MINI Cooper upgrades

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DaveP189
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

With the way the car dropped after getting the broken piece out, I'm guessing the swaybar was loading the wheel that was jammed up, lessening the rolling diameter (tire sensors on the MINI work by measuring wheel speed relative to each other based on the 'pre-set', not with senders)
DaveVT02S wrote:... figures he can come up with a stronger set-up ... Can't wait to see what he comes up with :wink:
His "candy store": http://www.midwestcontrol.com/ :twisted:
Image
(BTW - this pic on the website is "point and click on the part you want" interactive
Last edited by DaveP189 on Sat Jul 10, 2010 5:58 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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DaveP189
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

Nevermind, answered my question via their "decision tree"...
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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brownMINI
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by brownMINI »

For off the shelf MINI sway bar end links, the Powergrid end links are the best. Texas Speedwerks sells them, as does Turner Motorsports. Thought I think Turner may rebrand them. There are probably lots of other places that sell them too.
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

Texas Speedwerks is in the process of selling our inventory and IP to a very good dealer/installer. ...
All of our products have been removed from this website ...
did find them elsewhere (including direct and eBay) - looks like they use a ball joint instead of a spherical rod end - investigation continues...

Edit: looks like they are also sold by Way Motor Works - looking closely at the pictures, they're the same parts as available at the site I mentioned above - for about 1/3 the price ($52 vs 155)...
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

I finally got the endlinks in (2 days too late for SLMP - the stock replacement link did what it could, but couldn't hold up to the 'pressure', forcing an early retirement) - but at least I've got 'em in now. (btw: assembled and sold by others, $155.95 - same parts through Midwest Supply, plus some nuts and washers from Ace Hardware, $54)

Now to seriously address the exhaust, in particular the failing seam in the muffler, which, under full throttle at SLMP now causes something like this:

Image

...which, to prevent further damage (it's not just melted, it's charred) makes me do this:

Image

Looks ridiculous, but at least nothing was melting. Sent email to the guy in California requesting in-stock date for his cat-back system - been on b/o since May...

Also the clue to 'naming' the car, which I haven't done in many years - "Elphaba" is the name of the Wicked Witch of the West ("I'm melting! I'm melting!") - Wikipedia lists her nicknames as, among others, Elphie - so, "Elphie" it is...
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

Well, guess I haven't been as diligent as I should updating this thread :oops: - but the club's MINI population is growing, so...

The exhaust system finally got it's fix before the October SLMP: Ireland Engineering, the company I was trying to buy the s/s cat-back from still didn't have their system in stock ("maybe next week" for 2 months - grrr), so sourced a resonator and muffler mnfr'ed by a company called Jones Exhaust - same side exit-style muffler as the I.E., just aluminized steel instead of s/s. Bigger - up to 2-1/2" from 2-1/4", and got everything to fit :wink: . Had a local NNY muffler shop fab me up some pipe, cob on some hangers, a s/s band-clamp and good to go. Ain't real pretty, but with the car lowered ain't too many gonna be seeing it anyhow, so I'm OK w/ that (Larson gave it a peek at SLMP 4 and approved - cool!).
Image

(BTW - the blue is from the drive-on lift - Elphie's too low too fit on any of their others :rock: )

Love the soundtrack (nice tenor balance against the soprano of the supercharger), and the neighbors aren't being disturbed - in fact the 60-something neighbor came over to tell me he thinks it sounds really good now. And it's not disintegrating and melting the car :lol: .

Of course, w/ everything else on this "special little car", it was a challenge: I first ordered a straight-thru muffler at same time as the resonator (from Summit Racing - hadn't bought from them since my Nova/Camaro/GTO days), thinking I could make room for some diffuser tunnels (for that road race I'll get to some day in Arizona) but it was not even close to neighbor- or law-enforcement-friendly, so plan B (C? D?) went into action. It all worked out, even found a company (StreetSideAuto.com) that had a couple on clearance for $32, IIRC - the total bill for the whole set-up was around $135, including the parts, pipe fab, taxes, shipping and "tip" :bigups: ...
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

Ah, the coming of Spring (I didn't say 'here', I said it was coming) - when a young (at heart) man's fancy turns to "What next to do to the car?" As it's not looking realistic to 'build' a set of ice racing tires for this season :( , I guess I should address the issues/maintenance and keep in budget :lol: :

I've had a rattle at the back of the car that became noticible early last fall that I finally traced to a bad bushing in an upper rear control arm. Solution: it would cost about as much to put a pair of aftermarket adjustable control arms on it as to replace with stock ones or a set of Powerflex bushings. MINI Cooper forum marketplace, brand-new-never-installed-still-in-the-wrapper Alta's for about $50 less than retail (plus he'll cover the shipping). I know they make good stuff (it's who I got my CAI and rear swaybar from - and they're red, so...) http://www.altaperformance.com/products ... -Arms-Rear
Image OK, next...

I've noticed a couple of times this winter, when accelerating on dry roads in too high a gear (it pulls so well, I get lazy about downshifting every once in a while), I noticed a touch of clutch slippage. Just a touch, and just a couple of times, but the writing is on the wall. Elphie's 8-1/2 years old, about to turn 82k, and I bought it from a dealer used w/ 47k on it (and who knows how it was treated before then), so I'm not suprised at all. Shopping stage 2 or 3, thankful I was sitting down. Did find a good deal (sale) on a clutch/pp combo from a different store, but not for the stock flywheel :| . FWIW, the MINI's flywheel has a replaceable wear surface, so if the flywheel needed addressed that was what I looking at to try to keep the budget in check. Then, back to www shopping, found the matching L/W aluminum flywheel for this set-up, used, less than 3k, for ~$200. Hmm, opposed to $599 new? Deal - next?

My RS-2's are starting to get a little "long in the tooth", so I've been following the A048 deal mentioned on another thread - except now they've got a more MINI-appropriate size (205/55-16) for the clearance price of $69.25/tire => $344.30/4 shipped (Tire Rack is $215/ea => $931.38/4/shipped) . They're probably an older stock, but Peter (who already bought some) and I were discussing and figure a 3 y.o. 60 treadwear would probably be better than a new 200 t/w, so I'll pull the trigger on those. Next?

My helmets are now outdated. Back to the ol' www, eBay has SA2005 full-face Zamp for $99, and an open-face Bell for $150, both brand-new-in-the-box. Not any used 2005's in my size (Medium), and want an "SA" over an "M", as I really want to get on some bigger tracks w/ some other organizations this year, plus a roll bar may be in my future. Might as well cover all the bases now. (BTW, the store selling the Bells has M2005's for $99).

Well, that should drain the budget for a while, and keep me busy, EXCEPT...
Last edited by DaveP189 on Sat Feb 05, 2011 11:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

EXCEPT ... Got a call late Thursday afternoon from my son (red SVT Focus / "NY03SVT"), who is going to school at SUNY Canton (of which I'm an alumni) - the Auto program there just got a dyno, and was looking for cars to get the dyno or cirriculum or whatever "certified", particularly "boosted" cars (Subaru is supposed to be in this week to 'inspect' it - probably a 'donation' thing). The email he got explained they would offer a reduced rate of "less than $75 / hour". I'M SOOOO IN!! Explained I just needed to get bigger injectors - should be using 440cc w/ the mod.s I have, instead of the stock 340's, but was planning that that and the tune will be the last motor mod I want to do (right!) - and I was good to go, what kind of time frame are they talking? While awaiting a reply, I found a set of lightly used 440's originally sold by a respected MINI tuner/racer, but as they're being shipped from Europe it might set me back a week. If not, I'll pop for a set from a U.S. supplier and have them expedited. (Hey, at that rate the clutch isn't so bad that it can't wait, I guess :wink: )...

EXCEPT (pt. 2) - the return email Friday morning said about 2 weeks (Perfect!), but apologized for underestimating the dyno costs, which now stand at $300 for the 3 baseline pulls, then ~ $200/hr once the tuning begins - and we're supplying our own laptop and software, right? :lol: I told Tyler to let them know I was withdrawing my offer of car availablity at those rates, and maybe congratulations on getting a dyno in place here in rural NNY, albeit what may be the most expensive Dyno in the NorthEast. On second thought, I better not burn that bridge just yet...

The saga continues, I guess... :popcorn:
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by 6speed »

$200/hr is insane for people that don't know what they are doing. $300 is insane for baseline (it should be a the normal hourly rate in my opinion).

I assume it's AWD since you mentioned Subaru, which generally commands a premium fee since it's a 2-2.5x bigger investment/payment for the shop. A premium you really don't need to pay for your car.

You should be bringing your own laptop anyway. You don't want them dorking around installing the tuning software for $200/hr. ;-) Since this is a college, I would expect them to want to cover costs, and not make a profit from the equipment. Their pricing structure doesn't reflect that at all. You'll probably want to bring your own experienced tuner too, since these are more likely than not, green tuners.

Do you have any idea what kind of dyno it is? By "most expensive dyno in the NorthEast" I'm guessing you mean the fee, not the actual equipment, but just curious about the equipment since I know of a few people strongly considering an AWD dyno, and it's nice to see what decisions people make.
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DaveP189
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Re: MINI Cooper upgrades

Post by DaveP189 »

You pretty much read my mind on most points, Jason. If I was having someone else do the tune it would be a guy who is one of the most respected MINI tuners out there (as well as a successful racer), but we don't know if they even have remote capability. If anything he can email a baseline set-up for the mod.s I have (and he has enough experience that he wants specific brands of C.A.I. and exhaust, etc.) As to the 'green' aspect, if they have experience I would expect it to be of the "turbo" variety - s/c cars do require a slightly different set of parameters with the air/fuel ratio. And as I thought about it, I began thinking the same thing: am I really gonna let a bunch of newbies into this ECU?

The original 'proposal' said it was to be a discounted rate because of the 'learning' or certification process, so I don't know what happened, but (FWIW) this a State University of NY college, overseen by the NYS Board of Regents - so maybe they're trying to balance the NYS budget deficit with this...

Still awaiting an answer on what model dyno it is...
Dave P. #189 '02 MINI CooperS+ "Elphie"
"People who dance are considered insane by those who can't hear the music." -unknown
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