When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
My first experience with a MINI. I bought this nifty 2002 for my daughter for her 16th birthday.
Went to see it, drove it, it felt good. I didn’t bring any tools or anything with me to do any sort of deep inspection, but a cursory inspection looked decent. Guy says he put on new brakes, new coils, new tires, it ran well, and had no leaks. Seemed good so paid the man, brought it home, and started getting it ready to drive. That’s when I saw some bubbles around the left tail light and said, “hmm... wonder what these are? I’ll just knock them down and throw some paint it and be good. Well, the wire wheel brush started to bring out a familiar smell of body filler. Next thing you know I have this going for me.
Lesson learned: be careful when you start digging. You might not like what you find. So I brushed on some rust converter (saturated the area, actually) and got to work with the fiberglass cloth, reforming and sculpting the missing metal out of glass. After I got it all stuck together, trimmed, sanded, and painted (used spray bed liner for contrasting lines and ease of hiding my amateur body man status), I’ve restored it to original shape.
Not too shabby. But then I looked underneath the vehicle...
Last edited by Chris In Milwaukee; Jul 28, 2020 at 06:12 PM.
So as I crawled under the vehicle, I saw signs of leaks the guy said didn’t exist. Oil dripping from the front and all over the bottom, inboard boots busted clean off and flinging grease everywhere, rust *everywhere*, every ball joint boot busted and leaking, and you can imagine how the rest might look. Oh, and power steering doesn’t work. I’ve got myself a project!
So I started with the power steering pump and crank position sensor seal. Learned a few new swear words, but I can see this isn’t the first power steering pump this vehicle has had in its 148,000 mile poorly cared for life. That’s when I found the axle seals, ball joints, rusted everything... so I set out to order a lot of new parts and started the disassembly process.
Super gross, super rusty. So I ordered all new ball joints, control arms, and bushings along with power steering hoses from FCP Euro (surprisingly affordable), some new subframe bolts, axle seals, and a sway bar from the dealership, new axles and a host of other small bits from 1A Auto, and got ready for battle.
After disassembling everything, I cleaned off the oil and grease with a solvent and pressure washer, hit the rust with a wire wheel brush and knocked off the ugliness, hit the remaining areas with rust converter, and then hit it with a coat of Rustoleum from a rattle can. Starting to look better.
Then I put on all the new control arms and bushings and put the steering rack back on.
After seeing a couple of drips, I thought the hoses were looking a little worse for wear so I decided I should probably order new hoses. Could have been just a drip from the uncapped pump or hose, but it was cheap to replace. So another order in to FCP.
Took the axles out, but the driver side was stuck and wasn’t interested in coming out no matter how hard I pried on it. I ended up wrecking the dust shield and said there has to be a better way to get it out. So I found a guy on YouTube who built a tool I emulated for removing stubborn axles. Worked like a charm for a couple of bucks in a set of vice grips and a threaded rod along with a busted sledge hammer I had.
Worked on the hubs next. Had to soak them good with PB Blaster and whack them good with a 4 lb. hammer to break them loose. Ditto with the ball joints on the spindle. Cleaned them up and got those installed. Then I torqued down what I could at the time.
Pretty much have everything assembled that I have parts for, and the sway bar, sway bar bushings, bolts, and seals came in over the last couple of days so I’ll get those and the axles put back in when I get back from vacation.
Last edited by Chris In Milwaukee; Jul 28, 2020 at 06:22 PM.
Got all the parts on. Control arms, new hoses, sway bar, bushings, steering arms, and mounting bolts. Ready to put it back on the car. Going to hold off for a bit, though, because I received “S” axles, but they’re .050” too big for a non-“S”. So going to have to do an exchange from the parts provider.
Last edited by Chris In Milwaukee; Aug 5, 2020 at 05:23 AM.
From one R50 owner to another.......Looks like you got an interesting project there. Just wondering what transmission your’s has, the 5 speed Midlands or CVT auto? (They take different axles). Please do some research on both of these, they are not the most robust gearboxes.
From one R50 owner to another.......Looks like you got an interesting project there. Just wondering what transmission your’s has, the 5 speed Midlands or CVT auto? (They take different axles). Please do some research on both of these, they are not the most robust gearboxes.
it certainly has been! This one has the CVT. Anything I do with that is going to have to wait a while. The 6 speed conversion looks interesting. But it’s my daughter’s car, not mine. So I might have to get one for myself.
it certainly has been! This one has the CVT. Anything I do with that is going to have to wait a while. The 6 speed conversion looks interesting. But it’s my daughter’s car, not mine. So I might have to get one for myself.
I would recommend please do a search on this CVT before you do any more work. These transmissions are very expensive(up to $6000 to replace) and if maintained like the rest of the car, might be suspect. Seems like you are very good at working on cars though. Good luck
I would recommend please do a search on this CVT before you do any more work. These transmissions are very expensive(up to $6000 to replace) and if maintained like the rest of the car, might be suspect. Seems like you are very good at working on cars though. Good luck
it’s certainly on the top of my list of concerns! I appreciate your concerns as well.
Well done sorting out the rust issue. Please post some pics when it's painted. You planning to do that as well?
Thanks! It was an interesting problem to resolve. The paint is pretty much how you see it there. Just some spray on bed liner taped off to complement the sharp lines/blocks of the existing paint and trim. I have some vinyl rally stripes I plan to add to the car once I get it back together and on wheels.
As luck would have it, the place I bought the axles from didn't have them for the non-S models, so I have to return them and I ordered axles from a different vendor. Hopefully they'll be here soon. I'm itching to get the front of this thing back together! That and gaining some garage space back. It's always a goal to get the (important) cars back in the garage by the first snowfall. I sure hope it doesn't take that long!
In the meantime, working on replacing the A/C compressor clutch on my son's Honda. When it rains, it pours...
Last edited by Chris In Milwaukee; Aug 5, 2020 at 05:25 AM.
Got everything back together and test ran the systems while on jacks. Everything appears to be in order so far. No leaks that I can see. Changed the CVT fluid which looks like it was quite old. Going to put the front back on in the morning and go for a drive. Progress!
Any idea what this plug is? It was bundled with the aft ECU cable but I didn’t see a place where it may have connected. I do have an airbag light on the dash. Is there an impact sensor up there somewhere by the fuse box? I’d have expected that to be closer to the bumper.
Amateur alignment to get it straight enough to drive to the alignment shop. I actually did a pretty good job, but we’ll see how far off it really was when I get the shop report back this afternoon. Photo not indicative of how the actual process went. There was more swearing involved and further out the lever arm. I hate cheap tape measures.
Just came back from the alignment shop and all went well. They said it was an easy job. Probably because I put all new parts up front.
Rear wouldn’t stay in adjustment, but it’s just barely on the ragged edge. I’ll tend to the back of the car another day. An expen$ive oil change and she’s good to go.
Noice! I had a similar experience where I had all new suspension parts (on my Volvo). The alignment shop was done in about half the quoted time and discounted me accordingly. No time wasted in getting rusty bolts loose etc
Dam good job on the rust repair man! I would suggest you take a good look at the valve cover gasket, harmonic balancer, and serpentine belt. I have a 2003 R50 and they all needed attention. Hard to tell in the pics you posted but you may have the same issues. My valve cover gasket was leaking on the side closest to the firewall. Made a mess on the back of the motor. The oil on the back of the motor could also be from someone changing the oil filter and not cleaning up after themselves...
Also, since you mentioned it , you definitely should buy another for yourself!
, you definitely should buy another for yourself!