Most liked posts in thread: Professors R53

Fit the tires today. With the R56 rear trailing arms on, I had to remove a small amount of casting material at the lowest point to clear the wheel. I ended up with a 5mm spacer in the rear and 8mm up front. I may bump up to a 10mm up front.

 

More parts arriving

 

Had to add a JCW center pipe today. Mynes header with no cat and no resonator will kill the ears .

But with the resonator its much better under 4k.

 

Been a while but I am undertaking a new project this week. Keep in mind that my Mini is not tracked currently and I am just looking for a little better performance. So far the Thumper head and JCW bits feel great!

I had planed to replace my gearbox with a later facelift with LSD. But honestly I dont see spending that kind of money currently. I am replacing my OEM open diff with a factory option LSD thanks to Beaner! He hooked me up with a fantastic deal on this unit.

Now I know that the 900+ dollar options work far better but again, not a track car. I have all the items I need to perform the swap and started today...

Started around 1:30

The patient


The items needed. Gearbox case sealer, thread lockers, gearbox oil, OEM limited slip differential





Start by removing the front bumper


Removed the front impact beam


Removed intake and electrical harness over the gearbox



Place front into "Service Mode" for more work room.



Removed throttle body and air inlet hose


I always suspected a very small vacuum leak in the system. Turns out there is a small leak where these parts are melted / joined. Thinking it can be repaired with an epoxy maybe?


Few steps ahead but the sub frame and axles are removed, tomorrow the trans comes out. Time so far is 4 hours taking time to clean and inspect items removed.

 

Yea it was a bit dirty in the case but I cleaned everything up while I was in there. Also fixed a bad clamp on the PS pump and cleaned the fluid off the sub-frame.

 

Some authentic 16x8 et38 goodness...

 

Power steering reservoir and lines.