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Looks fantastic.
I for one; always appreciate one's taking the time to make a concentrated effort in creativity and doing things to the best of their ability.
Your workmanship reflects this in all your awesome build/improvements and from the photos you display.
How do you like the new (aftermarket?) headlights? Were you able to make the headlight leveling sensor work in conjunction (if your R50 is equip) ?
Impressive wrap you did on the hood I might add!!
I had someone back into my Mini (presumably trying to turn around), in a parkinglot, a while back. Although they didn't dent or damage my hood - they did cause a 1/2" misalignment between the
hood and the bumper on the right front side. Thankfully I was able to correct it by tweaking the adjustment screw on the lower bumper cover and get it squared up again.
I thank the universe that the incident was minor. As I understand it - hood alignment on a Mini is painstaking.
I imagine I'm not so much of a departure from our fellow Mini counterparts as I always walk the car and take a mental snapshot when I have to resort to parking amongst the general population.
BTW: I have an idea to make use of that R53 hood scoop ram air directly to your airbox...but I do see how, as it is by itself; allows air to circulate within the engine bay to help cool the engine.
Thanks very much! It's a work in progress. I guess I am slowly restomodding the car. The headlights are OEM (not cheap) and they work as intended with the levelers (they do the up-and-down thing when you start the engine). I figured I got almost 20 years out of the original lights, it's worth it to spend for OEM. (The height adjustor screw on the passenger side came undone inside the headlamp which gave the car a "lazy eye." I could fix it if I took the light apart, but I will instead retain them for spare parts.) Interested to hear your idea for the hood scoop; I've already got a blower fan installed in-line with the fresh air inlet (in the center on a R50, just below the MINI badge) that's aimed at my CAI. I installed hood vents from a Jaguar on my original hood and they worked really well for cooling down the engine bay (you could see the heat waves rising out of them while sitting at a red light), but I didn't really like how they looked. I would not buy a carbon fiber hood again as virtually none of the holes lined up correctly and I had to do a lot of filing and drilling, and the headlights still don't fit perfectly flush; not worth the weight savings.
Looking great! You wouldn't think red would work with O.D., but it really does as an accent. I've heard horror stories about CF panel fitment with most people saying afterward that they wouldn't do it again, but very few places to lose weight up front. Looks great, man!
I see you're in North Dakota. I grew up in Saskatchewan. Actually bought my R50 in Regina in 2005 while I was home visiting my parents. My car's passed through Minot many times on trips between Regina, Ottawa and New Brunswick.
...BTW: I have an idea to make use of that R53 hood scoop ram air directly to your airbox...but I do see how, as it is by itself; allows air to circulate within the engine bay to help cool the engine.
Originally Posted by ATK666
Thanks very much! It's a work in progress.... Interested to hear your idea for the hood scoop; I've already got a blower fan installed in-line with the fresh air inlet (in the center on a R50, just below the MINI badge) that's aimed at my CAI.
Ah - Leave it to me to think that I had a clever idea without realizing all the details.
I have an R53. It was my (erroneous) assumption that the R50's airbox was mounted in the same location.
It is not the first time I've confused the battery box and airbox location in the R50 models.
In your case of incorporating the R53 hood onto your R50; I initially thought you could potentially pipe the hoodscoop with this:...
...directly into you airbox to create ram/forced air. In theory it may sound great...if the airbox in an R50 was back towards the same location as the R53.
It finally dawned on me that the airbox on an R50 is located directly front left of the engine bay.
Sorry about that. My bad.
Notwithstanding:
Back in the early to mid 90s' I had come across these similar (as pictured above) low profile downspouts at my local independent hardware store. They were made with a little thicker plastic back then. If I recall; they were stamped PP (polypropylene).
The ones posted in the picture; I recently found at my Homeboy Depot. They are (now) produced thinner in vinyl (PVC), material which has a lower melting/distortion point @ 200°F. Regardless...I'm now thinking vinyl + Arizona + hot engine on a hot summer day = .
Nah, totally cool! I like creative re-use of non-automotive parts if they work; that's what innovative fabricators and racing teams do. I actually have black kitchen funnels trimmed and glued into the fender liners behind the "fog light" holes in my front bumper cover to direct air towards the brakes. I removed the stock battery box and have an Odyssey racing battery mounted to a modified Rennline aluminum mount in its place; much lighter, and opens up all kinds of space in the engine bay. The in-line blower I have directed to my CAI box generates 180 CFM and, while I didn't install it thinking it would create boost, I do think it makes an extra horsepower or two. I also have a R53 throttle body, which is bigger than the R50's and allows more air in.
On that last note/ in an effort not to "one-up" you or hijack your thread -
I'll sum up by merely saying; that I believe we think alike in some ways (?)
When I first modded my stock R53 airbox for CAI, I had mounted a 12v PC tower cooling fan in the fire wall below the cowl. It was hooked up to a switch on my center ebrake console (opposite of the flat tire reset button).
I have since removed it but thought it rather ironic that we shared and implemented with a similar objective...or at least in theory.
Funny how you mentioned the rather clever and improvised brake cooling inlet/ducts you've devised via everyday household objects
While on the subject of those aforementioned downspouts I posted; ....Here was my first actual use for them...
These were my alternative solution to not sacrificing my fog lamps for piping in a brake duct cooling.
I modified the downspout ends to accept 2" shop vac hosing. The "downspouts" (now ducts) were then mounted to the lower control arms. I routed and connected the hosing(s) to a set of factory backing plates I modified (welded) with 1-7/8" exhaust couplers.
Midway through welding up the second backing plate I had a change of heart and abandoned the project.
I just felt I didn't want or need to have to remove a bunch of "crap" pending a planned front-end overhaul.
Finally had to replace the alternator. I have an Odyssey lightweight battery and noticed a few months ago that it wasn't fully charging, and I'd have to connect the tender once a week or so to "top it up." I suspected the 19-year-old alternator was beginning to go so I picked up a Bosch unit on sale a couple of months ago, and I'm glad I did. Yesterday on the way home from an errand the battery light came on... then the ABS light... then the clock blanked out... and then I lost power steering. Luckily I was only a few minutes from home. I installed the Bosch today and found a couple issues. 1) The attachment points (the channels the bolts pass through) are ~3" long on the Bosch unit but they're ~4" on the OEM unit, and I didn't realize this until it came time to reinstall the bolts and they stopped about an inch short. I didn't have any spacers handy or anything I could fabricate some with, so I used some new/unused black spline-drive lug nuts and they're perfect spacers. I know this is not the "right" way to do the job, and I've ordered shorter bolts (M8x100). For now, though, it's rock steady and doesn't look that bad. 2) The second issue was the socket for the electrical plug. The tabs on the inside of the socket are reversed (there are two on one side and one on the other but they're not in the same positions as on the OEM unit). I shaved these off with an Olfa blade and the plug clicked into place as intended. Only had time for a 15-mile test drive, but the car fires up immediately and seems smoother, so the old alternator must have been in pretty bad shape for quite some time. My 2005 MINI is a "new" car, one piece at a time.
Parked beside a newer "Justa" today. Nice car, but you can see how MINI has cut some corners to lower production costs, particularly with the tail light assemblies. My understanding is that it was quite difficult (and expensive) to have tail lights that were completely surrounded by metal, as they were in the first-generation cars. I secretly hope the owners of these new MINIs get a kick out of coming back to their cars and seeing mine beside theirs... but maybe they're oblivious. A lot of people have no idea my car's almost 20 years old.
Just completed a fair amount of work on the car. Clutch had been making a squeaking noise when I pressed the pedal in. I got my wife to press the pedal when I had the car on the lift and it seemed to be coming from the slave cylinder, so I replaced it. It wasn't the slave cylinder, so, I knew it was time to go "inside." I got a great deal on a Spec Stage 1 clutch a couple of years ago and it had been sitting on the just shelf waiting. I also picked up a forged chromoly flywheel. After watching how-to videos over and over, I felt confident enough to tackle the job. It turned out that the clutch throwout bearing was completely shot, and the pressure plate had definitely seen better days. While the subframe was out I decided to do a bunch of other work. I replaced the bump stops and boots on my front shocks and got them all cleaned up and looking like new (I got the Powerflex kit with yellow bump stops, which I had to trim an inch off of to accommodate my lowered suspension). Cleaned the whole engine bay and removed rust from all the bolts I could find. Replaced the center tunnel heat shield. Sprayed Boom Mat on the floor pans and put Kilmat in the wheel wells to dampen road noise. Generally just refreshed and restored everything I had access to. I also replaced the fuel pump and installed a new battery (Odyssey PC680) as start-related precautions... and I checked and adjusted the camber and toe. When I was replacing the subframe I noticed a bit of play in the control arms. Turns out the nuts that secure the control arms to the lower ball joints were BOTH loose, so I got those tightened back up. But when I got the car all back together, it wouldn't start! Turned out the starter solenoid had gone bad, so I got that fixed. I am covered with bruises and my wife was pretty pissed off with me for a couple of days, but the car's running better than ever.
While I'm still breaking in the new clutch, what I can report is this. When I'm approaching my house there's a one-block stretch next to a vacant lot never has any traffic on it. When I give the car the beans, I can get it up to about 50mph. Yesterday I reached 50 in about half the distance it normally takes, so, yes, based on that I would say that the car definitely accelerates faster. And while it was only a small amount of play in the suspension, the car feels tighter than ever. What a difference!
Hey, I'm running Koni FSDs with Godspeed Traction S springs (lower by 1"). The springs are nice and plush. The FSDs can be lowered 1" and still work properly, but not more than 1" as that would mess with the dual-valve action. I've got Vorschlag camber plates on the front and Hotchkis adjustable arms on the rear; Powerflex purple bushings at all the contact points, a WMW rear sway bar and the R56 aluminum trailing arms. It's really comfortable (well, for a MINI), and corners flat as a pancake.
My R53 came with worn out Raceland coilovers on it. They are complete crap. I had a good setup on my R50 but it was a little stiff. I'm leaning towards Koni strt with lowering springs. May or may not do camber plates. Already have prothane bushings, front strut brace, rear sway bar etc. Always looking for honest input from people that put a lot of time and effort into their cars.
Thanks.
My owned-from-new 2005 R50 has been to Boston, Nova Scotia, Montreal, Chicago, Vancouver, Saskatchewan, Montana, Texas, Arizona... just about everywhere, and this week it adds California to the list.
Here it is in the beautiful hills above Santa Barbara.
Tech note: I recently installed new tires and went from 205/45 17 Continental Extreme Contact Sports to 215/45 17 Continental Extreme Contact DWS (their high-performance all season tire). I'd previously used Michelin Pilot Sport AS tires and didn't like them, but these Contis are extremely comfortable, excellent in the rain, and have longer tread life than their summer-only counterparts, and I cannot tell a difference in grip on public roads after some 1000 miles.
Just replaced the headliner. This is the second time I've done it in the last ~5 years; I wasn't happy with my first attempt. What prompted me to do this (besides not being 100% happy with the headliner) was a noise I've been getting from behind the dome light. It's like a stuck-stuck kind of noise when I go over some surfaces, as if two very clean pieces of plastic are rubbing together. So I ripped everything out, put some 1mm sound deadening on the roof side, and used grey felt instead of foam-backed headliner fabric. The felt looks really nice, it's very tough, and I will never have to contend with headliner foam getting old and crusty. Actually, the only crusty foam on this job was in the headliner support itself. It turns out that there is a foam layer between the roof-facing cardboard side and the cabin-facing fiber-board side. When I went to peel off the old headliner, the two layers of the headliner support came apart in places and it was difficult to get them stuck back together. I ultimately used a silicone adhesive and left it overnight to cure, but the support felt a bit soggy in places and had lost some of its rigidity. But it all went back together nicely and hopefully I will never have to touch it again as long as I own the car (which will be until I die). Here are some photos. It's difficult to capture how it looks installed with the lighting I had, but the photo of the alarm cover should give you an idea how nice the felt looks. But the stuck-stuck noise from behind the dome light is still there! I'm guessing it's something to do with the rear sunroof panel seals. I shot some PB Blaster all around the sunroof panels, and we'll see if that makes a difference after it's soaked in overnight. I am NOT removing the headliner again!
Man I like the way that looks! I painted the headliner in my slick top R50. Came out great but stunk terrible for some time. I used black felt on my wife's land rover and love how that came out. Thats been in there for 10+ years and held up great. But I like the way that gray felt looks a lot
.
I got a great deal on a Spec Stage 1 clutch a couple of years ago and it had been sitting on the just shelf waiting. I also picked up a forged chromoly flywheel. After watching how-to videos over and over, I felt confident enough to tackle the job. It turned out that the clutch throwout bearing was completely shot, and the pressure plate had definitely seen better days. While the subframe was out I decided to do a bunch of other work. I replaced the bump stops and boots on my front shocks and got them all cleaned up and looking like new (I got the Powerflex kit with yellow bump stops, which I had to trim an inch off of to accommodate my lowered suspension). Cleaned the whole engine bay and removed rust from all the bolts I could find. Replaced the center tunnel heat shield. Sprayed Boom Mat on the floor pans and put Kilmat in the wheel wells to dampen road noise. Generally just refreshed and restored everything I had access to. I also replaced the fuel pump and installed a new battery (Odyssey PC680) as start-related precautions... and I checked and adjusted the camber and toe. When I was replacing the subframe I noticed a bit of play in the control arms. Turns out the nuts that secure the control arms to the lower ball joints were BOTH loose, so I got those tightened back up. But when I got the car all back together, it wouldn't start! 
Turned out the starter solenoid had gone bad, so I got that fixed. I am covered with bruises and my wife was pretty pissed off with me for a couple of days, but the car's running better than ever.
I'm guessing it's something to do with the rear sunroof panel seals. I shot some PB Blaster all around the sunroof panels, and we'll see if that makes a difference after it's soaked in overnight. I am NOT removing the headliner again! 
