This exactly. It’s all the other things that come with the other miata kids. You know I really like what you did with yours gennaro
This thread turned into a Miata discussion.
Yea screw those miatas. More about this mini!!
How about a couple pictures to get back on track.
I just ordered some black vinyl stripes to replace the white ones that are currently there. When those arrive I will be taking care of the white roof and mirrors. All of the cage parts have now arrived so @BREETIME will be sticking some metal together soon. I can’t wait to be annoyed by harnesses and fixed backs!
So last week my exhaust started leaking a few inches before the cat. I had been looking for an excuse to buy a header anyway so I put an order in that night. Well about 4 days after the leak started things went downhill. I was lucky enough to have the exhaust break completely off while on the 290 near Tonawanda. I pulled over with my cat dragging on the ground and waited for AAA. The driver could not get my car on the bed for the life of him. He stalled once and found reverse and third gear before figuring out where first was…When He finally remembered how a manual transmission worked he proceeded to rip the rest of the exhaust off the hangers, bent the tips out of shape, broke one resonator, destroyed my O2 sensor, and popped my plastic trim off.
Oh well, what’s done is done. Luckily the master @BREETIME is able to repair the old exhaust and re weld the resonator that was peeled open. He is a seriously good friend to have. After about a week of waiting my header was finally delivered.
(Not my picture)
This is by no means the best designed manifold in the world, but at $200 I can’t complain. Tonight Jay is putting some work in and getting everything buttoned up. Hopefully we’ll be back up and running later tonight!
what header did you end up with
It’s the Megan racing header. It comes with a test pipe but I’ll be using the stock cat for now.
stock cat is best for Mini’s. Only one that can handle their heat
I haven’t had a chance to update this in a while but since the car successfully made the round trip to H2oi I figure now is a good time. After the incident with AAA @BREETIME tried everything to make the old exhaust reusable. Unfortunately after trying everything it was decided that the entire thing was going to have to be rebuilt. While that was being done he decided to tackle the cage at the same time and hopefully have a complete car by the time we left for Ocean City. Less than two weeks before we left the car had half an interior, one unmounted seat, and no exhaust.
While the car was in the air we realized that the control arm bushings were completely shot and needed to be replaced asap. This is a common problem with higher mileage R53’s and was just something I had been putting off for a while. I went ahead and ordered poly Powerflex bushings for the control arms and front sway bar along with new inner and outer ball joints.
It was the day before we made the trip when I drove the car for the first time in over a month. Oh my god did it feel good. The cage definitely stiffened up the car although the main purpose was just to be able to properly run harnesses. Doing the front end service made a huge difference as well and tied all of the suspension mods together. The header sounds very nice and made the exhaust just slightly louder. I couldn’t be happier with how the car sounds, handles, and looks. I still have things that need to be done but it feels more complete now that the big things are finished. Here’s a few shots of how it sits currently.
looks really sharp with the silver cage!
Awesome work!!
siQ.
looks good man!
Thanks!
Thanks man. A few people wanted me to paint it body color but I’ve always pictured a silver cage. Glad I stuck with it.
Need. A. Ride. ASAP.
I dig it
:tup: that looks sweet!
Not much to update so here’s a rolling shot from @IanK and a video I threw together of the new exhaust set up. It’s the first video I have taken with the header.
Small update on this. For the last couple months I have been trying to track down a very annoying belt whine/metallic sound that would become audible at almost any speed, increasing with engine speed. I changed the crank pulley which is known to be a weak spot on these but unfortunately the noise was still present. I feared that my supercharger/water pump may be going (120k on the blower). Before tearing into that I found a YouTube video of another Mini with the same problem. He mentioned that it was a failed idler pulley so I decided to tackle that next. Fortunately after installing it yesterday the noise has completely vanished. Thank you internet. While the pulley was being installed, a friend of mine wired up a new boost gauge as well as replacing my worn and cracked intercooler boots.
The only other small problem I’ve been having is with the Megan Racing coil overs. The nut on top of the coilover (underneath the dampening knob) tends to work itself loose after a little while. It has happened twice on the front right and once on the back right. Not a huge issue and I am still happy with their performance, especially at that price point.
Other than those things, I have been having a ton of fun with it. Plenty of power, awesome power band, and handles like it’s on rails. @BREETIME is deleting my cat soon which should finish up the exhaust entirely. After that, I’m just looking forward to being done with it for a little while. Hopefully I can stop breaking things!
what kind of nut is it? Try a nylon lock nut, a split locking washer, or if you have the thread length, just double nutting it.