Well, the AutoX season will be starting soon, or has already started depending on where you're at. I'm wanting to do more regular autoXing this year, and I know that the car and it's components are aging a bit (just rolled over 90k miles). I want to stay in H Stock and my main concern is the suspension bushings and strut towers being damaged.

I know I cant use poly bushings and have to go with the stock rubber bushings. Would I pretty much be better off replacing the lot? Or are there some I could ignore for the sake of saving some money. Anything else that should be replaced? The car doesn't have any knocks or creaks when it hits a bump, but I think I would be able to get better/more consistent results if everything was fresh. Any suggestions for suppliers with a reasonable price?

I also wanted to get a set of those strut reinfocement plates that are sold to help protect the strut towers. Are these allowed in H stock (both the ones on top of and under the sheet-metal?)? I'm sure mine have already mushroomed, but I'd like to try and keep it to a minimum.

When it's all said and done, I'll definitely get an alignment. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!!

 

I found that by 90k the lower motor mount had torn, and the rear bushing on the front lower control arms were shot.

You have to stay with the factory bushings, and the control arm bushings are a bear to change. The motor mount is pretty easy.

 

I hadn't even thought about motor or tranny mounts. Good call.

 

I had front control arm bushings go at 50,000 miles.

We have had a few people run with them locally in stock, but, strut tower reinforcement plates aren't allowed in stock, but you could always install them for daily driving and remove them before an event.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about a protest on the reinforcement plates, not too many people would say they offer an advantage, and as previously stated you could take them off rather quickly. 90K miles I would also consider upgrading your shocks to Koni yellow adjustable (yes they are stock legal) as this will allow you to tighten up the ride a bit. When doing an alignment (if the tech and shop deosn't mind loosen all the suspension points and pull the bottom and push the top as much as possible (for both front and rear) then have the tech tighten everything up, this will allow you to get the max negative camber using the design tollerances. To help with turn in adjust your toe to 1/8" toe out in front and 1/8" toe in for the rear, this helps without sacraficing to much tire wear.

 

I think that would depend on where you place relative to the person that might protest. We had someone locally say they provide an advantage in that they stiffen the chassis.

 

What are the roads like where you drive? If they are not pothole-infested I'd save the money and apply to the wear parts you mentioned and tires. Stress due to chassis movement (autocross) will not deform them, and if 90k miles on your local roads have not done it, then I wouldn't lose sleep over it (and if they have, there is debate as to whether forcing them back into their original shape is wise).

Has mushrooming's effect on the non-adjustable components of alignment been demonstrated? Does it grossly affect camber, caster, or other parameters, or are these concerns merely speculative?

 

Thanks for the suggestions, keep em coming.

LOL, Illinois roads. Where do I start? If you've heard anything on the news about our illustrious former governor, he sure didn't spend any of that dirty money on the roads. And I noticed that the front tires were wearing a little weird. It still handles well, but I just want to go through everything. So basically I think it needs to be gone through and re-aligned.

The place that I normally autoX isn't the smoothest. It's an old concrete flightline, so there's tons of grip, but it's bumpy.

The car was my wife's, now she's driving the family hauler. So, I'll make sure the wear items will be addressed. I know I want brakes (not sure which ones yet), I know the tires I want. I've already addressed the engine wear items and gotten a set of 15" Holies.

 

A guy who runs a 1st gen H-stock MINI was badly mushroomed and he said it was putting his front camber over 1 degree. So kinda like free camber plates... kinda

 

That doesn't sound like such a bad deal. He should figure out where that pothole is and try to hit it with the other wheel. In all seriousness, could strut tower deformation be grounds for a protest?

 

Not if you look stock and don't tell anyone.

Older cars can be beat up and if they have a bit more negative camber than when new that's fine. It is in stock condition with whatever the current state allows for.

As for strut tower reinforcement plates- Even though it is not a big deal, according to SCCA rules for stock class competition they are illegal and in my region we do not allow them.

It is not a matter of whether they are benefitial but whether they are allowed within the class of competition.

You may find that your competitors for your region have no objection if you are not a threat to leading the class or finishing in the top 10 on PAX overall.

 

Leading you're class sure....A Mini finishing in the top 10 in pax in the AZ Region....has never happened and probably never will.

 

Put Brian Peters in a MINI, he could probably get a top 10 pax.

 

Well, had the car checked out and they said that everything (motor/tranny mounts and susp.bushings) was in great shape. I was kind of surprised to hear this, but I trust the place I go to.

So, I guess the next step is brakes and tires. I cant afford R comps, nor do I have an third set of rims for them. But I like the Dunlop Direzza Z1 Star Spec. And I need to do a little more research for brake pads. Any suggestions?

 

Hmmmm...not sure about that one, he's one of the best (if not THE best driver in our region), and I don't doubt his skill I just don't think it's good enough to pull that off. Perhaps if certain people didn't show up it's possible even with me at the wheel! Now if we could get Mark Huffman to stay home with the D mod Lotus everybodys pax scores would go up 25 points automaticly!

Personaly I would be surprised if Brian could get in either my ST Mini or Pro David webb's GS Mini S and do better than .5 seconds per 30 seconds on the last course me and David tied in pax points at 947, Brian, driving a new to him Z06 scored a 976 which was good enough for 4th.

 

Wow! No love for the HS Mini Pax!!! It was a RARE thing last year when a Mini (GS or HS) wasn't 3 or 4 of the top 5 positions in the KC Region. Then again we have Ron Williams, Craig Wilcox, Greg Reno, Jerry Irvine all driving Mini's.