Neil_M
RMS Regular
- Messages
- 4,766
Time for the next triggers broom project!
I've sold on my Impreza STI, which is sorely missed, however driving the fairly noisy Civic on a daily basis was starting to grate a little... Really I wanted something as a cheap run about, minimal outlay, but still something with a little poke.
As much as I tried to find something extremely cheap, I thought it would be more sensible to put a little more money towards something that was less of a shed and a little tidier.
I was always drawn to the R53 Cooper S, and was well aware of their quirky nature. So the hunt was on.
I'd looked at them before and have previously owned a Cooper, so was pretty au fait with their common weak points. One private sale was well, not worth an advert, one dealership car was incredibly poorly maintained...
As much as I tried to find something extremely cheap, I thought it would be more sensible to put a little more money towards something that was less of a shed and a little tidier.
Then this car popped up. Just over 50k miles, very well maintained, great conditon, lots of history and two owners. The deal was done and I have to say the private sale went very well, a very down to earth owner, that provided me with loads of spares, cleaning kit and a diagnostics device.
Let the scrubbing commence!
She was a very clean car anyway, but she's now even cleaner.
Wheels were removed to clean them properly and grease the hubs.
New rear discs and pads have been ordered.
I have to say the wheels came up very well. The insides were in good condition, with only a good clean being required.
So the plans to keep it standard but well maintained didn't last long.
Three days after owning the car, the illustrious JCW air-box was bought. This is of course a used item, so it was treated to a good scrub in this photo. For anyone interested this air-box was used on the JCW tuning kits for the Cooper S cars. It adds a significantly larger air-feed over the standard air-box, along with a different filter design. Noting it is a daily driven car, I didn't want an open cone filter, the additional air feed comes from the scuttle, so it has every opportunity not to heat soak. This air-box has a vacuum operated baffle system to keep noise down, it's been removed.
Rather than use the poor flowing OE filter, a K&N unit was used in the hope of improving flow.
I'm just starting to remove the standard air-box here. A before photo...
During – this photo has the air-box and ECU removed.
The gear change was a little stiff, a common problem. This was the perfect opportunity to lubricate the linkages.
Everything cleaned and lubricated. Time for the install.
Job done, a nice standard stealthy install. Noting the Samco intake hose and new stainless hose clamps.
We had company most of Saturday with this homing pigeon. From speaking to the USPCA it's common for them to become water logged and need to dry out for a day or two. I was advised to only provide water.
Percy stayed in the garage overnight and was looking much perkier in the morning. I opened the garage and off he went.
Still on Saturday I started into the ignition.
The ignition points were checked, cleaned up and greased. I have to say they were in pretty good condition anyway.
I'd replaced the plugs with the upgraded NGK Iridium versions. I was initially going to stick with the standard plugs, but I thought it was worth the upgrade. Even if they do have to be changed again after a pulley upgrade (lol).
She's now starting much much quicker.
I've had the car checked over by the very helpful Darren at DW Autos. There was a cross threaded wheel nut on one of the wheels, so to make life easy I had both wheel bearings changed. The NSF wheel sensor was flagging an error, possibly only due to my intensive cleaning, it was replaced for good measure. The oil and filter were changed along with the chain tensioner.
My next plans are:
Driving the car it's a very solid, rigid little go kart. She's easy on fuel and being fairly well specced with cruise, air con, LSD, xenon lights, puddle lights etc etc she makes for a perfect little daily. Though it has a very linear power delivery, it's plenty of mid range for motorway work.
This should free up some time for the other toys too, which was one of my aims.
I've sold on my Impreza STI, which is sorely missed, however driving the fairly noisy Civic on a daily basis was starting to grate a little... Really I wanted something as a cheap run about, minimal outlay, but still something with a little poke.
As much as I tried to find something extremely cheap, I thought it would be more sensible to put a little more money towards something that was less of a shed and a little tidier.
I was always drawn to the R53 Cooper S, and was well aware of their quirky nature. So the hunt was on.
I'd looked at them before and have previously owned a Cooper, so was pretty au fait with their common weak points. One private sale was well, not worth an advert, one dealership car was incredibly poorly maintained...
As much as I tried to find something extremely cheap, I thought it would be more sensible to put a little more money towards something that was less of a shed and a little tidier.
Then this car popped up. Just over 50k miles, very well maintained, great conditon, lots of history and two owners. The deal was done and I have to say the private sale went very well, a very down to earth owner, that provided me with loads of spares, cleaning kit and a diagnostics device.
Let the scrubbing commence!
She was a very clean car anyway, but she's now even cleaner.
Wheels were removed to clean them properly and grease the hubs.
New rear discs and pads have been ordered.
I have to say the wheels came up very well. The insides were in good condition, with only a good clean being required.
So the plans to keep it standard but well maintained didn't last long.
Three days after owning the car, the illustrious JCW air-box was bought. This is of course a used item, so it was treated to a good scrub in this photo. For anyone interested this air-box was used on the JCW tuning kits for the Cooper S cars. It adds a significantly larger air-feed over the standard air-box, along with a different filter design. Noting it is a daily driven car, I didn't want an open cone filter, the additional air feed comes from the scuttle, so it has every opportunity not to heat soak. This air-box has a vacuum operated baffle system to keep noise down, it's been removed.
Rather than use the poor flowing OE filter, a K&N unit was used in the hope of improving flow.
I'm just starting to remove the standard air-box here. A before photo...
During – this photo has the air-box and ECU removed.
The gear change was a little stiff, a common problem. This was the perfect opportunity to lubricate the linkages.
Everything cleaned and lubricated. Time for the install.
Job done, a nice standard stealthy install. Noting the Samco intake hose and new stainless hose clamps.
We had company most of Saturday with this homing pigeon. From speaking to the USPCA it's common for them to become water logged and need to dry out for a day or two. I was advised to only provide water.
Percy stayed in the garage overnight and was looking much perkier in the morning. I opened the garage and off he went.
Still on Saturday I started into the ignition.
The ignition points were checked, cleaned up and greased. I have to say they were in pretty good condition anyway.
I'd replaced the plugs with the upgraded NGK Iridium versions. I was initially going to stick with the standard plugs, but I thought it was worth the upgrade. Even if they do have to be changed again after a pulley upgrade (lol).
She's now starting much much quicker.
I've had the car checked over by the very helpful Darren at DW Autos. There was a cross threaded wheel nut on one of the wheels, so to make life easy I had both wheel bearings changed. The NSF wheel sensor was flagging an error, possibly only due to my intensive cleaning, it was replaced for good measure. The oil and filter were changed along with the chain tensioner.
My next plans are:
- gearbox oil change
- rear discs and pads
- possible front brake upgrade
- braided brake lines all round
- brake fluid flush
- coolant change with thermostat
- tyres all round (non runflat)
Driving the car it's a very solid, rigid little go kart. She's easy on fuel and being fairly well specced with cruise, air con, LSD, xenon lights, puddle lights etc etc she makes for a perfect little daily. Though it has a very linear power delivery, it's plenty of mid range for motorway work.
This should free up some time for the other toys too, which was one of my aims
.
