1st Gen JCW Refreshing Rufus - 2005 MCS JCW

Discussion in '1st Generation: 2002–06 R50, R53 & 2004–08 R52' started by agranger, Aug 21, 2017.

  1. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    OK... for those of you that have the Greene Coil-overs:

    Any recommendations on a stiffness setting to start with? They each have a 32 point adjustment. The fronts are easy to tweak, but the rears will take a bit more work (I've got adjustment extenders, but haven't spent the time to figure out where they are going to pop out).
     
  2. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Well I moved an article over that was a "how to" that showed how to drill a hole in the rear of the MINI above the shocks so you could adjust them without having to take them down. I plan on doing that to both my Minis. If I can find it I will post the link.
     
  3. myles2go

    myles2go Active Member

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    I installed mine in April 2014, and on the advise of others that were using them, set them at 8 clicks from the softest setting. I've never had a need to change the setting.
     
  4. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    Yep, Colin suggested the same for me.....8 clicks from soft.

    If you take off the rear interior trim, you can access the spot to drill a hole. Very easy to spot. There are 4 spot welds oriented like a square, just drill right in the middle of the square and feed the cable through it. You can take the knob off the adjustment cable so you only need a small hole. You can then access the knob from the little panel doors.
     
  5. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    That's a good thing to know... I'll go poke around back there in a bit. I went out and fiddled w/ the extenders to figure it out and found the set screws to remove the top knob. I've got a CD Changer back there, which makes getting through the passenger side panel door a PITA, so I might dig around a bit for an alternate solution. Nathan set me this photo, of extenders he ran for another coil over brand setup:

    [​IMG]
     
  6. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    20160702_122517.jpg
     
  7. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    20160702_122509.jpg
     
  8. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Excellent photos! Thank you very much! Now I can drill down from the top and get a grommet in place to prevent wear on the cable.

    These new little babies just arrived. After all of the pounding and mess I went through last weekend trying to get the inner ball joints out of the original arms... grrrrr!

    [​IMG]

    Had I known that you could get a pair of these for $100 on Amazon (and what a PITA it was going to be), I would have ordered the parts a long while back and not even messed with trying to remove the old ball joints. Oh well... live and learn.
     
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  9. myles2go

    myles2go Active Member

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    I didn't drill the hole in my car. I set the shock before install and have had no reason to adjust it.
     
  10. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    A good day in the garage! I was able to get the other wheel carrier drilled out, so I can start reassembly! I got the ball joints mounted, the front coil overs installed, the sub-frame raised and the control arms on. I discovered that I mucked up the threads on the tie rod ends (they were frozen as well... came loose in the end, but I must have bent the stud or mangled the threads to the point that I couldn't get it back on properly. Luckily a load all Auto Zone had a pair to fit, so I'm back in business tomorrow AM.
     
  11. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    Ugh... this project always feels like 2 steps forward and 1 step back. I found outer tie rod ends last night, but I couldn't get the damn things separated from the inner tie rods! Torch... oil... hammers... nothing. I got the lock nut backed off but no further. I've got an inner tie rod wrench on the way and 2 inner tie rods.

    On a happier note, I got one of the front brakes mounted. It looks hella cool and bolted right up. The other side should go on fairly quickly, now I have it figured out. I thought that the brake line was too short, but I realized that the coil overs have never been compressed, so they are probably hella long.
     
  12. Sully

    Sully Administrator
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    Looking forward to seeing pics of that.. :)
     
  13. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    [​IMG]

    A quick sneek-peek. If I can get the tie rod issue solved, I might actually get photos of 'em w/ the wheels on.
     
  14. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #334 agranger, Mar 20, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 20, 2018
    BREAKTHROUGH!!!!

    I got new inner tie rod ends to go w/ the new outer tie rod ends (from my first try at a fix for my tie rod issues) and new boots/clamps this morning. The tool arrived at 3pm today and by 3:30 I had both of the inner tie rods loose and one of them approximated for size, greased and bolted up!

    You have no idea how happy I am right now. I can now finish putting the front bumper on (it's still off due to the sub-frame drop), bolt up the BBK on the passenger side and I can put the front end down on the ground! I won't be able to touch the car this coming weekend and I was really wanting to get some weight on those coil overs so they can start settling.

    I've still got the rear coil overs to mount up and a rear swaybar / lower control arms to do, but the front suspension has been one problem after the other for 3 weeks now and I finally see an end coming. I may try to slip out there tomorrow night to put the rear coil-overs on... I'm so freakin close!
     
  15. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Congrats!!
     
  16. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    I got the bumper back on, the second tie rod end mounted and the other front brake caliper mounted up. It was so nice to see the car on the ground for the first time in a month or so.

    [​IMG]

    This isn't the final ride height... I've got to let the car settle for a bit. If it settles another half inch, it might be perfect. I am loving the pop of the red brake caliper behind the wheel spokes.
     
  17. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    My coilovers didn't drop more than 1/8-1/4" over the summer. So that is going to be real close to final set.
     
  18. agranger

    agranger MINI of the Month June 2009
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    #338 agranger, Mar 21, 2018
    Last edited: Mar 21, 2018
    Good to know about the lack of settling! I'm a bit overcommitted over the next few days and over the weekend, so it will have a week to settle in before I start mucking about with ride height adjustments. I'm not going for a slammed look anyway... just something nicely sporty. If it settled 1/4" off of the pic above, I think I'd be quite happy with that! When I put the KWs on Jango, he settled in a good 3/4 to 1" in the first week. I spent way too much time fiddling w/ ride height way too early.

    I sent the pic, below, to Todd at TCE Performance (Willwood supplier in the US). He verified that I've got the right lines, (the right part # and they match the specified length of 20") but they sure look short to me. Maybe I want to run the line behind the shock body. Any thoughts?

    [​IMG]

    I can also assume that I screwed up when estimating the tie rod length... I've got one wheel straight and one that is 10 degrees off to the side! I'll make a coarse adjustment before driving the car, so I don't completely destroy the tires.
     
  19. MCS02

    MCS02 Moderator
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    Go drive the stink out of it, that will settle it!:D
     
  20. Dave.0

    Dave.0 Helix & RMW Powered
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    Swift springs do not “settle/sag” like the crappy KW coils. I have had them both and removed the KW’s after one year and installed Swift’s from Colin. Could not be happier with the Swift’s.
     

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