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2004 Mini Cooper S JCW - For Free

316K views 458 replies 170 participants last post by  percymon 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I spent a lot of time following various people's projects in this part of Detailing World. So it only seemed fitting that I would begin my own! This will be a rather wordy and picture heavy project blog of my slightly crusty, non-running 2004 MINI Cooper S Works which I have fondly named "Stouffer" after Harry Hill's blue cat puppet (Seen here)

Background

It's worth making clear that i'm a big MINI fan, although I have never owned one. My Mum has had a 2004 Cooper S for over 9 years which i've always been very fond of - however she is also very fond of it, so i'm rarely lucky enough to drive it! I usually need an excuse - such as "I've just changed the coolant, but I need to test drive it to make sure everything is ok ... BYE". I love the way they drive - a real hoot at (relatively) legal speeds.
In the past when i've looked to change car, the MINI has never been quite suitable as I used to do a lot more miles (mainly motorway) which dictated a slightly larger and less bone-shaking car with an auto box (Golf GTI DSG and BMW M135i). However, as i'm looking to work close to home - a MINI makes a lot more sense now.
After selling my M135i, I have used my Land Rover Discovery 300TDI as my 'daily' since last year - it's comfy(ish) and relaxed, but you simply cannot have any fun behind the wheel - it takes at least 18 seconds to get to 60mph.

I was recently helping a family friend to resurrect her Audi TT which had a flat battery. Coversation turned to her MINI which had suffered head gasket failure in September 2016. She had not had the time to get it repaired, and so it had sat there ever since - gradually turning green under some large trees.
We had talked about putting it up for sale as spares/repairs - but I think the look of genuine horror in my face lead her to say "Why don't you have it?" I was quick to explain that I couldn't really afford to buy a car at the moment as I don't have a permanent job, so I would have to 'pass' on it. However, what she actually meant was that I could have the car for free if I wanted it. Like a kid at christmas, I jumped in my Land Rover and began to formulate the plans in my head!
Here are a few pictures of the car as it stood:




I think we need to address the elephant in the room - yes, that Audi TT is pink.


Picture taken through the window due to missing key (more on that later). Note the mouldy seat!






The car

To the best of my knowledge, the car is as follows (and i'm happy to be corrected here):
2004 R53 MINI Cooper S with the John Cooper Works pack.
It is a 1.6 supercharged inline-4 with 6 speed manual gearbox.
The colour is Hyper Blue, with white roof, mirror caps and bonnet stripes.
From what I understand, the cars left the factory as a standard Cooper S and would have the JCW kit fitted at the dealer which raises power to roughly 200-210bhp as opposed to the standard 170bhp. It comprises of:
  • Ported head
  • Uprated injectors
  • 11% Supercharger reduction pulley
  • Different ECU map
  • Different airbox and filter
  • Larger diameter cat back exhaust

In addition to this, I believe my car has the Chili Pack (including full leather) and ****pit Chrono Pack (extra dials).
It also has some sort of dealer fit sat nav (although the head unit has since been changed) which scared me half to death. There is a button (pictured above) which rings through to something like "MINI SmartNav", you tell them where you want to go and they send the directions to your car! I was very surprised when I pressed it at 11:30 last night and it started calling somebody! I'll stick to using google maps on my phone!

The button for the obscure sat nav. Don't worry, i've cleaned it since.


As you can probably tell, it has been fitted with Works GP type wheels (I'm not sure if they're genuine or replicas) but I really like the look of them so they will be staying.

Getting it home

The first issue was the key (or lack thereof!). In the time the car had been sitting - the only key had gone missing. After a bit of hunting, the V5 document was unearthed. I went with the current owner and ordered a new non-remote key from the BMW/MINI dealer for the surprisingly reasonable sum of ÂŁ42! This arrived a couple of days later. It does the job, although I should mention that it is the single most cheap feeling, hollow piece of plastic I have ever come across!


I next needed to work out how to get the car home. I was reluctant to tow it with a rope as the journey is around 30 minutes on B-roads with a lot of stopping and starting - and I knew that the MINI would have little to no brakes as the engine obviously wouldn't be running. I found that Screwfix sell a fixed tow bar with spring damper for under ÂŁ20. It's pretty good, although (as per all the reviews) the cotter pins which hold the 3 pieces of the bar together are rubbish, I could visualize them coming loose very quickly - so I substituted them for some split pins.


I started by removing all of the previous owner's stuff and wiping down the mould from the passenger seat to make things a little less of a health hazard on the way home. The handbrake had been firmly applied all the time it was laid up, so predictably the car did not want to budge. Luckily a couple of quick yanks with my Discovery and it rolled freely.The battery was totally dead (no surprise really!) but no matter how hard I tried, wouldn't accept a charge. As I wanted to be able to have the hazard lights on during the journey home, I popped to Halfords on the way home and picked up a suitable battery for ÂŁ55 on my trade card.

My Disco and the MINI after getting the brakes freed off


My Dad had agreed to tow me back with his Defender whilst I sat in the MINI, so that evening we went over to collect it. I'm pleased to report that this went without a hitch! (That was a towing joke, by the way...)
The fixed bar attached easily to the MINI's front towing eye, having anticipated that the Defender doesn't have a towing eye on the back - but does have a tow ball, we found a suitable shackle to attach it with. I hooked up the new battery on the MINI and all the electrics came to life.






Part 2 coming shortly :car:
 
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16
#402 ·
Excellent update and I'm pleased to hear that you are still enjoying the Mini. I've not experienced any of the issues with my R53 that you are experiencing so I can't offer any solutions but I am keen to hear what it might be.

Love the Bongo too and great to see that you've been using it as was intended.
 
#405 ·
Well i'm no fan of camper vans, and i always thought some of the Jap ones looked a bit jokey, but the interior on yours, and the practicality of the configuration have completely thrown my previous views of this model - looks great inside, especially the rear and perfect for those weekends away and festivals :thumb:
 
#417 ·
Multiple MINIs

Great build thread, just read start to finish over the last 4 days, looking forward to future progress and just about to read your bongo thread. Subscribed ����
Thanks! It must be quite a marathon to read the whole thing now!

I've recently picked up another MINI to fix - project thread below in case you or any other readers are interested! :D

Another Broken MINI Cooper S PROJECT!

Don't worry - the JCW isn't going anywhere!
 
#419 ·
Hi all,

Decent update for you here - some of it dates back to last October up to the present day

:wave: :wave:

______

Having polished the camper with some newly bought AutoFinesse Tripple - I gave it a whirl on the MINI. I applied it by DA in a shady spot on a hot Summer's day. It really does give some lovely results. The repainted area on the passenger side rear quarter was looking a little bit dull - particularly an area below the fuel cap where the water drains.



Swirls



I experimented with a bit of wet sanding after taking some frankly hilarious paint depth readings!!!





After wet sanding, I brought the gloss back with a combination of compounds, followed by Tripple.



I then went over the car with Autobrite Project 64.











______

I stupidly didn't photograph this job but the front bumper cover was missing several of its front fixings when I originally reassembled the car - it was fine, but the bottom lip was being allowed to sit too low - so it has been bashed into half of the speed bumps in Leicestershire which in turn had pulled out most of the rest of the fixings to the point where it was only really held on by two bolts at the top - so the bottom was just flapping around! It was also beginning to affect the bonnet closing on one side. I sourced some suitable screws, nuts and bolts from my tub of various fittings left over from car jobs over the years (oops) and a couple of my old mates - scrivets! I then had a fully attached bumper cover :)

______

I had another falling out with a kerb. I don't know why I'm so bad with this car - I never used to bash into kerbs. I do wonder if it's years of driving the Discovery which you can just smash into a kerb and it'll go up.
Anyway, I was pulling up outside my Dad's house which has those really old fashion kerb stones which are vicious - I didn't take a sharp enough turn onto the kerb and just smashed the alloy into it - he came to the front door saying he'd heard me arrive :lol: it took a chunk out of the tyre sidewall as well as the alloy. Just another battle scar for the tyres - they had a couple of similar bits of damage from incidents before I owned it.



______

The boot mounted MINI badge has seen better days - that's on the list of jobs to do. I had a quick search on eBay but got a bit mind boggled about which ones were contoured correctly and had the right mounting pins, so I'll get round to that.

______

I had bought a new rocker gasket and spark plug tube seals from BMW last year which I hadn't got round to fitting. They were changed when I first got the car, but I don't believe they were of good enough quality and had started to leak - meaning some oil was getting into the spark plug wells and also leaking down the back of the engine onto the hot exhaust - giving off a nasty smell when the engine was warm and you came to a stop. I finally got round to it over the Christmas period. I also had a set of stainless steel rocker cover and coil pack bolts ready to go on - to replace the rusty and partially rounded originals.

A rare spot in the garage!



What we're working with



It was the first opportunity I had to have a go with this (you may have seen on the other MINI thread). It is a cordless 3/8" ratchet. Takes the wrist work out of undoing lots of bolts - it'll undo anything moderately tight, but you may need to 'crack' very tight bolts loose manually (it's not designed for that).



I've had the rocker cover off these cars so many times now - it's second nature. Intercooler and brackets off, spark plug leads off, then undo the bolts and the cover comes off - remove the old gasket, clean up the area and fit the new one. This genuine replacement was WAY easier to fit than the previous aftermarket one. Then I fitted the new stainless bolts and tightened them all gradually. I changed the coil pack bolts just for looks really.

Old loose spark plug tube seals (they should be in the valve cover!)



Manky old rocker bolts





New gasket fitted - don't worry about the horrible brown sealant stuff - that's the same on every MINI valve cover!



Only pictures of the new stainless bolts I got





All back together and looking nice

Some blurry new coil pack bolts



First start up ... uh oh!



You may remember I had this misfire problem when I last messed round with the plug leads. I pulled them off, found some burnt on oily residue on the ends of the plugs where the plug lead connects (where it had leaked down with the old seals) cleaned them thoroughly and refitted. Then all was well and has been fine since.

______

Having had one too many people get into the car, sit there for a moment and then look at the brushed aluminium effect dash trim and go "Oh, has someone scratched this or is it meant to be like that?". The vast majority of Cooper S' had this trim. I didn't find it particularly offensive but fancied a change. My car being a facelift model has what's known as the 3 piece dash - the airbag is mounted on the dash top - rather than coming directly out of the dash trim. Those cars have a 5 piece setup. Being that these cars were so eminently customisable - there are a few choices. There was an optional JCW carbon fibre trim set which is rare and very expensive, even a walnut set which are rare but a bit more of an acquired taste (I quite like it, in the right spec of car). However I had my sights set on the Hyper Blue trim which is a little more readily available. It's the very same colour as the exterior of my car.

This is the original trim for reference



I found a set available in excellent condition which I bought from the seller for around ÂŁ35 I think. They arrived and were just as nice as they looked in the pictures.



Changing the trim is relatively easy - it just requires a bit of care to remove the old bits. They are held in with metal push fit clips - I used some plastic trim removal tools so not to damage anything. The piece that sits in front of the driver requires the cluster to be unbolted to get good access - that is just held on with a couple of torx bolts. One thing I had forgotten about was the no longer functioning TrafficMaster sat nav system which had a button mounted to dash trim near the steering wheel. I decided to just cut the wires and tape them up - as there was no point having the button. Annoyingly it makes my old trim pieces less saleable as they have a button mounted in them!!







I love how the blue ones look, really brightens the interior up. I would normally want sombre colours - but these cars don't take themselves seriously and I think they should be flamboyant and a bit silly - so blue is fine with me. Being a factory painted part - the quality of the finish is excellent and really glossy. I've even polished them!











______

One modification I'd had my eye on was the Aero front grills. These came as part of the Aero bodykit (commonly mistaken for being a JCW item) which was available as an option on all models and trim levels and comprised of deeper front and rear bumper lips and side skirts. The front grills are black honeycomb, as opposed to the chrome/bodycolour slatted items found on cars without the Aero kit. They are able to be fitted to non-Aero cars with a little modification.

I don't have the full Aero kit on my wishlist, as whilst I like the front bumper and side skirts - I'm not keen on the rear bumper. Plus they are quite expensive to get hold of even in poor condition.

Buying the grills new was around ÂŁ140-ÂŁ160 posted from abroad. However I was able to find a pre-owned upper grill for ÂŁ40 which had handily had slots for the front spot lamps already made, and a new middle grill from ebay for around ÂŁ35. A decent saving.

The middle grill is a faff to make fit - it was never designed to mount to the standard bumper, so the fixing tabs do not line up. I looked at a couple of guides online and then set about it. First removing the existing trim pieces...



Then spraying the area black - so it doesn't show through from behind the grill.



After this, I marked the positions of the tabs on the Aero grill and drilled slots in the correct places, repeatedly test fitting it as I went.



Then I applied some epoxy to the outer tabs and left them firmly pressed in place by pushing the car forwards with a block of wood pressing against the car and a garage shelving unit. And yes - my masking had left a little to be desired.



Lower grill fitted - "Look ma, no face!"



The upper grill can be fitted without modification - this arrived with a set of black spot lamps which weren't in top condition, plus I prefer the chrome items I already have. So I opted to swap those.

I hadn't banked on the spot lamp brackets being riveted to the bonnet of the car THROUGH the original grill so I drilled out the rivets with a step drill attachment (love it), unbolted the spot lamps from the brackets, cut the wires (can't be unplugged) then set about removing the existing grill. It is held on to the car by 8 or 10 10mm nuts ... however they are plastic! You have to pry from behind with a flat bladed screwdriver to even get them to bite. They are rubbish! However, I was able to remove all but one without a fight - the last one broke off with its threaded stud and fell down the back of the engine ... oh well!

I then cleaned up the area and fitted the new grill along with the spot lamp brackets and spot lamps - cautiously tightening the plastic nuts up on the grill. I have a hand riveter - so I riveted the bottom two fittings on each spot lamp bracket - but couldn't get the top ones to work - so substituted with a small nut and bolt. I routed the wiring nicely and re-soldered the wires for the spot lamps - then pulled the car up in front of the garage door and aimed the spot lamps in roughly the right direction.

Step drill bit for drilling out the rivets - very handy







This was the result. I'm super happy with how it looks now - a little bit more aggressive.







______

You may recall that I did a lot of work on getting the wheels to look decent - which involved removing the diamond cut surface and polishing up the bare metal on the rim of the wheels. It had stood up to the elements pretty well, however the surface was beginning to deteriorate where road salt had been sat on the wheels over the winter.







So to bring it back - I used some 2000 grit wet & dry paper to cut through the corrosion on the surface and a lower grit on the area where I'd kerbed the wheel to flatten the surface out - then picked up a couple of drill polishing wheels from Halfords and polished the surface back up with to a shine using Autosol.

Sitting at eye level with the wheels reminded me how much sidewall damage was on the tyres - so for reasons detailed below - I didn't bother masking or making any real effort not to get polish on the tyres.



Muddy and polish-stained tyres!





______

The car came with a set of Fulda Carat Exelero tyres on it when I initially rescued it. Certainly not the type of tyre I would choose - but hey, they were free! So they have been on the car ever since. The tyres had become noticeably rubbish during the colder weather - the main problem being getting traction when accelerating. I'm not talking about getting the perfect launch away from the lights - more an issue of not being able to nip out of a junction or roundabout quickly without completely lighting up one of the tyres and making a spectacle of myself. They were also quite 'understeery' - but I'm happy to take that as a reminder not to drive like a numpty in the cold.

Anyway, after reminding myself of all the sidewall damage - I decided to measure the tread (assuming they must be about at the end of their life, given that they came with the car and I usually drive the car relatively hard). However they actually had between 4mm and 5mm tread all round - they seemed to refuse to wear. My theory being that they'd gone hard over the years (2014 dated I believe) plus over 12 months stood still can't have helped their cause. This also reminds me of a very brown-pants moment in the summer on a section of motorway you may or may not be familiar with - where the M69 southbound exits at junction 2 to join the M6 westbound - following other traffic at a fair speed. It's a long, fast 180 degree turn which nearly became a 360 degree turn - not good! :lol:



So even though they had decent tread on them, I decided to bin them off and look into getting a new set. After doing a bit of reading - I found that many people move to a 215/45 tyre over the standard 205/45 - they are often a little cheaper, give slightly more contact with the road and are a tiny bit more forgiving in terms of comfort (all things are relative in a MINI!!) I had always intended to go to Uniroyal Rainsport 3's for their balance of 'quality' and price. They come widely recommended in the MINI community - I've had them on several cars before and they're just a great all-rounder. They were coming in at around ÂŁ87 per corner, however I then spotted that there was a discount code on the Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 3 which brought the price down to ÂŁ86.74 per corner. Hell yes!



I placed the order through Tyres On The Drive for a full set of them. I had used TOTD for a set of tyres on my camper van last year and had been very impressed. Fitting day came around - matey boy arrived in a ratty horrible van with an even more ratty horrible attitude. Incredibly rude and was actually shouting at me on my drive! Long story short - a massive complaint went in, investigation with the regional manager, a sizeable refund, hugely apologetic response - and I then realised the wheels were bloody out of balance! Another email sent and a next day appointment, a MUCH nicer man with a non-smashed up van came and found all 4 wheels were out of balance. All rectified and faith in the company restored by their excellent customer service!

The car drives way better with the Goodyears fitted. I haven't really taken any pictures of them because, well, they're tyres! But it is better in every respect. This was before my new centre caps arrived - the old ones had broken clips.





______

The project S you may well have seen featured on the forum has taken a lot of time that would have otherwise been spent on my own car. So in a effort to repay that - it has donated its jack and factory jack bag with wheel chock. That now sits in my boot which is entirely full of MINI badges and has no room at all for anything else :lol: the jack is sort of redundant - as the Cooper S is not fitted with a spare wheel - so if it gets a flat tyre - you're sticking a can of goop into the tyre and pumping it up!



______

Being that i'm not elegible for the mortgage needed to fit a correct 1st Gen JCW badge to the car - I have had to settle with the ÂŁ8 2nd Gen badge.

The 1st Gen badge is (I believe) discontinued and presumably made from Unobtainium :lol: they are available for ÂŁ135 new (seen here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MINI-NEW...h=item2f079d97a8:g:Li0AAOSwacFZbxgY:rk:2:pf:0) or for example there is a used, damaged one for ÂŁ50 plus delivery (seen here https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/JCW-BOOT...h=item364889b61a:g:BdUAAOSwiZhccw0-:rk:9:pf:0)

The original badge from the back of my car now resides on a garage shelving unit



The ÂŁ8 badge fitted a bit over a year ago had succumbed to the winter road salt (Not helped by my rather lax winter washing routine) which had eaten away at the chromed metal finish. I tried a bit of Autosol on it which seemingly made it worse, so I opted to just replace it.

I stuck down some tape to show the correct position of the badge, then removed the old badge with the aid of the heat gun to warm the glue - followed by some ValetPro Citrus Tar & Glue remover to clean up the surface - what I didn't count on was it removing the adhesive from the tape used to mark the badge position!! After this, I cleaned up the area ready for the new badge with some IPA. The old badge was at a slight angle - so I made sure to correct that when fitting the new one.











Much better...

______

I recently fitted a set of LED reg plate bulbs - I realised at this point that both of the lenses were on their last legs. One actually wouldn't clip back in - so I had to hold it in with some tape until I could get some new ones. I found some new genuine items for about ÂŁ12 on eBay.









______

My centre caps had broken tabs and as a result - I had glued them on in the past. The tyre fitter had to remove them for balancing the wheels - so I told him to go ahead and I'd just order a new set.



New ones



______

A friend on the R53 Facebook group had recommended using the end of a toilet brush in a drill to help with polishing the inside of exhaust tips with Autosol. A slightly unorthadox method I must admit - but I popped to Wilko's and got one of their finest 50p bog brushes, chopped the handle off and stuck it in my drill. It did quite a decent job! I also went round the outside of the exhaust using the more conventional method of a cloth! I subsequently tried the bog brush on the inside of the Project S' Milltek, went too deep and snapped the head off ... oops.







______

I must have done something to upset a bird which was (judging by the size of its droppings) presumably bigger than the car itself!



This brought on a little cleaning session in the nice weather we had a couple of weeks ago. Here are some shots of the car as it now stands.







______

Thanks for reading :wave:
 
#428 ·
Just realised I didn't reply to the comments from last time!

Awesome as usual buddy, is it a keeper?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Most definitely :thumb:

1. Really like the trim change inside, sort of brings the outside of the car in.

2. Step drills are the best tool ever made and everyone should have one.

3. I'm definitely steeling the bog brush idea for my chrome tips!

Great update!
Just make sure you buy a better quality bog brush than I did :D

Awesome project, does the Traffic Master button still work?
It did work then I got the car, when you pressed the button, it rang through to somewhere although there was no subscription active. I pulled out most of the parts early on though. It must have seemed so futuristic back in the day!

LOVE LOVE LOVE your threads on here!

Honest, witty, informative and well written with great pictures to back up each step.....think you have rightfully earned a Mini guru tag!

Keep up the good work, it really is VERY much appreciated.....just can't wait to see which Mini next graces the driveway and for the process to (fingers crossed) repeat ad infinitum!
What a lovely thing to say. Thank you!!!
 
#425 ·
LOVE LOVE LOVE your threads on here!

Honest, witty, informative and well written with great pictures to back up each step.....think you have rightfully earned a Mini guru tag!

Keep up the good work, it really is VERY much appreciated.....just can't wait to see which Mini next graces the driveway and for the process to (fingers crossed) repeat ad infinitum!
 
#437 · (Edited)
Hi all,

:wave:

Decent update for you all. MINI has been putting in good service, and hasn't had a huge amount of attention with time being taken up by the project MINI, changing to the new Discovery and being away in the camper van most of the summer!

______

I went to Santa Pod back in April with a MINI owning friend and a few of his friends. I did run mine on the RWYB! Only once due to the amount of queuing, but it was a great day! I was in the staging lanes for about an hour waiting, but really enjoyed my run. There were all sorts of things running, and I learnt that you can never judge anything on its looks - there was a rubbish looking gold MK1 Focus consistently running 12's!! The guy was very cagey about what it had under the bonnet.

So my turn came around, I got huge wheelspin and generally ****ed it up, but I didn't care! I was running with a modified Fiesta ST of some kind which I stayed ahead of for some time, but then it just walked past! My run was something like 16 seconds which is rubbish. The JCW isn't that fast in a straight line ... it just sounds good :lol:

The surface was really not at all grippy - it was cold which is perhaps why. if i'd run again I would have probably got a better start.

Here is the video of my run








______

I got a set of used 6x9 speakers very cheaply which I decided to put in the back of the MINI as it still had all the original speakers in it. Swapping them isn't the simplest job ever, as the speakers are behind the trim in the back which requires quite a lot of removal!

First to come out is the back seats. The bottom squab just pulls out, but the back rests have to be unbolted and then moved to about 45 degrees and they come out. Next is the plastic trim in the boot, followed by the large side trims which run all the way up to the front door opening. A few screws and lots of snap in fixings and they come out which reveals the rear speakers.







Eeeeew


When I sat back there, I realised I was sat in a big echoey tin can, so researched sound deadening. I obviously looked at Dynamat but was put off by the price. I settled on SilentCoat which comes in sheets a little smaller than a piece of A4 paper and is self adhesive. I did read up on how to use sound deadening and where - but my general working rule was to knock on a surface and if it sounded hollow - put some sound deadening on, particularly around the speaker itself. You don't have to completely cover the panel - as it's used to add mass and stop vibration ... or something like that. I had quite a lot, so I applied the "more is more" school of thought.







I then decided to do the front doors as well ... and the front speakers! So I ordered some 17cm speakers for the front to match the rears. The standard front speakers are quite a bit smaller, but the 17cm ones can be fitted with adaptors.
Here are some shots of it finished.















The new speakers sound way better and the sound deadening can only help that. Quite a satisfying job.

Reinstallation ... nailed it :D



Now several months later - my cheap used speakers in the rear started to sound dreadful - one very quiet and one crackling. I bought a replacement set of Pioneer 6x9's and stripped the interior out again. I found that the tweeter had broken off one of the speakers and I think the other was blown!





The new rear speakers sound far better! I'm very happy with the stereo now. The headunit is simple enough to use and it all sounds really good and can handle serious volume. Job done!

______

First wash after having the new tyres fitted and I spotted a metal staple sticking out of the shoulder of the rear tyre. Pulled it out and PSHHHHHH. Not 300 miles on the tyre and it was punctured - and non repairable.



Marked the hole with tippex and watched the new tyre go flat.


Swapped to a spare alloy so I could take the tyre to be replaced .. again!


______

I change the oil in the MINI about every 12 months (roughly every 3000 miles). I have started using an extraction pump down the dipstick tube which I'd previously not liked the idea of - but thinking about it, the oil filter is there to filter stuff out - so there should be no advantage to dropping the sump plug - it's not like there should be chunks of crap floating around in your oil that the pump wouldn't collect!!

I did drop the sump plug after draining the oil out of curiousity and only a slight dribble remained. So I'm suitably impressed. It's much less messy and only takes about 15 minutes including the filter change! I would be keen to know other people's thoughts on these in case there's something I've missed. But it seems to me to be a perfectly good way of changing the oil - I know they're quite popular.



______

With the MOT looming, it was time to address the cracked windscreen. I can't find the original pictures, but it was cracked on the driver's side running from the bottom in an arc over to the right hand side, plus one of the a-pillar trims had a chunk missing from the stone that hit it. It also had 4 other chips and was very hard to see out of when headlights shone on it as it had so many little dimples from stones hitting it!

I booked the replacement through my insurance - it had to go in to an AutoGlass fitting centre to be done. I did ask the fitter why this was and his response was quite interesting. He said that certain cars with high call-back rates get done at the fitting centres. The MINI is famously tricky to do unless you've got the 'knack' plus the windscreen is so curved that it's hard to fit to their equipment and fitters often try to hand-ball it but mess it up. Plus with it being a low value vehicle, it is a job that would generally go out to less experienced technicians. He said they actually have one of these MINIs in the training centre now!

And bonus - the A-pillar trims are replaced with the windscreen, as apparently the clips very often break, then cause the trim to either flap around or fly off, another cause for call-backs. I couldn't recommend their work enough - really professional. My dash cam was stuck to the windscreen with an adhesive pad. He removed the mount and re-stuck it to the new glass with a new sticky pad and re-routed the cables for it back where they were before. Here's a picture ... it's a windscreen...



______

MOT - Mileage 149,412
PASS
Advisories:Offside registration plate lamp inoperative (It seems to be fine now?!)Engine oil leaks (Of course)

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I happened to notice recently that the small radiator hose between the top of the rad and the bleed screw had rubbed quite significantly and was in danger of springing a leak. The cause seems to be the radiator not sitting squarely, so it rubs on the intercooler horn. I slackened off the radiator slightly so it sits further forward and ordered a new hose - a quality replacement was only about ÂŁ9.50 including new spring clamps.

I sucked the coolant out of the expansion tank to minimise the amount I would lose when changing the hose. When the tank was empty I could see some residue left in the bottom. Excuse the horribly over-exposed photo, but it looks to me like either rust or old K-Seal.



The coolant does sometimes look a little brown in the expansion tank when it's warm and 'stirred up' so this is likely the culprit. I'm not at all worried as it's been over 2 years without being touched and has thrown up no issues.*

I removed the expansion tank and gave it a thorough rinse out. I then changed the hose which was very quick - just 2 sping clamps to remove and refit.







I then reinstalled the expansion tank and refilled the system with correct spec G48 coolant. I fill it from the bleed screw hole by the hose I had just replaced - this sort of back-bleeds the system as it goes. I never seem to have issues with bleeding that so many people do with these engines.

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The next day I met the buyer of the project MINI. As you may have seen in my other thread, the JCW decided to throw a paddy!

We set off on the way back to my house with him following me - I picked a route with a really twisty road and a good fast straight one, to allow the MINI to really show what it can do. As we pulled out onto the faster road, I accelerated the JCW hard.

As I looked behind to see how close he was - I realised I couldn't see anything behind me due to a massive cloud of (smoke?!) pouring out of the back of my JCW. I immediately knocked it into neutral and pulled over with the hazards on where I quickly realised it was emanating from the engine bay - pothering out of the intercooler scoop and the scuttle vents. He pulled in behind in the other MINI and jumped into action - I grabbed the fire extinguisher out of my boot and he raised the bonnet part way so I could squirt it in. After a couple of seconds - we came to the conclusion that it wasn't smoke, it was actually steam (despite the smell!).

I lowered my fire extinguisher and we both went into diagnosis mode! He spotted that the small return hose on my expansion tank had come off, diverting all my coolant directly onto the exhaust manifold. I popped it back on and limped the car home (only half a mile).



Here's a video of my drama



I assume what happened, was that when reinstalling the expansion tank, I forgot to re-connect the clamp on the small return hose. After taking the Land Rover to Halfords the next day, I found that even in that very short time, the expansion tank was completely empty. So I just reattached the clamp and refilled the system again. Phew!



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I noticed that the rubber washers on the stainless rocker cover bolt set I had bought were getting crushed and poking out above the bolts.



The guy who makes them had kindly sent me a set of updated washers free of charge.
I removed all the rocker cover bolts and reinstalled the new washers - I think my stupidity was partly to blame here as I hadn't properly lubricated the washers when reinstalling the first time, so I think they had snagged a bit when going in - leading to the bolts not sitting correctly and squashing them.



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I bought some ODK Cabin interior dressing, the MINI was a good place to try it out. I really like it - leaves a lovely new looking finish on the trim - not shiny at all and smells so good!









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The rear badge (in true BMW group style) was cracking and peeling off.



The guy I sold the project MINI's exhaust to, who I am still in contact with, was getting rid of some bits including a sun visor which I needed to fit to my Mum's R53 (the vanity mirror cover on hers was flapping in your face all the time). He kindly gave me the visor and also handed me the rear badge which he didn't need. Nice guy, I may go to some of the shows with him next season.
The old badge is held on with sticky pads - I warmed it with the heat gun and peeled it off, then used some ValetPro Citrus Tar & Glue Remover to get the residue off, then wiped over with IPA.



I had some 3M tape which I very creatively cut up and stuck on the new badge!





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For months I had no keyring on the MINI's key - I keep the car key separate, as I don't like a bunch of keys bashing my leg as I drive, plus I drive so many cars I would need about 5 sets of house keys :lol: I did originally have a metal JCW badge key ring, but it got caught in the cup holder and I ripped it off in a fit of rage :lol: so I replaced that with another the same, and also a fabric loop type one which unexpectedly came in a MINI parts bag in a nice presentation box!



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A while back you may recall I swapped over to the anthracite interior trim, rather than the bright silver the car originally came with. One part I hadn't managed to swap was the rear cup holder trim, being that almost nobody sits in (or in fact fits in) the back, I had slightly forgotten about it. But when I remembered, ordered one off eBay. Brand new from a dealer for about ÂŁ16.







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The 12v socket had always been loose, I rarely use it, plus there is a second one in the boot. So I opted to swap it for a dual USB socket with voltmeter. I have fitted the same one in black to my Mum's R53 after her 12v socket stopped working completely. My dash cam is run from a separate 12v socket mounted inside the dash which I could use if for some reason I needed to use one in the front. I've got the same setup in all the cars.

It's a nice blue colour very similar to the paint colour of the car! Shame the voltage readout is green. I didn't cut any wires - instead making a couple of short cables to with spade connectors to plug in to the existing wiring. The socket is slightly larger at 30mm - I quickly drilled out the existing hole with a step drill.





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After replacing the rear speakers for the second time, the weather seal round the boot opening refused to go back on properly. It has always fitted poorly - not 'grabbing' onto the metal seam properly (which is covered in white silicone type residue - perhaps a past poor attempt*at a fix!).



I just ordered a good used replacement from eBay for ÂŁ15. It fits much better and the boot doesn't require slamming to close now!

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Entry picture from MINI In The Park which was held at Mallory Park this year. A great venue.


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Facebook owners group sticker!



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Thanks for reading. Sorry it took so long to update!

I don't have any immediate plans of jobs to do on the car. Mechanically it's in a good way at the moment - which probably means it'll throw something at me fairly soon :lol: it will hit 150,000 miles in the next month or two.

:wave:
 
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