The new valve cover gasket was delivered yesterday, the new fan assembly is supposed to be delivered today. The driver's front strut mount is squeaking when you turn so 2 new ones arrived yesterday, good thing they came with a lifetime warranty. I am going to install the rear struts. I hope to fix/ finish everything I can this weekend because I am having surgery on my elbow next Friday. That will put any wrench pulling on hold for a little while till it heals.

 

Elbow surgery? Ouch. Stick with power tools for a while.

 

I have been!!
I noticed that my pinky finger on my left hand felt asleep after I got done doing the tranny swap. Pinched never in my elbow. Hopefully the surgery won't put me out of commission for too long.

My dumb butt ordered the wrong fan assembly but the correct one is on the way. I'm going to finish the strut replacement today and hopefully the valve cover gasket. Then I can just slide the fan assembly in when it arrives.

 

I am pretty sure the bushings have outlived their serviceable life span... The shock is just as dead as the fronts were. The fan will work in the Cabrio so there is no need to send it back.

 

Ugh!

Yup - Toasted...

This is going to be so much better...

 

I have both of the rears installed; they were OEM too. I was shocked at the condition of the rear bushings. I am pretty sure that the owners never changed anything on this car. I can't wait to take it for a drive. I bet it is going to ride so much better now with new struts and bushings all the way around. Replacing the front strut mount that's making noise and then on to the valve cover gasket.

 

I didn't change the valve cover gasket because it wasn't leaking anywhere. I found a little oil like I might have spilled a little under the coil and down to one of the valve cover bolts but no active leaks. I got the strut mount that was making noise replaced. Now I'm just waiting for the new cooling fan. This car is going to be all new by the time I get done with it.

 

And most enjoyable!

 

I love my R50, I think it is just the coolest car ever. I love the Cabrio too but I have a lot more sweat equilty in the R50.
I am 99% percent sure the Cabrio also has the stock shocks still installed, those will have to replaced in the spring. I don't like working out in the cold.

 

The new cooling fan assembly was delivered today! The problem is I had the pinched nerve surgery this morning on my elbow. I now have a totally numb dangling worthless arm hanging from my shoulder. The nerve block medicine should be worn off by tomorrow morning. I told my wife she may have to help me install the new fan tomorrow or Sunday.

 

Here's hoping that the surgery takes care of the problem.

 

Take it easy and let it heal. I’m gonna be really mad at you if you mess up your elbow and then you can’t write any more car adventures. If I was only a state or two away I’d drive over and put the fan on for you.

I’m underneath the car today, reattaching the oil cooler lines and electrical connections down there. As you predicted, the exhaust lined up perfectly once I removed the rubber hanger thingie, and all I had to do was torque the two exhaust bolts, replace the O2 sensor, and then bolt the rubber thingie back on. I have a garage and a creeper so it was comfortable and easy. I’m attaching the uncomfortable things first, line the cooler lines, starter motor, and the sensors down there, then I’ll do the easier stuff up front.

You’ve been a great help to me and I appreciate it.

 

Thanks dmath!
The nerve block meds have almost worn off now, I can finally move/ feel my arm and it's not a numb dangling appendage anymore. My elbow hurts a little but not as bad as I was expecting. I have the feeling back in my palm and ring finger again but the end of my pinky finger is still a little numb but nothing like it was. The doctor said that should come back too but it might take a little while. Right now, it is 90% better than it was.

No worries Rebound because working on cars is my life, even if I had to do it with one good arm. I appreciate the offer to help! I can get most of it, the wife unit might have to help me get the rims back on. I have learned a lot about working on Mini's in the last 14 months since I bought the R50. I can't wait to finally drive it with all the new struts and bushings installed.

 

She is back together again and the new cooling fan is working perfectly!! I just need to take her off the jack stands and take her for a ride.
I didn't stress my left arm so all is good.

I took her for a drive and OMG what a huge difference the struts and bushings made. I swear it rides like a new car; I love it! This just means I am going to have to do the same on the Cabrio.

 

Another satisfied user. Well done! And congratulations on being able to get back to wrenching so quickly.

 

My wife was not so happy about me putting the fan in but I did anyway. I was a lazy piece of poo the rest of the weekend. I still have a little bit of clunking from the rear suspension going down my gravel driveway, It looks like I need to replace the rear control arm bushings and the 4 track bars. With the rest of the suspension components being from the factory, I am sure they are worn out too.

In the spring I am going to buy a PDR kit and see if I can get a few of the small dings out on the R50.

 

Nice to hear that the new shock/struts are working well for you...

Are you positive about the parts you think are causing the clunk?

When I replaced the shocks in one of my MINIs I had a clunk I could not find. It turned out that it was the sway bar end link nuts not being tight enough. In frustration I really cranked down on the nuts on each end of the links and that solved the issue. Another clunking issue I had was bad end links themselves. When I took them out, I could not tell they were bad, but the clunk went away when I replaced them. That, however, showed up when I replaced the rear swaybar. On an R50, I would think that would be a less likely issue...

At any rate... Glad to hear the R50 is otherwise back to its former glory or even better...

 

Almost every day my OneDrive memories pops up with something that I did to it last year. It has come a super long way since then and it is the best it has ever been.
I don't exactly know where the clunking comes from other than from the back. I will have to jack it up and check it out. I am ordering the O-rings and going to go ahead and do the valve cover gasket once they come in.

 

Clunking noise is always end links. Always

 

Or, sometimes the sway bar bushings. I had that one too...

 

I have the valve cover gromets on order. I will order new sway bar bushings and end links. When I installed the struts, I didn't see anything wrong with the sway bar bushings. I don't remember looking at the end links. She has almost 162 thousand miles and the rear suspension stuff is probably stock and pretty worn out. I will replace whatever it takes to get it right. I'm getting real close.

 

I ordered new upper and lower track bars, new sway bar bushings and new end links. I have just about replaced everything else on this car, I might as well replace them too. The only thing left would be the rear control arm bushings. Those will have to wait till spring when I have more strength back in my arm.

 

The rear control arm bushings actually seem pretty stout, but I guess after 160k miles replacing them isn't a bad idea. I did just trailing arm bushing inserts though, and those made a noticeable difference in how the rear end feels.

 

I was thinking of doing just the inserts. I went ahead and ordered some since you said they worked for you. I didn't want to tear it apart 3 times to do a piece here and a piece there.

 

Your car has double the mileage that mine does, so getting everything done in one go makes sense. I think I did inserts over full bushings because I didn't want to deal with pulling the arms off the car, and I seem to recall being concerned about my ability to press the bushings out without bending the arms. I may have been worried about nothing though.