1st Gen R53 Cooper S S10 slave cylinder conversion for 1st Gen MINI

So, among some of my proactive maintenance steps I've been taking care of, given the age/mileage on my '06 Check-less-mate R53 was to replace the slave cylinder before it failed on me.

While having the oil pan gasket replaced at Helix, I decided to let them tackle the installation of the drop-in "uprated slave cylinder" kit, I picked up from www.greeneperformance.com.

It is a clever replacement option that fits a metal slave cylinder from an S10 Chevy P/U in place of the factory plastic thing. The kit comes with everything needed to replace the stock hard line that feeds the factory slave.

You'll need to pull the intake hoses and air box/ECU holder to get at the connection for that last hard line. But once that is swapped out it is a pretty straightforward swap and bleed. I didn't grab many pics during the install, but you should be able to figure it out from the few that I did (and a couple provided to me for clarification, from Colin).

The kit provided:



The factory steel line is cut short, and fitted with an hydraulic connection that connects to the flexible braided steel line that then connects to the slave.

The flange of the steel slave gets mounted on the opposite side of mounting flange on the transmission case, like so...



Otherwise, it hits the subframe (see below). Quick note on the above pic... you can see why the braided line is needed to be spliced in with the factory hardline in its original configuration. this kit was very well thought out and makes the conversion a complete breeze.



The only mod required on my part was grinding open the mounting holes a little bit. Because the holes don't quite line-up out of the box. This is something Colin can do for you if you need... but I told him not to worry about for me. You can see the slight bit of elongation needed to make the bolt holes line up in this pic...



Once that's all squared away. Bleed the snot out of the system to get a solid clutch pedal inside and your good to go.

It did require some clamps in order to bleed the slave while it dangled from the line... because the bleeder valve is kissing the trans case a bit. If you aren't comfortable doing this yourself... any mechanic worth a 'tarnation can.

It changes the feel drastically. Much stiffer pedal compared to stock. Changed the engagement point ever so slighty... but all-in-all, I'm extremely happy with the results. Not that i have anything major against plastics, it's just nice peace of mind when I can replace the potential weak link in a chain with something metal.

Cheers.

 

http://www.greeneperformance.com/collections/mini-oem-performance-parts/products/mini-cooper-s-r52-r53-02-08-uprated-slave-cylinder-kit

 

If you are looking for more feedback than what I originally said... I don't know if I'll be of any help.