1st Gen R53 Cooper S Most liked posts in thread: Today's Job

So much for predicted certainty. The leak was from an over active weep hole. I've only seen the external hole weeping before, this leak was from a hole I didn't know existed.





In case anyone is interested in what the water pump internals look like.




The new water pump has a black colored impeller, BTW.


The supercharger fluid leak was from the fill plug, not the gear housing flange thank goodness. Both nose and water pump gear drive reservoirs had little fluid, so it was fortunate to catch it early.

 

No doubt the seal was bad, and the bearing probably shot too based on the noise it was making.

Welcome to MA David.

The supercharger intake duct always gives me a hard time refitting. On this install it wouldn't go at all without removing the by-pass valve and fitting it to the tube first. It's been a while since I've seen a poorly adjusted BPV, this one was way off, it was binding against the bore on one side. After an adjustment, this car probably gained a little boost today .

 

Who knows where the cut came from, between dealership and lube shop oil changes, could have been either.




It's been frustrating dealing with broken connectors and rounded bolt heads; they're always in difficult to get to places. Obviously the installer of the last clutch buggered a bolt and had to scrounge for a replacement. The lower bolt in the photo below is non-MINI.




Finally some hot rod work. An OS Giken Super Lock LSD is ready to go.




The second OEM clutch & flywheel for this R56 JCW. At this point it's hard to tell if the flywheel's secondary mass separated and caused the damage, or track abuse cooked the flywheel causing separation. In either case the outer section can turn over ninety degrees before the inner catches up.




Next stop, rivet city. A big pile of dust dropped out when I opened the cover.




The flywheel's heat ring.




The pressure plate.

 

It's Gene's Valhalla.

 

Anatomy of an OS Giken Clutch

This is the race ready version for the R56. At almost 29lb without the release bearing, it is not exactly light weight, but still a little more than 7lb less than OEM. These are hefty components, the pressure ring is massive with 9 load bearing points, and the friction material is robust metal.




The clutch release bearing weighs a lot by itself.





A tip for installing the release bearing on an R56, position the snap ring ends within the opening on the release arm to prevent snagging.




Some R56 installations require the OEM flywheel bolts to be shortened to clear the engine block. For the R53 new bolts come with the kit, but because there appears to be a variance in part dimensions for the later model, there's a chance the modification won't be needed for some R56 installs. I hope OS engineers will see fit to include new bolts with the R56 kit in the future.




3mm is removed from flywheel bolts for this installation.





The clutch kit finally goes on.

 

I don't normally advocate the use of polyurethane, but for a tracked or lowered R56, they're a worthwhile replacement for the front control arm bushings. The OEMs were torn, BTW.

Out with the old, and in with the new.