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Well. It wasn't the water pump. I got a water pump ready to install and dug into the car on a quiet Saturday. I found a misplaced hose clamp on the rear water pump connection. It's been like that since before my NC trip, and only started weeping now. Shocking
One of the culprits
I put it all back together and filled it up. When I got under the car to finish installing the bumper cover, I was greeted by a constant drip, drip, drip of coolant down the oil pan. UUUUUUUUUUGH
Took it all back apart, found the water pump > water outlet flange o-ring was weeping. I replaced both that and the block side o-ring and haven't had any issues since. Frustrating, but thankful it wasn't anything serious. With the workshop still being consumed by the volvo project, I had to do this in an open bay on the other side of the garage. No lights, no tools, no lift, no TV. It was an incredibly frustrating day and made me really appreciate the efficent and ergonomic setup I have in the shop.
The volvo engine has been removed, most preventive maintenance has been completed, and I anticipate dropping it back in early next week. Fingers crossed.
Well. It's been a relatively quiet fall for the mini without our yearly trip to NC for Thanksgiving. Oh how I love 10+ hour solo road trips. Snow came early this year, so last night the mini went into storage to make room for the 2005 Electric Blue MCS project that we picked up in September. Somehow @wmcoons and I managed to push it uphill into the garage.
Very eager to get this started (and finished).
October was a busy month. The Volvo engine got dropped in and started right up, but some electronics gremlins and a full paint correction saw it in and out of the garage throughout the month. I said goodbye to the TDI it replaced as soon as I was confident the replacement engine was solid. It's wonderful.
As soon as the Volvo rolled out of the garage, I took it up to Road America for our 24 Hours of Lemons race at Road America. It's been 10 years since the series (and I) last saw time on that track. The weekend started with a parade to Elkhart Lake:
As usual, the team bit off more than we could chew so we struggled with a new drivetrain and spent far too much time wrenching the first day and a half. Sunday rewarded us with great weather, ample seat time, and the chance to make some awesome memories with the kiddo. I haven't raced since before COVID, and I forgot how much fun it was. The 2024 schedule has been released and Road America is slated for early September. We've vowed to not get caught with our pants down, and have already started prepping the car.
In mid April @wmcoons found a mini that looked suspiciously like megamini 2.0 for sale for parts locally. 48 hours later I brought it home. The plan is to part most of it out, and use much of the suspension/drivetrain to refresh our electric blue, and share some of the aftermarket goodies with my dad.
April 28th I joined @wmcoons for an autocross event at Road America. I'd love to get the JCW on track, but a $75 autocross day was (at the time) much more appealing than a $380 HPDE day. I've done a dozen races with the 24H of Lemons and am no stranger to the track, but I've never done an autocross event. This one was appealing as it was on the go kart course rather than a flat parking lot.
We made the trip up with minimal tools and minimal autocross knowledge. Emergency tool bag, tire inflator, and thats about it. This was a big event, wtih about 170 cars. It took about 2.5 hours for the line to get to us for our first 3 of 7 runs. About 75% of the group got a dry run at the course, but by the time we got on track, it was WET. I have pretty much no wet track time, and no experience really PUSHING a FWD car with an LSD. It took a couple runs to find what grip was available and to learn how to use the LSD to help pull me out of the corners. My times weren't great and I could tell I was leaving a lot on the table. Bill and I compared notes and waited another 2 hours to go again. The rain stopped, and the track began to dry....until we began to queue. Ugh.
This time we got 4 runs, Again, wet. I used what I learned during the first 3 runs to build some confidence and push the car harder. I forgot to turn DSC off, so lost two seconds on my first run, then gained two on each of the subsequent runs. I ended up finishing 4th out of 8, with the first 3 getting their 2nd set of runs on a mostly dry track. For a first timer, I'm super pleased. I'm mid-pack when it comes to actual lap times on-track, but always vying for fastest time with any type of go-kart. I ended up signing up for the 3 day season, I'm hoping the next event in September is dry.
Overall it was a fun experience, but not worth 8 hours of my day for 8 minutes of actual track time. Even at $75, the cost per track minute is far cheaper with 24h of lemons, and a much more efficient use of my available free time. I might forfeit my spot in the third session depending on how the next event goes.
Still here, and alive...mostly. Autocross turned out to be a bust. Not my kind of fun. The mini has still been a prominent part of summer fun, but there's been a lot going on.
Summer of 2024 I got hurt pretty bad playing ultimate, and decided I'd finally build my workshop with my 'downtime'. It took me until early 2025 to finish it.
Before
After
I spent a blissful year with the T5 V70, but started a new job with a much longer commute in fall of 2024. I sold the Volvo and bought a 2014 Volt. It cut my commute costs by 80% and has been my gateway drug to EVs. The Volvo is missed greatly.
Took a wonderful road trip up north with my 4 year old in the Z. This will be a memory I cherish for a long time.
24 hours of Le Mons at Road America in fall 2024 was lots of fun, even as a spectator.
Minimum required Mini content:
I went with a buddy to The Rave in Milwaukee for the first time in a long time, and took the JCW. When we left the show there was a cop parked behind me with its lights on, and a truck double parking me on the street. The car immediately behind me was stolen, and every car on the street had a window busted. Except mine. Yikes.
2024 saw no NC Road trip with the Mini, but we were back in July 2025. The 'fun' driving was limited, but its always worth the hassle.
At some point in 2025 @wmcoons and I decided we wanted to track an R53, and converted our 2005 Electric Blue recovery project into a Le Mons track car. Team Squirtle! Friggin stellar
We took to the track at Road America in September 2025, after spending much of the summer building the car and shaking it down on the way to work and cars and coffees. Despite a few hundred street miles on the engine, it spun a bearing on lap 2 of test and tune day. We slapped the engine from the untested junkyard megamini 2.0 in a few hours and got it back on track before the end of the test day. We didn't supervise our rookies close enough and the wrong hose clamp was applied to the oil cooler outlet....we blew the head gasket 4 laps later. We wrenched through the night taking the good head from the bad block and slapped it on the good block with a re-used headgasket and some copper spray. We had it fired up before green flag on saturday and took checkered on Sunday. What an exhausting but fun ride.
In July we got rid of the wife's sienna and bought our first NEW car before the EV tax credits expired. We got a screaming deal on a 2025 Equinox EV. 11k miles in, and its been great.
Getting ready for winter hibernation
A few weeks ago I found another neglected 2005 R53 in the middle of western Wisconin, about 10 miles from a friend who I had a planned visit with. Gonna use the drivetrain bits for squirtle and disassemble the rest.
Finally, most of team Squirtle took a trip down to Daytona for all of our first Rolex 24 @ Daytona experience. What an incredible weekend!
This winter has been long, miserable, and frigid. I can't wait to get the Mini out. We've got another NC trip in the works, and another stint at Road America in May.
Thanks! This was my first time working with drywall, major electrical, framing....pretty much all everything involved was a first. I took my time, did lots of research, and made the most of my evenings after the kid went to bed. I insulated all the walls, installed a nice Mitsubishi Hyper-Heat heat pump, and proactively installed a 50 amp 14-50 outlet for a welder I don't yet own which supports one of our two EV's (had 0 when this project started).
It's turned the garage from a workshop into an actual room I can use year round. No longer just dirty car repair, but detail projects, bike maintenance, movie time. It's splendid.
