1st Gen JCW Most liked posts in thread: Refreshing Rufus - 2005 MCS JCW

I've never had good luck using the suction cup on the speedo. My 3-4 attempts all fell down within 10 seconds or so. On the windshield, my original Garmin suction cup sticks for days with no issues (it made it from Austin, TX to Charlotte, NC, when I drove Rufus home that way). The Kuda USA mount puts the screen right at my fingertips and even the new big screen doesn't block my view of the road at all. It is in my peripheral vision, so when the screen changes (like when it detects traffic), I notice it.

I've always found the Garmin to be easy to program if I'm saying "I'm at point X and I want you to get me to point Y in the fastest possible way." In fact, I love the Garmin interface and I didn't even consider another brand. Most of my group drives, where I like to have the route pre-programmed, seek out the twisty roads... not the ones that the Garmin would choose, so I have to put in 20+ waypoints to force it on to the roads I wanna take. My old Garmin wouldn't let me name and pre-program the waypoints, so I had to pick them out, one by one: zoom map out, get oriented, zoom in to where I want the waypoint, add it to the route, repeat many times...

I did discover that the new one I bought has a great bluetooth connection to the iphone. It will do handsfree calls for you, display alerts and text messages and it downloads traffic info. It also has a "Display my trip" type of thing that I believe puts your location on a web-accessible map for your friends and family to see. I didn't turn that feature on, but it might be nice for a large drive like MTTS.

I've gotta say that the big screen is nice for my older eyes.

 

Ugh! Just spent 2+ hours wrapping a door handle cover and mirror cap with vinyl. My fingers are dry, cracked and my thumbs are cooked! Thank goodness I get to take a break from vinyl for a bit.... I think I'm done!

The car goes to paint in just over a week. I've got a few small projects to keep me busy, but I'll need to get serious about planning the engine deep dive soon.

 

Banging out the small projects!

1) Replaced the rear passenger wheel arch reflector - the original one had a crack. The other ones are dingy on the inside and I was expecting to be able to clean the lens from the back side, but the piece is sealed. The new one looks so nice and clean, I may have to buy the other 3. (EDIT: I found 'em on Amazon for $12 each... previously I had only found the rears for $12 and the fronts for $30, so I had hesitated. Parts ordered! )

2) I took the front bumper off to replace the turn signal housings/lenses. While I was there I polished out the lenses for the lower lights and started the install of the new horns. I was down to a one-note horn (should be 2-tone), so hopefully the issue is at the horn and replacing them will fix the problem. I'll have to make a run to a parts store this afternoon... I'll need some spade connectors to be able to make an adapter to switch from the old horn connections to the new.

3) While I had the bumper off, I decided to get out the Black Wow and refresh the Aero Grills. I love Black Wow, but man... that grill is a serious PITA to get all of the honeycomb covered. I finally got a medium-stiff detailing brush, dabbed it in some Black Wow and then stipple painted the entire surface. I also got the JCW badge removed and the club grill badges mounted, though it looks pretty nasty on that front bumper.

It should be beautiful once the car comes back from paint... just one week from today until the scheduled delivery date. It is supposed to take a week for painting (do they ever complete on schedule? I'm guessing 2 weeks) and we should be much closer to a finished looking product. Lots of washing, claying, polishing and sealing/waxing to be done after that and the outside should be done!

 

I know it's silly, but I finally found a source for my custom engine bay stickers!

 

Whole car goes to paint next week. Both bumpers, bonnet, hatch, divers door, wing, skirts... PDR in spots.

 

Ugh... looks like I fail my own test! Rufus has yet another week of waiting before he goes to paint. I'm a project manager that, gulp, doesn't know how to read a calendar correctly!

Oh well... it gives me some more time to get the new side marker reflectors installed, finish the new horn wiring and get the front bumper back on. Maybe I'll start working on the door jams if I get everything else done.

 

I noticed that I only had one horn, but I know that MiNIs have 2. I bought the horn upgrade from Outmotori g a while back and started to fit them last weekend. They bolt right on, but you have to do some wiring to convert the socket from the factory wiring loom to the spade connectors on the new horns. I found that the factory wiring harness almost matches the light socket on the new arch reflectors / corner lights, so I engineered a solution that looks great. You have to Dremel out some plastic bits on the inside of the plugs, but it looks pretty factory, if I must say so myself!

This is the arch reflector socket. If you use a small Dremel carving bit and chew away the 2 little shoulders inside on the right, you can use this piece to connect into the wiring harness. Add 6-8" of wire and some female spade bit ends and you can connect in to the new horns without cutting in to the factory wiring


Here you can see the standard spade connectors on the new horns and the factory wiring connector.






Video of the starting point: one factory horn (the other wasn't working): https://youtu.be/0ippZHtc5r0

Video of both horns after upgrade:
https://youtu.be/V21Ry1uXwFs

 

Well... I know you are just giving me a hard time for fun, but factory stuff looks a certain way for a reason. It has a lot of qualities that lead to the look: Weatherproof, abrasion resistance, vibration resistance, ease of disconnecting for service, etc.

I can remember an 1970 Porsche that an old roommate of mine bought. The previous owner had rewired a lot of the components by hand and there were loose wires running everywhere. That car was always having electrical issues. One day we smelled burning plastic and we opened the hood to see the insulation burning off of a wire in 2 directions.

If I open the hood of a car I might buy and I see a bunch of home-done wiring, I give it a second thought.

Next on the list, to keep me busy until Rufus goes off to paint:

- replacing the foam vent material in the boot (thanks Fishmonger
- cleaning the door frames
- replacing the other rear arch reflector / light
- Maybe if I make it through the items above, I’ll clean in the engine bay a bit.

 

Oh... I understand completely. If you run out of things to do, please feel free to come on down to Charlotte. I'll trade room and board for mods!

I took the day off from the MINI today, other than a quick drive out this morning to get some breakfast. Man... it was really pretty seeing the car from across the parking lot at a distance. I can't wait for the paintwork to be complete so everything looks right and I can put a good shine on.

One good thing today... I've been checking the NAM forums every day, just in case something good pops up. A pair of very lightly used Hotchkis lower rear control arms have been secured for future use! These things are seriously beefy (I had 'em on Jango) and were very well built. I didn't even consider another brand (plus they have great customer service).

 

I hope I have the car long enough for 'em to wear out! :biggrin5:

 

Even if you communicate everything clearly to the shop owner/foreman, you can't make sure that his/her memory is perfect or that it gets communicated well to the guys on the shop floor doing the work.

Here's a visual aid I'm leaving in the car when he goes off to paint in a week. Everything that is colored red is fresh paint. Yikes!

Yeah... I know the drawing is of an R56. It was the best line art image I could find that showed front/back/side (and I had to do some photoshopping to make the other side).