Got plates for the blue car at the DMV, then sold my Tundra so I have more funds to blow on Minis After that I ordered some decent tires to replace the Chinese no-names the seller thought were a good choice. Later a package from Crutchfield arrived to get me started on some audio upgrades while the seats are out and the cables can be run easily, but tomorrow I'm at Road America, so this all has to wait until Sunday. Until I get all that sorted I have to drive my son's Mini
Cleaned the carbon from the intake valves using solvents and brushes and changed the oil today. Took it for a short test drive afterwards. It's a little more peppy and in sport mode it seems like there are more cracks and pops. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Spent the day in the garage wrenching on two Minis. More brake and front suspension assembly on one car, then OEM radio removal and some initial install steps of a new headunit in the blue car. In between during an errand, I had a warning light come on in the red Mini - the center yellow light down low, something with the emission system. Went away after restarting the car before I could pull a code. Hmm
Had that not been out in the middle of nowhere and unattended, I wouldn't have stopped there to check the map. With that said, all three cars were left running and parked toward the road for a quick get away just incase an alarm were to sound. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I dropped my car at Sewell MINI of Plano today for an oil change and State inspection. I was way past due for a brake fluid flush, so went ahead and got that too. The oil change price is very competitive, and the State inspection price is set by the State of Texas. The brake flush isn't cheap, but I don't have the gear to do it, and I know they'll do it right. It is due for new plugs, and needs a new air filter and cabin filter, but I'm going to do those things myself. They are backed up in the service department. So, I'm in a free loaner, with a full tank of free gas and a free tolltag, so it's time to run a whole lot of errands around Dallas. The loaner is a base model four-door F series. Not my taste in a color combination -- dark green with a black roof and black wheels. But, it has a Harmon Karden sound system that is rather nice. CD
I got the wind deflector I bought from EBay as I totally ruined my other one by being lazy and stupid in not putting it away properly. And then I dropped a tool on it that went right through the mesh leaving a gaping hole. The new one is mint and even came with the original instructions.
I really need to get all the pics together for both my old r53 that a buddy bought, stripped down to interior shell, and have been redoing, it's been a super fun project. I knew he would be an AWESOME MINI owner. I put on the blacked out side markers on Wolfgang, looks sharp! Also, been replacing all bulbs with LEDS, a few have required resistors, but it's night and day difference.
Came home from work today... Parked my company van and just saw how disgusting the poor Mini looked. Took it upon myself to wash it, polish it, clean the inside, and degrease the engine.. Now I feel better, and I'm sure DaCoopa does too!
dropped the gray car off the jacks for the first time in a month. The 12mm spacers were a tad wide after all , so back up it went. Also dropped the coilovers too much. There was about 1/2 inch of clearance in front before rub. So one more round of coilover twisting, and the search for 5 to 8mm spacers is on. Lucky I can use the 12mm spacers on one of the other cars that are riding almost 2" higher off the ground.
I got my MINI back from Sewell MINI of Plano. Now that there work is done, I need to replace my air and cabin air filters, and my plugs. I think I'm going to go down to my friend's/customer's place, RAC Performance, and work in their air-conditioned shop. It is HOT here this week, and the ragweed pollen is ridiculous. The lighting in their shop is also way better than my garage. CD
And another night of measuring, jacking up, coilover adjustments, dropping, measuring, rinse repeat. Seems like my original math to get to what I wanted didn't take into account that the Swift springs on the BC coilovers were brand new when I took my baseline numbers. Turns out they sagged significantly more in front (engine weight) than in back, so that's where the odd rake came from. Time to start over and just look at fender to ground and fender gap. I can't seem to get this car off the jacks. Also, is it normal that the actual measured gap between lock washers on the coil overs is significantly different from left to right side of the car? Both my drive side coils are about 10mm higher than the right side, and that is without driver in the car, fenders exactly the same height off the ground. Waiting for less aggressive spacers, shorter studs and different lug nuts to complete this journey before heading with it to an alignment shop. After fixing all the bushings and ball joints in the front, the camber of the wheels seems to be far less on the driver side than passenger side. Guess something got fixed.
Got mine back from the bodyshop and returned the rental. So happy to have my JCW back. It's such a good car to drive.
I did this same dance at least 4 times when I first put coil-overs on Jango, my first R53. I was fairly unscientific from the get-go, though. I dialed the height setting to something close to what I wanted... drove for a day or two... jack it up and adjust (based on top-of-wheel to arch distance)... repeat... and repeat... and repeat. After a few weeks and a few hundred miles, the coil-overs, springs and new bushings had settled and things were stable enough for the alignment to stick, so I made the appointment and took it in. When I installed all of the other adjustable bits (control arms, etc), I pre-set them as close as possible (by eye and tape measure) to the same length as the stock bits, so the alignment would be too awful for the first few weeks of settling.
While you're waiting for parts you could raise the ride height enough to clear everything and drive it for a couple hundred miles to allow the springs to settle. I found that mine dropped a measurable difference after driving for a week or so after installing my NM springs. You may have already done this and I just didn't read the post. Just a suggestion since you're waiting for parts.