Hey all, long time lurker. I just bought an R53 and figured I'd make a thread to introduce myself, keep a log of things I do to the car, and to ask random questions not needing their own threads.

A brief history on me.

My first car was a 1992 Miata LE, I loved that car to death and dumped way too much money into it at the time. Unfortunately 20 year old me dumped that money into making it look cool and not making it live long. Eventually rust and delayed maintenance got the better of it -- the hard lines for brakes rusted out, power steering lines rotted, the clutch was going, coilovers need rebuilding...... I parked the car at my parents house and started the search for something a bit more practical.That's when I initially found this site, the R53 seemed like the obvious next step from the Miata if I was looking for something similarly fun, safer, and able to haul a bike. Unfortunately they were still pretty expensive (for me) at the time. I also found a stinking deal on something pretty quirky and cool. A manual Volvo V50 T5 AWD. The seller had way undervalued it (based on the selling prices of auto V50's) and had a tonne of interest. I bought that and was happy to just change the oil on it for a bit and ride bikes.

Jump to 2019 when I got a job in California, packed up my things and moved to San Francisco. I was looking for something to (once again) haul bikes with and do some camping with, so i bought a truck – Trudy, a 1996 Toyota Tacoma with a Wildernest on it. Then the pandemic happened and I started looking for a fun car to play on the backroads with again. Being in California I started looking at all the cool cars from the 80s and 90s that I always wanted but were always too rusty or too expensive to afford back home. Turns out they weren't rusty out here, but definitely still too expensive.

Anyways, That's how I landed here. The Mini popped back up on my radar, as something small and fun like the Miata was, but more modern and with the ability to haul more than a duffle bag or two. I found a 2006 MCS Checkmate (LSD!) with114k on the clock and picked it up for a pretty decent price (3K).

Plans are to keep things pretty modest for now, to build a DD with winding roads and the occasional track day in mind. I'm trying to prioritize maintenance and OEM+ modifications to further improve its capabilities – though as the name of the thread suggests, that's already proving hard to stick to. I replaced the rotten run flats on it almost imediately with some 215/45/17 Federal RSRs and they've been amazing. I've also got an H-Sport rear sway bar, R52 braces, JCW front brakes, and an Orranje intake sitting on a shelf right now waiting to go on. And in terms of maintenance, I just replaced the belt tensioner and belt and plan on doing the chain tensioner and idler pulley along with all the fluids shortly too. The steering is pretty stiff, but the fan and pump seem to work, I plan on doing a fluid flush and lubing the U-joint and hoping that takes care of it.

I'm currently debating whether to replace the S/C oil, there seems to be conflicting opinions on this. The car seems to be making decent boost now that the tensioner and belt have been replaced (11.5psi) so I may hold off while other things get addressed. Are there any weak spots that folks would recommend doing to prep the car for some track time? Metal coolant overflow tank that uses a rad cap maybe? For example I know that 370z owners need additional cooling for the diff and trans if they plan on being tracked.

I'm also thinking of getting a set of coilovers, again as the title suggests budget creep is real here. I was initially thinking some ST XTAs (or XAs with camber plates), but the Bilstein PSS10s seem to be highly highly highly regarded. My question is would the PSS non adjustable) with camber plates be better fast road/occasional track coilovers than the ST options? The cost would be similar at around $1300, the PSS10's would be well over $2000 though...I could be convinced.

I'm not really good at staying on top of build threads, but we'l see how this goes!



The Miata : I think I'll forever regret letting go of this car.



The Volvo : oddly enough, one of the few photos I have of it -- it was actually super reliable.



Trudy : I don't normally name my cars, but this came with one and it felt so fitting.



And finally, the Mini : Let's see where this takes us..

 

Going to use this post as log.

 

A couple of your pics didnt load :(. And I would change the SC oil or at least make sure it has some in it. Especially the rear section by the
water pump. And guess I would replace the water pump, the connection flange from WP to block, and the little hose from WP to pipe under
the thermostat. Cannot help with coilover questions :(.

 

i am waiting until it goes and then fitting a new s/c
perfect excuse to upgrade the "inefficient factory Eaton M45"
that being said 2005 and 2006 saw some upgrades including the s/c and i expect gonna be a long time before i get the chance.

 

Honestly don’t understand the comment about waiting for it to go then upgrade. For a few hours in the garage and a couple hundred bucks you can have a good working SC. Gives you options on when you upgrade and then you have a spare SC to save or sell. This is stuff my 19 yr old blockhead says.

No offense to you. Just tired of hearing it from my son.

 

The TVS900 Supercharger Kit utilises the latest Eaton TVS supercharger technology and provides superior performance when compared to the smaller, 5th generation M45 supercharger factory fitted to the R53
is why
i guess its just me. i dont want to just fix it, i want it better. new slick shiny vs tired carbon filled fifteen year old technology. but also equally good chance my supercharger will never fail and so taking the car apart to fix whats not broke.

 

For track days, do the basics:
- flush the coolant system, replace with distilled water and a bottle of water wetter
- while you're doing the above, service the SC.
- Make sure you don't have mushroomed shock towers, install plates to help prevent it or prevent making them worse
- replace wheel hubs/bearings. It's easy and fairly cheap -- or wait until they make noise and replace. Either way works.
- track it. If you don't have a LSD, you'll hate the slow speed corners, but otherwise will have a blast.