1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Got the subframe out. Now what?

Yes, the cans on the Miltek are small enough to fit a diffuser. A straight thru exhaust on a R53 is a bad idea if you like to drive the car any distance. The drone from a straight thru exhaust on a R53 and it will drive you mad on the highway.

 

Here is a thread I started, yesterday, on how to view Photobucket photos even though they were turned off by Photobucket.

https://www.motoringalliance.com/forums/site-feedback/29887-fix-photobucket-woes.html

 

Yup, I have a straight through exhaust hanging in my garage now. Is it loud? Yup at WOT
Does it drone? not really I can talk with people in the car with no issues while driving at cruising speed. I have drove it to the Dragon from PA and it was fine.
Did I need to cut up my battery box to install it? Nope it goes right under the battery box.

Why did I remove it? It attracts cops and it is too much for daily driving around town. If I went out to the track I could put it back on but my Milltek sounds perfect so I stick with that for now.

 

Never mind the straight layout - reading that you can do a diffuser with Miltek, hey, I'm sold on that plan.

 

just wanted to add this image to the thread for future reference - it is my driver side front ARB bushing area after I chipped off the bulging paint that had deformed the old bushing. Once cleaned up, it is now a lesser diameter than the original bar, plus still rather abrasive. I sourced a clean replacement bar from ebay to fit my new bushings without spending major efforts to recondition this one to spec diameter and smooth surface. That was on a 2005 car that has barely ever seen salt and is more or less rust free.




Got only one more A-Arm to get back on the subframe before it goes back in.

 

One more rust detail - check your A-Arms when they are off the car. Outside this one looked fine, but I was able to shake a huge amount of flaky rust out of its inside. I just got a new one from RockAuto

 

So I got it on the car last night - twice... good practice I guess. The process using a motorcycle lift I had sitting in the corner of the garage was quite simple, even doing it alone.



I missed the small detail of the steering column firewall gasket having been pulled out and once I had the frame back in, when bolting the column back together, I had to face the fact that the only way to fix that part was to drop it again... Some choice words were uttered, but I dropped it in 20 minutes, then cursed some more fighting with this boot gasket design, but using a lot of soapy water, I got it back together and sealing.






Second time around, the frame went up in 15 minutes. Torqued it down to spec and then realized the power steering reservoir needed to be turned 90 degrees from where it wants to be with the new hoses. I think that can be addressed without having to drop the frame again, but I am getting pretty good at it

 

I'm expecting a lot of this on Rufus when I start going through the suspension. The same 2005 model year, but he spent his first 5 years or so in Canada.

 

my three 2005 Minis have seen from zero to little salt. The car I am working on is the one that has seen the most with its first 9 years of existence in St. Louis. Not bad, but I have been finding corrosion in some hidden spots.

Our red 05 came from the Fort Myers area, and had never been north of Orlando until I towed it up here in December of 2015. No rust, but other issues (foam decay)

The electric blue 05 car is a Wisconsin car, but it was stored every winter. So far too early to tell about rust, as I have not been able to get underneath while the other car is up in my jackstands. No sign of corrosion in the usual body areas, such as below tail lights. I need to see under that rear hatch grip, but mostly the subframe and some other parts underneath will tell the full story. I have plenty of Por-15 left over to repaint that subframe. I know it's coming off because I need to do control arm bushings and ball joints on it anyway, and then I figure why not do inner balljoints, etc. I won't do that until spring next year when I have the dark gray as a daily driver backup.

 

forgot to mention - a set of these also went into the car during the recent major surgery - rebuilt OEMs, plus some brand new Wilwood rotors, pads and some other brake hardware

 

Got the car back from alignment this morning. Drives like a dream, smoother over bumps by a noticeable margin over the worn A-arm bushings and ball joints. The suspension has to do the work now, as it is meant to be. Meanwhile, I am taking notes on my electric blue car, and as it stands, I think this subframe job is going to be repeated, perhaps no new Axles, as they look good, but wheel bearings, balljoints and bushings are asking for replacement at 88k miles.

 

I feel like a slow-poke now!

 

This only took me 4 weeks to do, or more. I forgot. keep getting interrupted by other Minis needing attention