Don't get them wet...
They hate bright light...

Or something like that because my collection of mini MINI's continues to multiply and, to be honest- I'm not too happy about it.

I think I realized that I had a problem as I stood in Target today holding my latest treasures (all 3 Italian Job MINI's in mini form) - a small boy walked past me with his mother. He was trying to convince his mom to let him get something from "the toy aisle" and was clearly losing the battle. In a last ditch effort - this little negotiator of about 3 years old- pointed at me and screamed - "But Mommy the man has a toy!" as if to say- "Sheesh mom - even grown men are buying toys- surely you must relent!"


Well the kid didn't win but his mom did toss me a disapproving look like I was some sort of deviant- and suddenly I felt shamed. Then I looked down and read the package in my hand:

"MINI Cooper S (Red with L.A. Road Grime)"

Oh yeah there was definitely something amiss- and I planned to get the bottom of it once I had purchased all three (for $4 a piece...ouch)

While I was walking back to the car I started counting off how many mini MINI's I actually own- the number is too horrible to share...ok I'll tell

17 (I think)

If you ask me that's a damn lot- too many for one man to be ownin'

So what is the attraction to all these little cars? I mean I have no problem with buying toys- that I can deal with- but when I find myself obsessively buying one thing over and over again- it's time to take stock.

I could understand making these purchases if I were waiting to buy a real MINI- but truth be told I had the real one before any of the models. What also perplexes me is that this is money that could be pooled and put to better use- like performance mods for the car...

I think that this whole business is part of some insipidly genius advertising strategy that has been devilishly successful in permeating my entire being. The marketing for MINI has been flawless- they have successfully reached out to a cross- generational market share through a delicate combination of nostalgia, style and the kind of "be part of the revolution" appeal that I have not seen since the likes of the (here it comes) A**le Computer. (I know that's a dirty word - I'll wash my mouth out later).

I am impressed that MINI has been able to not only create a great product- but market it so effectively that I have an almost Pavlovian response to purchase at the site of anything MINI. Now this is not to say that I have gone after every thing MINI that is on the market- I don't own the MINI Cuckoo-Clock, or the MINI- Sunglasses, Wristwatch - or skateboard. But when it comes to the die cast models (in whatever scale) there is something about them that is almost magnetic.

Having said all that- I still think all the little cars are really cool and I don't really mind being part of the MINI revolution. So far I have met some great people at the different events around SoCal and it seems like a very positive thing all around.


This latest group of models are licensed by The Italian Job the movie - and are amazingly well detailed- right down to the painted MINI emblems on the hood.

I have to say that they are higher quality than the Matchbox version that I had previously- and the proportions are closer to those of the real car.

Here are some pics of the cars in and out of their packaging- sorry for the poor quality, I took these with my phone.






I'm not sure what the point of this entry was exactly- I think it was part confessional- part analytical, and part informative for those of you out there who also suffer from "the illness" that comes with MINI ownership (there is something new to buy- run out to Target before they are all gone).

That's all for now- I'm gonna go race my new cars around my desk...

*Note: for those of you who just can't get enough MINIblog and simply must have more- take a look at my unannounced previous post "Wheels at the end of the tunnel" below- if you thought this post showed obsessive behavior you ain't seen nothin yet.


As a wise man once told me "There is a fine line between hobby and mental illness" - man was he right.


posted by Steve   Thursday, February 26, 2004

So as many of you may know I have been obsessing over changing out the wheels on the MINI since the day I brought it home. To me this upgrade is fundamental to making the car "mine" - Of all the mod's I've done so far- none will make the car as visibly unique as a new set of wheels.

As most MINI-people know- the stock rims are very heavy for their size and the run-flat tires are also quite hefty. Additional weight in these areas yields a number of undesirable results for the car enthusiast. Without getting too into it here are some in a nutshell:

• Harsh ride


• Slower 0-60


• Greater strain placed upon suspension components

A lot has happened in MINI-land since my last report.

We left our hero slightly injured in Hancock Park suffering from a mildly damaged bumper, and I had just scored a deal on some H&R sport springs.

Since then the bumper has been repaired and I am really happy with the results- Al's body shop did some amazing work - and even detailed the car before I picked it up.

The springs arrived right on schedule as did the the spring compressor set I ordered from Sears.

With all the necessaries in hand Vaughn and I tackled the installation of the springs this past Saturday. I was particularly excited to do this mod because it's one that I have been thinking about since the day I picked up the car. Two of my previous cars (the 320i and 325ic) both had it done and I was really pleased with the results. I have also always felt that the MINI could stand some lowering- especially in the back.

Before I dive into the details of the install- here's a brief explanation about what the benefits of the new springs are:

• Improved handling


• Lowered center of gravity


• More aggressive stance


• Progressive rate (springs get tighter as they are worked harder- this makes for little sacrifice in ride quality for normal driving- while providing increased stiffness for hard cornering)

So that's the "why" - here's the "how"

In anticipation of this mod I read up a little about others experiences with doing this installation- one thing seemed consistent throughout all of the accounts- The drivers side front strut was apparently the most difficult to remove - and this job was not for the faint of heart- warnings of "danger danger" were strewn though postings and "only attempt if you have previous experience.." - yadda yadda yadda-

Keeping all of this in mind Vaughn and I decided to do it anyway. Since neither of us had ever done this type of job before we thought it best to start out slow. Since we were already familiar with the set up of the rear suspension (from the sway bar installation) We figured we would change out the rears first to get a feel for using the spring compressors and such.

This turned out to be a great idea- because the rears practically changed themselves- switching the rear springs out was one of the easiest, most straight-forward mods I have ever done on a car.

You just pop the wheel off and 3 bolts later the shock comes right out.



Here's what it looks like removed:


Once that was out- we just removed the top nut holding the collar in place and removed the stock spring, popped on the new one and reinstalled. Here's a pic of the old spring (black) vs. the new spring (green)



Here is a pic of the finished rear shock:



Swapping out the rears took about 45 minutes. It was so easy in fact that we decided to break for lunch (an unprecedented move in MINI-garage- special thanks to my lovely wife Kerry for providing lunch :) )

After some tasty wraps from Subway, and feeling very confident, we moved on to the front end.

At first glance it seemed only slightly different in procedure than the rear- When we looked closer it became apparent that these were gonna be VERY different.

There are a few major differences that make the fronts harder to remove- the most major is the fact that the bottom of the strut is seated about 3 inches deep in the steering knuckle and the top is recessed in the shock tower- because of this, in order to remove it from the car you have to compress the living hell out of it- Oh one more thing- these springs are about a thousand times stiffer than the rears because they need to support the weight of the engine- so compressing them - even if you can get at them is no easy task.

Here's a pic of the bastard still intact:



We made short work of removing all the necessary hardware to set the strut free- that took about 10 minutes. The next hour was spent trying to coax it out of the car. I have to say that the spring compressors were an invaluable tool for this portion of the job- even if they were difficult to implement due to space constraints. I had read about some people using ratchet straps to compress the fronts because they are easier to fit up inside the tower- we tried this but it didn't work. But here's a pic anyway:



Instead we wound up squeezing the compressors up inside the tower and reaching down through the large center hole in the top of the tower with a crescent wrench to tightening the compressors that way- the was a slow process and resulted in several bleeding knuckles. In the end it did the trick for compressing the spring.

Here's a pic of the shock tower (this was taken prior to removal- the hole in the center of the three silver studs is where we accessed the compressors)



The next challenge was, now that we had some wiggle room with the shock compressed, to remove the assembly from the steering knuckle while not allowing the front drive shafts to fall out of the transmission. This part took some doing- and I am sure would not have been possible to do alone. With a lot of cursing and sweat the strut finally came out.

I thought that would be the hard part- granted it was difficult - but the challenge was far from over. The next roadblock was the recessed nut holding on the shock collar. The install instructions I downloaded glossed over this portion of the install with the phrase "innovative tool usage required" - they were NOT kidding. The nut itself is sort of accessible if you have a set of deep sockets (which I do- and no that is not a euphemism) the problem is that in order to loosed or tighten the nut without the entire shock body rotating with it- you need to place an allen key in the set screw centered within the nut- which means you can't get a socket on it.

Vaughn and I put our monkey-brains to work and came up with this contraption:



It's basically a deep socket with the allen key through the driver hole (holding the set screw in place) - A set of vice grips were used to turn the nut and another to hold the allen wrench.

This worked alright - and we were able to use a torque wrench to tighten everything back up- since I didn't have the actual specs I just went with "REALLY TIGHT"

Getting the assembly back in place was so easy it was almost insulting. Here's a pic of the bastard back in place:



I wish I could say that the passenger side was easier- that we learned some trick to save time on that one- but I can't - it was a right sumbitch too and took just as long if not longer to do.

One other minor install that was done- was the addition of a protective screen for the power-steering fan. I figured that since I was lowering the car, and this fan was already in a prime spot to get smashed- I may as well kick in the $30 bucks and protect it while I had the car on the jack. Two bolts later it looked like this:



Following the installation Vaughn , Kerry and I - met some friends across the street at El Cholo for margaritas and some awesome Mexican food. Perfect

I have to say- that while this turned out to be the most difficult install that I (we) have done so far- I think it is one of the most rewarding as well. Not only does the car look and feel better- but I feel as though it was a right of passage to have done this one "in house." My other cars had both been sent out to a shop for this mod- this one probably would have been too if I had the $400 bucks to spend for the labor- but I'm glad I didn't. There is something really satisfying about doing the work yourself and having it go so well.

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for, here are some before and after pics of the car:

Front Before

Front After

Rear Before

Rear After

Car This morning



So what's next on the agenda- I think it may be time for wheels and tires- stay tuned!

Oh and I thought this was funny- apparently I have no need to worry about my transmission- it's been "tested" ;)




posted by Steve   Monday, February 09, 2004