R53 MINI Cooper S Build

jaybo

RMS Regular
Messages
77
Location
Carrickfergus
Drives
Bug WRX
Hi all,

Been a long time since I posted in here but after coming back from living abroad for a few years I decided to buy myself another project car. I had been toying with the idea of a MINI a few years back but was not on the look out this time round, however this wee car fell into my lap. It's a 2005 R53 and had relatively low mileage for it's age (sub 90k). After a bit of research on the car I found out that it had been categorized more than once and almost didn't buy it, but after a bit of convincing myself that if it turned out to be a bundle I would just turn it into a track car and keep it rather than try to sell it on.
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I decided from the off that as this was going to be my daily road car and not the project I had in mind, I was going to keep it standard but we all know how that goes and the slippery slope started when I decided to replace the chrome grill upper and lower which had a crappy wrap job on it for a black sports style jobbie.
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Next thing I changed was the factory IC which had seen better days for a 2nd hand hobo I picked up locally and replaced the enclosed CAI which had also seen better days. I also upgraded the HT leads and fitted new cooler spark plugs at the same time.
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I had been on the lookout for I new set of wheels in white and by chance had it, I came across a set of Rotiform BLQs in 17x8 ET30 which would give the car a bit more stance and fill the arches better.
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Next up it was lowering the car. I had pretty much committed to modifying the car further at this point but had told myself it was going to be a budget build so coilovers or bags were out of the question. I picked up a set of Tien 30mm springs from the same fella I bought the IC off, these springs had seen practically no use (under 50 miles) and looked like they had just came out of the box.
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At this point I was happy enough to let the car sit as was for a bit and instead sort a few jobs that I discovered needed doing after purchase, the main one being that the supercharger was on its way out and had been ran with little or no oil in it. It would have been coming up to the infamous 100k service but mine was too bad to save so picked up a low mileage one of a car with only 36k on it, and likewise the PSP was starting to go so replaced that too. Sods law being what it is, when it was in to get these replaced there was a crack discovered in the alternator housing so that also needed replaced. At this point I was considering throwing the towel in on the wee car and breaking it for parts, however I convinced myself that now that these ticket items were replaced the worst would be behind me so cracked on with getting the repairs made.
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I'd always liked the idea of a big wing on MINIs like the challenge cars but decided to go with something more street orientated and ordered a Chromiumtech wang
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Little details were continued to be addressed and added such as the "S" on the grill and the removal of as much of the chrome from the inside of the car as possible.... for now the car was done it was time to just drive the thing.........
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That was until before long I got the itch again. R53s are renowned for running hot and heat soak issues and decided that I was gonna add some bonnet vents to help with this. After searching for what must have been a month a friend sent me a link to these mustang vents so ordered a set up and set about painting and cutting them in
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By now the car was starting to look more aggressive so I thought it was time to make it sound a bit more too and proceeded to de-cat. The car already had a milltek cat back non resonated exhaust on it so I picked up a 2nd hand manifold and had both cats removed, sleeved and welded back up again (Before & After) (I have since put the cat back in as it was too bloody loud)
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I'd met a member on here (Ryan) on on of the burger runs who has a bagged R53 and had a massive wing on it which I thought to myself I need that in my life so got one ordered and painted it in the shed and fitted though I couldn't bring myself to removing the other one and ran with both for a short time before picking myself up an R50 small lip to replace the first wing (which was the right decision lol)
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That's it, I'm finished I foolishly told myself :-P
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That was until I paid a visit to the Nurburgring and drove a few laps... I'd wanted to replace the standard S seats for buckets for a long time and this had spurred me on to take a more full on approach with the car so ordered a cage and picked up some Cobra Clubman bucket seats, got them fitted and added some led lighting to the rear of the car. I also ordered a genuine GP2 rear seat delete and fitted that along with a fire extinguisher for that track look and started trying to source some harness'
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Continued.....
 
Last edited:

jaybo

RMS Regular
OP
jaybo
Messages
77
Location
Carrickfergus
Drives
Bug WRX
I also decided at this point that the wheels didn't suit the direction the build was taking so ditched the Rotiforms in favour of some AVA Phoenix 17x7.5 ET35 so as they wouldn't rub in the arches.
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I next set about dechroming the outside of the car including the beltline, fuel cap, door handle and side scuttles and added some accents round the scoop and replaced the ugly brished steel Cooper S dash with s Space gray one to match the dial rings and modernise the interior. (shameless plug for my group in the last image :grinning: )
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I had decided on the harness' and got them ordered up. While waiting on these I had ordered a throttle controller as from all reports the MINI's throttle id restricted to about 70% through the DBW. In typical ebay fashion it didn't work but after a lot of testing and messing aboiut with the loom I managed to modify it enough to get it to work with the pedal box.... the difference in throttle response is night and day !!!
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Harness' in
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The hobo intercooler wasn't really picking up enough air coming through the scoop but luckily a fella in England had designed what he has called the not so hobo diverter so got one of these fitted and also a shift boot delete whilst I was at it
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The next job on the list is more preventative than an upgrade. The 1st gen MINIs are prone to mushrooming towers so ordered some defender plates and got them installed but still need to get myself a front strut brace to compliment them and keep the towers sandwiched
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AT the same time as having these fitted I also had fitted a Budweg BBK.
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and finally for now I have fitted some more aero bits, a front splitter and some home made side skirt extensions made from 5mm PVC board. Pretty happy with it all at the minute but I'm sure I will find more to do
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_Stu_

RMS Regular
Messages
1,395
You know my thoughts on this car. Was a brilliant car when I looked at it years ago and the work you’ve done has transformed it.
 
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