1st Gen R53 Cooper S My 2005 R53 Daily Driver build thread

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by fishmonger, Sep 24, 2017.

  1. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    No snow here, just Coronavirus Spring. Stay inside work on car. :D:rolleyes:
     
  2. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    That move may not be far off. I was already given a layoff notice in December with last day August 14. Not crisis related, just management who needed our department to finish a project and then suddenly pulled the "unexpected funding loss" to terminate the entire group that wasn't useful any longer within their area. I spare you the ugly details, but it is the new way of managing a public university. Getting rid of expensive long term technical staff is the new way of "moving to the cloud" and paying vendors. Problem for me is that these vendors I could easily work for aren't hiring either, plus the one I definitely am qualified to work for is located in Israel with a few offices in New York City. Neither has ever been considered to be on my list of choice locations.

    Fast forward to August. I am the only one in the department who is old enough and has spent enough time with the organization to be able to take early retirement, but it isn't a pretty picture once I run the numbers, and they will get worse with the stock market tanking. I may be forced to do this, and when I do, I am getting a measly paycheck that barely covers my monthly mortgage and utilities unless I elect the accelerated payout, which will hurt me for the rest of my life after 62, but it likely is my only option.

    Even with that boost, I will have less than 50% of my current income and living in Wisconsin near Madison is expensive. Taxes for a suburban small house are about 5k a year now, heating and cooling isn't cheap, insurance is pretty high, registration for a car is $115 each, fees are astronomical for everything since Walker. Basically, I'd be staying in a state that is mostly too cold, or too hot and humid while paying a premium for the privilege. I only live here because of the job I won't have any longer, so it is the year to finally make the move to where I really want to live. And it is further south, and much further west.

    The plan right now is to prep the house for sale, sell the blue Mini, sell the 4Runner that's outside the house and hasn't been registered in 10 years, have my son take his red Mini to wherever he goes after graduation in fall, and have my daughter take her Subaru Outback to wherever she goes after graduation.

    Then I'll put the house on the market (only good thing is people flock to this region during recessions because of all the government jobs), and then move to a mountain cabin area in California, hopefully all in one transaction, but renting up there is pretty easy as most cabins are empty 95% of the time. Yes, moving to expensive California can be cheaper than living here, especially if I can sell my house here and find a place that's cheaper there (today I could) and reduce or eliminate my mortgage that way. Don't need a big house, just one with room for a big shop/garage that won't cost me 30 grand to add to the place. I'll have the time to build it.

    Without my current mortgage and taxes I should be able to afford food, utilities, internet, and gas, all in an area I always wanted to call home. It will be far out in the mountains, with a grocery store 5 miles down the steep mountain road. Walmart is 40 miles away, Costco 70 miles. But it's all worth it. There's cable internet up there, Amazon delivers, bears and other wildlife walk though your yard, and in summer while most of CA is cooking in the valley, it is 75F and dry up there, while in winter I can ski the 9000 foot mountain behind the cabins.

    And then there is that 25 mile twisty mountain road down to the first proper city in the valley (Hwy 190 to Springville and then on to box stores in Porterville). That alone justifies keeping one Mini in the stable.

    I'll likely get me a Subaru Outback for where I am moving, as I like the car, know about its quirks and have worked on it. The 6 cylinder 2010-2018 years are the ones to go for, especially if you live on a mountain top.

    So this blue Mini here, the one I spent more time fixing up than driving, will be for sale as I cannot see a reason to have three cars on that mountain top where chains are mandatory in winter.

    So that's the current plan here at Mini headquarters in Wisconsin.
     
  3. myles2go

    myles2go Active Member

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    Sorry to hear about your job at the university. It sounds like you've thought this through and you have a plan that, although it may not be ideal, gets you to an area where you've wanted to live. That part of California sounds nice. I'm just on the other side of the city so let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
     
  4. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    I am sorry to hear about your job. The stock market is a killer right now. I have 3 years till retirement, if all goes well. I just hope the market comes back quickly, in these times its anyones guess. The place you describe moving to sounds a lot nicer than Memphis. We are thinking about moving to east TN maybe Chattanooga. Its a pretty area and housing prices are not bad. I am ready to live in the country instead of the burb.
    Someone will get a very nice Mini when you sale the blue one.
    I hope things work out.
     
  5. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for all the supportive comments. I am doing pretty good, though. Less depressed than I should be, likely because I finally get to move closer to my favorite places. Things just accelerated a lot with this virus thing tanking the economy and suddenly this is all real, or at least very likely to happen.

    About selling this blue Mini - I'd rather keep it, and may very well do so if I can afford it. It is registration and insurance that will be a heavier hit when in retirement. Getting all cars there is more of an effort, but I'd drive them and take a bus back if I had to.

    The real issue is that I absolutely will need a 4WD vehicle where I want to live. It is on a plowed road above a remote plowed highway, but it may be one plow run a day in a place that can get 22 feet of snow in a heavy winter (2011 it did, don't even know the 2018 data).

    Here is the location I am thinking about, centered on this google map view - zoom out to have the central valley pop into view. No such roads anywhere west of Denver.
    https://www.google.com/maps/@36.1838691,-118.6278061,1726m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en-US

    A lot of research remains to be done. Much of my plan revolves around the availability of decent Internet connectivity at that location (work from home is basically the only way to work there. Elon Musk's Starlink service is the backup plan. I plan to head over there and check things out on site some time in June or July. It may just be a good time to test my dark silver R53 on mountain roads again, after it had massive fuel supply issues on longer uphill runs on my last cross country run in it back in 2014. New fuel pump and filter should have cured that, but no way of testing it here in flat WI.

    I would love to keep both cars and tinker on them for the next 25 years. In the big picture, it's not a lot of money, but in my current financial worst case scenario, I need a second Mini like I need a hole in my head. Things are in flux, so who knows how this will unfold.

    and to keep things a little on subject - here the view of the big ass UniFilter that came with the eBay DDMWorks intake. Compared here to the green filter that came with my dark silver car before I moved to DDMWorks and K&N on that one. The K&N is about the same size as this green filter. I do like the big foam filter. Washing it took a while because previous owner let the thing go far too long, but with plenty of Simple Green and hot water, I got it looking like new. Added oil and here it is, ready for a first drive in spring. Maybe this weekend. 58 and sunny!

    [​IMG]
     
  6. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    If you need a 4WD vehicle may I sagest a Focus RS:D
     
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  7. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    A bit small for my needs, but probably a lot of fun. A WRX hatchback from before the last model change would be neat, but really not big enough. It is all about hauling lots of groceries and whatever else you need in a mountain home, plus it has to double a camper/travel machine.

    The real benefit of such a machine is that it can serve as an "RV" for months in between of selling my house and buying one in California. Not the worst thing to be doing, visiting all those natural places you never had time to explore while saving on mortgage and taxes. Park and sleep on public lands (BLM, National Forests) for zero dollars whenever possible. I just need to find a way to store my home possessions away for a while, including the Mini I am keeping.
     
  8. Crashton

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    Not a bad choice, but a VW Golf Alltrack wagon would work moar better.
     
  9. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Or any Subaru
     
  10. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    I like Subaru's, but they are slow. At altitude a turbo-encabulator is a nice feature.
     
  11. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I used one of those 'pod' services during a move, once, for a lot of the extra stuff you don't need right away (furniture in the spare bedrooms, snow shovels, Christmas decorations, etc). You load up the pod (mobile storage container) and give them a delivery timeline and location. I loaded mine in Dallas, TX and said "In 4 months, I'll get it in the San Francisco area". We moved, bought a condo in San Francisco and once I got everything settled from the main move. During the 4 months, they got it to the Bay area and stored it. I wound up renting a U-Haul and off-loading the pod at their facility because of the way I had to off-load at the condo, but they would have also delivered the pod to a home and picked up the empty a few days later. It was very handy and they gave me a decent price on the shipping as I wasn't in a hurry and could let them consolidate my container in with a bunch of others going TX to CA during those 4 months.
     
  12. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I've been driving my daughter's 2011 Outback 3.6R for about 18 months now while she is in college and doesn't need it. Not slow at all and pulls strong over Eisenhower Pass on I70 at 11,000 feet, or at e.g. 9900 feet into Yosemite via Tioga Pass. Big enough for anything but the largest haul jobs, like snow blowers or construction materials, but that's what a trailer is for. It is a car on my shortlist, as I know it'll do the job.

    [​IMG]
    Parking the Subaru in the High Sierra


    The 6 cylinder models are more reliable compared to all the 4 cylinders and turbos made over recent decades (oil burners after 2015, head gaskets before that, and CVT blowouts from 2010 trough 2015). The 6 cylinder 3.6 between 2010-14 years have a bulletproof 5 speed auto that is shiftable and holds gears on steep downhills, which is super important if you live on a mountain. The 2015 to 2019 3.6 liter cars came with a CVT but that one hasn't been known to keep people stranded.Head gaskets are not known to be a chronic issue with the 6 cylinders either.

    The Outback is a bit small to actually live in should I do the RV thing between selling and buying a place. Will decide when I get closer to that reality. Not impossible to live out of an Outback, though, just not as luxurious as a big pickup with cap in the bed. It handles winter roads far better than a pickup, though.

    I have worked on it in my garage discovering some of the weak areas such as wheel bearings and ball joints. The 2011 model I drive is stupid electronically (can't close a window the moment you pull the key out of the ignition?? What decade was this car built?), but it really boils down to a no frills machine that gets the job done. Not pretty, handles like a boat compared to a Mini, but parts are cheap due to their high sales numbers. There are many for sale at any point in time, so used prices are pretty competitive, and the 3.6 liter gets 28mpg on the highway on a good day, which for a 3.6 liter is pretty good. Just a solid choice and much higher on my list than any proper SUV.

    If I go bigger, it'll be a full sized pickup truck with cap on the back.
     
  13. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I've been looking at that option. I see those Pods a lot around homes that sell. I think I'll have most of my stuff in one or two pods before my house goes on the market. Mostly empty, depersonalized, etc. I also need the space to do some fixes before selling. Some flooring and definitely paint, so having everything out that isn't absolutely essential is a good thing. Costly maybe, but it can't be much different from having a mover come in and get your stuff from A to B but you get the storage option, which I definitely need. Gotta get those removed Mini Cooper parts and tools to the new home :)
     
  14. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I'll also miss your MINI modding updates. You and I started our projects at about the same time (with different goals) and I learned a lot from this thread.
     
  15. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    I am keeping my original car, the dark silver machine with all the sports modding (coilovers, R56 trailing arms, etc) as I am not done with that. I may soon have a lot more time to work on it, although the budget will be much tighter. I can't see getting $1600 worth of Sparco seats and a steering wheel and all that other stuff the car was slated to get, as none of that stuff makes it drive much better. I want to put in a proper HID conversion, or even the new LED/Laser projectors from the Retrofit source. All big dollar mods, though. A set of Hellas goes a long way at night :)

    Bang for the buck mods, or total custom work is what it will see next. Should I ever find some sort of employment on top of the retirement check, yeah, that will add some extra play money to use carefully, but the Mini is a possible outlet.

    Right now, I am more concerned where to store the car after I sell my current house and before I am able to move it to a new home.

    The red R53 is my son's and he'll take it to Colorado after graduation in fall. He will likely drive it for a while as his daily, but he also needs a proper AWD car where he is moving. Likely an Audi A4 wagon, as he has plans to mod one with more modern S4 drivetrain.

    There will be some additional updates for the electric blue car - like the driver side power window fix is still leaking water when washing it. Did that this weekend (and applied Gyon Cure again). It is such a pain to get that window arranged in the exact location it needs to be to fit the opening like OEM and be at the same angle and pressure. Need to do some research before I go back into the door trip. The leak is at the rear edge above the door handle about half way up the window. Can hear wind noise, too.
     
  16. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Those windows are a big pain in the, well you know! It took me several try’s to get mine just right on my old R53.
     
  17. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Don't forget about the two adjustments at the bottom off the door. I bet the one in the back is too far inward and the one in the front is too outward. You DO NOT have to take off the inner door to make the adjustment. Just unlock the door, open it a little so it does not latch closed.

    Oh grab a set of sockets and a ratchet.

    Now lay down on the floor in your garage or ground and look at the bottom of the open door where the rubber seal is.

    You will see two bolts that are for adjusting the lower window frame/ track. This will make the window lean in our out depending on what is out of wack.
     
  18. fishmonger

    fishmonger Well-Known Member

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    ok, I have done that adjustment already twice, but I did it with the door card removed. I don't see why it would give me a different result, although I clearly see the time savings. The card removed lets me see the little teeth in the plastic track the bottom screws ride on, so I can tell the amount of adjustment I am at and am going to (count them, mark them)

    Thing is, I almost feel I have moved it too far down there, rather than not enough. Think of it that way - the bottom edge is where I have the most leaking, while the top is already totally snug. Wouldn't it walk the bottom edge out further and cantilever off the top edge of the window if I pulled that bottom of the rack and with it the glass even further away from the inside of the door? The only variable in this that may work against my logic is that the glass top edge is held in place by the door and the window seal, which acts as a hinge in the middle of the total track to top edge line.

    My window seals poorly about 3-8 inches above the bottom of the glass when closed. it is totally fine above that.

    I suppose without having to rip into the door card, I can move it around a few times and do a garden hose test.

    Another thing is that the glass is just a hair too far forward when compared to the passenger side. It is still fully on the seal, but the gap is larger between B pillar and glass, likely allowing more water and air pressure to hit that area, so it can work it's way behind the seal? Maybe if I ripped into everything one more time and spent a few hours until I got the glass to be exactly where it was before, that minor adjustment would solve the issue...

    Something to do this weekend. I may even drive it again. Took it for a 2 mile run last week, first Mini miles of the year. I have some face masks to drop off with a friend, so that's a good justification to burn some sub $2.00 premium (regular is 0.98 here right now).
     
  19. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    On my R53 it took several times before I got it right. I had a problem with wind noise at the front of the window. I know you may know this, but you have to get the tilt forward and aft along with the in/out that you do at the bottom. I keep moving the two adjustments on the bottom out thinking that would put more pressure against the seal. I ended up having to take the door panel off and loosen the window and taking time to get the back and forth adjusted just right that fixed it for me. I thought if the window was sitting windows bolts that was it and I only had to do the bottom adjustment.
    The Bentley manual says how to do it if you want me to copy it for you.
     
  20. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Also don’t forget that you can pull the door rubber seals out and reset them back in place. Sometimes they wear and get pushed in too far causing weird air leaks.

    The ones in the A pillar not on the door.
     

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