That fuel pump looks just about right. Does is really fit as a replacement to the stock unit? Any odd/non-reversible modifications to the stock housing or sender needed?
I decided just to pull the trigger and get the fuel pump. I figured, while I was on the site, I might as well order up those pretty coil-overs! I guess it's time to start thinking about the suspension parts... Your thoughts? Am I missing something? Given the 5-6 years that Rufus spent in Canada, I figured that I'd replace a bunch of the stock suspension components. The alignment will change quite a bit with the coil-overs and I don't want to deal with a siezed part. Front: Greene coil-overs and camber plates New factory swaybar was put in a couple of years ago (due to rust, making me consider going this deep with preventative replacements). Lower control arm bushings (Powerflex) and brackets adjustable end links (probably Way's sealed ball joint units: https://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-adjustable-swaybar-endlinks.html) replace the inner and outer ball joints inner and outer tie-rods (plus new boots) strut tower brace (probably WMW - I like the anti-mushroom tops and the styling) Back: Greene coil-overs New 19mm swaybar (I like the TSW bar w/ Zerk fittings on the bushing mounts) adjustable end links (probably Way's sealed ball joint units: https://www.waymotorworks.com/wmw-adjustable-swaybar-endlinks.html) lower control arms (have a lightly used set of H-Sport arms in the garage) powerflex upper shock bushing
If you take the time and do a little research you can make your own adjustable links and control arms for substantially less :wink: https://www.mcmaster.com/
rear ARB, if I ever get another one, will be the Tarett Engineering setup (but $$$). It'll go on the car when I do a full rear control arm R56 swap, plus get a second pair of Helix rear control arms for a full set of 4. Costly upgrade and likely not happening for a year or two. currently I have the end links from Greene in my car, but had to set them at minimum length to get the bar (that came with my car) to a level position. they work fine and look good. Not sure if the price is competitive with the front lower control arm bushings - when I drop the subframe on the daily driver next summer, I will use OEM rubber. I think that poly stuff is overrated, plus it's much harder to install. If you do it, get the right lube. I will have to tear mine out again and re-lube with the right lube not the copper anti seize that came with the bushings (this: https://www.amazon.com/Super-Lube-92003-Lubricating-Translucent/dp/B0081JE0OO) Upper shock bushings in the rear with BCs? I don't recall such a thing being required with that setup
Thanks for reminding me about grease! I use Energy Suspension's lube for bushings. Super sticky stuff and it packs well into a grease gun for injection into a Zerk fitting. I pitched my cheap crease gun when I moved (leaky and sticky with grease)... a new one is on the way! Good to know that he BCs might not need the upper fitting. I'll tak a look. The coil overs on Jango used the factory mount and bushing. My stock bushing had collapsed with 4-5 years of use and dropped the stance 1/2" (and I had the rears set to max height)
There is no way you can inject grease between the surfaces of the two parts in the lower control arm bushing. And even if you could, these bushings are so tight that 99% of what you gunk on there will get squeezed off the surface as you insert the control arm into the bushing. A zerk would lube the outside surface of the outside part of the bushing, which does not move within the metal housing. The inner part is a hexagon that slides tightly into the outer, and there is a tiny ridge for lubricant to be retained, I recall. There is no way you can inject grease between the surfaces of the two parts in the lower control arm bushing. And even if you could, these bushings are so tight that 99% of what you gunk on there will get squeezed off the surface as you insert the control arm into the bushing. A zerk would lube the outside surface of the outside part of the bushing, which does not move within the metal housing. The inner part is a hexagon that slides tightly into the outer, and there is a tiny ridge for lubricant to be retained, I recall However, it all installs at a pretty darn crooked angle and you need some tools to actually get them to slide in (I used some ratcheting tie down straps). I removed one of mine after install to see and what came out was an almost perfectly clean piece of polyurethane. This won't last - it'll squeak in 20k miles, which is why I don't see the point of these bushings any longer. Unless you race the car or autocross it, you'll never feel the difference anyway, and with lowering the suspension, you probably are better off with a new rubber bushing anyway, as the angle the arm rotates in the bushing gets real crooked when lowered, so you are actually more likely to bind up your suspension than helping it do anything better than it would do with good rubber in there that will give a lot more. Firm is fine, if the whole thing is actually at the center of rotation, which on the R53 it never was. That's one thing that was redesigned on the R56. For my daily driver I have a no poly-anything policy . There is no such thing as a bushing for he top of the BCs - they come with a big old metal top plate you bolt to the car. Just look at any image online. There's nothing there to collapse. It is just one more reason why these things ride as harsh as a race car. There's no "comfort" setting in these coilovers so bushings are the first thing that was removed to cut cost and "increase performance"
Very nice pics! Thank you. You are right... no way to lube the LCA bushings up front. To re-lube, you will have to disassemble. Ugh! At least you won't have to take the bracket off of the car (drop or lower the subframe). I plan on buying a rear swaybar w/ zerk fittings in the brackets. They worked beautifully on Jango. I also tried to use the zerks on the lower control arms (same ones as pictured above), but always had a hard time as they were smaller than my grease gun liked. Well, I decided to try and catch up today with all of my neglected Rufus work. My mother-in-law is visiting, so she and my wife went to the movies and shopping and I got busy out in the garage. Wash Claybar Medium polish with the PCDA Fine Polish with the PCDA Glass Polish Wash Installed the door handle covers (exterior, covered w/ carbon fiber vinyl) Applied the chrome beltline black-out tape Applied the first coat of Zaino Z5 and left it on to cure overnight I also got an hour or so of work done on the mother-in-law's car. I promised my wife I'd give it a good cleaning (exterior got run through the local drive-thru wash but I did give the interior a good cleaning at home) and checked all of the tires and fluids. I'm hoping to get through several coats of Zaino over the next 2 days and then I can call the outside done! Woo! I'm really digging the blacked-out beltline. Here's a photo of half of one side done, so you can see the effect. More photos to follow when all of the Zaino is layered on and everything is shiny! Oh yeah... I figured out why my rear wiper blade was a bit floppy... the arm broke where it attached to the motor shaft. ECS tuning to the rescue. A new arm is coming in a bit.
The reason the stock BC’s suck and have no comfort setting is the shocks and the coils. They are both too firm. That is why Colin custom builtds his with better Swift springs and high quality custom valved shocks. The only parts he uses from BC is the housings and mounts. That also why they cost a few hundred more then basic off the shelf BC’s. Quality cost money...... https://www.greeneperformance.com/collections/mini-oem-performance-parts/products/bc-racing-coilovers-with-swift-springs-and-custom-revalve
Car looked great after the first coat of Zaino was buffed off. Coat 2 is curing now. Both of the first coats were Z5 (sealant w/ swirl-mark filler). At least 2 coats of Z2 (high-gloss sealant) will go on after those.
The car looked great before the first coats of Zaino so my guess it's gonna look nothing short of fantastic after you're done with all the sealant and buffing.
Last coat of Zaino just went on (2 of Z5, 2 of Z2)! It's cold enough here that I'm going to let it sit overnight to really have a good chance to cure before I buff it all off. On a warm day, the first panel I seal is dry and cured before I finish the rest of the car. In Charlotte in January, I need to limit myself to 2 coats per day to let things tighten up before adding the next layer. While I was out working this weekend, I realized how incredibly lucky I am to have a daily driver in addition to Rufus so I can spend a week or more washing, polishing and sealing the car... and then store it for driving on nicer days and keep it clean and out of the weather. The deep engine refresh I'm about to take on will be immeasurably easier as well... I can leave the car in an undriveable state for weeks at a time with no issue. I'm a lucky guy.
Oh, I know! I'm getting a bit freaked out with all the work in front of me. The Dragon is my deadline to be finished. I've got 4 months!
It was a good weekend! I got the last coat of Zaino buffed off and made it around the car a couple of times with detailing spray and Zaino's Ultimate Finish spray. I also sorted through all of the parts that I've been accumulating, organized the garage and preped Rufus for the next step, a deep engine service! I did get out for a nice 20 minute drive... really just to get the engine up to temp and running smoothly for a bit, cruise around the neighborhood, blast 2-3 exits down the highway, u-turn and head home. It's been mighty cold here and every start I've done lately was just 20-40 seconds of moving the car around the driveway. I'm going to try and take this work in steps, so if something goes wrong I've got a limited number of things that might be the issue. I've got a whole day off in a week, so I think I'll get going with the timing chain guides and adjuster, along with new gaskets and seals as needed. I've still got some research to do, but it might be a good time to do the new belt tensioner, crank seal, crank pulley, idler pulley and engine mount. It depends on how much work I'll be re-doing to get the car reassembled and tested, then stripped back again.
Man up, do it all at one time. If it doesn’t start we will be here to give you support. No one will make any jokes, well just a few maybe. Kidding aside, I would do the new belt, tensioner, ideler pulley and crank. Last summer I did a refresh on my R53. I did it all at one time it made fo a lot less work. Your mini really looks great in the sun light!!
It will all get done... the question is, do I do it (belt/pulleys/tensioner) combined w/ the engine valve cover gasket, timing chain guide replacement. I did a bit of research this afternoon and it doesn't look like those 2 groups of work are linked, but having everything off of the top of the engine would make a bit more room to see and access other areas. It looks like it's worth it to combine those 2 areas of work... especially if I can get a bit of a jump start on it next weekend and wrap it all up on Monday when I'm off for the day. This is all just stage 1 of the engine refresh. I'm also doing a supercharger service, fluids swap (oil, coolant, transmission fluid, brake fluid), a bunch of gaskets/o-rings, new coolant tank and fuel pump/filter.... then the suspension and brake work starts! Thanks for all the support, guys! I appreciate it.
belt pulley and tensioner is a pretty easy job. All you need to do is remove the engine mount top and bottom, put the motor on a jack, remove fender well cover and lift/lower a you need to access the bolt. Removal of stuff from the top of the motor doesn't make that job any easier. Now, I don't know if you need to remove more than the belt to do the timing guides, but I don't think any of those pulley need to come off for that. The tensioner/pulley job I also a good time to replace the top engine mount - just one more bolt to remove and that one is out, too. Unless you go aftermarket and spend the big bucks up front, I'd replace the mounts every time the tensioner is replaced (25-30k max). Actually, they don't even last that long - our red Mini was leaking the black ooze before it reached 28k miles.