This is the second serious MINI crash I've read about since joining the forum, glad that you were able to walk away. In each I've read about, it appears the chassis stiffness the designers intended and the solid/tanklike driving experience I've noticed has helped people survive.

I like your attitude about wanting your Clubman "revived" since it served you so well. Best of luck / Godspeed / all that to you.

 

Rainy day in Alabama, so it was a good time to lock myself in the garage and do a brake job.

 

The 5's were planned. The *nearly running out of gas*... not so much.

 

This is, unfortunately, a common issue with the 1st-gen. I'm not sure why exactly, but it is. Mine needed to be changed just after I bought it at around 36k too.

 

The reason they fail so often is because the lower engine mount is atached to the pan. Its just a design flaw there is no cure for. Cars with stiffened lower mounts tend to have even more gasket issues.

 

Just done giving Mary Jane a bath and placing the tag from Valentines on the front. I ended up spending around $800 last Friday for a new fan assembly and oil change at Orlando MINI. She needed a good cleaning after that.....

 

She certainly L@@KS Happy!!
What Wiper Blades are those??

 

They are Bosch.

 

Installed a Homelink MINI mirror to replace my mirror with just Auto-dim.
Details are here of how we did it.

 

Installed my Alta intake today, was a little upset with some of the fitment/alignment (nothing major but just not as precise of a fit as I expected and have seen on other brands on previous cars) and a lot upset with the ratio of my hand size to available space in the Mini's engine bay for working I've got plenty of scrapes and cuts on the backs of my hands now, also the trim on the IC frame is razor sharp, not fun. Overall I like the intake so far, definitely feel a difference in smoothness when accelerating and I'm loving the sound (was ready for an annoying whistle but then realized it's so faint and infrequent which made me very happy... I haven't noticed much power difference but it definitely sounds faster )

 

had my alta for awhile now, still loving it! good purchase

 

Had a fun weekend!

 

Took Yoda to the track at Mini Thunder III............good times

 

Took last weekend to prep and paint the grey trim around the Speedo and AC vents. Also got the gl1 cable and dash command app. Have got to say after going on a 240 mile run with the sin city mini club and seeing boost, temps and mileage (along with a ton of other stuff I don't understand), its the coolest thing ever.

 

Changed supercharger oil (NOT a fun job, but tons more fun with the guys I did it with, or more precisely the guys who provided the expertise and courage to tackle the job with me helping). Found the rear reservoir looking like extra virgin olive oil (hooray!) and the snout looking great, but the oil was a little darker - definitely was time for a change (71k). Note that supercharger oil smells Really Bad. Worse than gear lube, and a completely different family of smells.

We also had to replace the 'defective' factory supercharger pulley, it appears they installed one that was approximately 15% too large...

 

Darn factory defects.

 

It rained this weekend so I washed and waxed Phantom 2012 MCS today. Love doing it so a great day for me.

 

For my Birthday (Feb. 19) and for Molly's 4yr. Ordering Anniversary (Feb.19) I got both of us presents!!
For Molly:
Zimmermann Brake Rotors and Akebono Euro Ceramic Brake Pads
For Me:
A MINI Roof Rack

 

So jealous. Would love to get on a track one day...

 

RJ! Boy, first mirror caps - now brakes, pads and a roof rack. Someone's getting awfully spoiled...

 

SHE sure is Albie!! Come April she's gettin' Driving Lights!! I'm thinkin' Strut Bar after that!!

 

Mounted my newly acquired JCW Alcantara steering wheel...

And test fitted / released the Curved Vent Scoop for the 'S'-model / JCW 2nd-Gen vehicles.


- Erik

 

Elf had her second car wash yesterday - so much salt and grime from the "winter" roads here. Noticed my first "smudge" (not a scratch, but a black smear that doesn't rub off) once she was clean. Does Griot's make a product that would remove a smudge?

 

Try a little goo-gone then throw some wax on it.

 

WD-40 can be a good remover of stubborn grime. Somewhat less harsh than goo-gone, as well. Just be careful you don't rub any grit into the finish and scratch it!!