1. MS3brohanna

    MS3brohanna New Member

    Nov 13, 2017
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    Brewery QC
    St Louis, MO
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    Hello!

    New to the forum and the platform. All my experience is with mazdaspeeds. I've had 2 modified speed3s as my dailies (and occasional racecars) since I've owned cars. Also have a class-prepped Speed6 for autocross which I took third in at SCCA Nationals this year.

    I just picked up a blue 2003 Mini S "as my daily," upon selling my original speed3. I was looking for something a bit more compact (see: current garage situation below) with just as much personality. But who am I kidding. I'll race that too. At half the HP of my speed3, this little bugger is almost certainly more fun!


    Really excited to get involved with the forum and the platform!
     

    Attached Files:

  2. Goldsmithy

    Goldsmithy MINI Alliance Ambassador
    Articles Moderator Supporting Member

    Jan 30, 2015
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    Main Street in the land of Oz
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    Welcome to M/A...great site and greater people. Looks like a great car you got there. Enjoy...
     
  3. vetsvette

    vetsvette MINI Alliance Ambassador

    Nov 9, 2013
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    Welcome to the forum. What's your first mod gonna be?
     
  4. wmwny

    wmwny Well-Known Member

    May 29, 2009
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    Welcome to M/A! :Thumbsup:
     
  5. MS3brohanna

    MS3brohanna New Member

    Nov 13, 2017
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    Brewery QC
    St Louis, MO
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    Thanks everyone!

    I'm gonna look into how a smaller pulley for the blower will affect reliability/motor life. If it doesn't look too bad, that'll most certainly be it!

    Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk
     
  6. Sully

    Sully Administrator
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    Jul 21, 2015
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    RE: garage space... that is like when I load up the trailer to go riding.. nose to tail with a pad between the cars. Can’t wait to see when you start racing it..
     
  7. 00Mini

    00Mini Well-Known Member

    Feb 24, 2013
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    Enjoy your new ride and Welcome to Motoring Alliance the bestest MINI forum on the interweb !!
     
  8. MS3brohanna

    MS3brohanna New Member

    Nov 13, 2017
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    Brewery QC
    St Louis, MO
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    +0 / 0 / -0
    And it begins! Went to get the state safety inspection done today and found out that the wheel bearing that I noticed was bad was REALLY bad. There was a little ball peeking out of it! And that corresponding axle boot is ripped (also noticed that). AND, the lower ball joint on the other side was being held in place with some sort of witchcraft rather than bolts! Speaking of which, if anyone happens to know the thread/pitch/length of those lower control arm bolts, you'd be my savior! The coop will hang out in the garage until the parts come in, hopefully I'll get it fixed up this weekend.

    And now, to fix the Mazda some more. I just did the axle on that the weekend before last (which didn't fix it), and now we think we've narrowed the problem down to the control arm bushing.

    I bought the mini after the mazda had been down for 2 weeks for the front axle/driveline issue, and now I've got the same on the Mini! At least I can appreciate the irony!
     
  9. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
    Staff Member Articles Moderator Supporting Member

    Jul 31, 2009
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    Welcome to MA! The R53 is a great car to Mod. I would go with a 15% pulley unless you are going to sink money in a GP intercooler or meth injection. I have a 17% but the delta on the heat rise is significant. Its easy to drop the sub frame to do the work on the suspension. You take off the front bumper first then unhook all the parts holding the subframe. the power steering reservoir unbolts and comes out with the subframe as one unit. The front control bushings more than likely will need to be changed the stock ones only last about 40k replace them with power flex bushings.

    We are good at helping other people spend their money on Mods.:D
     
  10. Sully

    Sully Administrator
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    Jul 21, 2015
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    We are good at helping other people spend their money on Mods.

    :)
     
  11. Sully

    Sully Administrator
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    Jul 21, 2015
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    +1,102 / 8 / -0
  12. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
    Lifetime Supporter

    May 4, 2009
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    Burbs of Philly, PA
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    +14,644 / 10 / -4
    Welcome to M\A, ask all the questions you want we have answers. We can help you save money by telling you what’s junk and what really works like a 15% pulley over a 17% if you don’t have a Howerton/ Aquamist methanol kit.

    Only use OEM wheel bearings because the cheap ones will not last long. Don’t buy crap rebuild axles as they will fail also.

    Jan at RMW sells a set (pair) of strong we’ll build race axles that cost less then one OEM axle.
     

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