R50 Mini Cooper

[cus]

cheers mate! yeah it should look alright. hopefully by the end of this month

[Randomofodication]

Those kw turbos are sweet! Looking forward to seeing them mounted up

[cus]

so it was time to get some new wheels, i wanted something a bit different to the usual wheels people go with. did some research and found that the mini can have 8.5s up front.. but wanted wheels with the correct offset to allow me to run spacers.

I decided on some KW Turbos. Originally made by RH in the late 90s, these wheels arent mega rare, but very very hard to get hold of in the UK. I opted for 17", 8.5" wide, and et55.
These are in new condition, with only storage related marks, and never been fitted on a car. I have paperwork, but no centre caps.

trial fitted,but i need 20/30 mm spacers, and tyres!
excuse the jack in the pics..







I then cracked open the snowfoam and gave the car a quick wash.

[cus]

Well its all lowered. Now time to find some wheels

[cus]

I have owned some quite low cars, from an Audi A3, to an Astra Cabby.. but I thought it was time to grow up, get something maybe a bit quicker, but keep it standard height, and not play around with it too much.
I ended up with a Renault Megane Sport 225. It was a great car, but I soon learnt that function over form is something I cant live with.
I'll never grow up, I've learnt that now, and the car was put up for sale.

I was set on what I wanted, so I promptly went on ebay and bought myself some coilovers. Basically chose the set with the biggest TUV approved drop.

Comparison


Once these arrived (before I had a car) I went ahead and took the helper springs out. No point keeping them.


I found a company called Driftwood, who could supply me with a good price on a minty deepdish steering wheel. Still waiting for this to arrive from the States, and excited to get it installed! I can then work around the colour theme for my car.

By this point, I still haven't even looked at a single car yet! I knew it had to be silver or black, have half leathers, and the standard 5 spoke alloys.
I was lucky, and spoke to a lady who owned one for a year, and just put a fresh MOT on it.
Turns out to be an alright spec.. Silver, panoramic roof, full leathers, 5 spoke alloys, two keys, cd player, and 81k on the clock.

Went and viewed the car, had a drive and bought it. Knocked off £200 from the asking price as it needs some work...
Strut tops are shot (replacements ordered)
oil leak from filter housing
power steering leaking
petrol cap cover missing
release bearing noisy (new one ordered)

Just a couple from when I got it home..





These are pics after a quick clean..











Right.. This is where it gets interesting. The front struts are designed for 2002-2006 Minis.. mine is a late 2001 model, so the top mounts are slightly thicker. We had to take 15mm of metal off the top of the coilover dampers to allow the top mounts to slide down further.. but inturn allows the nut it fit on. Nightmare, but a couple of hours later, I was sorted.









I managed to install the front, but the back is currently seized.. heat and a windygun will get them out later today. So I'm afraid I only have the front down at the moment..
Wheels were catching on the struts too.. so was lucky to have some 5mm slip on spacers!
Sorry for the terrible pics!







Backs will be down tonight, will need to trim all the inner arch liners, and set the height on the front more.
Then I can fit my top mounts and droplinks when they arrive later this week.

Also waiting for my new arm rest and connect2 box to arrive.

Plans are....
Some dished 16's. not sure what yet though.
backbox removed and straight pipe added.
minty steering wheel, and speedo surround painted the same.
minty gearknob too
new petrol cap cover
some chrome parts painted silver
and whatever else. always open to ideas!
instagram is marcuscreek .. always updated with new pics!