I see there are these like plastic pockets that I assume is where you put the jack to lift up the car. How do you folks use a floor jack with these pockets? Thanks

 

I dont, the last time I tried I almost cracked one of them.

This is how I do it, works very well.

http://www.blimeycabrio.com/?p=76

 

I made a fitting out of oak. The top is rectangular, and fits snugly into the plastic jacking point, and the bottom has a hollowed-out circle to take the jack's lift cup. I originally made them for my '02 BMW wagon, which used the same jack point design as the MINI. The hydraulic jacks I use have a fairly small lift cup, only about 2" across. I use two small jacks and two fittings to raise one side at a time. They work great and can't slip.

 

Pictures?

 

I use a similar approach and put the jack stands under the plastic jack points. I think I got the idea from an earlier post about it. However, I find that I can't put the jack in the center of the 2x4 as it is pictured in the Blimey Cabrio blog. If I do, the rear wheel will go up, but the front will either stay on the ground, or not go high enough to get a jack stand under the front jack point. I place the jack about 8" behind the front jack point.

 

The jack points are scary. The front passenger side popped off when we were jacking up the car a few weeks ago. I am really glad the wheels were still on the car and that my husband wasn't underneath it.

I knew they were notorious for popping off, but it still scared the crap out of me when it happened.

 

Pretty basic, the top goes into the jack point fitting, the bottom fits onto the hydraulic jack cup. You lose about an inch in clearance, which may be an issue depending upon which MINI and jack you have.
It's made from three pieces of wood that have been glued together, the top rectangular piece, the base for that piece, and the bottom circle cutout that fits onto the jack cup. Any scrap "1-by" can be used, but make sure you use a quality carpenter's glue and clamps to set the three pieces together, and keep clamped for 24 hours to make sure the glue completely sets.

 

Excellent idea's folks! This is great stuff and now you really have me thinking about all the options. Not sure which option I'm going with but great advice. Thanks much!