Most liked posts in thread: What did you do with your MINI today?

I took Checkers in today for a little work. I got a couple codes and to have them install the GP2 brake kit (6 pot) front and rear calipers and rotors and new master cylinder.

 

Replaced the battery in my 2002 Cooper today.

This one is over 10 years old and still working, but I didnt want it to fail during MINI Takes the States.
First time I have ever replaced a battery in a car or motorcycle before it actually failed at least once.

 

Waxed with ceramic! What a rear view! Man!

 

Just can’t stop… gonna wear the paint off my upgrades are coming next week… oil catch can AEM cold air intake and nice turbo blanket !

 

Oil change night for the 2012 Clubman in an overcrowded garage

 

Here is a better view of the MINI, Sunbeam Alpine and two older BMW motorcycles..

 

Got my hood repainted:

Before



After

 

Post MINI Takes the States oil change is now complete

 

Yesterday was a Chicago MINI Club event.. a drive from one of the dealerships to a forest preserves/bog (with a 1/2 mile long floating walkway thru the bog area).. We had a few periods of brief showers on the ride, but it was nice when we got there.

Unfortunately I developed a bad wheel bearing on the way, which will need to be fixed soon. Better now than on MINI Takes the States trip last month.



Here is a link to more pictures

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ernestovumbles/albums/72177720319607238

 

I took my MINI into my local MINI dealer for windshield replacement. This will be windshield #8. It is covered by insurance. When booked the appointment last week, the coolant expansion tank was leaking. This is my 3rd expansion tank. I noted that the aftermarket one lasted the shortest time, so I got the dealer to put a new MINI branded one in with this appointment. Dealer called and said I needed a new radiator. I feel the "leak" was spray from the coolant tank. But my car is 20 years old, and only the 2nd radiator. So since the dealer was giving me a pretty good price on the radiator, I might as well have it replaced too. It won't be done until Monday. So I get a 2024 MINI Cooper as a courtesy car for the weekend.

 

The Pacific Northwest MINIacs, Vancouver MINI Cooper Club, and Vancouver Mini Club met up in Point Roberts WA, and went for a drive. We spent some time at the Rubber Duck Museum.

 

Got Checkers out of storage to start getting ready for the next show. It's not until Oct 20th but I'm old and slow.

 

A nice event with donuts …. Doesn’t get much better than that.

 

Clean clean and more clean

 

Nice job. It looks great. I'll take some shots of mine after I get it ready for the car show on Sunday.

 

Chicago MINI Motoring Club drive today..

Fantastic fall weather.. 35 miles of fun (for Chicagoland) roads and a stop at a club member's garage where he stores a bunch of cool cars including a GP1, GP2 and GP3.





Here is a link to a few more pictures
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ernestovumbles/albums/72177720321336067

 

The new coil packs and the colder plugs will be here Wednesday and along with the new downdraft pipe install it should be a major improvement and can’t wait

 

Took the Vancouver MINI Cooper Club on a drive to the indoor GoKart track. We got to the track only to find it was fully booked for private events that day already.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/beken/albums/72177720321602276

 

Our Chicagoland club used to do a mid-winter indoor karting event for many many years and they were very accommodating to us.

in the past couple years the price increases, mandatory 10% additional "tip" and inflexibility (charging an up-front per-person fee and not being able to change based on how many people actually showed on the day, even though we were well above their minimum event participant counts) led us to stop going..

I miss the event, but not the headaches of planning.

 

Saturday was our annual club drive to Starved Rock State Park. Always a club favorite, we had over 30 cars out for the 75 mile back road drive.

Starved Rock by Ernesto Vumbles, on Flickr


Here is a link to a couple more pictures

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ernestovumbles/albums/72177720321841259