I put together a list of items to repair on my daughter's Mini before the Summer motoring season started. Memorial Day has come and gone, but actual Summer doesn't start until later in the month, so technically I'm still on schedule

I've installed the color-matched replacement hood, but final tightening will wait until all the other repairs are complete and I can make any last adjustments so that the panel gaps are even. The new front wheel bearings/hubs and brake dust shields are also installed.

As part of replacing the radiator, AC condenser and radiator support/carrier, the replacement carrier I purchased is a 3-piece unit. I've already moved the original warning labels to the new carrier. Now, I'm modifying how the replacement carrier is assembled so that I can ideally remove only the center section, if needed. The original bolts and screws are pretty simple, and if I used them I would not be able to easily disassemble the center from the wings of the carrier. I'm using stainless rivet nuts and all stainless bolts/washers/screws to make the connections, now. The included HW is in the bag vs. the stainless upgrades I'm making.

And here are a couple of the rivet nuts in place on one of the wings of the carrier...

And here is where the bolts are positioned to secure the upper portion of the center of the carrier to the wing...

In addition to those 2 upper bolts on each side, there are the 2 self-tapping screws that will screw in from the back on the lower section. All of those should be accessible and removeable for aiding in future repairs.

When I replaced the clutch hydraulic lines, I had trouble getting the grommet at the firewall seated correctly. It's a difficult location to reach, as it is behind the vacuum booster (yellow arrow) - I scratched up my forearms on the body sheet metal in my attempts to get the right angle of attack on it.


After taking a moment to step back, I realized that the cowl vent/grills (green arrow) can be removed and would provide the access I needed. After that was removed, I was able to quickly get the grommet in place 🤦




The clips on the cowl grills are pretty weak (especially after 20yrs), so I added some JB Weld epoxy behind them at their weak point to give them a little more strength.


We're also installing new hood scoop trim.


The screw bosses for it a pretty weak design, so I added a little JB Weld on those, too.



The AC repairs that are in progress as part of this re-fresh are being tracked here.

Slowly but surely, progress is being made on the Mini. The remaining items to tackle are:

• Headlight Reconditioning
• New Radiator
• New AC Condenser
• New Radiator Support
• Bilstein B6 Rear Shocks
• New upper and lower shock/spring seats and pads
• New upper shock bushings
• New Shift Linkage cables
• New Coolant Reservoir
• New oil-filter-housing to block gasket
• New oil-filter-housing to oil cooler gaskets
• New Valve Cover Gasket
• New Rear control arms (4)
• New Rear Trailing arm mounts (2)
• New AC lines (as needed)
• New AC Expansion Valve
• Replace Radiator Fan and Resistor

 

Awesome!

 

I installed the new carbon-fiber-look hood scoop yesterday.


Now I just need to find the replacement grille for the hood - I think that's in the attic in the shop.

The JB Weld had set, so I also re-installed the cowl grille.


I ordered new black-and-chrome Mini emblems for the hood and trunk badges - those will be nice to have freshened!