If you are referring to the rhythmical clicking sound, my first thought is that's the sound of the fuel injectors. My MX-5's DI motor makes that same sound only 10 times as loud. I think that my R53 has been making that clicking noise since 2005.

 

Thanks for the reply. I posted this in a separate thread as well since I didn't know how many people would see it in this thread. Someone replied there suggesting an injector as well. My reading of his reply is that it could be an injector going bad. A few days ago is the first time it's made the sound and so far it's not constant.

 

Today I started on another winter indoor project: rebuilding and painting the brake calipers. My plan is to remove all seals and hardware, clean, prime and paint, and then reassemble. Finally, new rotors and pads. I decided on POR-15 blue paint. I had a BMW in Estoril Blue with blue M Sport brake calipers and loved that combination so I'm doing a Mini version.

Today I removed the front calipers and brought them inside. I won't begin cleaning until they're up to room temperature. The rears will stay on the car until there's a day that's warm enough to get under the car to disconnect the parking brake cables.

The calipers definitely need some attention. Cleaning may be the most difficult part of the job.



The brake fluid looks really bad. I'd bet that it hasn't been replaced since the warranty ended.

 

I am impressed by the amount of work you've put in to your Mini so far!
I "did time" (lived) in Minneapolis for a while and remember how bad the rust shorten the life span of my car.
Might I suggest treating your metal parts with ? If you are not familiar or have never used it; It is an awesome, long lasting, rust deterrent and pre-paint metal etcher.
My forté is in fabrication not cars - So I can't say if it will hurt brake parts. Everything else metal = absolutely!
Great work!

 

Thanks. I'm (mostly) retiring at the end of May so then I can devote more time to the car. I see this as a multi-year project -- my goal for this year is to get it roadworthy and clean up the paint and interior.

According to the previous owner (who owned it for 16 years), the car wasn't driven in winter. So though it spent its life in Connecticut, the undercarriage, brakes, etc. are almost rust free. Even so, I'm using a system of POR-15 products: degreaser, metal prep (which sounds similar to Ospho based on the description), primer, and caliper paint. The company recommends it for calipers so I'm going to give it a shot.

 

woof! the amount of dirt and brake dust on that caliper is nuts. For what it's worth, I bought some R56 calipers off a junked car last year and cleaned them up, rebuilt them, and painted them. They came out all right but it was lots of work and time cleaning them. I went with G2 epoxy paint and they looked great, but the paint chipped and discolored after my first track day with them, so I just ordered a set of rebuilt calipers from rock auto that came powder coated. They only cost me $115 once I return my core. I haven't installed them yet, but the powder coating looks good, and they're OEM calipers, still have the MINI stamped on them, just rebuilt and powder coated. All that to say, it's way easier to buy rebuilt calipers than rebuild your own. I totally get wanting to do it, and if you have the time, why not, but after doing it once, I swore never again.

 

I'm sure that rebuilding the calipers won't be my favorite part of the project but I'm trying to do as much of the restoration myself as I can. If I hate it, at least I can say I did it once. And you can say, "I told you so."

I used G2 paint on the calipers on my Countryman. It's held up well so far (over 1.5 yrs) but I don't track the car or drive it particularly hard. I thought about powder coating -- if the paint doesn't hold up, I'll have them coated.

 

Haha, i actually kind of enjoyed the rebuilding, I had never taken a caliper apart before, so it was cool to see how they work. I didn't enjoy the hours I spent with the wire brush in my drill scrubbing the brake dust off the calipers. I did enjoy the project so I totally get the DIY motivation, but it was way harder to get that dust off than I anticipated. But good luck with it, my first R53 was an Indi blue one and I love what you're doing with this one.

 

Congratulations on your upcoming retirement, I am steadily working my way there, I am thinking maybe next year.
Getting all that brake dust off is not going to be fun. I cleaned up the outside of the calipers on the R50 with a hand wire brush, not factory new but looks much better.

 

Amazing amount of work. You are tackling a lot of the same issues I have in my first year of ownership (bought an'06 last Jan.). I also removed the pan under the battery, cleaned and painted. A note on Ospho: basically a phosphoric acid solution that works great on ferrous metals like steel and iron, it's my go-to rust treatment and pre-paint prep. On aluminum however, I have found that oxalic acid, as found in a product called Barkeeper's Friend, works even better. Steel wool can leave super fine steel particles embedded in the aluminum if it's soft enough, which will then rust. BKF powder usually takes care of corrosion easily without heavy abrasion. And you have already found the best top coat in POR-15 products. Soaking in Ospho or an electrolysis bath followed by POR 15 is the best way to deal with rust that I've found. I agree that an injector is likely what you're hearing on the top end, especially since you just had the head redone. Shifter looks great! I need to do something with mine - the stitching is coming apart. I am inspired by your perseverance, and I hope the car rewards you with many trouble-free miles.

 

ChiefM and Racingguy -- you're scaring me. I watched a few videos this evening that have made me want a media blaster. Makes cleaning up a caliper look so easy. I'm not going to get one but it would be nice.

Ravencroft -- Thanks. I'm not sure there's much rust on the calipers because they've been protected by a nice thick coat of brake dust. If I'm wrong, I'll investigate the options you and Here2Go mentioned. I hope you're right about the engine noise. I'd much rather it's injectors than the supercharger or valve train. Though injectors are about impossible to find at the moment. The alternator would be even better but I'm pretty sure the noise is coming from higher up. I haven't yet investigated any further -- waiting for a temperature increase in the garage. I just saw your thread -- you've done a LOT of work. Post some photos!

 

Minor progress on a couple of fronts over the last few days. First, several people have told me that the engine ticking sounds like injector noise. I haven't had a chance to try to verify that but since I would like to upgrade to 380cc injectors eventually, I spent quite a bit of time last weekend trying to find an affordable set (ie. not almost $900 for OE). Couldn't find any that I was willing to take a chance on. adriancl gave me the part number for 380cc Bosch injectors used in the 225hp Audi TT -- plug and play without adapters. Couldn't find those either. Even tried European suppliers. Only one I found seemed a little sketchy. So I put that on the back burner. Then last night, I received an email from FCP Euro that they were back in stock. So I ordered a set for $140. If the injectors aren't the source of the noise, I'm sure I'll like the upgrade anyway.

On Gen 2 cars, the brake dust shields are uncoated aluminum. Those I removed from the R53 were very dark -- I assumed they were very dirty unfinished aluminum and planned to paint them after cleaning. So I was surprised when I cleaned them to find that they have a dark finish on them and look quite good. On the screws, the threads looked good but the heads were terrible. I sanded them to bare metal and then painted them. Two coats of primer and two of silver. They look like new. You're thinking, "But no one will ever see them." That's true, but I'll know.

During the week, I watched a few videos on cleaning brake calipers prior to refinishing. Media blasting is the way to go! Made it look easy. Unfortunately, I don't have a media blaster and am not enthused about buying one. In addition to the expense (and likely need for a new compressor), it's another thing I'd have to find space for in the garage. So today, I stated on one of the caliper carriers with wheel cleaner and a drill-mounted brush. Then I dried it and switched to a drill-mounted wire brush. Made a little progress -- saw bare metal in a few places -- but it was slow going. Would take forever to do all of the carriers and calipers (I can sense ChiefM and Ravencroft rolling their eyes). I thought about trying some IronX but the odor is way to strong to use in the house and the weather is too cold to work outside. So as a test, I put the carrier in the parts washer to soak overnight. Will see if that does anything. If not, I have to decide if I wait until the weather is warmer and try IronX, or ask a local powder coating place what they would charge to media blast them for me. I'd bet that they can do them all in an hour.

Finally, I received the new "stickers" and put them on the center caps. They look great. I won't put the caps in the wheels until after I clean the wheels thoroughly in a month or two. Sorry for the bad lighting.

 

Nice little update. I'm with you in respect to "Every detail matters"....to me anyway.
Perhaps a stoopid question; I would imagine that the JCW center caps would have/offer the "clip-in" variant - rather than the stick-ons?
I had to have the dealer replace 3 of mine on my '04 R53 while it was new / under warranty. Each time they replaced them with the adhesive back style - They flew off or were lost in a car wash.
I finally replaced all four with the clip-in style. Properly oriented, parallel with the valve stem of course . Haven't lost one in 12 years.
For anyone interested....I think I bought mine through ECS Tuning.

I admire your passion dmath. Looking forward to your progression!

EDIT: You may disregard my editorial regarding center caps. I now understand you put new JWC decals on your center caps.

 

Thanks for the kind words. These "stickers" are OE domed metal that adhere to the stock plastic caps that clip to the wheel. Is that what your dealer installed? I hope not because I have high hopes for these.

The stickers come with a thick protective plastic film. I feel like an idiot but I can't remove them. I thought they would peel off easily but so far they're winning the battle.

 

No. Interestingly enough, When I received my new MIni, they came with "sticky discs" that stuck directly to the actual center of wheel. No plastic center cap.
I think you'll be good (?).
Funny you should mention the clear protective film. I have this habit of never removing it from most things I purchase. My strange rationale leads me to believe it will be better protected that way....

 

No eye rolling here.
You are doing great on the car. I need to order a fuel pump for the R50. Parts for the R52 service are still rolling in.
The focus has been getting my Escalade back together before I do any more Mini work.

 

I would consider leaving the plastic on but the caps will look much better without it. You can tell it's there and it dulls the shine. According to WMW, it's supposed to come off. I have sometimes left protective films on things but usually because I didn't notice it was there.

ChiefM - you have a lot of irons in the car fire. How's your wife enjoying the Maserati? I do need to put a new door lock module in my son's Paceman but there's no rush. I hate removing interior trim so it's easy to procrastinate. Other than that and routine maintenance, it's just the R53 for me at the moment.

 

She loves her Maseriti, I don't think I could ever convince her to trade it in on something else again and thats fine with me. She has what she likes and I have what I like so it's a win for both of us. I got the new differential installed in the Escalade yesterday, it's nice to not have the rear end growling anymore. The new drivers seat track for the Caddy was delivered yesterday so I need install that. It likes to get stuck usually all the way forward after the wife drives it.

I have the greatest wife, she understands my love of automobiles and lets me do what I enjoy.

 

Some progress on the brakes. It took a couple of hours but all of the calipers and brackets are clean and ready for rebuilding and painting. Here's one of the fronts:



The before photo is several posts above this one. It really did take only a couple of hours. The first hour was the roundtrip to the sandblaster to drop them off. The second hour was the roundtrip to the sandblaster to pick them up. So two hours and $60 is a more complete accounting.

A little background. Last weekend I spent a little time trying to remove 19 years of brake dust with various methods: solvents, scrubbing, wire brushes, swearing, but nothing worked. Or rather, it worked enough to show that it could be done but would take approximately forever. So I started looking for a place that could sandblast them. In our relatively small town, that wasn't easy. I almost gave up and did look at rebuilt calipers online but persistence paid off and I found a place willing to do it. Everything else in their shop was the size of a fire engine or larger so they must have wanted my calipers just for a change of pace. So now I'm ready to finish tearing them down (the pistons and seals were left in place to protect the cylinders during blasting -- they are being replaced) and then begin painting. Then new pistons, seals, and hardware.

 

That looks fantastic!
They are going to look great when you are done.

 

Absolutely awesome!
I was going to suggest getting a sandblaster from Harbor Freight since you have a compressor. I actually used play sand (non toxic - "safe for children"), from Home Depot, for small/medium and sometimes delicate (FRP & Polycarbonate) projects.
The one I had, was simply, similar to a paint sprayer. I built a simple wooden and plexiglass containment box to avoid blast back and and a big mess. I also used crushed walnut medium (Reynolds Advanced Materials), on polyurethane sculpture.
The only tedious part was filling the container often during the course of finishing a project. Of course, after all said and done, cost me considerably more (and time) than $60. Well done!

 

Oh that’s clean. Why even paint them now? 😉

 

I know you were joking but I did think, for just a second, that maybe I should just clear coat rather than paint them.

I looked at inexpensive sandblasters but decided against going that way because my compressor is marginal at best with respect to the cfm requirement. Maybe someday.

Was very pleasantly surprised yesterday after work when I removed the pistons from the calipers. All four of them look great -- no pitting or scoring so I can reuse them. I'm also considering reusing the guide bolts. No scoring on them either. They look a lot like the photos of new ones on some of the online retailers. On one hand, it's only $40 for new ones so I feel like I should just replace them. On the other hand, if I replace every component that's only $40 or $50 or $100, the cost of this project will skyrocket. This is a photo of a couple of them that I cleaned up. What do you think?

 

I'd reuse them, they look almost new to me.

 

Thanks ChiefM. I cleaned the remaining 6 and they look similar. I'm going to replace most of the hardware but I'll reuse the guide bolts.

Yesterday I completed the first two steps of the POR-15 system: clean/degrease and metal prep, which reacts chemically with the surface to aid paint bonding. It will probably be a few weeks until I have a big enough chunk of time to do the painting.