After much searching yesterday (during a particularly long and boring conference call) I found a race-prep shop that has a Hunter laser alignment rig. I asked about corner-balancing and he asked "Do you have adjustable drop links on a MINI? How much weight do you need in the driver's seat?" which is a fair amount better than the regular response I get in Charlotte when I ask about corner balancing: "Oh yeah... we balance tires all the time." Rufus gets to spend a day with these guys next week, getting the 2 new tires mounted/balanced and a corner-balance / alignment done. Bonus: The shop is only a mile or two from my house! https://www.gmpperformance.com/gallery I also scored a Cobalt rear tower brace on eBay for a decent price. I had one on my first R53 and it seemed to reduce creaking/groaning in the rear when I would dial in some pre-load and was on the track. I don't hold on to any illusions that it really helps handling, but it gives a secure attachment point for my spare tire when I'm off to the Dragon (My usual bungie cord attachment point failed on a group drive last year and I had to pull over and lose the group while I re-secured the spare). Once I've got it in place, I think I'll do some imagining on a hard-mount bracket for the spare, attached to that bar. One of these things... except mine is metal and not CF:
The rear bar bolted right in (4bolts... easy install) and looked great. I got it used on eBay, and a touch of metal polish and 5 minutes of elbow grease brought it to a like-new condition. I tightened (shortened) it to as tight as I could go by hand and then tightened the bolts. As I was doing that, I was wondering if it would be better to shorten the bar or lengthen the bar to provide some pre-load. Oh well... probably doesn't matter much where the brace is. I also found some long J bolts that are threaded for lug bolts. They are made for holding a spare tire down onto a roof rack for off-roaders. I'm thinking that they will work perfectly for holding a spare against the bar while I'm on a road trip (the spare usually only goes in the car for long trips... I rely on slime and a compressor or Uber around town). I've been wanting to get that thing tied down with hard-points as you really don't want a full-sized spare bouncing around the cabin in the event of an accident. I did a quick test drive and discovered that my radar mount needs some work. It relies on a metal plate adhered to the bottom of the detector so the magnet has something to grab and the metal plate didn’t stick to the detector (I cleaned with ethanol well before sticking it on using the provided 3M adhesive pad). I’ll try some different glue. I've been trying my best to stay home during the quarantine, but have done a bunch of maintenance stuff in the past few months and wanted to get the engine up to temp and make sure all is well before I hand the car over for the alignment this week. It was sunny and 72-74 degrees here in Charlotte yesterday. It was SO nice to be in the car with the windows down, hearing the engine rev, even if it was just for 20 minutes. The motor really does pull nicely.
Welp... apparently my front shock pinch-bolt drill-out fiasco from a few years back isn't holding. The coil overs were loose in the mount and they couldn't get it tight enough to hold well, which is probably what caused the front alignment to cord the tires. New steering knuckles are on the way. Oh well! At least I'm saving a bunch of cash by not eating out during the Corona Virus stay-home order, so I can afford it! On the good side, BMP Performance here in Charlotte has great communication. I've never worked with a shop that actually did the work when they said they would and called to keep you informed about what was going on. They have a tune from ARP for my wife's new Audi A6 daily driver... it adds about a ton of hp (335 to 450). I might have to do it.
In for a penny, in for a pound. I realized this morning that they were going to have to disassemble the wheel bearings/hubs (the original ones... 15 years old and 88k miles) from the old steering knuckle and remount 'em on the new one. God only knows how much shop time to get those 4 bolts apart on each side. I just called 'em and authorized new bearings/hubs while they are at it. It will cost me some bucks for new parts, but will probably save me some shop labor time trying to get frozen/rusted bolts from the old hubs off and I'll have completely new front suspension given that I replaced everything else 2 years ago.
The part is back-ordered at the factory, but here's what's on the way for my spare tire hard-mount solution: I'm also waiting for the folks at GMP Performance to call me back... Rufus has been away at 'summer camp' waiting for parts to arrive on the front suspension refresh, cornerbalance, tire mount and alignment . It has been nice having a bit of extra space in the garage while I'm wrapping up some projects around the house, but I'm looking forward to having him back and rolling right!
I picked up Rufus from GPM Performance yesterday. The ride home was spectacular and I can't wait to get out for a quick jaunt this weekend. The steering was tight and I might almost say twitchy when compared to how is has been in the recent past. I'm going to have to focus a bit harder when driving around town. 2 new tires mounted (Same Bridgestones as before, but with 215 instead of 205 now I know they fit) and balanced New steering knuckles up front New hubs up front New ABS sensors up front Corner balance (they got it to 50.5%) Alignment: I dialed the negative camber down to -1.7 this time. I had told the previous guys to set it to -2.0 and it was at -2.5 when GMP started the work this week, either from loose front suspension due to the pinch-bolt not holding the shock bodies well or due to bad work done the first time (which is possible). Negative 2.5 would explain why my front tires were corded on the inside edge. Wow! I hadn't taken a hard look at the before/after alignment info. I'm guessing that the shop that I used 2 years ago for the alignment completely screwed the pooch. They lost their alignment tech the week before and he supposedly walked off with some equipment like their corner-balancing scales. I think they outsourced the job to a shop down the street without telling me (and I was intentionally avoiding that shop due to very bad revues online). I didn't have more than 5k miles on the car between the two alignments and I don't remember having any experience / bump / jolt that would have caused this much upset in the settings.
After all of the work done at the shop last week, I decided to pop a wheel off and poke around. The entire front suspension from the axle out is now new within the past 3 years... control arms, bushings, ball joints, drop links, steering knuckle, hubs/bearings, ABS sensors, brakes... it's all shiny and not a spot of rust. GMP Performance seems to have done a good job and all of the nuts/bolts that they touched have been marked w/ thread-marker, so I can see any screws that might have backed out. The steering wheel is now straight, after the alignment. It was always 2-3 degrees off of center. Normally it wouldn't have bothered me that much, but with the red 12 o'clock marker on the wheel now, it was really noticeable. I need to spend some time on the radar detector mount solution the next time I'm puttering about in the garage. The small metal plate that I attached to the bottom of the detector came loose (I cleaned the detector case w/ Ethanol, but it wasn't enough). I probably need to rough-up the surface and try a stronger glue or some epoxy. I got Rufus out for a quick trip to pick up dinner the other night... not much, but every mile is fun lately!
Just ordered Rufus a 'silver' level car cover (indoor). I've been wanting to get something on him for a bit of protection and dust covering in the garage. https://www.cover-company.com/ Pics to come in 10 or so days when it arrives. Here's the stock photo.
Interesting how you guys went to lingerie and condoms. It reminds me a bit of Borat's front-thong bathing suit (I am NOT going to post a pic). I wanted something that was fitted. I could have gone for a baggier solution (the same company has one), but I didn't want movement with wind, etc. The car would only be covered while in the garage and recently cleaned, but over time even gentle movement can cause rubbing/wear with many repetitions.
In post #506 above, I put in a photo of a J-hook. That part arrived yesterday and I spent some time out in the back of the car, fiddling with that hook. I found that if I lay the rear seats down, I can hook the J through a baby-seat attachment point on the back side of the seat and tighten it down. This will give me a way to secure my full-sized spare for longer road trips (so it doesn't turn into a projectile in an accident). My original bungie-cord solution broke down on a run last year at MOTD, so I wanted to find a solution with a hard attachment mechanism. I've gotta get a 19mm wrench to keep in the car to remove the nut, but it looks like it will be a solid fix.
I had an afternoon off and I finally got out into the garage. Rufus got a magnet upgrade to help hold the radar detector in place (I added a couple quarter-sized [as in 25 cents] neodymium magnets) between the detector and the little Z-shaped mount and that sucker's really on there! I can still pull it off, so I can easily remove and hide the detector when I wish, but I'm not worried that it's going to bounce off when I hit a pothole. I polished out the paint with the PCDA, a soft-ish foam pad and a light-weight polish (paintwork is in good shape, just needed a deoxidation and stubborn-bug-gut removal). I made the rounds 2x with Gyeon Prep (a panel-prep solvent) and Rufus is ready for a few coats of Gyeon MOHS (hopefully this weekend) and a coat of Gyeon Skin (a 2 part ceramic coating). I just got the email that the car cover has been made and is on the way (from Portugal). Update: 1st coat of MOHS is down. The shine was already solid from the polishing yesterday... only getting deeper now.
On Sunday, I got the second coat of Gyeon MOHS (ceramic base-coat) on and then a coat of Gyeon Skin (ceramic top-coat). I forgot how slick Skin was and almost lost the bottle when I set it on the center of the recently coated roof and it slid off (last-minute catch). I washed the car several weeks ago in anticipation of the coating (which got delayed). It was SO nice to take Rufus out for a spin... Just a few miles to go pick up a pizza for dinner, but it was a an early Summer/Late Spring, sunny, 80-degree day here in Charlotte... windows down and sunroof open. All was right with the world and Rufus ran like a brand new car.
This just arrived! Nice quality... a soft brushed finish on the inside with a slightly satin finish on the outside. I need to figure out something to do for the antenna... it probably needs a grommet and some reinforcing there (I thought one was supposed to come w/ the cover, but that might have been another brand I was looking at when I ordered). Edit: I’ve got some 3x5 iron on patches and a 1” plastic grommet coming from Amazon for the antenna hole. The cover also fits a bit better if you fold up the side mirrors first (photos show not folded)