Discussion
Hello everyone,
True to my username, I've now got two Minis, a classic which I've had since '08 and a MINI Cooper S (R53) which I picked up last week.
First up is the classic, owned it since 2008, it's had a full ground up restoration, it was featured in Mini Magazine in October 2012. Only used on sunny days for the occasional run out, shows etc. It has a 1275 engine with a couple of nice bits on it, fully custom interior, the paintwork is Tartan Red with a black roof, Cooper S brakes, the list goes on! Here are a couple of pics:
So now on to my MINI. As i mentioned, I only picked it up last week. It's a Cooper S on a 53 plate, built Jan '04 so one of the last pre-facelift cars (facelift was March '04). It has the full JCW Aero Kit, with 16" MINI Challenge alloys, Xenon headlights, half leather seats. It also has a few fancy JCW carbon bits fitted such as the steering wheel and gear knob. It also has a K&N Typhoon induction kit, my initial impression was that it's a bit Max Power but people online don't dismiss it so quickly. I'll probably end up changing it for an Orranje Stealth airbox at some point. Pics:
Plans for this will develop over time, first things are to upgrade the brakes to JCW items, that's happening this weekend. Also need a fresh set of rubber, probably put a set of Toyo T1Rs on shortly. There are also a couple of cosmetic bits to sort, the wheels could do with a refurb, the front grilles need a lick of black paint and it needs a new set of spot lamps as the old ones are pretty weathered. Longer term I'll consider fitting some coilovers and probably do the usual reduced charger pulley job to get a few more horsepower. Nothing too crazy. Looking forward to a track day or two in it, probably do the ring in the new year when the finances are in order also.
The car had a PH sticker in the rear window when I bought it so I would be interested to hear if one of it's previous owners is on here. Please get in touch if you are as I'd really like to know more about the cars history.
Hope you like, any questions or comments welcome
Mike.
True to my username, I've now got two Minis, a classic which I've had since '08 and a MINI Cooper S (R53) which I picked up last week.
First up is the classic, owned it since 2008, it's had a full ground up restoration, it was featured in Mini Magazine in October 2012. Only used on sunny days for the occasional run out, shows etc. It has a 1275 engine with a couple of nice bits on it, fully custom interior, the paintwork is Tartan Red with a black roof, Cooper S brakes, the list goes on! Here are a couple of pics:
So now on to my MINI. As i mentioned, I only picked it up last week. It's a Cooper S on a 53 plate, built Jan '04 so one of the last pre-facelift cars (facelift was March '04). It has the full JCW Aero Kit, with 16" MINI Challenge alloys, Xenon headlights, half leather seats. It also has a few fancy JCW carbon bits fitted such as the steering wheel and gear knob. It also has a K&N Typhoon induction kit, my initial impression was that it's a bit Max Power but people online don't dismiss it so quickly. I'll probably end up changing it for an Orranje Stealth airbox at some point. Pics:
Plans for this will develop over time, first things are to upgrade the brakes to JCW items, that's happening this weekend. Also need a fresh set of rubber, probably put a set of Toyo T1Rs on shortly. There are also a couple of cosmetic bits to sort, the wheels could do with a refurb, the front grilles need a lick of black paint and it needs a new set of spot lamps as the old ones are pretty weathered. Longer term I'll consider fitting some coilovers and probably do the usual reduced charger pulley job to get a few more horsepower. Nothing too crazy. Looking forward to a track day or two in it, probably do the ring in the new year when the finances are in order also.
The car had a PH sticker in the rear window when I bought it so I would be interested to hear if one of it's previous owners is on here. Please get in touch if you are as I'd really like to know more about the cars history.
Hope you like, any questions or comments welcome
Mike.
Nice R53, very similar to mine! The classic looks mint!
The JCW brakes on the R53 are the same (exactly) as what was fitted to the 2ng gen (R56) model - in other words, watch you don't get ripped off for getting calipers with the only difference being the addition of a sticker.
Get rid of the K&N induction, R53's suffer with heat soak, the OEM air box has proven to be the best. Get the Orranje (or Dave.F - as more widely known), you will most definitely not regret it.
That and get a new pulley. I'm running a 15%...best thing I ever did!
The JCW brakes on the R53 are the same (exactly) as what was fitted to the 2ng gen (R56) model - in other words, watch you don't get ripped off for getting calipers with the only difference being the addition of a sticker.
Get rid of the K&N induction, R53's suffer with heat soak, the OEM air box has proven to be the best. Get the Orranje (or Dave.F - as more widely known), you will most definitely not regret it.
That and get a new pulley. I'm running a 15%...best thing I ever did!
Thanks for all of the nice comments.
So a bit more about the Classic. It started life as a 1986 Mini City E 1000. As you can see from the pictures there's not much of that left, it was all pretty rotten so the whole front end was replaced, the scuttle was replaced, both inner and outer sills, all four corners of the roof, the boot floor and both a-panels. The engine was swapped for a 1275 A+ with a HIF44 carb from a metro, Oselli Superflow water cooled inlet manifold, 'stage 1' cylinder head, tubular exhaust manifold 3-1 with an RC40 exhaust system with rolled tip. It has 7.5 inch Cooper S brakes on the front and Minifin drums on the rear, JB Minilite wheels with Yoko A008 tyres. Inside I've fitted an original centre speedo which I believe came from a 1963 car, front seats are classic buckets with red piping and I had the rear seats trimmed to match. Also have custom door cards from Optimise Automotive which are black with red stitching, and they even have door pulls which came from a 997 GT3 RS which were adapted to fit. That's all I can remember at the moment so I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. These are a few which were taken for the magazine shoot:
The pictures above are courtesy of Mini Magazine.
Also fitted these to my R53 over the weekend:
As mentioned above, yes these are the same as R56 Cooper S brakes, only shinier and better looking! Got a great deal on them and they fit nicely under my 16" wheels.
Mike.
So a bit more about the Classic. It started life as a 1986 Mini City E 1000. As you can see from the pictures there's not much of that left, it was all pretty rotten so the whole front end was replaced, the scuttle was replaced, both inner and outer sills, all four corners of the roof, the boot floor and both a-panels. The engine was swapped for a 1275 A+ with a HIF44 carb from a metro, Oselli Superflow water cooled inlet manifold, 'stage 1' cylinder head, tubular exhaust manifold 3-1 with an RC40 exhaust system with rolled tip. It has 7.5 inch Cooper S brakes on the front and Minifin drums on the rear, JB Minilite wheels with Yoko A008 tyres. Inside I've fitted an original centre speedo which I believe came from a 1963 car, front seats are classic buckets with red piping and I had the rear seats trimmed to match. Also have custom door cards from Optimise Automotive which are black with red stitching, and they even have door pulls which came from a 997 GT3 RS which were adapted to fit. That's all I can remember at the moment so I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. These are a few which were taken for the magazine shoot:
The pictures above are courtesy of Mini Magazine.
Also fitted these to my R53 over the weekend:
As mentioned above, yes these are the same as R56 Cooper S brakes, only shinier and better looking! Got a great deal on them and they fit nicely under my 16" wheels.
Mike.
Thought I'd post up a small update on how the R53 is going. Mainly been focusing on tidying up and sorting a few priority things out. Stuck a set of Uniroyal Rainsport 3s on, they feel much better than the run flats fitted before although I can feel some tyrewall deformation so might up the pressures slightly.
Still bedding in the new brakes, getting there now, they feel much more positive than the old ones. Really like how they look too. Please excuse the wheels, they're dirty and in desperate need of a refurb!
I also sprayed the front grilles using black bumper paint. They had massively faded and looked terrible, much smarter now. Also had to cut the spot lamps off the front - they were completely seized up and the casings had rotten through! Ordered a new pair of black spot lamps with covers, hopefully they'll arrive this week. Oh and at the same time i fitted a pair of pressed metal plates, I find these little touches really smarten the car up, same with the wheel centres which I replaced - as you'll see in the pics above the old ones were very weathered.
(you can just about make out the PH smiley on the LHS of the boot lid here)
Last but not least, having done a few miles in the car now I had started to wonder if it had already had some engine modifications as it felt much nippier than the standard 163bhp and the supercharger whine was pretty loud but I put this down to the aftermarket intake kit. A tiny bit of digging later and I noticed it has had the very popular 15% reduced supercharger pulley fitted. I think these are supposed to give an extra 20bhp or so, that explains the extra performance and super whiney 'charger! Very pleased about this, it was something I planned to do anyway and is reportedly a pig of a job!
So this is how it stands at the moment. Got a 'ring trip booked for the weekend of Oct 3rd for it's first run out on track, keen to see how it gets one, it's my first time there so will be going easy, plan to enjoy it and not push too hard!
Also while I'm here I might as well show you the other couple of interesting cars I've owned previously (in between company cars). I've posted them on here before but it's nice to have them all in one thread.
MX-5 1.6, bought for £300, roller painted it army green, stripped it and stuck a roll bar and buckets in it and went track daying!
Ended up being scrapped when the bottom crank pulley sheared off. Shame as it was good fun.
BMW 328i Sport - this was a real gem, lovely condition with a few subtle modifications. Loved this car but it was expensive to run and the offer of a cheap company car was too much to resist!
I think the BMW will always be 'the one that got away' for me, really regret selling it even four years on.
Anyway that's it from me for now, will update again when I get back from the ring.
Mike.
Still bedding in the new brakes, getting there now, they feel much more positive than the old ones. Really like how they look too. Please excuse the wheels, they're dirty and in desperate need of a refurb!
I also sprayed the front grilles using black bumper paint. They had massively faded and looked terrible, much smarter now. Also had to cut the spot lamps off the front - they were completely seized up and the casings had rotten through! Ordered a new pair of black spot lamps with covers, hopefully they'll arrive this week. Oh and at the same time i fitted a pair of pressed metal plates, I find these little touches really smarten the car up, same with the wheel centres which I replaced - as you'll see in the pics above the old ones were very weathered.
(you can just about make out the PH smiley on the LHS of the boot lid here)
Last but not least, having done a few miles in the car now I had started to wonder if it had already had some engine modifications as it felt much nippier than the standard 163bhp and the supercharger whine was pretty loud but I put this down to the aftermarket intake kit. A tiny bit of digging later and I noticed it has had the very popular 15% reduced supercharger pulley fitted. I think these are supposed to give an extra 20bhp or so, that explains the extra performance and super whiney 'charger! Very pleased about this, it was something I planned to do anyway and is reportedly a pig of a job!
So this is how it stands at the moment. Got a 'ring trip booked for the weekend of Oct 3rd for it's first run out on track, keen to see how it gets one, it's my first time there so will be going easy, plan to enjoy it and not push too hard!
Also while I'm here I might as well show you the other couple of interesting cars I've owned previously (in between company cars). I've posted them on here before but it's nice to have them all in one thread.
MX-5 1.6, bought for £300, roller painted it army green, stripped it and stuck a roll bar and buckets in it and went track daying!
Ended up being scrapped when the bottom crank pulley sheared off. Shame as it was good fun.
BMW 328i Sport - this was a real gem, lovely condition with a few subtle modifications. Loved this car but it was expensive to run and the offer of a cheap company car was too much to resist!
I think the BMW will always be 'the one that got away' for me, really regret selling it even four years on.
Anyway that's it from me for now, will update again when I get back from the ring.
Mike.
Really like the R53.
I'm a massive fan of these. BMW got the styling and proportions so right with these, the later cars just can't compete. Really like the wheels on yours too.
I had a pre-facelift R53 S (also had a Cooper and a One) that I adored and it's the one car that I really regret selling. Not the quickest in a straight line but always felt quick fram A to B and was a hoot on country roads. My friends always used to take the mick because they thought it was a girls car.
I remember the brakes were dire. I didn't realise how bad until I had an R56 as a courtesy car. Never got round to sorting mine though as I changed jobs and was doing more miles so I thought I'd be sensible and get a cheaper to run One (which I hated after the S).
I've thought about opting out of my company car scheme and getting one now the prices have fallen. How many miles has yours done? How does it feel now that it's a few years old?
I'm a massive fan of these. BMW got the styling and proportions so right with these, the later cars just can't compete. Really like the wheels on yours too.
I had a pre-facelift R53 S (also had a Cooper and a One) that I adored and it's the one car that I really regret selling. Not the quickest in a straight line but always felt quick fram A to B and was a hoot on country roads. My friends always used to take the mick because they thought it was a girls car.
I remember the brakes were dire. I didn't realise how bad until I had an R56 as a courtesy car. Never got round to sorting mine though as I changed jobs and was doing more miles so I thought I'd be sensible and get a cheaper to run One (which I hated after the S).
I've thought about opting out of my company car scheme and getting one now the prices have fallen. How many miles has yours done? How does it feel now that it's a few years old?
Thanks for the comments guys.
The spots are on their way so I'll try them on and see, personally I liked the look of it with them on before so I'll take a view on it when they arrive.
In terms of how it feels now that it's 10 years old, there's no denying it is getting on a bit. Mine has covered just under 70k miles and it drives very well, no complaints there. I came out of a brand new 63 plate Countryman Cooper S before this so it was a bit of a shock to the system initially, just due to the older feeling interior, more road/wind/engine noise and so on. However after a few weeks I've got used to it and now am really enjoying it. I must admit it is a much more 'raw' feeling car than the newer Minis, there's much more feedback through the steering wheel and it somehow feels like there is less car around you - much more true to the original Mini I think.
Matt - if you see me at the ring feel free to come and say hi! Are you heading over for the whole weekend?
The spots are on their way so I'll try them on and see, personally I liked the look of it with them on before so I'll take a view on it when they arrive.
In terms of how it feels now that it's 10 years old, there's no denying it is getting on a bit. Mine has covered just under 70k miles and it drives very well, no complaints there. I came out of a brand new 63 plate Countryman Cooper S before this so it was a bit of a shock to the system initially, just due to the older feeling interior, more road/wind/engine noise and so on. However after a few weeks I've got used to it and now am really enjoying it. I must admit it is a much more 'raw' feeling car than the newer Minis, there's much more feedback through the steering wheel and it somehow feels like there is less car around you - much more true to the original Mini I think.
Matt - if you see me at the ring feel free to come and say hi! Are you heading over for the whole weekend?
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