Well, not really at this exact second...but I'm going to update this thread as I do it... I went down to Atlanta today and stopped by Global MINI worked with a very pleasant fellow to buy a few parts. When I finished up there, I stopped by Way's Motor Works and bought the rest. Here's what got brought home: Redline MTL Power Steering Fluid New Control Arm Bushing Bolts OEM Sway Bar Bushings (that was all I could get) O-Rings for Crank Sensor and Dipstick Tube Nuts for new ball joints (kinda sucks, but ya gotta ask for them separately) Outer Ball Joints Powerflex Control Arm Bushings pressed into my housings Inner Ball Joints (came with attaching bolts) Powerflex Steering Rack Bushing Powerflex Control Arm Bushing box with washer and lube inside Wiper Blade Inserts Stopped by AutoZone and snagged some inverse Torx sockets and a Torque Angle Gauge. I decided to start by changing the transmission lube. I'm my own worst enemy. I always manage to outsmart myself... I thought that I'd like to save the old transmission lube without contaminating it in my catch pan. (Y'all in the home audience are already starting to chuckle...) Me, the Brainwave, decided that it'd be easy to catch the old lube in a 2 Liter Coke Bottle with a funnel atop it. That was an awesome plan right up until I unscrewed the drain plug. The MINI Valdez peed about a cup of transmission oil onto the floor until I used my finger to attenuate the flow. I wound up saving about 2/3 of a 2 Liter bottle. Then, I learned that Red Line MTL bottles don't fit my handy dandy all purpose hose that supposedly fits all bottles. :mad2: I found a half full ATF bottle, warshed it out real good, transferred the MTL into it, and got it into the transmission without adding to the mess. :cornut: Not sure if I'm doing anything else tonight because I gotta get up early to go to a car auction up in Chattanooga with some friends. Rawhyde
Just installed the Powerflex Steering Rack Bushing. It was pretty simple. I torqued all the bolts to the spec in the book.
What fun! Just a word of caution. When I did my control arm bushings the pry bar slipped and smashed my hand near my thumb. No problem number one daughter took me to get stitched up. Funny thing, it was the same doc that I meet about a mouth before when my dog bit me playing. My wife keeps the oldest daughter on call any time I work on the cars. :frown2:
That's what Way sent me as well (along with the PowerFlex pre-pressed control arm bushings). When I wanted to exchange them for the PowerFlex sway bar bushings he said that the OEM ones were better because you periodically have to go lube up the PowerFlex urethane ones. I put them in my car without knowing this but am about to go out and put the OEM ones in along with the pre-pressed control arm bushings. Hopefully without a trip to the ER. Val
I got the MINI back together around midnight Saturday night. I got home from the auction and into the shop about 3 o'clock. I hit two minor (self inflicted) snags in building up the subframe and installing it. Whenever I take something apart, I usually chase the threads with a tap or die. This takes time, but I feel like it's well spent. Working on cars is a hobby, so I'm not trying to push'em out the door as fast as possible, but I DO want the job done right. I didn't have a M14 x 1.5 tap or die, so I didn't mess with the threads for the bolts that hold the control arm bushings in the subframe. When I assembled the right side, all went well and I tightened the bolts (not torqued, just about 15 ft-lb or so) As I was assembling the left side, the bolt got a little hard to turn. I thought it was started, so I used my wrench and made a little mess of the threads on the end of the bolt. I called around to my friends who use tools, and nobody had the right size. I wound up running up to Chattanooga to Northern Tool to get a tap & die set for large metric fasteners. I cleaned up my mess in a few minutes, but I wasted 3 hours calling around and driving around to get the proper tools. After I snugged down all the bolts, I torqued everything to spec and reinstalled the subframe. To my utter surprise, it was straightforward and went together easily. the second snag was when I tried to reinstall the aluminum bumper. I had already torqued down the crush tubes, so they didn't line up. I had to loosen them to get the bumper on, then retorque them. Not a big deal, but I knew better in both mishaps and did it anyway... Including the Inverse Torx sockets and the tap & die set, my little job set me back about $600. I got new control arm bushings, a new steering rack bushing, new sway bar bushings, fresh power steering fluid, fresh transmission oil, new PCV valve, new ball joints, a dipstick tube o-ring, and a crank position sensor o-ring. This wasn't a cheap job, but I bet it would have been worse if I'd taken it to a shop somewhere or a dealership. I took the MINI for a run to my buddy's house to exercise our 2nd Amendment rights. It was about a 30 mile run and I had to go over a mountain. I didn't push it, I just enjoyed the drive. The difference was amazing. The steering wheel now self centers after making a turn, the car doesn't dart in a random direction every time I hit the brakes, and I don't have to fight it constantly while driving down the road. The deterioration happens so slowly to your front end parts, and the fix is so immediate that it's always amazing to see the difference. I've used polyurethane bushings in other cars and usually there is an increase in road noise or vibration. The only difference I can tell is that the car now drives much better. I guess the takeaways are: If you don't have Powerflex control arm bushings, you need them. Dropping the subframe really isn't that hard.
Sorry I missed you the other day we were at the Mickey and MINI event. But Paul said he got you taken care of.