Some glamour shots...
Some glamour shots...
Ran probably my last AutoX of the season yesterday. There are 2 more scheduled, but I'm not sure if I'll make those. It may be time to park the car and start on the winter projects to truly be ready for a competitive next season.
Winter projects planned are:
These are subject to change based on money / time / talent. Brakes will be first, I already have most of the parts, just need the rotors and lines.
Yesterday was a fast and fun event. It was also the first time my oldest wanted to come with me. He had a good time and wants to come more. It was a good father + son day. And...
Managed to win the class. Good result to end on for sure.
My app that I use to record runs, had an issue and missed the video for the last 2 runs (it recorded the audio, but no video). So this is the last run it captured, but was 0.6s off my fast time:
You'll be able to see my lack of traction in this video. On the run prior to this, I lit up my tires coming out of the tight right hander. Left a good bit of Pirelli rubber on the track:
Big update today... Oh man, the labor....
Ok, not really. My kids got me new tail lights for Christmas. Finally had some time to put them on and get rid of the eye sores that were there...
Far more interesting update today. I got a few prizes in the mail today:
Still missing the rear rotors, stainless lines and brake ducts. I'm going to attempt to clean up and paint the calipers this weekend, and then I should be ready to do the poor man's BBK / JCW upgrade. Rumors say it is super easy and only takes an hour... Based on my skill I'll plan for a whole weekend.
Edit:
Fronts came today, child for reference
Birthday gift showed up right on time...
Konig Dial In, 15x8, 12lbs.
In reply to BradLTL :
Those are great looking wheels
Those are nice. I had a set of 15" Konig Rewinds on my '06 Cooper S and loved them compared to the heavy stock wheels.
BTW, I still have a factory shop manual and set of lug bolts for that car and have no use for them. Shipping cost and they are yours.
In reply to JoeTR6 :
Let me know where to send the money. Done deal.
BradLTL said:In reply to JoeTR6 :
Let me know where to send the money. Done deal.
PM me your address and I'll get it in the mail. You can PayPal me the shipping payment when it arrives.
And somehow I had enough lug bolts for 5 wheels.
So, I planned today to do the brake upgrade. A little cold, but tolerable. People say they can do it in 2 hours, I figured on at least 4.
Well, after my 4 hour allotment I'm about 30% complete. On the front everything went fine until I got to the 16mm bolts holding the carrier bracket. They are seized as tight as can be, and I can't get my impact in at the right angle.
Then I moved to the rear on the same side. It went better. Still had to fight on the carrier bracket bolts, but they came off. Had a little trouble compressing the piston to get the caliper back on but eventually got it. Then I started swapping the brake line. After fighting for awhile I called it a day. I felt I was trying to cross thread the bottom bolt and then stripping the top one. Frustrated, I figured that was enough for today.
The way a R53 can rust and leak oil, I often say they are far more British than they are BMWs...
I'm pretty frustrated right now. Spent another 75 minutes on the brakes tonight and literally made 1 bolt of progress. I get the new line finally seated correctly on the rear caliper. That's it.
I'm stuck in 2 different spots on 2 different corners. On the rear, I can't get the old line to come off the hardline. It's to the point we're I'm starting to strip the bolt.
On the front, same thing, just different bolts. I can't get the bolts holding the carrier bracket to budge and don't have enough space to get my impact wrench on them.
All of the bolts are currently enjoying a WD40 soak. Any other tips?
You can remove the swaybar endlink and take out the bolts that secure the top of the shock to the body (or remove the bolt through the bottom of the shock to the trailing arm, but that's way higher torque and you have to be really careful not to crossthread it when re-installing. ) Then the whole trailing arm will drop down so you can get the impact wrench on the stuck carrier bolts.
A suggestion for the brake lines is to get a set of flare nut wrenches, they wrap around the hex part farther so you'll have better grip than an open-end wrench and you'll be less likely to strip it.
You might have better luck with PB Blaster vs. WD-40. WD-40 is great for many things but it's really a general purpose lubricant meant to displace water, not penetrate corroded joints.
Edit: just went back and re-read your post and realized the problem with the carrier bolts is in the front. Same general suggestion though, disconnect the swaybar endlink and then remove the nuts at the top of the shock then the entire hub will drop down. I put the floor jack underneath to carry the weight, also handy for putting it back together. Probably easier to take the nuts off the top of the shock than loosen the pinch bolt and try to get the hub off the bottom of the shock, my experience is with the R56 but I think it is very similar to the R53.
I think you are trying to loosen the wrong part of the brake line. I've done this before and it is the smaller nut you loosen, reference this video:
https://youtu.be/gWYo2WjDfbg?t=129
My trick for stuck bracket bolts is get a breaker bar on there and in a position where you can hit it with a dead blow. This usually ends up working for me. Sometimes you can get a better angle lying under the car, but it's kinda scary putting that much force on a stuck bolt with a car on jack stands.
In reply to hoffmaw1 :
Well... I've always said that my confidence exceeds my ability by a good margin. You may very well have diagnosed my issue.
I've had to point out to a very experienced car guy that they forgot to remove the countersunk screw holding on a brake drum after a mini sledge got involved. It happens to all of us.
I never did the brakes on my R53, but had the misfortune on my ex-wife's R56. That wasn't my favorite car to work on, but overall I really liked it.
In reply to BradLTL :
We all have our moments. These are such fun cars on track. Considering they have under 200 hp I was surprised how much fun I had with mine at VIR.
Hoffmaw1 is correct about the brake lines - I knew there was something wrong about the picture but it was late and I just couldn't put my finger on it. Using a flare nut wrench is still recommended.
Yes the R53 and R56 are a ton of fun on the track!
I miss my old R53. Here's the old thread on it. It ripped with the Wavetrac LSD.
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/thats-not-a-real-mini/124768/page1/
Thanks to your advice, I was able to complete the rear brakes today. Bought the flared wrench and turned the right nut... miracles.
The fronts are still a battle. PB Blaster, WD-40, cheater bar and this is the result I was able to produce today:
I feel like I'm doing something wrong again. I went and spent $200 at Allaircooled's hammer store today. Got a new compact impact wrench (and a few other related impluse buys). Nothing. They aren't budging.
Specifically, I can't break free any of the 16mm bolts on the caliper brackets. There's 4 in total, 2 on each side. I guess my only remaining option is to kill it with fire... right?
That looks like a 3/8 drive socket? I have a 2 foot long 1/2 in drive breaker bar that applies enough persuasion for just about anything. When that's not enough I get out my Aircat 1150 impact wrench, so far I haven't found anything that can stand up to it. I had to turn it up to 150psi and use the high mass impact socket but I got the bolt holding the crankshaft pulley to come right out on an 18 year old Honda V6.
The first impact wrench I ever bought wouldn't even loosen a lugnut that was under 100 ft-lb. I took it back to the store to return it and the guy laughed and said "oh yeah, they call that one Woody Woodpecker." It made a lot of noise like a woodpecker but was no more effective at loosening bolts.
If the big dog breaker bar or impact wrench isn't getting it done then sounds like heat is the next step.
If they are anything like the carrier bolts I dealt with on my Volkswagen last year, they need a good beating to come out. I had a lot of weird corrosion in the bolt threads, powdery and white. I managed to crack a 16mm impact socket on the passenger side. Good luck, the mini drives like nothing else.
I'm at a loss... killing it with fire is failing as well. Anyone want to come by and take a swing.
Ouch. I'm not sure. I haven't had to remove those bolts on an R53 in a number of years. I usually use impact sockets on those types of bolts and I have an I-R 4135ti impact wrench that usually makes short work of them.
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