1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Redrum

Just out of the booth. It's going to sit and then it will get cut, buff, and trim on Friday

 

It is my wife's car and she is Scarlett Pain, the name, flag, and number is an ode to the rally cars using her roller derby name and number:

 

Thanks everyone, we're really happy to have it back. Doing break in now so we'll keep you updated

 

Thanks

1.6L Bored to 77.5mm at 8.5:1
RMW Custom Pistons
RMW Custom Rods with 3/8" ARP2000 Rod Bolts
Mahle F1 Style Rod Bearings
RMW Custom Oil Pan Baffle
PRW SFI-Rated FluidGel Harmonic Damper

RMW Big Valve head with:
Black Nitrided 1.8mm Oversized Intake Valves
2.3mm Oversized Inconal Exhaust Valves
Supertech Valvetrain with Titanium Retainers and Beehive Springs
ARP Head Studs
RMW Custom Camshaft w/ ARP Bolt

Revolution MINI Works Race Header
Revolution MINI Works Exhaust

We had the head, cam, and exhaust before, but the head was refreshed as well.

 

Got the Aquamist installed, took it out and really pushed it for the first time. It was hitting 15 lbs at 6800 rpm and going 90 in 3rd gear. Looking forward to getting on the dyno, getting a new tune and seeing what it can really do.

 

Here is some engine porn before it was installed:

 

Thank you. The car has been running great, but there were a few hiccups. After we did the first oil change we loaded it up and drove 200 miles to Vegas to go to Wuste and AMVIV and it ran awesome the whole way there other than the AC dying after running for about 15 secs. Nothing like a 400 mile road trip through the desert in June with no AC. We drove to the show and shine at AMVIV on Saturday from the Palace Station where Wuste was and when we got there it started running rough. After AMVIV we got it back and parked it at the Wuste show and it sat until Monday. I couldn't figure out the problem and there were no codes, but we needed our 200 mile break-in oil change so we took it to Kensington motors. He did not want to put 10w-40 Rotella in lol, but I insisted and they did the oil change, found a hole on the bottom of our GP intercooler which was causing a vacuum leak, and they said our AC compressor was dead. Couldn't fix the intercooler or the AC so we went ahead and hit the road. Once it got going on the freeway it was running great and we made it home without any issues except that it finally tripped a code for the pre-cat O2 sensor.

Since I was in an automotive course at the college, I took it into class on Wednesday with a stock intercooler to check out the sensors. I swapped it with a spare and it still ran badly. Hooked it up to a scanner and while it was idling it got really bad and the header started glowing red hot.It then tripped 4 codes for the O2 sensor heaters, cam sensor, and EGR. I shut it down and did some research and found thet the F03 fuse under the hood had popped and that it controlled all of those. Replaced the fuse and it popped again. I unplugged all of those sensors, replaced the fuse, and started plugging everything back in. It popped when I plugged in the pre-cat O2 sensor wire. Since we have the race header, there is an extension cable for the O2 sensors. I pulled the extension off, replaced the fuse, plugged the sensor in and the fuse didn't pop, problem solved. The vacuum leak caused the exhaust to run too hot and it slowly melted the extension cable first making it run roughly and then finally fusing all 4 wires together which popped the fuse.

Luckily I was able to fix the AC with a new clutch coil and I got the intercooler repaired at a local radiator shop. I installed a new extension for the O2 sensor and then fired it up. It sounded better, but still not right and since it was almost dark I noticed the header was glowing. I determined that my boost gauge was leaking so I disconnected it and plugged the line. It ran better and no glowing exhaust, but still seemed rough. The injector pigtails had insulation that had pulled away that I had taped up so I went ahead and ordered new pigtails. After installing those it has been doing great. We've almost got it to the 500 miles point after the last oil change which will be the next oil change for break-in. Big thanks to Jan and Colin for answering my yexts and calls and helping me get it sorted. Here's a quick vid of how it sounds right now:

 

13 years of people leaning on the roof of the MINI had left a bunch of small dents on both sides so we brought it into Leet Customs in Hesperia.


Leet builds custom hot rods and rock crawlers and does it all in house. He painted the bay for us while the motor was out and has helped me a lot with my 90 GTI. We're also getting a few more little details cleaned up on the roof like the spoiler holes, antenna hole, JCW wing, and and some custom paint that is going to be done with an old skool style using lace.



Since Voltage Products isn't making the covers for the engine compartments anymore, he is going to fab some up for us too. Should all be done next week.

 

Not finished, but these are progress pics:


Multiple small dents are all gone, antenna and spoiler holes have been filled. That's silver and then black sprayed over the lace. Next is going to be a red candy.

 

Aquamist group buy went through so this MINI is going to have a meth habit.

 

Finally got the car back from the paint shop. Hard to capture the paint effect with a camera, but you can see how it can look black and then have the lace detail pop out in the sunlight:






This is without any wax or finish. It needs to cure for a couple of weeks and then we'll get a final cut and buff done. We had a bunch of little roof dents smoothed out and the antenna and old spoiler holes were filled. We also had these covers fabricated out of stainless steel for the rear cowls and the holes in the front corners of the bay:


Got my box from Howerton today too, so tomorrow I will do the meth kit install.