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. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

    May 13, 2015
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    I've driven my lowered Mini to California and back before I got the coilovers. The car was way harsher then and it wasn't too bad. It really is just the local roads here that are bad. Once out west or in the south, the car is great.

    One thing about the BC camber plates - if you want aggressive camber, get something else. I have had two alignments, and at my current lowering setting and max camber setting in the plates I cannot get better than -1.5 in front.

    Not that I want much more, but the car had far more camber when I bought it, using some Hotchkis camber plates with shorter springs. -2.5 degrees in front or something tire-shredding crazy like that. You only need that much for autocross or "stance" :cornut:
     
  2. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    -1.5 to -2 camber up front will do just fine for me.

    Here's the 'aggressive street' setup that I had on Jango.

    [​IMG]
     
  3. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Well... they estimated a week to do the paint work. It has been 8 days, so I gave 'em a call. The car still hasn't made it to paint, so it's gonna be Friday at the earliest. They said 1 week... I said 2 weeks. Hmmm....

    No harm. The UPS, FedEx and USPS delivery guys all know me by name now. It's a rare time that I come home atnd there isn't a stack of boxes on the front porch and I think that less than half of the stuff I ordered is here. I had to make an Excel sheet so I could keep track of all that stuff!
     
  4. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    It’s always better to not rush the paint guys.
     
  5. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    and don't start browsing craigslist when you're at a lull point in your project ;)

    I just saw a nice silver JCW 2005 S with 17k miles :Thumbsup: in Los Angeles... too expensive even with those low miles, though. All 12 year old Minis need a refresh, no matter if they have 17k or 88k miles on the clock.

    I'm starting to look for a car for my daughter now. She wants an automatic, so if it's a Mini it should be a better price, as the enthusiast cars are almost all manual. Thing is, I know nothing about automatics in Minis. And I am even looking at Peugeot-powered Clubmans... sacrilege! I have until spring to locate something that works for her. Doesn't have to be a Mini, but I saw her face when she saw my electric blue. At first she thought it was for her. Then she saw the stick...
     
  6. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Is it her first car? Get her an older Toyota or Honda as they are safe and very reliable. Auto Mini’s are known to have issues.
     
  7. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    yeah, first car. Good to know about auto Minis. Other options we're exploring are Prius, Subaru Outback or some Volvo wagon AWD. But I really just need to teach her to drive a stick one more time, just as a last ditch effort to possibly get another 2005 R53 ;-)
     
  8. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    For an auto, ignore all R50s. The auto-transmission on the non-S costs more than the car is worth to replace and they are a known weak-link. The R53 has a decent auto transmission, but they are rarely serviced well, so stick to one with under 100k if you gotta have a fourth MINI in the family.
     
  9. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Dayum this is a pretty part! I'm so glad that someone stepped up to make a replacement for the crap factory part. Now, if they would just do a clutch slave...

    [​IMG]
     
  10. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I'm a compulsive list maker (and a project manager by trade). Here's my punch-list of work to be done in the 'Engine service/refresh' phase. I've got a huge pile of parts and it's only growing, so my normal process of looking about the garage to see what's on the shelf that should be on the car isn't gonna work. Plus I like picking up a pen and checking off items when a job is done, so there's that... :D

    I've tried to cluster the work into chunks, so I'm not un-doing work I did earlier in the process.

    Crank Pulley replacement
    Front Crank Seal replacement
    Serpentine Belt replacement
    New Vibrotechnics engine mount (passenger side, top)
    New tensioner assembly
    New, metal idler pulley
    New timing chain tensioner
    New timing chain guiderails
    valve cover gasket and valve cover seals (4)

    Fuel Filter change

    Cooling fan resistor rebuild
    Change supercharger oil
    Oil change
    New Oil Pan gasket
    Coolant change
    New Water Pump
    Coolant tank install
    new Crank sensor o-ring
    dipstick o ring
    supercharger gaskets

    brass bleeder screw for coolant system

    Oil Catch Can

    New Thermostat
    New Thermostat housing

    Fuel filter

    cabin air filter

    Transmission fluid change

    Out of scope: Suspension and brakes... I'll start getting those items organized once I get close to having the engine service done. I've got some parts on the shelf for that work... I'm keeping my eyes on the forums and snatch up parts at a bargain when I can. I've got some front lower control arm brackets and bushings out in the garage, and a set of lower rear control arms as well.
     
  11. Grizld700

    Grizld700 Well-Known Member

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    Fuel filter twice?
     
  12. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Oil catch cans are wasted money on an R53.
     
  13. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I've looked into catch cans and never found any information that would support that they work on the R53. I just clean the intercooler and other parts each time I do super charger oil service or take it off for some other reason.
     
  14. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    It is VERY dirty! :p

    Yeah... I've seen R53s that make a tablespoon or two of condensate over a year and ones that need the OCC cleaned out every 2-3 months. I found a nice looking one on Amazon for 30-something bucks and it's an easy enough mod to do, so I'm gonna do it. In for a penny, in for a pound. If nothing else, it's a mechanism to monitor change in the internals. It won't really diagnose anything in particular, but a change in accumulation rate could be something interesting to know.
     
  15. myles2go

    myles2go Active Member

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    The VT mounts are really nice!

    As for the clutch slave, Colin set me up with an S10 slave kit. It works great.
     
  16. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I see these things as an easy way to introduce a vacuum leak I don't need. But then all my cars are insured for sub 4000 miles per year driving and oil in the system doesn't get much of a chance to accumulate between cleanings.

    Even with going on a nearly 2000 mile road trip, my Dark Silver, the mile king of the bunch, has done 2200 miles for the entire year. Chili Red about 1000 miles, and I am still on the first gas tank of electric blue. All had their intercoolers cleaned this year and only the electric blue (which has never been cleaned by me) had some noticeable oil in it.
     
  17. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    That kit was sold out forever and now doesn't even show on the web site any longer :(
     
  18. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I didn't even know that there was an aftermarket R53 clutch slave solution. I burned through 3-4 of 'em on Jango and bought a new one to put on Rufus as a preventative measure. I'd love to have a sturdy metal one... or anything less prone to leaking. I'll have to contact Colin soon about coil-overs... I'll ask about the slave then.
     
  19. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Oh yeah... I heard back from the paint shop this morning. Rufus will be ready on Monday afternoon. It looks like the driver's door rust issue was much larger than they anticipated once they got it open. The rust spot was smaller than a dime, but of course that was just what you could see. The nasty stuff was underneath. They saved a bit for me... I'll send pics when I get the car next week. (2 weeks to the day)
     
  20. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Ugh... delivery pushed back to Tuesday (today) afternoon. :(

    Is it weird that I come to this thread so I can see the pics and not miss Rufus so much?
     

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