I've never been pleased with the oem dipstick so I decided to try an old school dipstick using a flat blade. My first stop was at my local salvage yard where I bought a long (approx 30") dipstick from an old Ford pickup ($5). I made an adapter to fit in the dipstick tube out of a piece of 1/2" aluminum rod and shaped it to match the contours of the oem stick. I drilled a hole longitudinally thru the adapter and attached my new Ford dipstick to the adapter using JBWeld and a pin (pic 1). I made a handle out of an old Koni shock top cap and attached it to the adapter with JBWeld (pic 2) creating my redneck dipstick (pic 3).

 

My new dipstick still dragged oil up thru the dipstick tube sometimes obscuring the oil level so I attached a 3/16" brass bead to the stick with a pin and silver solder about 1/2" above the full mark (pic 1 below). Now my oil level is much easier to see (pic 2). It may not be as high tech as the new Cravenspeed stick but it works and I'm only out $5.

 

Sweet! I prefer Function over Pretty also although I'm sure it looks very good installed. Nice job. I think most factory dip sticks have a twist in the blade to keep the blade centered and not dragging oil up the tube. I thought of doing this but never got around to it. The only thing I wasn't sure on is how to get the slit cut into the aluminum cap for the blade to fit into. Nice to see there are some fellow do it yourselfers out there who aren't afraid of experimenting.

 

You do realize you are low on oil according to that dipstick right?

 

Nope, it's actually dead on. Read the 2nd post and look at the 1st pic. The brass bead was added after the fact and is 1/2" above the full line. FULL is indicated by a line (and an arrow) on the Ford stick.

 

I understand that but, did you line that bead up with the bead on the stock dipstick? Just because it says it is full on a Ford stick does not mean it is full for a MINI. Judging by what your stock one looks like you have an easier one to read than the one in my 07.

 

The full line on the Ford stick matches the full line on my oem stick. The bead was added as an afterthought to prevent the readable portion of my new stick from being dragged thru the oil on the sides of the tube and obscuring my reading.