A very special little R53 MINI (now with Milltek)

_Stu_

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Anymore photos of the mini behind yours with the R95 wheels on it? Wondering if its my old one. Think the reg was somthing like NLZ 8905 (i think lol)

There’s a thread on here for it! It’s a stunning looking car

2005 R53 Mini Cooper S
 

simon4563

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Both minis are class. Thought id found my old one but definitely not it lol.
 

_Stu_

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Left the car up to @polishingalloys today to get the wheels refurbished in preparation for going to London next weekend. Can’t wait to see how they turn out.

Unfortunately I had an altercation with a dog last Saturday night though. At first I thought I got off lucky but now looking at the car in the sunshine today I now see that the passenger door has taken quite a hammering. I need to decide now what to do with the bodywork and if I should bother with going down the paintless dent repair route or just leave it in to get the door and rear quarter panel repaired and painted.

Will post photos of the wheels when I get them back.

Cheers
 

_Stu_

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Got the car back today and the finish on the wheels is fantastic. Have to say that Michael at @polishingalloys has seriously upped his game since last time I was there many years ago. He even remembered to leave the old centre caps off the wheels as I had new genuine MINI ones at home to fit.

Next job on the list will more than likely be paintless dent removal but I’m happy with how things are for now. There’s still a huge list of other small niggly jobs I want done but as it’s a long term keeper I’ve plenty of time to do them.

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_Stu_

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Seth completed the London to Brighton run over the weekend. 1140 miles completed in total and didn’t skip a beat the whole time. One of my mates went with me and we went the long way down and back and stopped off at a few cities while we were away.

Any MINI owners who are considering doing the run really have to do it. This was my second time and it’s such a good experience. The 24C weather with constant blue skies helped too.

Think Seth deserves a good clean tomorrow after all that driving though.

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_Stu_

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Today was that day of the year when the metro plates get swapped for legal ones for a few hours while the MOT is carried out. Thankfully all is good and it passed with needing nothing done. See obligatory illegal MOT ramp pic.

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Now for the bad news....... Last week I was driving through very heavy traffic and sitting stationery for a long time with the engine running and the AC on. Went to look at the time and noticed the coolant temp needle really wasn’t where it should have been so pulled over and let the car cool off. Have been driving quite a lot since then and keeping an eye on the temp and all was fine until about 30 seconds before my MOT today when again randomly it wanted to become a kettle (no AC on or anything this time).

An intermittent cooling issue is really something I could happily live without at the moment so it is grounded and garaged until I can get it fixed by the only person I trust to work on it. Just praying I’ve caught the heat issue before it’s caused any more damage.

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_Stu_

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I've a spare thermostat in the garage should you need one.

I’m ordering up a thermostat, water pump, header tank and serpentine belt from BMW this week I think then will leave it in to get all sorted. I’d normally drive it over the weekends and it’s already annoying me not taking it a blast on a Saturday evening.
 

_Stu_

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So we are back on the road thanks to @Wild Thing and his hard work. Left the car up with a new water pump, serpentine belt, thermostat and housing and a new reservoir bottle. Also when the car was up it was realised that the fan was not working so a brand new one went in and there’s no more overheating. I got a call to say the key for the locking nut on the alloys had snapped but I wasn’t worried as I knew there was a second one in the car, unfortunately it also snapped so they have all been removed and replaced. So glad it happened at the workshop and not when I had a flat tyre at the roadside.

Went to castlewellan yesterday with the R&F MINI owners group and it was a great day out (apart from the sun burn). On the way home however I got the handbrake and traction control lights coming on permanently so I imagine I’ve now got an ABS sensor on it’s way out. Not too worried about it, could even just be the heat sending things a bit weird.

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Some pics from yesterday

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r16vka

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Think i've seen this in my cul de sac in ards a few times? always looks clean and the 3digit plate smartens it up no end. Sad back story, but great to see its being well looked after! :yum
 

_Stu_

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Think i've seen this in my cul de sac in ards a few times? always looks clean and the 3digit plate smartens it up no end. Sad back story, but great to see its being well looked after! :yum

Do you have a black Golf GTI by any chance?
 

svensktoppen

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Just replace those "locking" wheel nuts with normal nuts. The "locking" ones won't stop any thieves at all and only get in the way when you're stuck at the side of the road (y)
 

_Stu_

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Haven’t been driving the MINI so much recently. I had an issue with the drivers side electric window which cost a sickening £450 to replace the regulator and motor with genuine BMW items. That kind of killed a little bit of love for it as I’m seriously too financially deep in with this car now. Brought it out today though and all is forgiven, gave it a bit of a blast on the way home and was grinning from ear to ear so treated it to a quick wash and spruce up.

I think next on the list will be getting the dent in the rear corner fixed (as seen in the pics). It’s the only real damage the car has so will get it in next year and get the rear bumper painted at the same time.

We are sitting over 108k miles now so am really happy with how well the car looks and runs.

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Thanks
 

_Stu_

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I am clearly completely blind, I stumbled across this run today and stopped and had a nosey about, around 7ish, was looking for this car but didnt see it. Great collection of mini’s though.

Did spot @JamieG95 though (golf is looking great despite no front plate :p)

Was 222 cars tonight so the car park was pretty crowded. If you’re about portrush tomorrow come down for the show at west bay car park, hopefully the weather holds up.
 

JamieG95

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I am clearly completely blind, I stumbled across this run today and stopped and had a nosey about, around 7ish, was looking for this car but didnt see it. Great collection of mini’s though.

Did spot @JamieG95 though (golf is looking great despite no front plate :p)

I didn’t see you at all, should have waved/flashed/said hello, I was likely in a world of my own! Cheers though, actually bothered to clean it today lol Numberplate? Is it not on the front of the car officer? ^o)

I had a little nosey at this Mini in the car park, it looks great (y)
 
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