the header and the exhaust system. That header was a PITA to fish in there, want to make sure I get a good long life out of it!
Sounds like both the WMW and Vibratechnics add some additional NVH. I may just do a new stock upper mount then. My original upper mount looks good, but I am sure it's worn. My strut tower mount has one of the rubber webs with a crack in it. If it wasn't so visible in the engine bay, I would just pop some of the powerflex bushings in there, but I could not stand to look at that much yellow in my face every time I opened the engine bay up. May just go OE replacement on both upper passenger mounts. I thought Torque Solution did an upper rear motor mount, but I can't find it.
Thanks for the feedback guys - just what I was after! The added vibration, at least to me, is only really evident when idling. When driving, it really isn't noticeable to me. One of the reasons for adding this was trying to eliminate engine rocking on the lower side to decrease stress on the flex joint between the header and the exhaust system. That header was a PITA to fish in there, want to make sure I get a good long life out of it!
Sounds like both the WMW and Vibratechnics add some additional NVH. I may just do a new stock upper mount then. My original upper mount looks good, but I am sure it's worn. My strut tower mount has one of the rubber webs with a crack in it. If it wasn't so visible in the engine bay, I would just pop some of the powerflex bushings in there, but I could not stand to look at that much yellow in my face every time I opened the engine bay up. May just go OE replacement on both upper passenger mounts. I thought Torque Solution did an upper rear motor mount, but I can't find it.
That was the same impetus for changing my engine mounts, I broke my pre-cat at the weld. I keep wanting to change my upper mount back to OEM, but haven't had the time/money to change out a reasonably functional part. I think the powerflex inserts are a good option because you could even swap them in for summer/track days if you wanted to tune the stiffness of your mounts.
I'm running a Vibra-Technics upper mount, Powerflex bushings in the lower mount, and Powerflex inserts in the transmission mount (no one makes full bushings or replacement mounts for my transmission that I know of). There is noticeable NVH at idle, but otherwise I'm happy with it. I haven't put too many miles on it since I changed the upper motor mount, so it may smooth out a bit more in the future. After changing that upper mount for the fourth (I think?) time, I have no intention of going back to that stupid oil-filled stock one though.
Okay, think I have decided on the rest - ordered a set of Super Pro SPF2501-K inserts for the upper rear mount (I don't have the liquid-filled mount and do have the upper rear one) for 24 bucks from Amazon. I'll source some large washers for it from my local hardware store (I live in the farm belt, and the hardware stores here have crazy nuts, bolt, and washers). This set of inserts is not ugly yellow, but a sort of dark blue-purple. Autozone has a set of black ones for $17, but Autozone. I thought about buying some liquid poly and pouring into the spaces, but why bother when these bushings exist?
For the upper middle engine mount, I am just going to go with a stocker. Already induced enough vibration, and these upper rear inserts should stop the upper engine front back rotation, or tame it pretty well, so the mid mount's job should be mostly damping.
Good choice, I have these as well. I paired them up with a new mount for maximum effect. New mount was 20-30 euros, aka no brainer. I also did the smal bushing in front > https://www.flickr.com/photos/andyramdin/50150697211/
New upper rear engine mount bushings just came in the mail and just went into the upper mount location.
really great quality, and the fit is perfect. Was worried I would have to use a washer to keep these in, but the design uses the upper and lower arms of the bracket as the retainer, and it is a pretty tight fit. Install took all of five minutes. There is no tension or compression on the rear upper mount at all when standing still on the loaded suspension, so all I had to do was take out the bolt in the middle of the rear upper mount, take out the bolt at the front of the bracket, fish the bracket out, push the bushings into place, bracket back on, tighten everything back down. Hopefully, this will further cut down on engine motion and keep that header flex joint good and healthy!
Looking forward to a road test, and will report back when I manage to get one in, but it has actually been raining here lately (a VERY good thing), so not sure when I will be able to get one in.
Also just bought a bunch of fleece - going to make a nice soft garage cover for the car maybe this weekend.
@Husky44 How do you like your Raceseng ****? Holding up well? How do the shifts feel - any different? It seems to be just a bit bigger tan stock - how does it feel in the hand?
Well, I don't think I can live with the additional vibration from the solid Torque Solution lower mount. Yep, it totally eliminates wheel hop, and the motor definitely feels rock solid. But, the added vibration and motor resonance (the entire cabin seems to be a bit of a mechanical transducer for engine and transmission noise) is making driving much less enjoyable (and again, I am someone who really likes the noise my Borla 'race' exhaust system produces.
I think I will order a new lower mount and put in the Superpro bushings. That should get me to most of the added stiffness but with the pliability of that front bushing to help reduce the vibration a bit.
Well, 4 weeks in to my custom Cobra seat order only 8 weeks to go until I should have them in my greedy little hands!
Ordered a new OE lower engine stabilizer and a set of Superpro bushings to replace the Torque Solution one will throw that on Thursday or Friday and see how it compares with stock and with the TS one.
Today it's drizzly outside so put together a quick cover with fleece from Joannes. Needed a total of 12 yards of fleece, the wife sewed it together right down the middle and I trimmed off the extra so that it doesn't drag on the ground. Nice soft garage blanket to keep the dust off. Really the main job is to prevent scratches. The limited space in our garage has meant three or four scratches in the past year. Hopefully this will prevent that from happening anymore. I wanted something REALLY soft with a bit of padding and not something that would take more than 15 or 20 seconds to put on and take off. This fits the bill perfectly and when it gets dusty it will go straight into the washer.
@Husky44 How do you like your Raceseng ****? Holding up well? How do the shifts feel - any different? It seems to be just a bit bigger tan stock - how does it feel in the hand?
Thinking about the slammer in the beaded finish.
Sorry I missed this-I got email notification of the post before and the post after.
I love it. Seems to be a little more solid shifting, but that's probably primarily psychological - - attempting to justify spending that kinda coin on a ****. But fit and finish is first rate, it's nice and heavy. Plus, mine is red, so my shifts are faster.
Well, 4 weeks in to my custom Cobra seat order only 8 weeks to go until I should have them in my greedy little hands!
Ordered a new OE lower engine stabilizer and a set of Superpro bushings to replace the Torque Solution one will throw that on Thursday or Friday and see how it compares with stock and with the TS one.
Today it's drizzly outside so put together a quick cover with fleece from Joannes. Needed a total of 12 yards of fleece, the wife sewed it together right down the middle and I trimmed off the extra so that it doesn't drag on the ground. Nice soft garage blanket to keep the dust off. Really the main job is to prevent scratches. The limited space in our garage has meant three or four scratches in the past year. Hopefully this will prevent that from happening anymore. I wanted something REALLY soft with a bit of padding and not something that would take more than 15 or 20 seconds to put on and take off. This fits the bill perfectly and when it gets dusty it will go straight into the washer.
Great cover!
I noticed a bump ball hanging from the ceiling. I used to have one of those until a cat got into the garage and decided it was a fun toy. And, that sliding down the bonnet of our ‘04 MINI, with claws out and trying to get back to the ball, just added to the fun. Hmmmm not so much fun for me, trying to get the million of scratches out of the clear coat on our ‘04 MINI.
Man - that's a bummer. Never cared much for cats - but being highly allergic to them probably has something to do with that.
Hey - any good junk yards in the I-90 area in central NY I should hit up? Will be passing through there in a few weeks to visit my parents in MA. I have a list of stuff for hers, would like to find a nice hood for mine and some other miscellaneous bits and pieces.
As for good junk yards - I have no idea. Sorry. Many years ago I used to hunt the salvage yards, but gave that up. With the amount of salt they use around here, I found little that was worth pulling. Also, something happened that many of them seemed to have become store fronts and they got away from the pull and pay business.
We have feral cat and they sometime sneak into the garage... Kittens will play with almost anything, which is what I think did this. Oh, well. The scratches have rubbed out pretty well and the car still looks really good. We have cats and dogs of our own, so I don’t mind cats.
Yep, am driving - not the MINI though. My mom is returning to ND with me, and that would be too cramped, loud, and generally uncomfortable for her. I like driving cross country - I like watching the ecology and geology change as I move through the landscape. On the way, I am going to try and hit as many junkies as possible. I've found several yards near Omaha that appear to have multiple R53's, some in Ohio, some in eastern NY, and a bunch in MA and CT. They don't do a good job at updating their online inventory, but am hoping to find that rear right lateral panel, a good indi hood and some parts for hers.
In my younger days I was good for long trips like that. I did one trip to Idaho for a job, then back when I quit that one, and another to visit Yellowstone with the family. Worst part was the I80/90 route through Chicago. These were in the days before internet and Google maps; all done with a road atlas. Like you, we had some sightseeing along the way. SD was a little boring, but I did amaze our kids when, mid state, I pointed out the hills in the far distance and said that is where we will be when we stop in the evening. That was when we were starting out in the morning and the hills were the Black Hills...
When I was in Idaho I picked up a Fiat 124 spyder with a blown tranny. Back then, the way you found car parts was to read the ads in the back of magazines like Road & Track. I took a gamble on a salvage yard in CT called “Yale’s 3 Bad Men auto salvage”, we ship anywhere. Called them up and 2 weeks later a truck showed up with it and it was unceremoniously dumped on the end of my driveway. I’ll never forget that name...
Hope your “shopping” expedition goes well. And have a safe trip.
Great really deep blue sky to go with the car. Nicely done.
Lol - accidental underexposure from being in the wrong shooting mode and then trying to fix it after the fact in Lightroom - that was the best I could do. I've had this camera (D800) for over two years now, and still learning how to use it. Have had Nikons all of my life from F4 and F5 in the film days and three DSLR's, but man - does this one have *settings*...
Put in the new OEM lower dogbone today and replaced out the Torque Solution one. Before installing the OEM lower mount, I cut out the stock smaller side bush and replaced it with the very nice Super Pro SPF2425K bush and then added the SP SPF2426K larger two piece bush set to the larger end before installing.
I LOVED the massive lessening of the front-back engine motion with the Torque Solution mount, but I just could not stand the added noise and vibration. I think that the TS mount is probably a great mount for a dedicated track car where added noise and vibration are not such a problem. The new mount returned the car to the same state that it had been in previously. There isn't any additional noise or vibration with the poly bushes over the stock rubber ones, so that is good. Have not taken it for any spirited driving yet, but will report back on what sort of improvement these bushes offer over stock when I have had a chance to live with it for a few rides.
R53 MINI COOPER S SHIFT **** RESTORATION - PART 1: Disassembly.
So I have been looking at shift ***** recently. Most of the ***** available for the R53 are hideous, although I think I could adapt pretty much anything to work, although I have been looking at the Raceseng ***** which I think look pretty good. A few things about them bother me though - I don't care for the stylized R, and I don't care for the outward bent outer gates of the shift pattern engraving that look like parens ( | ). I also *REALLY* like my stock **** - call me silly, but I think it fits the look of the interior perfectly, it looks great, and it feels good in the hand. It also has some heft. At least mine does.
I know that there are multiple versions of the R53 shift ****. The part that came in mine is a solid ball of metal. Others have a metal insert surrounded with plastic and resin (I know, I took the wife's old one apart). A magnet is weakly attracted to the upper part of the **** but not so anywhere else, so it's mostly aluminum - and appears to be one piece, which is really weird that a magnet is attracted to the upper bit - perhaps something to do with the plating process? Dunno. But I do know that it has some heft to it - IIRC, the assembled **** weighs in at over 8oz. But, my **** has seen better days. The leather is matted and gross, I can't even see the stitching anymore on most of it (the leather one I just bought the wife has the stitching on the inside, hidden), and the chrome plating is pitting and crazing.
So, instead of buying a Racesng **** knowing that I will never be happy with the engraving, I am going to restore my original **** to new condition, recover it and restitch the leather.
I first snipped the center thread holding the double stitches together and then carefully removed that thread. Leather on shift ***** is most commonly 'butt joined' with a row of double stitching on either side of the seam, and then a diagonal ladder stitch that snakes its way through these side stitches used to pull the leather together and join the pieces. I first removed these diagonal ladder stitches and then opened the leather flaps up. I wanted to be exceptionally careful in this step as the old leather is going to be my pattern for cutting my new piece of leather.
Ladder stitch removed; leather can be peeled back at this point.
I was pretty sure the leather used to cover the ball was all one piece and that it fit in a small rabbet or groove between the upper smooth chrome piece of the ball and the lower piece, and when I opened up the 'flower' shaped piece of leather I could see that the hole in the leather was cut in such a way that it tightly fits into this rabbet and that is all that hold the leather on toward the top. This also gives the upper transition between metal and leather a nice finished edge.
I gradually and very carefully worked the leather out of that rabbet or groove, and it pretty easily came out all in one piece. I'll use this piece as a pattern to cut whatever kind of leather I use to recover the ****. I would like to use some sort of invasive species leather - animals that are not raised specifically or harvested only for their hides as I think this is a waste. I know ostriches and camels are invasives in Australia; certain alligator species, iguanas, and boas and pythons are invasives in the US. Perhaps one of these, I don't know. I do know that I will not need much leather though - a 6x6" piece will be more than enough. Here is what the leather piece looks like when completely off of the ****.
The ****, as you can see, is just a solid ball of metal in the early leather covered ***** (probably only the ***** in pre-facelift cars) with the hole for the center insert. I found a company in Illinois that will do the replating in chrome for me with a 4 week turnaround time. So the bare **** is leaving today for a replate in nice shiny, unpitted, uncrazed chrome.
That turnaround time gives me plenty of time to decide on what leather I want to use for the cover. Black is the only definite right now, and I have a few different black leathers on hand from looking for matches to the interior vinyl, so I may end up using one of those. I like the idea of an exotic, but I don't want to contribute to demand for exotic hides. I have a hard time with culling, even of invasives, but those animals are reaking havoc with the natural ecosystems into which they have escaped, so if I can find leather from an invasive exotic, that might be the ticket.
Anyhow, should be a really fun little project. Off to pack up the metal **** and ship it out to the plater. Stay tuned for part II some time later this summer.
Last edited by jcolletteiii; Jul 1, 2023 at 10:41 PM.
