Looks great bud, you’ve done a very nice job!

Mark

 

Updated pics in the original post.

 

would love to see this car in person, gives me lots of ideas. I'll be at NY auto show in April, how far are you from the city?

 

You have done a really nice job on this car, it looks good, and I am glad you enjoy it. I saw a quote in a car mag recently that I believe in :

"Never add up your receipts"

You could have worst places to spend your money, at least you have something to enjoy. Well done.

Mike

 

I live about 45 north and west of the city. That would be cool to meet up. Perhaps even get a few people together for a MINI meet up at The Javits center.

 

That would be nice, can plan once its closer

 

Updated original post...

I never liked the res delete that I had on the factory JCW exhaust. It wad too loud and there was significant drone at highway speeds.
So I replaced the factory JCW exhaust with the Akrapovic Evolution exhaust. Its a nice upgrade. It has a very low and deep exhaust note. It is very well made with exceptional attention to detail.

 

Dude, you’re nuts....lol. That car is perfect and you’ve spent a TON of time and money on it.

Great job!


Mark

 

Hey Mark,

I have not seen any posts or threads from you lately... I was beginning to wonder where you were hiding.

Thanks for recognizing all the time and energy I spent on my car. But I would be more than happy to trade you my car for Oscar any day. I love the custom paint job and custom rear seats that match the Recaro seats in the front. And that is only the tip of the iceberg with all the mods you have done on your car.

I am envious that you and the people in your shop could do all the work yourselves.

-Steve

 

Steve,

Thanks bud, I’ve been busy working on other projects. I’m on the verge of putting Oscar up for sale. I love the car and have no issues with it but I’ve got 5 other project vehicles going on and could use the money to finish up one of the others.

Still debating....

And yes, no doubt, it takes a LOT of time, effort, energy and money to do the amount of work that has been done to a lot of these cars.


Mark

 

Random thoughts, not meant to offend or befriend you...

- agree with you on the naming thing. Too cute for me, but it's cheap, harmless fun for a lot of people.
- your car is amazing.
- you are probably insane (certainly compulsive) for putting 53K (probably MUCH more) into a Mini, but I understand the fun is in getting there and it's nearly impossible to stop once you get the fever. I've done it with bikes and it's easy to dump multiples of the original price into the final product. You never get that money back.

 

As for the original price of the car... I tend to buy cars all loaded up. At the time I bought this car MINIs were going for sticker price and had to be ordered. So I got a great deal on it.

As for all the mods. They started out very slowly. I did a few things at a time and I got great deals on just about everything.

All the NM Engineering parts were purchased from NM for a nice discount.

All the JCW CF parts I got at great prices either used or deals on eBay.

To date the single biggest purchases were the JCW aero kit and the Akrapovic exhaust. Everything else was a few hundred dollars here and a few hundred there plus the cost to install it.

I have a trusted mechanic with a shop one town over. He charges a fair price and likes working on my car. He has done a fabulous job installing most of these mods. Some I did myself and some were done at MINI dealers. And a few I had friends help out with.

So yeah... I have done many, many things to the car and its a long list but how many people even keep a detailed list of all the things they have done to their car? I even have all the receipts.

There were a few things that I decided not to do. At one point I was going to have the OS Giken LSD and clutch installed. That would have been about $4500 with parts and labor.

 

Most folks on NAM mod their cars. What's too much? The amount is relative to each car's owner.

I'm about to have an OS Giken GT clutch and Quaife LSD installed. Add that to what I've already spent and I'm definitely in the insane category.

Probably even extremely insane if money spent on a MINI is the criteria by which sanity is measured.

 

I agree for the most part but I think that most folks on NAM do exterior mods and maybe suspension or exhausts.

 

Those were my thoughts...

Before I added OS Giken clutch, OS Giken LSD, 4K in Recaro seats, another grand for rear seats, wheels, exhaust, paintjob, 4K in stereo crap...lol, the mods never end.


:D


Mark

 

Agreed.

Love your car Mark. Followed your build thread, if I had half your skills and knowledge I could've saved myself many hundreds in install costs.

What are your thoughts on the Giken clutch now that you've had it installed for a while?

 

I like the clutch still. It’s definitely stiffer than a factory clutch. (I drove one the other day and it felt like water compared to mine...lol)

Would I do it again? Not unless I was to do track days... I think for the effort and expense, it’s perfect for the track but unnecessary for the street.


Mark


PS. Thanks for the props btw... much appreciated.

 

It must be the lower ride height from the JCW suspension that keeps the look right. With my stock ride height, the off-set on the challenge wheels doesn't look quite right - seems like it needs about 10mm spacers.

 

I hope and wish to one day own a mini as nice as steves, marks, or sooper cooper. im climbing the mod ladder and getting into the more serious mods. I am guilty of exterior mods (all black) first and some minor engine work. Kudos on all three cars guys !!! Im a mini enthusiast and can FULLLY appreciate all the time, money, and energy spent on your individual cars.

vic

 

Thanks Victor, you are well on your way.

 

WOW. Awesome post. Thanks for writing it!

 

Thanks Vic! That's good company, Steve and Mark have a couple of incredible minis.

Agreed. Your car looks fantastic.

 

Wonderfully executed mods on a car that is obviously well loved and well cared for.

I have to say that I do not understand the resistance to your feelings about naming cars. You leave no doubt about how you feel and unless I missed it you do not attack anyone for deciding to name theirs. I always preferred someone who would tell me honestly how they feel rather then telling me what they think I want to hear. If it is not meant personally don't take it that way. That is the beauty of these cars, everyone can make their car their own instead of having the same car like everyone else.

I tip my hat to you sir.

 

Thx for the kind words. I appreciate it.

I believe that I mentioned this in one my posts in this thread, the reason for writing this up was not to show off but to show what was done to my car, what I kept and what I removed. Show the evolution.

NAM is littered with repetitive posts asking about this product or that mod. Since I have everything that I did to my car well documented, I thought that I would post it and mention the vendors that I worked with.

Hopefully others will find this useful and will help them make well educated decisions when the mod their car.

Thanks again for reading.

-Steve

 

Thank you very much. its in its teenage stage and growing up fast with mods lol ... once the summers over and i do a little more maybe ill start my own thread like this ... thanks for the compliments guys