Engine Drivetrain 1st Gen Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Proper belt for ATI damper + 15% pulley

Did you get these settings from Colin, or did they arrive with these 8 clicks set? Mine are set 17 from softest in back, 22 from softest in front, but I only checked one each, so they may just be at a random position.

Fresh radiator foam was delivered this morning, supercharger oil and seals for water pump are out for delivery today, and the new big plastic radiator support is schedule to arrive by Friday.

When I get the radiator filled back up, I should also do an oil change while it sits on jackstands. After all that it's finally time to dig into the suspension.

Regarding the coolant - less than a gallon of brown-colored crap came out of the radiator and hoses after removing the radiator - is that normal? There's still some in the super charger and the rest of the engine, but is there a way to get EVERYTHING out of the cooling system? A decent flush is what this car needs before I put fresh coolant in there.

 

I pulled the supercharger tonight for the oil service. That intake tube part... @#R%!!

Drained the old oil - stinks, dark, and about half of what should be in there. On the pulley side, there was a vacuum as I opened the fill plug. Years of heat cycles maybe, oil got out, no air got in. Anyway, that is all done, plugged again.

When I first pulled off the unit, I turned the pulley to see if there was any gear noise. No such noise, however, the water pump did some pretty squeaky sounds. Removed it, and it still squeaked. After it sat for an hour while I did the oil change and cleaned the super charger, the pump did not squeak any longer. It still turns with some resistance. Is that normal? Is it a sign of good sealing, or is it time to replace it. It does not spin freely at all. No clicking or mechanically bad sounds.

Obviously, if there is any concern about the water pump, now is the time to get a new one while the whole car is apart.

 

Thanks Colin. I still may still cut holes in the rear to for the adjuster extenders. The car won't see winter ever again, so I am not too worried about a hole. Mostly, I am curious to see what happens when I do play with those settings, but I won't want to pull the unit to change it. 8 clicks is what I'll start out with, though.

I'll have to think about the water pump - it probably is just fine, but you're right, it is deep in there. However, as long as the car has the AC and alternator hanging off the front, I really can't begin to get serious about swapping the suspension and moving it up and down on the wheels to set ride height and the downlinks. Right now I lean towards putting it back in for the rest of the summer, then replace it in winter when the car goes into hibernation.

The dip stick o-ring wasn't leaking - in fact, it kept rusty sludge water accumulated above it around the opening in the block from getting into the motor. Amazing that that area wasn't all oiled up like the rest of the front of the engine. Brown goo all around the tube just above the o-ring as I pulled it out.

 

Thermostat changed. Is everything on this car totally inaccessible?

 

Found some parts in a box I got from the first owner - the bolt for the top engine mount (corroded original I had put back in a few days ago now replaced). I also found a new bottom engine mount (stock) with Powerflex yellow poly bushing inserts. Guess I will install that, too.

Oil changed, engine fires up (phew), now the coolant. Not sure when I will get this thing rolling, but it coming soon.

When changing the oil and installing a nice Fumoto drain plug, I saw some fresh oil under the oil pan on the gearbox side - there's a small 10mm bold in the center. Can oil leak out from the transmission from a possibly bad crank seal on that side and accumulate in that area? If not, then this is just more crank position sensor leakage I didn't wipe up last time. I do see a clutch job coming up this winter, as it is about time to do.

 

Oops. I even compared it to my old camber plates, and those too look like they slightly are set in that same direction, even though the car had serious negative camber, But those are a different design and bolts are above the hole.

I figured it would correct the extra camber set by more drop, but it's no big deal to correct. It won't be that difficult to change to the other side.

 

you guys are fast with those Likes

here is what I did over the days

6/16/2015 ATI damper, new belt, new idler pulley, new tensioner, crank seal
6/21/2015 Helix lower control arms installed
6/21/2015 Valve cover gasket replacement, intercooler cleaned, CPS o-ring
6/25/2015 super charger oil change, new o-ring on dip stick tube
6/26/2015 termostat and housing gasket changed
6/26/2015 new radiator foam installed in new rad support
6/27/2015 Oil and Filter change, Fumoto drain valve installed
6/27/2015 Coolant flush and refill with Extended life Penzoil
6/27/2015 Top engine mount and bolt, bottom engine mount Powerflex
6/30/2015 Whiteline rear adjustable downlinks installed
7/01/2015 Revalved BC Racing coilovers with Swift Springs installed
7/03/2015 Ride height adjusted to 24.3 and 24.6" at front/rear wheel well

 

At least on the first few miles, they didn't feel "firm" at all, but then my experience of firm was that of running on what appears to be completely seized up shocks and sagged and broken springs. I can barely move the piston in the one FSD I have taken out of the spring in the rear. The broken spring immediately fell apart once I removed the tension - yikes.

But yes, I think it'll be a great car now. I just haven't really leaned on it because it doesn't feel like the car is aligned even remotely the way it used to be. It feels very light in the steering, and it won't return to center as willingly as I am used to. There was a ton of camber on the old setup, which now seems to be gone, or at least there's less.

I plan to have them set the front to -2 and the rear to -1.5 max, no toe in the front, rear a tiny bit of toe maybe to keep it from wandering around. The old setup was -2.5 and -2.0 I think, at least when it was last aligned.

Up next on my to-do is the front right CV boot that's slightly leaking, and after that it'll be exhaust. That one-ball modded stock unit is suddenly making the rear hatch vibrate at idle - never done that before the recent work.

But no cash for a Milltek or Borla until I sell my truck.

 

I've driven the car only about 25 miles since I got the thing back together (because only today I was able to get it into an alignment shop that knew what the word "coilover" meant - picking up after work, just in time for three trips to the big vintage racing event at Road America this weekend ).

One thing I noticed over those few miles: it appears as if the car has picked up a pretty strong resonance vibration around idle speed, and only at idle. It sounds like the rear hatch is rattling, but once you stick your head in there in the back, the location is lower and below the floor. My first theory was that the muffler (one ball mod) is hitting something, outside you can't really tell what it is, nor can you hear much when listening under the car. Probably a heat shield. I can make the muffler hit something when I shake it side to side without the engine running, but I can't see what it is unless I put the thing back on jack stands.

The reason for the noise is a clear increase of vibration coming from the engine (new ATI damper, new top mount and new lower mount with PowerFlex inserts). I bet it is because those lower bracket engine mount PowerFlex bushing inserts I inherited from the previous owner. I figured throw them on there and see what happens. Now I am not so sure if that was such a good idea. There's even a random slight vibration coming from the glove box area at times that wasn't there before.

What's the general consensus on those PowerFlex things - I have the larger lower mount pieces seen in this install video:
https://youtu.be/RQrYTKyHYyA