The solution?
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With the help of McMaster, Byron’s ( E30SPDFRK ) rivnut tool, 8 rivnuts and some finessing by Byron... the cabrio bars are installed. Thanks Byron!
It could be a placebo effect but the front does feel tighter. Placebo or not, I’m glad I’ve done it. Now back to that window regulator -
Well, it took about 6 weeks to arrive, but my new hatch trim arrived last night. Mine had bubbling chrome which I thought could just remove and paint the bare plastic, but that wasnt to be as it was all cracked underneath. I didnt want another chrome one and the primer one didnt seem too appealing and a search on realoem gave me the part number for something we didnt get here in the US, a black trim piece. Found it on ebay shipping out of Latvia and since my buddy wanted one also, we got the two shipped for about the price of one chrome one. Install was easy other than the connector which required taking the inner hatch trim off, also easy but "a lot" of work just to connect the wires.
Before (literally falling apart)
After
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I finally got a chance to change the oil and though the oil filter housing only needs to be 15-20ft/lbs it was like 5x that judging by the muscle it took to crack it loose. Overall the oil change went fine and I thought I was past the DAPO (dumb ass previous owner) issues. I was happy about that especially since I’ve been dealing with the Roadster madness. Ran great but then the window wouldn’t roll up so today I was back in the garage dealing with this car...
And ...Well, looks like the DAPO headaches continue... I saw a small oil leak under the car and pinpointed the drain plug. Jacked the car up and the bolt didn’t feel tight and it looks like they must’ve cranked it down to some absurd amount previously because it seems only tighten to a certain amount then break kinda loose... IE stripped thread. Great.
My driver side window regulator also died so I tried to get it out today, but since it died when the window was down I was able to get everything off except the clogged wheel holding the window down. Any tips on how to deal with the cogged wheels while the window is down?
Eager to get a win, I saw the faded trim and decided I could clean them up. Pics speak for themselves, and the SEM trim paint is excellent...
All done
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Was practicing some social distancing with my buddy and we had some fun taking the Minis into the mountains. This was Little Tujunga Road in LA.The car is a blast, definitely lacking in power but no surprise there.
Was laying around bored all day, and finally thought I’d get off my butt and get to work. Only took about an hour, but I got upper mount job all done. 3M filled upper mount, TSW upper mount and a Powerflex insert for the bracket.
The test drive after was nice and I noticed a bit more NVH in the cabin but overall I’m satisfied with my parts. Next up is the B&M short shifter unless my ECS order arrives first. Got some minor interior stuff to wrap up there and an oil change also. -
While I wait for an order from ECS Tuning to arrive I have my motor mounts and my 3M Window Weld so during the week I filled those suckers in. Today I installed the lower mount, and hope to have the upper mount installed next week...
Trying to get this from getting messy...
A little messy, but solid
Comparison of the old mount and the new mount, the bushing overall on the old one wasnt bad, I will probably fill it too and then add the Powerflex on the other end and either keep it as a spare or sell it off...
I have one more item Im exited to install, but a little more skittish to do it as I cant have the car out of commission overnight, mostly because I take my wifes garage spot when Im working on the Mini
Still in the original packaging, never installed
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Noice - congrats 2man! I happened into a mini myself a few months ago and I've been really impressed by the quality and reliability. All 3 have 220k+ miles and drive wonderfully. I'm sure you'll have many years of enjoyment to come. I wish I had an R50 though...
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Love the blue! R50s are super fun to drive. As a bmw/mini mechanic I hate most miniÂ’s But the n/a r50s are pretty good, you will likely get used to pulling the nose off though. It not too bad but still a pita. Most of minis bad rap came from the supercharged versions, the SC would seize up and for a long time they were on international back order. The turbos were a bit better, but r56s were garbage. The high pressure fuel systems and timing chains in the n14 have left many minis needing new cylinder heads. And I totally thought this was going to be an R50 retro badass motorcycle :/ -
Had some time to play with the car while socially distancing myself lol
Got some 8mm spark plug wires from Mini Mania ($22!) , OEM NGK plugs and a new air filter. Air Filter wasnt a K&N, but Im still glad I did it because the old one was filthy. When it came to the plugs and wires I was even more glad I did it. I pulled out the 4 old spark plugs and they were 3 different types! DAPO (dumb@ss previous owners) strikes again!
The coil pack was a little ugly and needed attention too.
Before:
Cleaned and covered in dielectric grease:
Next was dealing with that last piece of the light that I couldnt get off. Damn thing wouldnt budge. We had to resort to the bigger, more brutal tools
And after some cutting grinding and more, finally got the other spare aux light off the car.
Thats all for now! -
I hate weaves buuuttttt.... https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...al-area-please Max, this thing isn’t getting lowered!... at least not for a while A Porsche is in my future, luckily they made a LOT of them so no reason to rush.Originally posted by Motheye99 View Post -
Originally posted by 2mAn View Post
You know.. its a personal decision and there will be plenty of them available in the next coming years. I bought one 3 years ago and have been real happy - however they are expensive, expensive to maintain, and the community is way different then the E30 community (or whats left of it).. I bought a 3 ltr that had been rebuilt and I have been lucky - but read about others grenade-ing the engine ...-breaking head bolts, exhaust bolts, timing chain tensionors, running low on oil, etc and then having to drop 12K on an engine rebuild.. Scary stuff... You made the right decision..
