Really? - If I understand your meaning; is that the internal lock "lobes"/pins can be rearranged/set to fit a different key?? = That's awesome! - I had no idea.
Thanks for the work around.

On a side note: It was indeed a great shame to see that that R52 ended up in a junk yard. Almost everything on that ragtop was well taken care for. The previous owner must have really been broken hearted to have to make the decision to scrap it.
Most of the interior and canvas top were in fantastic/beautiful condition.

 

Well got the engine back in today. Everything is hooked up. Now time to replace the strut mounts.

 

New valve cover assembly, new alternator, removed the aftermarket header and reinstalled the stock manifold with new upstream O2 sensor and modified the exhaust to mate up.

 

The intake pipe to turbo on my R56 was starting to fall apart so I replaced it today with a Forge pipe. Hardest part was removing the sensor from the old pipe to use on the new pipe.

 

Punched a hole in my radiator

I’ve been waiting on a new a/c condenser for over a week - I just did a ton of work to the car and I found a leak in the condenser when I went to vacuum test it. This is the third package that’s been lost / indefinitely delayed since I started work on the car. Anyway, the new condenser arrived today and I got the a/c vacuum tested and recharged, and then installed it onto the radiator….turns out I picked up the bumper bolts instead of the condenser bolts, and those were too long. Punched a hole in the radiator. I didn’t even notice the hole until I went to remove the bolts after realizing I mixed them up. Ugh. Was really hoping to be back on the road today. I paid for 1-day shipping on the new radiator but I don’t have high hopes about it…

 

I just punched a hole in the AC condenser on my E46 when it slipped during a drivetrain swap! So frustrating because I could have just evacuated it at work! Here's hoping this package arrives on time!

 

Replaced the original 20 year old plugs and wires.

 

That might be some sort of a record!

 

Just been driving my car! I saw a F series Mini in my office parking lot and had to follow the rules!

 

Finally finished!

I inherited this R53 and decided to revive it and keep as a daily and tow vehicle (already had the tow bar installed) instead of selling it cheap. I did a pretty extensive restoration over the last 5 weeks that’ll hopefully keep it on the road with normal maintenance for a long time to come. I’m driving it about 5,500 miles over the next two weeks, but about 1,500 will be flat towed behind an MCI conversion bus.

- All new suspension and steering tie rods (except rear trailing arms - the bushings look okay and I’ll do it later). Kept with OE or OEM parts.
- All new engine seals, ATI crank pulley, cravenspeed 15% supercharger pulley, supercharger service, timing chain/guides/tensioner, belt tensioner and idler pulley, alternator, a/c compressor/condenser/expansion valve, new water pump, coolant hoses, radiator, expansion tank, power steering hoses and reservoir, and of course all regular maintenance items
- black mesh front grill, new front lip, new windshield and windshield trim, painted hood scoop, trim restore by gtechniq, a nice clean up but full detail reserved for future, new Bluetooth radio and speakers, rear seat delete, and some rattle control

 

Phenomenal amount of work!
Your Mini looks beautiful.
Hope you enjoy it for many years to come - You deserve it!

 

Last weekend I had boasted about going out to the salvage yard and pulling the subframe off an R52 to score a pair of control arm brackets so I could pre-press my Powerflex bushings in anticipation for a complete suspension refresh on my R53.
As I had mentioned: All went well pressing in the new pf bushings utilizing my improvised crappy 35y/o floor jack and dumpster press solution. Yeah - I was pretty proud full of myself having had accomplished that.
However, a couple of nights ago while shopping for a few more bushing upgrades on the powerflex site; it soon dawned on me that the front LCAB pictured on their site for an R53, looked different than the ones I had purchased several months ago and just now installed.
It turns out I inadvertently purchased (and just pre-pressed) the ones for an R56!

I ordered the correct ones for an R53. They were delivered this afternoon. I gathered up my floor jack, block of wood and CA brackets and proceeded out to the dumpster to R&R the bushings with the correct ones. Everything went easy removing the R56 bushing inserts...That was, until - the superintendent pulled up in his golf cart. Long story short - he didn't care for me using the community dumpster in that manner. I really wanted to get these new bushings pressed in today. Although I have a very good rapport with the property manager who does not mind me working on my car in the parking lot - But I knew if I disobeyed his order to cease and desist; he might kick me out. If I retorted in an argument - who knows where he might kick me?!

Although I am aware of the threaded rod and washer "press" procedure...I gathered up my makeshift "press" components, went back to my unit to figure out a way to get these things pressed in within the inconspicuous confines of my back patio...




45 min later = Success!

I've decided to ditch my current lowering springs and Koni FSD (adjustable) suspension setup and ordered
a set of front and rear Bilstein B14 coilovers as recommended by @njaremka previously posted further up in this discussion thread.



They should arrive next week along with the last few remaining front end refresh parts.

I've secured an enclosed off site garage/bay where I can preform the subframe removal and refresh in order to avoid any unnecessary imposition to my landlord.

There's just not enough room to live in a Mini with a dog.

 

Thanks, and likewise good luck on all your upcoming work! Being new to the mini scene, I was pleasantly surprised at how easy this car is to work on. I really didn't run into any real issues, except for re-installing the exhaust manifold after putting the engine back in. I found it hard to blindly line up perfectly so the bolts would thread in straight, but eventually I got it.

 

Did some MAJOR work on a buddies car. He bought a ported sc snd horns off me and asked me to install them along with ALL the other stuff he had...
cars running great , I cleaned it up very well and will be picking him up from the Airport in it once his flight arrives..I'm gonna have him give it his 1st wot pull in it in the underground tunnel leaving the airport , lol I'm tempted to make a video because I know he's gonna be all smiles. Even WITH the ebay ic and only a 15% pulley , the car is making 15lb max boost. That's pretty good imo considering the ebay ic robs 2-3psi of boost. I told him about that and that stock ic WOULD make better power BUT the ebay one DOES cool better and it's his dailydriver so itle be good to go. He already had a bunch of suspension and braking mods but now his engine has some extra power...
not tooting my own horn but dang , that's good service on my end..

 

some people will find ANY reason to rain on your parade..
I used to have to deal with a terrible neighbor that would call and complain EVERY time I worked on my car in my garage..
long story short he got aggressive and actually smashed out my windshield and cops had to get involved. By the end of the month he was in jail and they were evicted and ever since , it been much more chill around here .
Some people just hate to hate..i never understood unwarranted hostility and negatively....
here where i live , its apartments and we can rent garages which i of course do. Luckily the landlord and maintenance has no problem with me working on my and other peoples minis out in the lot in fron of or in my garage. I stay respectful and never work befor 10am or past 830pm. I never leave any oil residue or stains behind or anything..
my last apt I lived at wouldn't even allow us to change our oil.

 

Just more driving! Glad to see MINI's around, even if none of them are R50/2/3's.

 

Interestingly - I have one just like it parking next to me everyday.

​​​​​It's good to be driving a Mini eh?

 

QUOTE=Here2Go;4651663]Interestingly - I have one just like it parking next to me everyday.

​​​​​It's good to be driving a Mini eh? [/QUOTE]
I did a double take for a minute! That's funny. Yeah, I've missed driving it. So much fun to be driving a small agile car.

 

Well, actually the superintendent and I had never really met up until this point.
While, I wasn't under the impression that he diliked me - as much as he didn't understand what I was doing utilizing the weight of the dumpster as the opposite end for a "press". Regardless, I think when he saw the floor jack made him a bit confused.
Understandably.
I now, unfortuntunately , reside in a low income environment where quite a few of the guys around here have worked on cars with a bunch of their buddies making noise, trashing the lot with little regard for the other residents peace and "quality of life".
They have since evicted each and every renter that has been in violation.
I am probably the only one who can get away with the amount of work I've done to my Mini in the last 2wo years in our parking lot.
Its always been my habit to keep things neat and organized.
I have been very fortunate that the leasing/management appreciates this and has never given me any grief about it in the past.

Adam: Your former neighbor sounds like a complete psycho!!!
I suppose we can be lucky that is was just a windsheild...and nothing worse!
Glad to hear things are better.

 

About a year and a half ago I found an R52S being parted out with a matching interior. I grabbed the rear seat backs to eventually swap them over to replace the worn cover on ours. I swear, that inside upper corner looks like the cloth is melted on the old one.

Anyway, here is a pic of the old one vs. the replacement. I re-used the seat frame with its key-matched lock.

The replacement cover still needs a good shampooing, scrubbing and deep clean/vacuum.

 

absolutely ! I'm glad I learned humility a few years ago and was able to correctly handle the situation..
Worst part was I just got that new windshield put in like a month prior and that day I painted and put on my rims n went to check them out n take pics and found my windshield.. it also put a dent in the roof where he musta missed the 1st time.. thank God it hit the roof and not where the rubber mounding clipped in..

 

Wheels finally turned up this week, payday seen them get shod with Pilot Sport 4. But after mounting I have rusty hubs glaring at me from behind so its one corner at a time before I can get some pics posted here of my 06 finally.

 

Replaced missing jacking point on rear passenger side. Easy. Next up is replacing shocks and struts, not so easy.

 

Almost done putting on the wide body kit. Took a whole day just to get one side on

 

Replaced taillight assembly. Old one had a broken cover, found a clean used part at a salvage yard nearby.