1st Gen JCW Refreshing Rufus - 2005 MCS JCW

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by agranger, Aug 21, 2017.

  1. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    But I did get to break out my color pencils, so it was a win for everyone! :D
     
  2. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    :D
     

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  3. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Fixed that for you...

    [​IMG]
     
  4. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Too funny!:lol:
     
  5. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #165 agranger, Nov 1, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2017
    I spent way too much time last night sorting through the 2" thick pile of paperwork that the previous owner of Rufus passed along to me. Most of it was service records, with a close second of import paperwork and letters to US Customs and Homeland Security to allow the car to move from Canada to Texas. I decided to create an Excel sheet, so I could order it all by date and get a comprehensive picture of what has happened to Rufus before I got him.

    A few surprises:
    1. He became a US Citizen in early 2013... so 8 years in the salt.
    2. If you know another romance language, French service records aren't too hard to read
    3. Translate.google.com is a wonderful thing
    4. In the past few years, he got a new Alternator, control arm bushings, front swaybar (was rusted through - yikes!), starter, exhaust manifold w/ Cat
    5. "Leak found in the rollover valve and a crack in the filler neck" was noted on a service document and the service declined by the previous owner.

    It looks like I get to go crawling around under the car this weekend to see what can be done about the filler neck ($120 new). I've been all over the RealOEM diagrams and can't find mention of a roll-over valve on the fuel system... Anyone? Bueler?

    [​IMG]
     
  6. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #166 agranger, Nov 1, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 3, 2017
    Another surprise from the stack of documents... the name of the first owner! I'm #3. From Davin, owner #2, I knew that #1 was a doctor in Canada and with the name, city and job, Google was able to find him! I popped into his website and sent a message. Well... I just got a nice long letter from him, including photos from when Brutus (formerly known as the Beast) was brand new! Hi Ben!

    Some of the photos he sent from when Brutus was 2-3 years old:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  7. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I was able to get a little bit of time out in the garage today... life has been conspiring against my work on Rufus. I got all of the side marker (arch lights / reflectors) replaced and functional (many new bulbs, 4 new reflectors and 1 new socket). I also got everything stripped from the car that might get misplaced during a stay in the body shop and got the side sills loaded up and ready to go. Rufus is ready for a week or two in paint-camp, his first time away from home for more than a few hours since the purchase this summer.
     
  8. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Wow... I just ordered a butload of parts! ECS was running a sale on their assembled kits (15%) and OEM parts (5%), so it was time to do it. I wound up buying from 6 different places to get everything I need!

    • superdamper crank pulley + crank seal + puller
    • tensioner, idler pulley and new belt
    • Vibra-Technics engine damper
    • a bunch of seals and gaskets
    • water pump
    • fuel filter and gaskets
    • oil, filter, etc
    • Redline MTL transmission oil
    • timing chain guide rails and tensioner
    • supercharger oil
    • thermostat, housing, bolts, coolant
    • A can of chili-red aerosol spray and clearcoat (for engine bay touch-ups)
    • brake fluid & a new pressure bleeder
    • a handful of other bits and pieces
    • cabin filter
     
  9. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    cha ching! wow. you "saved" big on that order :D Looks like you won't run out of things to do for a while.
     
  10. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I also emailed Colin of Greene Performance, asking how his coil-overs are different from the standard BC Coilovers with Swift spring upgrades. Here's his response:

     
  11. myles2go

    myles2go Active Member

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    I really like the shocks he builds. I’ve had them on my GP since spring of 2014.
     
  12. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    Not sure if I am in love with my Greene Performance coilovers. Never had anything else on the car other than the stock Mini setup, or broken lowering springs with Koni (that is how I bought that car). The coilover ride is somewhere between those two extremes, closer to the broken lowering springs than stock suspension, though. Too harsh for a daily driver in this state of unrepaired roads.

    The comfort was fine driving it south of Illinois, and out west in the desert, but here with our cratered roads? OMG I would feel sorry for the car driving it here as a commuter and errand car. Some roads are just absolutely dreadful and I am using Greene's recommended shock settings and springs, so I guess it doesn't get much softer. You compromise a lot to get that go kart handling, and it has that handling: there is no lean in fast corners, and it runs on rails around roundabouts, but our shitty roads here are so bad, I really had to buy another Mini for daily driving with a softer suspension, so that over time I can turn that stiffly sprung car into a single purpose more aggressive sports car where comfort is not required.

    I cannot imagine anyone builds a shock/coilover that can be significantly more comfortable while lowered as much as I have lowered my car, so it's just the nature of the beast that things will get harsh when you reduce suspension travel. And if your roads suck like they do here, you should really think hard about what the purpose of the car is before lowering it. In Texas, it probably doesn't matter at all.
     
  13. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    can you document how you change the guide rails? I need to do that, too, but can't find much of a how-to. I know you are supposed to be able to do that from the top, but no idea if I need the cam locking tool to do that job
     
  14. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Call Colin and see what he says about adjusting them,or different softer Swift springs.

    You could set the shocks softer and see if that help a little. I live in PA and we also have crappy salty roads and I agree no higher end coilovers will be perfect on our crap roads full of pot holes.

    You have to balance out it what is more important to you, grip and stability or comfort. If you want both you have to buy very expensive coil-overs.
     
  15. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    The R53 has Koni yellows and Eibach springs it works but thanks to Mark and his good taste, the R58 has Colin's coilovers. They are great. I have not got to push them to the limit but I can say they have kept the wheels planted to the road.
     
  16. myles2go

    myles2go Active Member

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    I second what Dave said, a softer spring rate can make the daily driver less harsh. That said, my suspension is firm but compliant and the tire stay planted to the road. The OEM setup on the GP had softer springs but the ride could be just as harsh or worse over bumps and potholes as the suspension bottoms out.
     
  17. myles2go

    myles2go Active Member

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    It’s been a couple years but here are the basic steps I followed when replacing my chain guides.

    Timing Chain Guide Replacement

    1) Lift car and secure the car.
    2) Remove front tires – If you have help or the cam tool or a helper you could skip this step.
    3) Support engine from below.
    4) Remove intercooler.
    5) Remove engine mount bracket.
    6) Remove valve cover.
    7) Remove cam sensor.
    8) Remove threaded plugs from head to access guide bolts.
    9) Mark or secure cam timing for reassembly.
    The Bentley manual says:
    Rotate the engine until the triangular adjustment mark on the cam sprocket is at 12 o’clock and then use paint to mark the chain and sprocket and the crank damper and chain cover so you can realign the marks for reassembly. This approach allows you to remove the cam sprocket and give more room to pull the guides, but make sure you get everything lined up when reassembling.

    Alternatively, I used zip ties to secure the chain to the sprocket. This give less room to pull the guides up, but there was adequate room to pull the guides and lesser chance of bad timing on reassembly.
    10) Loosen the cam bolt.
    If you have the cam tool use it to loosen the cam bolt. Alternatively, if you have a helper, have them put the car in first gear and press the brake pedal hard while you loosen the cam bolt.

    OR, as I did, place the car in first gear and use screw drivers in the veins of the brake rotors, against the caliper bracket, to hold the engine from spinning while you loosen the cam bolt.
    11) Remove timing chain tensioner
    12) Use a bungy cord attached to the hood to apply tension to the cam sprocket while you remove the cam bolt and sprocket from the cam.
    13) Remove the bolt holding the rear guide and you should be able to move the chain and sprocket around enough to get the guide to pull out.
    14) Remove the bolt holding the front guide and move the chain around to pull the guide out.
    15) Replace in opposite order. The front fixed guide is held at the bottom by a stud that it slides over as you lower it in place, just hug the front and it should fall right in place.

    My guides had broken so I followed this up with pulling the oil pan and removing the pieces. While I was in there I installed a baffled oil pickup tube from RMW to prevent oil starvation.
     
  18. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #178 agranger, Nov 12, 2017
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2017
    Myles! Very nice write-up. I was planning on something like your zip-tie method. I haven't seen it written up anywhere nearly as well as this. I'm hoping to add some photos and put it in the MA library when I'm done.

    I've had the KWv2 coilovers on an R53 before that was my daily driver. It was stiff and my wife didn't like riding in it very much, but she LOVED driving it! :D Basically, any daily driver MINI with any coil-over setup is a severe trade off for looks/performance, sacrificing comfort. It sounds like Colin was seeking better performance and got it by softening the system a bit, which gives you a bit nicer daily drive.

    Rufus is a fun car for me. I'm willing to sacrifice the softness for performance. If I ever take him on a long drive like MINI Takes the States, I might regret that decision by day 2 or 3, but oh well...

    I like the BC build quality. Swift makes a quality spring. I also like that, for the price, you get adjustable front camber plates, which brings this coil-over price down to a fairly bargain price. You can get BC coil-overs w/ swift springs and adjustable plates for about $400 cheaper than Colin offers, but his units are re-valved and have some custom work to tune them for our cars. I also like having someone who knows our cars AND serious suspension design to talk through the options. Supporting that kind of expertise is a good thing for the MINI community and I'll probably be giving him a call in a few months, once my credit card recovers a bit from my last set of orders! :D
     
  19. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    FYI Colin coilsovers only use the BC housings and lock nut adjusters and adjustable Camber plates that’s it.

    All 4 shocks are NOT BC’s at all. He has a high end manufactures custom valves shocks that he adds to them and he adds the Swift Springs. The cost should be $1000 more than they are be he is a small business and wants people to have a truely great setup.

    That’s the reason his BC’s are 1000 % better than the all BC crap coilovers.
     
  20. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    My solution was to buy another Mini and drive that where I don't want to go with the grip car. The lowered Mini now can get racing buckets, roll bar or cage, etc. No more "it already is uncomfortable" excuses.

    I am running on Colin's recommended springs and shock settings. Nothing autocross stiff. It just seems to be the nature of our roads here, especially the Wisconsin special "we'll-lower-your-taxes-" broken concrete seam combined with 70+mph traffic. They cut them out and put in a band aid concrete spacer strip - and you have two new seams that will crumble and tear up tires for years.
     

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