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Meet Poppy, Dave's 1st gen MINI Cooper S Convertible


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Jeez Dave what a palava!! 

On the plus side that exhaust looks Great and lots of new parts never a bad thing on these older cars. Will see it right for many years to come.

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On 4/18/2022 at 7:56 PM, dr_broon said:

Bloody hell! What a mare. Hopefully once that's sorted there'll be nothing else hiding. 

 

Everything I hear about minis and parts seems like they're a minefield. 

 

New exhaust looks decent though mate - always nice to get a little upgrade disguised as a repair :-D

Hahaha, very true! The amount of times throughout my life I've stated "I've repaired it" and it's actually (sometimes sneakily!) been an upgrade i've lost count of lol. Funny thing is, this is one upgrade I wasn't sure about about the exhaust when I first started her up as I thought it might be a bit too loud, but when Gayle came out to the garage and I fired it up to let her hear it her reaction was "I love it!!! That's sounds amazing!!!". Gayle said it's staying! lol True on the parts being a minefield, but had that before with the 1st one I had (incidentally the gen2's seem to be a lot more expensive for parts than the gen 1's) so was kinda expecting it. Good thing is because these are so popular, there's plenty of help out there and groups/forums. One of the main forums I'm on for the MINI the owner of the site lives about 10 miles away from me lol Parts wise the hoses seem to be harder to get than the bloody radiators! Looking like aftermarket ones possibly (did I hear "upgrade" again? lol)rlol.gif1

3 hours ago, KiNK43 said:

Jeez Dave what a palava!! 

On the plus side that exhaust looks Great and lots of new parts never a bad thing on these older cars. Will see it right for many years to come.

Spot on mate. I don't mind replacing the bits tbh as we're wanting to keep this one for a long time, so will get the benefits out of it. Better doing the work now when I'm still able to rather than a few years down the line when working on the car might be a lot harder for me. Speaking of which, have to say for a modern car I'm really enjoying working on her. Just can't wait to get her on the road again!!

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Got the battery tray guard/heatshields all fitted back on. When we removed it, the bolts all sheared clean off with minimum pressure. So, had to cut of the remainder of the bolts that was sticking out with the grinder, then grind them flat. next, drilled all 4 of them out. Bought new bolts, nuts and washers then decided to clean the guard up before fitting it and getting the bends out if it so it was all nice and straight. I also painted the battery tray inside and out where I havd been with the grinder and drill so no exposed metal left to rust, sealed up nicely. 

 

Got it fitted up and then cut the bolts down so nice and short, then covered them with copper grease to protect them for future removal if needed. Copper greased all the exhaust clamp bolts too so basically finished at the back now. Will be stripping her down again when the winter comes to refurb the rear calipers and paint them, and will also be getting the grinder and drill with wire brush to clean up the subframes and get them treated and painted. Will future proof it as well as really making her tidy underneath.

 

Also ordered up new coolant hoses so that will complete the refurb of the coolant system. They come on Tuesday so will get them fitted, then fit the new radiator while I'm waiting on the new air con radiator arriving. Once that's fitted, put the front end back together and get her booked in for MOT. Been time consuming and more work than I expected, but at least it's a job I shouldn't ever have to do again as these new parts should last a hella long time. Will look at getting her booked in for a service too and want to get the supercharger serviced too. 

 

Anyhoo, here's the pics of the finished exhaust/back end!

Exhaust finished - heatshield on.jpg

 

Exhaust finished - heatshield on2.jpg

 

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21 minutes ago, dr_broon said:

Fair bit of graft gone into this lately Dave. Looking good though with the finished product. 

Yes mate, more than I had thought I'd be doing this early into ownership, but always the way aint it lol

 

Once Poppy is through her MOT, DD's turn next for some pampering. Got some little jobs to do on her, and some bloody big jobs too! Will see how the money/time goes this year, might be the year she gets her front end repainted (finally!)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Soooo.....been a right royal pain in the butt, but have finally managed to get Poppy's new radiators and coolant hoses fitted. When I say fitted, what I mean is this is the 3rd time they've been fitted!!!! 

 1st time, all fitted, ran car for about 20 mins, no leaks, system bled, happy days! started bolting front back together. Ran for a further 15 mins, bloody coolant all over floor!! She'd sprung a leak where the new hose was fitted to the water pump :(

Turns out it was sitting just past the wee groove that sticks up on the pump, so was causing a slight gap when heated up. Refitted hose, tested again!

Ran her for approx 1hour 40 mins as I wanted to be really sure there were no more leaks. Ran fine, system bled and all good. bolted most of the front back on, only part left was bumper. Started her up to leave her running while I fitted it....10 mins later, coolant everywhere! Coming from same bloody bit too, although I had to completely strip down the front of the car again to see where it was coming from.

 

Took the new hose off and realised that it came off rather too easily. Hose was too big on the end where it goes onto the pump (its smaller at the other end on the radiator) so was never gonna seal properly once heated up. Ended up cutting the hose back a bit to where it was smaller diameter, then refitted it (along with a new clip). Fitted nice and tight now and hose length is fine.

 

Ran her for 2 and a half hours solid, both on tickover and at around 3k revs. System was a total pain to bleed this time, but got there in the end. 

 

Happy to say, thats the last of the leaks! Started putting her back together again...

new radiators fitted building front end1.jpg

new radiators fitted building front end2.jpg

 

Then got her fitted with DD's alloys, then full valet done on her ready for MOT. We took her for a wee test drive along the back lanes and she drove spot on! Temp stays where it should, no leaks, exhaust sounds fruity! Gayle loves the wee burble on over run, and nice tone to the exhaust. We did get a fright however as we stopped to turn round and come back. Could see steam/smoke coming from engine bay and weird smell....thought she had caught fire! We both jumped out quickly and I popped the bonnet to check. Lots of what at first looked like smoke but turned out to be steam coming from down behind the airbox/gearbox area. realised it must have been the coolant that over flowed when I was trying to bleed her the last time (I'd forgot to put the cap back on and she boiled up and blew it out everywhere over the bay. So must have been that just getting burned off with the heat thankfully! Anyhoo, here's some pics in our driveway (pre-valet) and the last one in the garage is after she's been valeted.

Poppy all finished wearing DDs shoes driveway shot1.jpg

 

Poppy all finished wearing DDs shoes driveway shot5.jpg

 

Poppy all finished wearing DDs shoes driveway shot8 rear.jpg

 

Poppy all finished wearing DDs shoes2.jpg

 

Poppy all finished cleaned and ready for MOT2.jpg

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If you look at the 2nd pic of her in our drive (next to the gates) you can just make out our "pet" pheasant in the background! He's usually hangs aroundd the garden and shouts at us when he wants fed (and if ignored looks in the patio doors and taps on the window!) Now affectionately known as "Phil the Pheasant" lol

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  • 2 weeks later...

hehe, yeah, but DD din't want to give up her shoes for too long.....fitted them back on DD during my lunch break today lol. Poppy back on her black rims now......oh.....and the new exhaust...it's coming off! Bloody hate it! But that's another story that will be posted soon by future Dave. It's his problem lol Stay tuned!

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