I put this in just to show how dirty everything was. This is what much of the parts started out looking like! I have never removed the bracket from the oil pan or foresee a reason to do so, so I decided just to leave it on.
MINI is all back together. I finally got to installing my gauge pod radio delete, a quaife LSD I have had for almost a year now, and a facelift 05/06 transmission. Other items - I modified a Tyrolsport rear brace from a VW to fit in the R53 body, and made a replica Monte Carlo style roof basket with two R90s and snow tires (just in case, it could have snowed during my trip!) So far it has about 3k miles on the rebuild, and no complaints. I already have plans on making a new roof basket that aesthetically looks slimmer, I think it can be tweaked a bit to take away some visual bulk. More stuff coming soon. Instead of following along with periodic bulk uploads, my instagram account has more frequent updates, see @Cone_Assassin .
I LOVE the use of the BMC green engine paint. Over the years I've rebuilt several classic Mini A-series engines finishing up with that color paint. It looks super on your engine.
I would much rather have the gauges than a radio - I rarely turn mine on and don't even have one in my Classic Mini. How does the basket attach to the crossbars? Why is it east/west rather than north/south to the car?
Agree on the radio, it never played anything that great anyway :frown5: I mounted it with custom rectangular stainless nuts that slide into the track of the mini cross bars. They are made from stainless steel bar and threaded to 1/4"x20, and bolted down 4 on each side (4 front, 4 back). I built the whole thing backwards - my mounting solution is more crude yet effective since I made the basket before I mounted the cross bars, not knowing other than a ballpark estimate of how much spacing there was in between. In the above pic you can see how I had to make it about 1.5" wider to fit on top of the bars. Now knowing how the install kit is made, I could also have made it bolt directly to the roof and skip the Mini base support cross bars entirely. I may do that in my revision as I would also like the basket to sit more forward of center (for aesthetics :crazy than it does now. I mounted the basket east/west for the classic Mini monte carlo look: ......I have a few ideas of making another basket to look less bulky and still accommodate two wheels in the same east/west layout. If I had the capability to fit R50 Holies, the size of those with tires mounted would be ideal. The wheels are attached via a threaded aluminum boss welded to the basket. A stainless threaded rod goes through the center of the wheel and is held down with a wing nut (like what you would expect to find in the trunk of any car).
Seconded. That green block paint is one of the seven wonders of the world - paint it onto sandpaper and it would come out with a perfectly smooth, high gloss finish.
Not much progression on the mini, working on buying a house at the moment. I am currently chasing an issue with third gear popping out. I am set on the 3-4 synchronizer, but I also have a bad hydraulic mount so I will try that first (needs to be fixed anyway). Once I'm settled into the new house I will be opening it up (if the mount doesn't resolve the issue) and learning if the 3-4 synchro from my original trans is interchangeable with the 05/06 box. Perhaps someone here would know before I bother mixing two boxes to make one.
Alright so we have the house, and finally got the immediate mods done (walls, floors, lights, etc). Now I can carve out this interior wall to make two bays inside. Also being under the house gives it a shared climate (cool in the summer, hopefully warm in the winter). With a bit of luck I will have the crunchy 3rd gear sorted, and move in all the fun tools.
WOW, time for an update. We lost the Clubman on July 4th weekend (totaled by insurance). I will be piecing it back together in the coming months, however it may delay my garage expansion project into the winter or next year. Parts car to repair the clubman I finally got my transmission swapped last week to head to Watkins Glen. Unfortunately I broke about five T40 torx bits trying to open my old tranny case, so I will have to remove the quaife a different time. What a mess this past week has been, from swapping the trans (all well and good), to breaking a new tensioner on the race track and waiting for an overnight part while filing pieces of aluminum out of my crank pulley. To make matters worse, my golf's starter motor crapped out on my wife, so I had to meet her at her job to exchange the Golf for the Mini. A few hours later, the Mini flex pipe separated on her way home! So broken Mini, broken golf. A little bit of organization to try and keep up
Most likely because MINI owners are cheap and do want to pay for quality made parts. But they will spend tons of money on making a MINI look ugly as hell with eyelashes and stickers.
I wanted a shift kit, a VERY AFFORDABLE shift kit that is arguably better than everything else on the market for our cars. The only thing that's a bit pricey is the intercooler, which to me is worth the money, but I'm ok with spending a little cash.:cornut:
They still make and sell MINI parts, as far as I know no further development is planned. Partly because i'm not working there anymore to do it, and partly as Dave said. It also come down to people more caring about the aesthetics of their car (wheels and being low). Although Mini has a good performace following, even the majority of those guys prefer ebay parts to a quality tested, constructed, "one and done" solution. While I do have the means to pick up the torch and continue on my own, I don't have the energy to create greatness and then be told what i'm worth. If I really saw a need that would make a fortune (like someone please make a billet r53 passenger side axle carrier), but even then, would anyone care? You all know the struggle of finding an axle bearing carrier/mount. Back on topic