Megans blown, it's official
 

Both rear Megans are blown. I removed these today to check travel and found oil all over the dampers. I can only guess that my spin-off at LRP and the tail happy behavior is being caused by the lack of damping, which will also cause the bumpstops to contact the damper. The slide at LRP was instantaneous, she just sanpped around.

6 track events and 34,000 miles. :mad:

Steve did replace the front cylinders under warranty in August. Good thing too:eek2:

lol did you expect anything more,honestly?

No. But the time frame was a wee bit shorter than I thought it would be. There has been knocking emanating from the two dampers for a while, but I let it go; the nut atop the Megans always comes loose and then the perch rattles around and so on. I figured it was more of the same...although the sound was a bit different. All the salt and sand caused the oil to cake, so there was no visual clue either.

On the upside, the timing couldn't be better. I just need these to hang in there for another four weeks or so.:) Ready to finally move on!

How is your JCW kit holding up? This is one viable option for me...

Moving on to ... what?

:wink: :wink: ... to...???
http://i20.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/89/f5/82eb_12.JPG

.... naaa, I don't think he's got the kajonas! :lol:

Whoa!
 

Meb, I can't see you driving a yellow car...What an odd looking Mini :lol: Say is that the lucky 13?

Greg and I have discussed just buying a track car already setup. A mustang ain't such a bad deal. Not very sophisticated, but sometimes blunt instruments get the job done with less fuss...and there are plenty of very quick Mustangs around. There are a few Mustangs and 3 series BMWs out there with trailers completely setup for track only in the 10-15K range...But then I would miss the process of tuning and learning.


I almost pulled the trigger on Leda. But I really need to think about my next move. You all know my Mini is a company car and as such I"m a little afraid of investing in this car. First I had a 335i then I didn't, then I did. I can't keep track of the decission making process at work.

I do have a 99Si that was given to me. This is already setup to the same degree the mini is. I can leave it or invesat more and make it a track only car. If so, I'll install a JCW or Dinan kit on the Mini and be done with it...but the Mini may make it into my hands in another year or two as a track only as well. A track only car makes a lot of sense, then I can just enjoy the Mini without become aggrivated by parts broken and worn from track use.

Kajonas...as long as my brain thinks for my kajonas I'll be fine. Those folks who let their kajonas do the driving end up in the weeds:lol:

Due to the political environment at work, and the fact that I don't actually own the Mini, I will probably just buy new Megan cylinders, replace the bumpstops and front springs as kurvhugr did. Perhaps I'll figure out how to re-valve these...

Ahhhh.... come on Michael! Don't do that. You'ed be way better off just putting the factory struts on with some H-Sports. Maybe a set of Koni yellows? You need to get that Mini back to "safe" driving mode and start to have some "fun" on the track. Ditch the frigging Megans!

Greg,

I hear you, but at any point the car can be taken away from me. So until I know I have a plateform that is truely mine...I can invest another $1,000 in th mini and it will be track ready - including an alignment and corner balancing.

The honda was given to me but I've not taken delivery. It will take about 10K to get this car ready for track only. Problem is, a large portion of the 10K is needed to simply update existing/worn components. This will not leave much for true performance mods. And, if I invested 10K in the mini now, it would kill the Honda - in braking and power output anyway.

The mustang or Bimmer options are looking better all the time...

Meb, I got a set of factory struts sitting in a box I took off for my Bilsteins you can have them for the cost of shipping...:thumbsup:

David

Take'm Meb! Just spend $300 for some springs and you'll have a good car. Just not sure why you would stay with megans when your car is so wacky with them. :confused:

David, thank you...let me sleep on it.

Greg,

Cuz I'm a bad driver and I need an excuse for my lowly times???:lol: 1:0495 was my best last Aug. at LRP.

That's a very good time Michael. Better then mine.:nod:

Well, it wasn't repeatable! That was in clean air - no cars - and scary with the bumpstop thingy going on. I hope I can be more consistent this year...

I spoke with Steve today regarding replacment cylinders. Apparently Megan have made changes to spring length, bumpstops and a few other tweaks. So I am going ahead with Megan. I think my first event is the end of April.

1:04 :eek: That's only about 8 seconds faster than me. Want an excuse for slow times, drive a Cooper. :lol:

I'm actually thinking about not putting Lime Rock on my schedule this summer. It's just so expensive to run there (compared to NHIS, Watkins Glen, Tremblant, etc).

I'll help pay your bill or you can stay at my place. Either way we would like to see your smiling face at LRP at some point.:thumbsup: And,you've only been on the track at LRP what, once? And with a fairly big power difference...you were just fine. In reality, 1:06s feel comfortable...I have to remember this is a company car:eek2: with no roll bar:eek2: :eek2: and potentially no job if I roll it:eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

Quick question on the blowout Meb, did you have the new bumpstops Steve was sending out last year, or was that only for the fronts? I'm still waiting on mine.

No. But check the new Megan update thread I just began