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The proper plugs come pre-gapped. There are a number of posts about spark plugs and gaps. You might also want to check the spark coil.
Yes i Know that plugs come pregapped. However, they don't tell you what the gap is. I did a quick search and it's 1mm for the gap. Why is it so big? On my Volvo C30, it's around the .20 range.
Originally Posted by Mini Mania
Here's a handy spark plug application guide that should help:
Thanks I replaced them with Beru from Amazon. I put them in and the CEL is still on. Should I reset it and see if it comes back or does it disappear by itself?
Here's from today's autocross at a local club. I signed up for the FWD class. Came in 2nd. This is my fastest scratch and i couldn't do it again. Checking later runs, I was further away from the cones.
So tomorrow I will be driving out to Lincoln, NE for Nationals. I won't be driving the mini there unfortunately. I still haven't put the Koni's on yet or the JCW front bar. So I am going to drive this instead. =p
Of course! This was the East course which was really fun!
I had a lot of fun. I did a lot better than I did last year. Which is huge. Once my Friday runs were done, we drove back to Boston overnight to make it to the local BMW event on Sunday.
This was my fastest Scratch of 79.999+1 and the fastest Mini to break out of 80s.
Say, did you meet up with a guy named Charlie Thompson? Drives a Green MINI Gen III Cooper is stock class...He's from your area.
Originally Posted by cmt52663
That's gotta be a yes, as that was Sam Creasey' STS Crx...
Lol,
Charlie
Originally Posted by Eddie07S
Hey Charlie, you do get around.
Seems as though at least a few of the MINI drivers had a good time
Yes we do! Too bad I missed you Charlie from the last event. Barbs said you did your novice instruction and left due to feeling under the weather. I hope you're better.
Now for last event's video. I don't know what happened in the beginning and overdrove. I made it up in the slaloms. If I had not messed up in the beginning, I would've been at least in the 65s -66s. Well good enough for 4/12 in HS.
Well news on the Konis. I sent them in to Lee at Koni NA to look at with the spring perches. Long story short I bought a set of B8 Bilsteins and going to have the rears revalved. The converted double adjustable Koni Yellows will be going on sale soon if anyone wants them.
O.K. Recap from the last 2 weekends. Last Sunday, I ran with Track Club USA and it was pouring! Luckily I switched to the PIAA Super Silicone wipers and omg they wipe a lot better and clearer than factory blades! If i wasn't dirty, I would've won the fwd class. Oh well. Better luck next time. Here is a video to enjoy.
Later that week on Friday after work I finally put on the B8 Bilsteins. I don't think the springs settled yet... Install was pretty straightforward. The quality of these dampers are A LOT BETTER THAN KONI's. The shock body at least has the spring perches welded on the fronts. The only gripe I have is that the boxes they get shipped in are not that well protected. So I got a few bent tabs for the abs and brake lines which a couple whacks of the hammer solved. I also took out the crash pin on the front top plates to get more front camber. Seemed simple enough. The removal of the factory front struts was amazing! For a car with 55k miles, there was a nice film of oil on the shock body that touches the knuckle. It made removing it from the knuckle a piece of cake! Other cars I've done that too don't have that.
So I took it for a spin with my gf and it handles the bumps nicely at first! Ride quality was amazing and very comfortable omg. It's a lot better than the factory dampers. I like it a lot. However I expected more from them because of driving that CRX. Maybe because the CRX has stiffer springs and is valved differently. One of the local guys there has a shock dyno and is going to revalve the rears for me.
I have mixed feelings about the at today's event. At first they felt weird. Maybe I was expecting too much from them. However they are a lot better than the factory shocks. I am pleased with how they perform. I don't think I was driving that great today either. However, on my last run I ran out of ****s and decided to just mash that throttle and hit all of the cones. I was amazed that it was handling all of my fast/abrupt inputs that the factory shocks would hate! Now to drive it more aggressive like that and clean it up! I may have a chance of winning HS finally! We have one more event with the SCCA club and next week is BMW! I can't wait to get more seat time!
My B8 were bought used from someone in TX who supposedly used them in a "killer" MINI autocross car. I have to agree with you that the ride is way far better than the stock sports suspense shocks, but they overall have better control. On the track they are an interesting combination of soft and hard (not sure how else to describe it) which was something that I noticed the first time out with then. At LRP they were far better at controlling the pitch of the car through the esses that the stock MINI sport shocks. Revalving them to be a bit stiffer in the back should help to make the car rotate better.
The end links that Craig Wilcox used on his DS mini were Alta's. I've been reading up on the differences between the ball vs the heim style end links. I'm really torn between the two. I don't daily my mini as I have my c30 and that makes more suspension noises. So for now the end links are on hold. My top choice would be Alta but I am considering white line and anyone else.
wait how is he changing endlinks and staying in DS ?
wait how is he changing endlinks and staying in DS ?
According to section 13.7.A:
Substitution, addition, or removal of a single anti-roll bar and supporting hardware (brackets, endlinks, bushings, etc.) is permitted. The use of any bushing material is permitted. A bushing may be implemented as a bearing.
I can see how that can be read to allow changing the endlinks for the bar you're replacing to adjustables. Also, I know of other people that have used adjustable endlinks on Street class cars. Not that that's an official ruling,
My B8 were bought used from someone in TX who supposedly used them in a "killer" MINI autocross car. I have to agree with you that the ride is way far better than the stock sports suspense shocks, but they overall have better control. On the track they are an interesting combination of soft and hard (not sure how else to describe it) which was something that I noticed the first time out with then. At LRP they were far better at controlling the pitch of the car through the esses that the stock MINI sport shocks. Revalving them to be a bit stiffer in the back should help to make the car rotate better.
It should. after the valving, I'm going to finally get the alignment done. 0 toe all around! However at this past sunday's event with 40* weather they seem to rotate very well!
Originally Posted by kyoo
part of me wishes I didn't get my bilsteins custom valved - nice ride is NOT how I would describe mine lol
I am going to get mine valved digressively. It seems that setup works very well at Devens and Lincoln.
Originally Posted by mega72
wait how is he changing endlinks and staying in DS ?
Originally Posted by cenotaph
According to section 13.7.A:
I can see how that can be read to allow changing the endlinks for the bar you're replacing to adjustables. Also, I know of other people that have used adjustable endlinks on Street class cars. Not that that's an official ruling,
Correct! You cannot change both front and rear endlinks.
Last sunday was BMW's last event. Won my class again and beat all the other Mini's. The autocross chair also owns an r53 mini that she prepped pretty well but was not doing so well today. I outrawed her pretty bad. but here is my fastest scratch. It was my first afternoon run. I'm pretty sad I couldn't get faster than that. 75.128+1. My hands are all over the place.
had a milestone on Friday. I guess it's time for its 1st oil change. I am looking around for filters. It looks like FCP Euro has the cheapest from Hengst.
I was driving to Racetek in New Hampshire to get my catback measured so I can get a custom straight pipe thin walled stainless with a downturn at the end. I believe 2.25" is where I want to go.
Going without any mufflers? I'm sure that will be fun, but are you sure you won't get in trouble with the noise restrictions at events?
At any rate, HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Well I took that into account and used a downturn to "trick" the sound meter. I worked sound at events before and they have a pretty decent microphone that they set at 75 ft and you can't go past 90db. I'm pretty sure the D series Honda motors and F series are louder than these motors. The cat itself will tone it down and the downturn would help reflect some sound off the ground. Even if it's too loud, I asked Racetek to at least let me be able to put the factory muffler back on for emissions testing. So I'm sure I'll will be O.K.
I think Charlie Thompson removed the muffler and left the resonator on his gen III MINI and from what I can tell from his videos it sounds pretty good.
I think Charlie Thompson removed the muffler and left the resonator on his gen III MINI and from what I can tell from his videos it sounds pretty good.
