[Maccmike]

Looks lovely that. Ive got a Scanguage II and the one thing I dislike is the look.

 

[Rosstucks]

Looks lovely that. Ive got a Scanguage II and the one thing I dislike is the look.

Yeah I really like the look of this one and it has so many options I haven't even got through yet. Was a bit pricey even with discount

 

[Rosstucks]

As I am off today I thought I would treat my mini to some Christmas loving while I had a chance.

First off I have always hated how rubbish the speakers sound and after a bit of research I found out about the channel swap that can be done. I was a bit skeptical about it but now its done I can't believe how much of a difference it made. I was going to upgrade the speakers but I dont see the need to know. This is what I followed to do it, I didn't take any photos while I was doing it but the connector is in the passenger footwell and I used a TX20 to pop the connectors out on the female side after sliding the plastic sleeve up.

Next up I finally got rid of the union jack on the roof, I got one of these Glue wheels for my drill and it made light work of it. Still a bit of glue and residue on the roof I need to scrub off but overall its so much better

Then gave it a damn good wash

Very happy with how the car looks now. Here's a comparison photo of how the car looked when I brought it to what its like now

 

[Astroboy]

I've been wondering how good those wheels are. Seems a good bit of kit

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

 

[Rosstucks]

I've been wondering how good those wheels are. Seems a good bit of kit

Sent from my SM-G986B using Tapatalk

They are really good, I have used one before on a previous car! If you do get one just remember youve got to apply a lot of presure with it but it wont damage the paint even if you feel like you might

 

[Rosstucks]

So I've treated myself to an exhaust system with my Christmas bonus from work. It's a £200 ebay system that I was a bit sceptical about but it went on easily and fits well.

It's definitely a loud system when you boot it or around town, but when driving on the motorway its not that much louder than stock.

Will get a video up soon when the weather is a bit nicer

 

[Rosstucks]

Here's a video of the exhaust, as you can hear it's very boomy so I think I'm going to refit the standard piping and center silencer and just go with the back box from the system. As I drive 70 miles a day I can't deal with the noise anymore unfortunately

 

[Maccmike]

Yeah not the kinda sound Id go for, refit the cat and then see what you think before putting another silencer back.

 

[Rosstucks]

Yeah not the kinda sound Id go for, refit the cat and then see what you think before putting another silencer back.

Sorry wasnt very clear on my post I meant the piping from the cat backwards, I haven't removed the cat. So I will be refitting the middle silencer to try and quieten it down.

The next little thing I did today was mod the Dipstick as it has been a pain to read and I found I was actually 2 litres low of oil the other day when I finally got a reading off it. I saw this online and I must say it makes it so much easier to read! I filed 2 sides flat and put some grooves in it and now it works so much better! I didn't really fancy spending £70 on the cravenspeed one and now I'm glad I didn't!

 

[Maccmike]

Great ingenuity

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Great idea

 

[Rosstucks]

Job for the day today was to try and quieten down the exhuast as its just too loud like I've said. I got a reducer pipe off ebay and cut the original exhaust so that I now use just the backbox from the new system. It has done the trick! its now a nice level and sounds better than the full system did!

Gave it a good wash as well whilst the weather was nice today as well

 

[Rosstucks]

Not much has been happening at the moment with the weather being so cold and snowy apart from daily duties, my minis powered through all the snow and cold with no problems but needs a good wash now

Got it booked in for a Decoke next week as I don't think it's ever been done and its getting a little hesitant when accelerating.

After that hopefully I will be starting some Mods as I will have a bit of extra money available. The plan is:

Wheels
Coilovers
Brakes
Remap

 

[Rosstucks]

Had a day off today so finally had time to clean all the salt and dirt from the last few weeks of daily duties

also here is a video finally of the quieter exhaust

 

[Rosstucks]

Had the Decoke done yesterday at TWG in Camberley and its made such a difference, it looks like it hadn't been done before and the cars on 86k miles so definitely needed it!

Also I've finally got round to installing some new speakers up front that I got for Christmas. They aren't expensive ones just some JVC ones I got for about £20 for each pair but they are a big improvement over the standard ones

 

[Rosstucks]

unfortuntely my plans had to be delayed a while as I had to fix a few issues that arose with the car. It started pulling quite badly to the left which turned out to be a damaged tyre, I took this as an opportunity to get rid of the runflats and get new tyres all round and get the tracking checked. Had to get the MOT done last week and Then my service light popped up so it is now booked in for a full service next week.

I have done a few little mods inbetween, uncluding a proper mount for the Ultragauge and a red ignition button (a little tacky I know but I like it).

Also got an Alta Stiffy Spring for the DV which holds the boost a lot better than the stock one. (new one on the right)

Its not really a mod but I got sick of try to fit my bike in the boot so I brought a bike rack as well

I also might have got a little drunk last night and brought some coilovers. They were just some cheap ones on ebay but they come with camber plates and adjustable droplinks so we will see what they are like when they arrive!

 

[Fro-dizzle]

Unfortunately haven’t seen good things about those coilovers, mainly with regards to fitting, in one instance the company recommended having a sleeve made up to get them to fit the hub as the coilover body was too small for the hub hole.

That was for an R53, hopefully won’t be the same for you.

 

[Rosstucks]

Unfortunately haven’t seen good things about those coilovers, mainly with regards to fitting, in one instance the company recommended having a sleeve made up to get them to fit the hub as the coilover body was too small for the hub hole.

That was for an R53, hopefully won’t be the same for you.

Oh that's not good news, let's hope they are a better fit for the R56 or I will be sending them back for a refund

 

[Rosstucks]

I finally got around to fitting the Coilovers this weekend. I was a bit worried about them fitting well being cheap and what was said above but they we easy to fit and only needed a slight tinker with to get them sat right.

The fronts fit well with the adjustable drop links. The only thing I needed to do was bend the the bracket for the brake line a bit as it caught on the wheels where it was too high. The tyre also sits quite close to the strut so I have ordered some 5mm spacers.

The rears were even easier to fit but are the ones I have had the most issues with so far. I got new top mounts for them but used the original metal plate. The first problem I had is that one of the top 13mm bolt had a stripped hole. I have since put a helicoil on and it's all good now and everything is torqued up properly. The next problem however is it seems the top of the Coilover where it can be adjusted is making contact with the body somewhere. Looks like I will have to cut a little hole for some clearance as its pretty long compared to standard setup.

Other than that I am very pleased and they ride pretty well seeing as they were only £210! Just going to let the height settle a bit to make sure I'm happy before I get it all aligned and setup.

Here's how it's sat at the moment. Don't want to go too low as it's still my daily driver!

 

[Rosstucks]

I've managed to cut some holes for clearance in the back now to get rid of the Coilovers hitting and even made a little access hole through the side of the boot to be able to adjust them! Forgot to get a photo of this but will get one tomorrow. Here's the rear all stripped, I kinda like it but cant go that race car yet

I've put all the interior back in now but it good to know how easy the seats come out! Also gave it a good wash finally and can see how nice it's sitting. The 5mm spacers have arrived so will get them on this week. Just need some for the rears I think next!