With Thanksgiving week upon us, a bit of free time opens up for some TLC on the kid’s car.

Wrenches, spanners, and shiny new parts staged for an onslaught tomorrow. I’ll update the thread once we’re done.

 

Im about to do this too with megans. Good luck! Watch those front lower bolts - like to shear.

 

I can see a fancy garage. What are the cars under covers - inquiring mind wants to know.

 

Boys and our toys. Ooooohhhhhh nice shiny blue springs.

Must be the same feeling the ladies get when shopping.

 

Pretty sure when my wife buys things they tend to be pricier and shinier...😜

Before...

 

The install went smoothly yesterday. No bolts were harmed, maimed, or broken fortunately.

Shocks were DEAD! Crusty goo under spring perches, pistons that refused to resurface from the depths of their housings, all the things we expected to find given the mileage and age.

The strut plate on the FR corner was bent significantly due to the impact. Had to get the hammer out to pound it flat again. Strut tower also had to be massaged as well.

During:


FL Strut was the worst of the lot.

Earning his keep. Front strut build.

Arms and Legs (and feet)

RR strut in.


After the install, car is now at the shop getting an alignment. Initial drive impressions, the B4s are pretty stiff compared to dead struts. Whodathunk?!

The car is slightly lower with the H-Sport springs, maybe 3/4" lower when combined with the B4s.

 

Excellent! There are few better bonding experiences between father and son than car wrenching, especially on such a fun car. The more he knows and gains respect for automotive engineering, the more likely he would be responsible. The drop is very sensible for a runabout. The stock dampers are pretty weak even when new. Those lower control arms seem good alternative to the H-sport at half the price. I wonder how well they hold.

I see you elected not to go bigger on the rear sway bar. May be down the road? Nothing wrong with taking a step at a time and experience the incremental changes.

Good that you started with an unadulterated Mini. The paint and trims looks immaculate. Nice cabinetry in the garage. I installed a set of Ikea kitchen cabinets. I wish I can install a lift, but the architecture of the house make it impossible.

 

The car was intended to be a project from the get go so we've been expecting to address all the usual suspects in terms of the maintenance, wear and tear, and include some fun stuff along the way.

The bonding time has been good. Eye opening for him since he's been intimidated by the complexity of it all. Now that's he and I have done quite a few things, the mystery of the 'car' is not so mysterious after all.

Don't be fooled by the pics, paint is tired, lots of dents here and there, but fortunately there's only be one owner before us and appears to be all original with no mods at all.

The lower control arms are Dorman products that look very much like the SPC product. The arms were $29 for the set on Amazon. I bought an extra set, just in case...

 

What you car has that allot do not is lack or road salt destruction. You really don't recognize how bad it is until you visit the old stomping grounds and see cars 3 to 5 years old with rust holes. One only has to think that if the outside looks that bad, how bad can the undercarriage be? Bad, real bad . . . . . .

 

Aw man, I wanna be a dad like you one day.

I can't imagine how happy I would be if my dad and I got to turn wrenches when I lived in the house. Especially if dad sprung for new struts, adjustable control arms, etc. Great job and happy motoring!

 

Living in Nor Cal, we are very fortunate to not have to worry as much about corrosion and rust. Those on the coast have the rust monster to contend with, but here in the Bay Area, we are fairly protected thankfully.

Okay, alignment done, camber was set at -2.0 in the rear and minimal toe. The right front toe was way out due the damage, but no other issues found.

The initial ride was B u M p Y. Wow. Riding on the bumpstops was crazy. Trimmed them down about 15mm front, 20mm rear restored the ride quality. Nicely firm, feels good.

 

Nice job! Nothing like a refreshed suspension to give the car new life .

I'm very curious to what kind of flooring you're using in your garage and impressions?

 

The mini rides like a new car now. Should be good for awhile, fingers crossed.

Originally wanted to do an epoxy coating, but the floor needed too much repair. What you see is a rollout vinyl flooring product. This covers it all and makes it a great place to work in. Cleaning up spills and dirt is super easy. it also keeps the dust down as well since there’s less concrete exposed.

 

Looks great, I just finished my garage like that! I wanted expoxy or nature stone but the concrete was beat up and nature stone is $$$$

Great work on the MINI also