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

There shouldn't be pressure under the valve cover, there should be a slight vacuum. It sounds like you have a defective PCV valve. A new valve cover will solve that problem.

 

Go for a nice drive on some twisty roads. It will ease the pain of the hurtin your wallet received.

 

Lee, to fix the cat scratches on your paint film try a hair dryer or even better pour a bottle of really hot water on the film. I use a tea kettle and pour the water on the film. The heat helps the film self heal and close the scratch if it is not too deep.

Also that’s another reason why I got rid of my rear wiper. They all leak! UGH

 

Found the built in wine rack in the F60 Countryman.

 

Put the air deflectors (under the front
air dam) back on now that the risk of
significant snowfall has passed.

 

ALL T-stats housings fail on all MINI’s no matter what generation you have. I am on my 3rd one.

 

Oil and filter change (every 5K miles).
OEM filter and a mix of Amsoil 5w30 XL
(has an HTHS of 3.3, almost A3 spec,
and a good VI, and SN+), and Mobil 1
10w30 HM (only SN+ oil with A3/B3 spec
that I know of). Going with SN+ oils this
time because they’re supposed to be
good for gas DI turbo motors, and I get
an occasional knock code (but no CEL).
I’ll be topping off with the M1 in the
warmer months, and with the Amsoil
in the cooler months, and no, I’m not
worried about any weird voodoo
reaction from mixing oils this close
to each other on properties.

 

Making some last minute organizational updates.

For any of you in the Pacific Northwest, there is a MINI gathering at Krispy Kreme Doughnuts in North Delta (Suburb of Vancouver BC...Canada) at Scottsdale Mall at 9:30am tomorrow morning (Saturday, March 30, 2019).
Not sure how many will show up. Those of you in the Eastern side of the continent, if you start driving now, you can still make it. In last year's Bacon Invasion, a pre rally to MTTS, Two cars made it from Quebec to Vancouver in 24 hours.

 

I read this for the first time. Interesting history. I might have to find away to get my car across the continent and make this run someday......


https://tailofthedragon.com/history/

 

I will be putting on my refreshed aero bumper later today.

 

Yup, anyone remember that airline bag fees were to be just temporary to help with the fuel crisis

Crisis is over, time to stop the bag fees.

 

You need to fly Dave O down to your place. He'd have it done & looking great in a few hours.

 

I ran out today in my MINI and picked up 5 gallons on VP M1 Methanol for the Dragon.

Lee, pollen is no issue as long as you wipe down the car well with Gyeon Prep before you start applying the coating.
I do Wipe down the whole car when I am ready to coat, then do the panel I am worth it on right before I apply the coating.

Just like prepping before painting....just keep the dust and pollen off for the area you are coating.

As for polishing, slower is faster. Spend time making slow passes at setting 3 or lower. Go over areas slowly and overlap by 1/2 a pad. Do not do fast passes like you are washing the car. Slower is faster. Take your time and keep you pads clean. Let the polish and pad do the work.

FYI - I never have to run the DA above setting 3 to return excellent clear results. High speeds equals potential swirls and product splatter. Product not on the paint working is a waste.

 

It's time for those "special" glasses, CD. I wonder if they can "see" thru the lower door panel....

 

No, but the reverse light position doesn’t
trigger that on my car anyway.
Most other position bulbs do if an LED is
substituted. These are about 10w compared
to stock 21w bulbs, whereas most LEDs are
only 2-4w, so they might or might not trigger
it in other positions. I could try it in the turn
signal socket if you need to know.

I thought of putting the other one in the
rear fog position, but
1 - It would be rude to the car behind me.
2 - I pretty much never use the rear fog light anyway.
3 - People think the single fog light on
the left just means there’s a missing
second brake light on the right (where the
reverse light actually is, or a stuck on
brake light on the left, or both.

I could use it selectively to make a point,
such as for tailgaters, etc., but that would
probably just provoke road rage behaviors.

P.S. credit for pointing me to these goes to Kupona on ... er ... some other site.

 

Removed and remounted the brackets on my CF wing using Loctite. Had one screw backed out and another come halfway loose last week. Readjusted angle of attack. Now just need to run it a little this week and make sure everything's still tight.

 

I learned how to set up my air suspension...which I will be doing tonight before my alignment tomorrow.