Most of the components you've mentioned are new(ish) on my car. That rubber is split good, I could flex it by just pressing the shock into the ground. I'll keep it in mind.

 

Finally installed my cat cam in my r53. Ot wasn’t as hard as i thought. Thanks to mod minis YouTube vids.

Up next bytetronik tune then we will see how she does. Anyone leave their idle or y’all raise it up to 900. Want that chopping idle lol

anyone looking for a used oem cam let me know.

 

Mod Mini rocks, I love his videos.

 

Yup. Wonder if he’s a nam member ?

 

Forge noise maker delete and new plugs, glad I did the plugs because 2 and 3 where looser than hand tight.

 

Had loads of fun today. My R50 had the old style filter setup. When I replaced my last oil filter. The oil light was popping on a idle. Only thing I could think of was the plastic pressure valve must has screwed up for what ever reason. So after I removed. Sure enough.
Got a used one an swapped out. Now I can find my oil filters much easier.
Will be putting the old style cap an 3 new filters up for sale tomorrow.

 

Drove the tail of the dragon.

 

Installed a spare tire kit in my F54. Only required minor trimming of the rear liner and drilling a hole thru the floor liner to get to the threaded insert.

 

Weather and road conditions (salt washed away) here in Massachusetts we’re good enough.

Took the cover off, checked the tire pressure, oil level, and drove it. First drive in months.

A little concerned. I think I only heard the SC whine a tiny bit 1 time crossing thru 4K RPMs. <shrug>

 

Replaced the alternator last weekend to get her back on the road. Gave MJ a bath today after her sitting for over a year. Polished the headlights to remove the haze as well.


Before

After

 

Got my M7 strut bar and played back. A friend powered coated it to match my Cabrio braces. And oh ya. Painted e Valve cover while i was doing a cam swap. I used caliper paint.

 

Very pretty!

 

Thank You

 

Tail of dragon with wife


Fontana Dam

 

Short story: RTABs, inner and out tie rods, alignment. Long story can be found in the "Project: Grumpy" build.

 

Route 66 in Springfield, MO last Saturday.


Trip from Denver to Steamboat today. Then these two pics are on Colorado 131 back down to I-70.


Beautiful trip down 131 and no need for snow tires this weekend!

 

Good to keep one’s car on a salt free diet...

Took a ride in Albert through some twisties, rough roads, and on highways to try out the new JCW Pro coilovers and to meet up with a friend to discuss MINI mods, taking our cars to the track and the upcoming IMSA road race season.

 

What did I do to my Mini this weekend? I traded it for a Jaguar E Pace. My wife and daughter still drive Minis, but after driving this, they are starting to consider switching as well.

 

While I can get behind the performance and reasonable eco-friendliness of an EV, there's just something wrong to me about the lack of sound! The soundtrack as you rip through gears is very much a part of the driving experience to me. And while range is certainly getting better, it's still not good enough (or the fast charging network, though they are working on that) to have it be a primary vehicle.

 

it isn’t an EV. The E Pace is a turbo 2 liter small SUV.

 

I like the look of that car! What is the noise level inside? I assume it has to be quieter than a MINI.

 

Whoops! My bad! Lol! I thought the E Pace was an electric version of the F Pace, not its smaller counterpart.

 

Highway driving is VERY quiet. Punching it around town has a nice deeper growl. It doesn’t burble and pop like my Mini Clubman S with the JCW exhaust, but dang it’s nice. The level and tone of the exhaust just seems a bit more refined. And, with rebates and incentives, the Jag was the same price as the mini I built (no incentives on built minis).

 

it’s all good. I thought the same thing when I saw it in the showroom. “Dang that’s sexy, but I wouldn’t buy a battery car.” To which the salesman said.... it’s not. It also has 60 months maintenance INCLUDED, and a 60 month warranty included.

 

My 2 Favorite brands ! I just got my 2017 MINI 2 weeks ago and a 2018 Jag XF Sportbrake about 8 months ago. I know the Clubman is classified as a Wagon but outside of the Clubman and Outback no one in the US buys wagons and I got a great deal after it sat on a dealer lot for 1.5 years before they lowered the price enough it was too good of a deal to pass up. AWD V6 Supercharged. It is fun to drive with the paddle shifters but still not a Manual trans. so I got the MINI All4 6-speed to have a fun car where I can shift my own gears again.