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

What did I do with my MINI today? Not all that much.

Just the first 7 hours of my rebuild...

 

Picked up a now running Gnat from Best Motor Werks.

Bad MAP sensor was the issue.

Degree of difficulty, diagnosing issue with codes from ViPec. Thanks Jan, without your assistance we'd of not figured that one out.

 

Got quite a bit of stuff cleared out of what used to be the corner of death... Found the neighbors cat that went missing 12 years ago, 2 bunnies, a unicorn, and an expired but winning Powerball ticket back there! Who knew... [emoji12]

Na, just tore out the tire rack, broke down the engine hoist to save some room, moved the Rat's original engine, and the compressor... Also got all the MINI parts pile moved to the loft... Hiding behind them was also a set of high strength front axle shafts for my old Samurai, some Honda parts, and even some stuff left over from my EVO. It was a good day all around. [emoji2]

 

These came...



Only 1 week, thats pretty darn quick for gov't work.

 

getting close now...

 

I bought me some new parts from Colin Greene!

 

Booked up hotels and blocked out my work calendar to be out of office tomorrow afternoon. Why? Taking the ferry over to Vancouver Island and going motoring up Highway 4 (with the MINI of course) to Tofino and do some storm watching.

 

Last week a small rock decided to take a trip into my windshield and leave a Dime sized pit. After yelling “YES!!” And fist pumping a few times, I called my agent and arranged to have the windshield replaced. The old one was pretty grotty, had a few other pits and small nicks, and otherwise looked like a transparent orange peel from the last 150,000 miles or so and was utterly miserable to look through when driving towards a low hanging sun.

I spent the time chatting with the window guy who was pretty nice and now have a new and perfectly clear eye to looked through.

Yay Me!

 

Hooked up a cheap a$$ boost guage. Used a windshield mount that I can use temporarily, until I decide a more permanent mount. Dims with the dash lights and reads about the same as my Torque Pro app too.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

Well, I finally got around to downloading pictures off my camera from my trip up highway 4 on Vancouver Island. This has become my favorite motoring road for me, though it costs money and time to get there (ferry). Lots of twists and turns, elevation changes, and fantastic scenery. The air and water is so clean, you can see the rocks clear to the bottom of river beds. You guys(and gals) were invited. To bad you missed out.

 

I drove my MINI to a regular client's house to photograph a Ferrari 512TR for sale, and lookie what was in the garage...



It is stunning up close and in person. Just off to the left of the photo is parked a Porsche 918 -- the one I shot for a auction cover and posted here about six months ago.

 

No wife for this cat N'er have to worry about that. I usually end up getting side work from casual conversation either at work our out with friends, once someone finds out I'm handy with a wrench I get recruited. I don't usually branch outside of suspension and brake work. I will do a tune up here and there, but most times I'll just tell them how to do it since it's simple AF. This was a special case and I like the guy Plus he agreed to pay me in smoked ribs (finished cooking while I finished working) and a pan of some turtle cheesecake which is his wifes specialty. I hope I don't end up diabetic by the end of the week.

 

I finished making my engine 'purddy'. Only have to clean it up a bit...

 

Today was detail wash, clean all glass inside and out, vacuum while interior and dress every part of interior.
Matte finish Not that crappy Armor All flashy look.
I also took off the Winter wheels and put on the refreshed Summer wheels.
Installed my updated Valentine V1 with remote display. ( No Virginia Trooper driving awards this year )
Cleaned dry K&N air filter.
Replaced cabin air filter.
Filled Meth tank with VP M-1. only 4 gallons left so I need to pick up another 5 gal.
Replaced rear trunk handle.
Fixed a rear jack point.
** I have old TSW all metal jack points and one came off when the car was at Helix last month.
Installed new Raceseng shift knob. http://www.raceseng.com/products/shift-knobs/mini/6-speed-manual

Took her out for a test drive after the RMW upgrades done at Helix.
** New RMW Gand AM Cam, ViPEC ECU installed, Innovative Wideband O2 installed and
** JAN \ RMW tuned on the Helix Dyno. At the wheels 270 HP / 192 Tq.

Real test drive an nice warm roads with Summer tires and light rims = on yeah this bad boy is faster and quicker. The Dragon will be a blast this year.

All I have left to do is replace both old cracked front fender liners. I have the new ones sitting in the garage with all the stupid “MINI” clips. Maybe I will instal them tomorrow morning. I could have done them today but it was very warm and sunny and I wanted to go drive.

I have 3 details and ceramic coatings to do over the next 3 weekends and I am saving the last weekend to go over my car before the Dragon.

 

I put gas in it. It seems that someone, somehow managed to syphon off my gas while my car was parked at the airport. With all the security and surveillance, it take s some big balls to steal gas at a major airport.

I was in Florida shooting cars for an auction company. They needed some quick shots to meet an ad deadline. One was a Mini CooperS.

This is not a great photo, but the subject is cool. I had to push it myself to the closest decent location to get just a few shots of a car that has been parked in a museum for years. I'll be re-shooting it in a few weeks, when it is running and ready for a full photoshoot.

It is Sir Paul McCartney's Mini CooperS, Radford Conversion. One was made for each member of the Beatles.



When I go back to reshoot it, I do intend to drive it.

CD

 

Took my MINI out for a run today to deposit my loot from this weekends detail. Next weekend I have a Tesla detail.

Last weekends car below was not washed at all in the last TWO YEARS when I did a full detail and coating.

 

Took delivery of the 2018 Countryman last night. I was surprised to find the headlights light up the side of the car that I am turning into. A left turn lights up the left side of the car.



I now have a garage full of MINIs. R53, R56 and F60. One of each generation. Going to have to get a classic Mini to complete the collection

 

Today after a quick was I installed the custom lights today.

* I cleaned off the fingerprints and smuges when I was done.

 

My MINI got the day off, today. It had a hard couple of days. I drove it to Taylor, Texas on Tuesday to photograph a car. I should have driven a rental. I've made that drive many times, but over the last couple of years, the highways have gone to $4lT. Beat the crap out of my car. I finally stopped for the night, got a hotel room, then drove the rest of the way home in heavy rain on Wednesday.

On the plus side, I brought back $103 worth of Louis Mueller's BBQ Brisket in a cooler.

The car I shot was pretty awesome, too. 1966 Jag E-Type. 100 point car. I shot it at a restoration shop. I've known the shop owner for at least 10 years. Best jag guy in the US. He has an XJ220 in progress -- a one-year-plus rotisserie restoration. I can't imagine what that is costing someone.

Here is the car I shot. It was restored a few years ago. It was there for a "refreshing," or basically a tune and detailing. Hey Dave, check out the detailing.







CD

 

Just got back from finding my oil leak. It wasn't the oil, it was the power steering hose. All fixed. The problem with buying a car that was stored in a hi heat area is that all the rubber parts are subject to deterioration. But, while I was there, I found a new set of wheels.