Jesters Other Vehicles - 3MPS/RX7/Mini Cooper S

[Jester*]

Cracking updates as ever, sorry to hear about your Mum's health
I'm pretty sure I've got 3 hairpins in my collection with dead tyres that owe me very little if you need any more?! Love seeing the 7, yellow on Mazda coupes is a really good look imo, I might be getting some dark gold oz's in the near future for mine hopefully they suit the yellow

Appreciate the it pal.

Haha if you have spare hairpins I could well use them. I would like to have a full sized spare ready for when I go to the Ring! Just in case and all that. Bronze and yellow is definitely a good look, It is one of the colour combinations I have been ruminating on for when I get some 17's for the 7!

[McBandy]

When mines done I'll post some pics, isn't as simple as just bolting them on but i pick them up Saturday described as dark gold, freshly refurbed and as new
I'm in Havant and around most weekends if you want to come and see if you want any of them?

[Jester*]

When mines done I'll post some pics, isn't as simple as just bolting them on but i pick them up Saturday described as dark gold, freshly refurbed and as new
I'm in Havant and around most weekends if you want to come and see if you want any of them?

Sorry for the slow reply bud. Life very much got in the way, I'll definitely try and book in to check out the spare hairpins when I can.

So unfortunately a week or so after I posted my last update my mum passed away. Which was absolutely crushing and I am only a few weeks post funeral typing this now but I am starting to look forward at the cars and getting them moving.

MPS

Gave the MPS a quick wash off to get the green of spring off her! But along with the quick clean the black MPS badge came off. So I had to spend a bit time getting rid of the glue residue and hand buffing a little bit. I've decided as she has taken it upon herself to de-badge, she can stay that way :biglaugh:

Please excuse the sexy reflection legs. Not too bad to the casual eye.



MCS

So the Mini went to Total53 pretty much just down the road for her timing chain to be done. Felt like I wanted to get it done sooner rather than later more so for my piece of mind than anything else. Asked Zak to give her a good going over and make sure there was nothing else untoward going on that was going to bite me.

Happy to report she got almost a completely clean bill of health. The only part to keep an eye on was the power steering hoses might be weaping, but the inspection was carried out just after I'd driven it over in the wet. The fluid level was correct which indicates that at the moment all is well. OEM hoses are pricey and its a subframe down job, so I might get it done at some point in the future, for more preventative maintenance. Lower engine mount was showing some perishing and at £25 it was added to the list to be replaced. Comments were made about how little underbody rust was present along with supporting video. Better than a 50k mile example he was restoring at the moment!

Zak confirmed that I still had the original chain and it looked in pretty good condition for the 140k miles she has under her belt. But on removing the sump to give it a clean he found the following in the oil pick up.



Hopefully you can just make it out, but in the gauze is a piece of the plastic timing chain guides that had snapped off. So already we are much better off for getting this work done. Then as a side comment he mentioned that if I want to do the rod bearings now would be good as it would be the cost of parts and an hour or so's labour, the driver being he had just done a set on a 130k Cooper S and they were down to the copper.

So obviously I man maths'd it hard and in went some fresh bearings and ARP bolts from MAR Motorsport. Cylinders 2 & 3 looked ok, but 1 & 4 were starting to show signs of the copper coming through. You should just be able to see it in the below photo.



She is all back together now and picked up this evening. No slight chain rattle on start which is lovely and feeling nice and tight. Going to try and put some miles on her and bed in the bearings, Up to 3k rpm for 500 miles, 300 miles at 4k rpm and the last 200 miles up to 4.5k rpm. Obviously a bit of give or take with those as we go. Then take her back for an oil, filter and inspection.

As with how these things go, I arrive to collect the car and there's a R53 in for breaking and has almost pristine facelift rear lights on it. Mine are looking really scuffed and horrible and casually asked how much and £40 they are mine :biglaugh: I was also offered a Coolerworx short shifter for a really good price and although I am extremely tempted I need to put the money towards getting the MPS arch sorted.

[Jester*]

Good afternoon, semi boring updates and no photos. But we have movement across all 3 cars.

MPS

Taxed and fired up from slumber without even a hint she hasn't been driven since last October. Car felt tight and scarily boosty as I have started to visit bodyshops to get the arch sorted. Hoping to have something arranged within the next few weeks before she goes back to sleep at the end of the year :biglaugh:

I am really hoping that the bodyshop I have in mind will also be able to do some undersealing as well. Just to keep her nice and protected for years to come.

RX7

The 7 got selected for the exotic and rare section of the PH annual event, which I am most excited about.

She was booked in with TPS today for an oil change, but as the RX8 is currently wetting itself. I told the lads to use the slot I had booked to fix her instead. Not having driven a massive amount of miles since last year it isn't the end of the world. I may just have to slip it in at some point.

MCS

We are about 600 miles into the 1k miles bedding in for the bearings, want to get that done and dusted, sling an oil change in ASAP. Total53 had another car in for breaking and amazingly had a freshly painted aero front bumper in dark silver, so that is also now mine. The mini is getting plenty of bits and bobs, as the parts side of thing is mental.

[Jester*]

MCS

Still cracking on with putting miles under her tyres. Allowing myself up to 4k RPM and a bit more "making progress driving" varying the load as we go.

My new floor mats arrived, nothing too special but went for dark grey piping to match the car a bit, I was expecting slightly darker than I recieved but much much better than the mats I removed.





Popped out to Total53 and picked up some parts. Namely the aero front bumper, aero side skirts and rear lights.



The side skirts will need repainting, were meant to come with the little grills but Zak had put them somewhere safe and promptly did what we all do, forget that safe place. But no big deal at the moment, hopefully he will find them. But the front bumper is ready to go on, I have got fresh number plates to pop on, and if I get a nice day this weekend I will try and get it on.

After a spot of lunch I nipped out and did the rear lights.

So the old:





Amazingly the photos make them look better than they are :biglaugh:

But for the princely sum of £40 here are the replacements.





Between the mats and the lights, a real sense of satisfaction that the small things can really make a difference.

[Jester*]

MCS

I've been away on a course but I snuck some time on the mini in and around the week away.

I decided to fit the aero front bumper, how hard could it be. In fact turns out really quite easy with very little in the way of modifications or bodgery needed. So for reference this is the standard Cooper S bumper.



Off she popped nice and easy, there isn't much holding them on! But when lining up the sidelights/indicators I bumped into an interesting problem. The difference in bumpers wouldn't let the bottom part of the bracket screw into place. So I got creative with a hacksaw.





As you can see, they are designed for both bumpers, you just need to lop a bit off



Bumper on and I wasn't happy with the bumper height, but unfortunately for me it seems as though the adjustment bolts were missing and the mini uses a plastic sprung bracket to adjust the height. So I ordered fresh brackets with bolts, the thought was at nearly 20 years old the plastic would have had it.

Fast forward a week, post course. New brackets and bolts had arrived and I was using the mini to quickly run some jobs, bearing in mind I still am running in the new bearings (Over 700 miles in so nearly there!) But the car decided to do Mini things and I had parked up for a haircut and the drivers door wouldn't open from the inside

A quick google and it isn't an uncommon occurance! So after clambering out the passenger side for my haircut and drive home I whipped the driver side door card off.



Pretty simple and straightforward then started digging around to work out how it all works. Once I got my head around it I found that it was a simple fix and thankfully wasn't anything to do with the latch or external door handle.



The orange wodger (obvious technical term) had come adrift from its locating clip inside the door skin. Looks like as these age the rubber gets a bit hard and doesn't get grabbed as well as it should. So with a bit of a rub and a push it popped back into place.Hey presto I have a working internal door handle! Belt and braces approach necessitated I strip down the passenger door as occasionally it played up from the inside, I found the orange wodger was half located and half adrift! Job jobbed.



Fresh bumper adjusters!



Cheeky side by side.



New and secured in place. The difference between the old and new was a good 10mm, which should pop it up a bit. Excuse the rusty horn, that looks like it has seen better days.



All done and back together. Sitting a good bit higher so pleased with my handywork. There are more parts on the way, from Zak at Total53. Managed to upgrade to a fully rust free tailgate which saves me the hassle and cost of paint and some side repeater trims that get rid of the chrome and say Supercharged on them :driving:

This is definitely turning into project restoration!

[Jester*]

RX7

Today was fun, after a hard slog at work this morning I decided to tidy the interior of the 7 up a little as the start of the PH event prep!

This turned out to 5 hours of extra work I didn't exactly intend on doing.

I went to unlock the car and she didn't unlock on the drivers side, then wouldn't unlock on the key. Mild panic started setting in, and thankfully I could get in passenger side on the key. This sounds extremely familiar after the Mini having its own fit, so I did the only logical thing and started taking apart the drivers door.



Drivers door handle and trim out, really easy to remove thankfully. Leaving the latch and lock link bars exposed.



Door handle in hand!

There didn't seem to be much wrong and I could use the latch bar to open and close the door fine. But last year I ordered a door lock dust cover kit from Code Red in the US. So the obvious solution was to fit them now.



Just to show the old, no dust cover left, so nothing to prevent dirt and rubbish getting in.



Popped the lock out, gave the whole mech a good clean with a toothbrush and some compressed air. Finished up by using some silicone lubricant on everything to make sure the action was smooth and might stay that way for a few more years. Then got the new helper spring, key "door" in place then a new cover on top.



All installed and ready to go back into the door handle.



Back on the car, should hopefully be good for a few more years now! Rinse repeat on the passenger door for good measure. Another little job ticked off the list. I just need to get round to ordering the aluminium door handles so I can replace the plastic OEM versions, this will make sure they don't randomly split and fail due to age. On the list of parts to order over winter.

But this hadn't solved the door issue. So things escalated somewhat.



Not amazingly keen on RX7 door cards . They are definintely a huge fiddly pain, but with some persistance it came off and I started to investigate. The remote locking actuator didn't seem to be adjusted properly, so slackened the screws off and made sure the central locking was fully in the open position then tightened them all back up and now seems to be much better.



My mistake was to take the passenger side door card off as I thought there was an issue where it wouldn't unlock properly off the central locking, but to cut a long story short the drivers side is a smidge off adjustment wise. It requires me to unlock, open the drivers door and push the door lock latch about 1mm further and the passenger door unlocks. I can live with that.

But the passenger door card has been a bit bodged before, the window switch was sealed in as the locating tabs have been broken, with also some door handle damage. With the window switch not staying in place I had to use a few blobs of super glue to keep it in place. You can get replacement window switches (£60) and even strengthened door pulls from the US (Not cheap at £260 before shipping and VAT.) But the other plastic door trims are a different matter, that might need some proper research.

Oh and I unplugged the powered antenna so I can drive around without the whip. Mainly for aesthetic reasons, and I don't need the radio anyway :biglaugh:

[Jester*]

RX7

Last week we did the PH Annual service, I left Kent after work Friday and winged it back to Basingstoke to stay with a friend, who was also coming to the service.

Cheeky photo with his turbo'd MX5 and R32 GTR in the background.



Then I headed off quite early on the Saturday and took my place out the front of the hanger and got casually one upped hard by the Skyline that parked next to me



Had a great day and had a chat to many like minded people and would like to do it again next year! I hope many people follow the lead of abandoning the piston for the obviously superior rotor tech. After the day finished I hauled back off to Kent. So clocked up the best part of 250 odd miles in total over the weekend. Which for me is the most I've done in anger when owning the car. Glad to be back on the road!

Now this week has seen a flurry of parts procurement for the 7. We started with my HKS package that has been a good 8 months in coming. Behold some pure JDM goodness of HKS floor and boot mats! HKS pressed some FD mats back into production for their 50th anniversary and I jumped at the chance to add something a little different and special to the car.





Now in the car.







I am proper chuffed with them! This hasn't been the last of it, with some odd coincidence a for sale post on FDOC.co.uk popped up with some black aluminium door handles for sale at a decent discount. The last part of the puzzle for the doors that I was about to order, so they have been snaffled up and are on the way to me now.

The final piece of the puzzle was I wanted to start getting some OEM+ parts. Namely the Autoexe carbon airbox and an uprated intercooler that is either a PWR or Knightsports make. So a wanted post went up and today I picked this up. Complete with a legitimate JDM Greddy box





The Autoexe airbox lightly used, with one or 2 marks on it, but a good saving over buying from Japan and quicker than the 3 month current lead time. I might try and get a local detailer to quickly pop some PPF over it as the fitment is known to slightly rub on the bonnet and I'd like to protect it a little bit. Excitingly I do have a lead on someone selling their PWR intercooler in the coming months so fingers crossed that can wing its way into my parts collection.

Musings over the last week has me considering getting a Link ECU fitted next year, to bring the car into the modern era, not because I have crazy engine plans but more to enable better engine protection and a little more sophistication. While maybe adding a little more power along the way.

MCS

The Mini has carted me around this weekend, to head back to see my godson and celebrate his dads birthday. So she got a quick wash which manages to make her look half decent from 10 feet away.



Felt a bit arty.



Still loving the 16" Hairpins, just seems to work really well on this era of Mini. With this trip complete the 1000 mile bearing bed in process is now complete and with my week off coming. She is booked in for an oil change, and I can then rev the nackers off her again. While in with Total53 I am going to stick around and help fit the rust free bootlid I have picked up and change the side indicator trims to something a little fun and not chrome.

MPS

Booked in for an MOT this week. I should check but I think I've done barely 300 miles in the last year. Eeeeek.

Still waiting for a slot at the bodyshop to fix the arch, everywhere seems mad busy at the moment. But I am trying to get on top of it.

[casey]

Just caught up with your updates for the past few months. Great to see you doing some upgrades and keeping on top of the gremlins!

[Jester*]

Just caught up with your updates for the past few months. Great to see you doing some upgrades and keeping on top of the gremlins!

Glad you enjoyed the updates. I am about to post some more

[Jester*]

MPS

She passed her MOT! Still waiting on space at the bodyshop for the old girl. At this rate I'll be getting her off the road for winter shortly after a really poor years driving. Must do better.



RX7

No real updates on the 7, except I am dropping the carbon airbox off this week to get a bit of PPF applied to it to make sure the bonnet doesn't rub it too badly.

MCS

The Mini has had the brunt of the work over the last few weeks as I finished the running in service for the bearings and went and got the oil change in. While I was at total53 we fitted the rust free bootlid and gave it a liberal spraying of Lanoguard inside. Took a bit of lining up and fiddling but got there in the end. As an aside it seemed to suffer from the same leak as the previous one and required some silicon application to rectify :biglaugh:

While I was there I popped on the second hand indicator trim I'd snaffled up. So we went from...



To



Getting to a place where the chrome to black ratio is a little more balanced.

On my week off there were a couple of jobs I wanted to tackle before winter gets too close, and the first of those was to give the headlights a quick buzz over with the 3M restoration kit and it did a solid job.



Getting a cheeky shot of her all masked up and camping chair in place :bandit:



This was by far the worst of the 2 sides.



Came out pretty well if I do say so. Like I mentioned above, popped some sealant on to give some longevity.

Now out came the slightly bigger tools and we made her hover. Disclaimer here, when working under the car I did have 2 wheels and the jack also in place, safety first always.



As I have become a little attached to the Mini, but still plan on using it as my winter transport, I wanted to get some treatment on the underside to give her some protection. So after a quick wire brush of the worst bits and a jetwash and some time to dry out came the Lanoguard, first time applying it, not a hassle at all. Considering the age of the car and the mileage the underside was in pretty good condition, so it would be nice to keep it that way.





Does seem to dry and coat well, as I have a few cars to use I am leaving it a good 48 hours before driving to make sure it "sets" properly.

While up in the air, I ticked off a few little jobs that I noticed. Exhaust heat shield/bumper trim looks to be damaged and wasn't being held in place so a cheeky zip tie to the rescue to hold it in place.



I am pretty sure the black bumper trim and the exhaust heat shield are meant to line up and you trim clip it in place. But that is a no go at the moment!

Both outer exhaust hanger bushes had seen better days, and it turns out one was a generic bush that wasn't really holding anything in place. Both pretty cheap from BMW at just over £6 a pop.





Hopefully with the new bushes and some fiddling the exhaust may sit a little more central now. But a drive or 2 will see if that has been achieved!

The last piece of the puzzle was the 2 pieces of plastic that cover the rear number plate lights, that after 19 years had gone yellow, brittle and most amusingly started to fall out whenever I closed the boot :biglaugh:



£4 a piece and worth it for me. Even though no one will ever notice it, I will know that they have been done.

[Jester*]

MCS

Mini has been behaving itself, even in the torrential rain that we have had recently the boot has stayed leak free. Famous last words but you know, we live in hope. Recent musings have been over seats, putting in something a little more supportive as now I am able to drive her by the scruff of the neck, I slide around a little too much in the stock seats.

I am in real danger of popping in a pair of Cobra Nogaros and basically spending the purchase price of the car again on seats. With the man maths justification of I like them, and could be a seat option for the RX7......some wierd roundabout man maths justification. While taking out the back seats and fitting a V brace. The back seats serve 0 purpose for me in the mini so getting shot is a real option.

RX7

Nothing to report on the 7, baring the PPF to the carbon airbox is coming along. Have had some updated pictures this week so should be good to collect next week.

With the car season pretty much petering out, I have put the 7 to bed, but it does have a new place to sleep for this winter. I bought a Carcoon, I have umm'd and ahh'd for a while about getting one. But decided that it was worth getting one as I hate the way winter causes me the worry of water ingress, condensation and all that. Car storage being at least £100 a month, I decided stumping up the money for a Carcoon was wise. As after 6 months of use, it will then save money over car storage. Plus I can at least keep an eye on her.







Here she will stay. Just for piece of mind I put a little kitty litter pot to catch any errant condensation that might get into the interior and I've not used the optimate battery charger that comes with it, as I have a CTeK quick connect, that is currently doing its thing. So far quite happy with what I am seeing.

MPS

The good news is I have firm bodyshop dates for the MPS, so end of October for welding and possible underbody protection. Then the beginning of the November for the actual paintwork. This makes me happy as after that is done, I'll feel so much happier and will want to actually use the car. That is, after winter, as I will SORN her as soon as she is back.

Other

So small other news and musings, I guess this is almost like a blog. But I had a motorcycle taster hour today, as I've been exploring a few things in therapy and wanted to see, as my old man was an avid rider for well over 40 years, if I would indeed enjoy riding. Now I pillioned many times when I was younger and have my own helmet that was a present to me from my dad. I wore it today as it seemed right.



Annoyingly it seems as though it might be a bit genetic as I pootled through U turns, slalom, changing up then down the gears, general bike control, gaining in confidence as I went on. I very much enjoyed myself so I have booked the CBT for October just before my birthday

I am also wanting to start adding some proper protection for the cars at home, think car port style. I know that I do not need planning permission down the side of the bungalow so I am going to have a chat to a builder I know about getting a lean to/car port built hopefully through winter. So the 7 can have increased protection next year through Spring and Summer.

[Jester*]

Some minor updates!

MPS

Has just been picked up from the bodyshop the arch finally welded, sealed and painted. So she is back looking less sorry for herself which is great news. Just in time for me to take her off the road! Hopefully there will be a semi sunny winters day so I can give her a little mop over before the winter truely sets in and the CTEK gets hooked up and I pump the tyres up!

Although she may need to be my runabout for the rest of November, seeing as I've paid for the tax already as the Mini has done......Mini things :biglaugh:

MCS

This car is the gift that keeps giving. Although it is partly not its fault.

So after having a ride at my local motorbike training centre it had been raining and I noticed the tell tale oil slick coming from the front of the car. Popped home and saw some spotting under where the car is parked (now I regularly check the Minis oil level as they are notorious for leaking/burning oil) so I parked it on another part of the drive, popped the bonnet and had a look, left hand side of the engine I noticed 2 fresh drips, reversed the car and 100% confirmed the drops as oil.

Now left hand side of the engine can be a few things like oil filter housing, timing chain cover and sump. All of which I have had changed in the last year. So today I popped over to my Mini mechanic who did the work who confirmed it looks like either chain cover or sump. He cleaned up the excess oil and asked me to drive the car a little before I drop it off next Wednesday to narrow it down. But it'll be warranty work so will cost me nothing.

But, there is always a but isn't there!

While underneath, he noticed from the right hand side, what looks like my rear main seal on the gearbox is leaking. Now reciepts I've got said the clutch was done back at roughly 100k miles. Now nothing that I have can confirm the seal was changed as part of the clutch and this is one of the more expensive R53 jobs as it is easier for the engine to come out which instantly makes it a bit pricey.

So I've done what any petrolhead does and greenlit the clutch change, as having the engine out would also make the oil leak easier and I may save some labour due to the warranty work. My power steering hoses are also leaking, which was picked up in the summer, engine out means that these will be parts and a small amount of labour. He has a replacement plastic radiator housing that I can buy to replace the smashed fog light section I currently have which will allow me to run brake ducts if I want too. So it is going to be more preventative and replacement work.

The Mini is turning into almost a full restoration, wierdly I am completely ok with that as it is an addictive little car. Maybe I should have bought a more expensive example at the start, but there is never any guarantee that all the preventative work I've done wouldn't have needed to be done by another car. When it is done, that'll be supercharger fully serviced, timing chain done (including rod bearings and cleaned sump), and finally clutch with rear main seal.

Other

Passed my CBT and Motorcycle Theory, with my MOD1 booked for December! What an adventure this is being!

The 7 and 8 are still happily parked up as part of the winter SORN.

[Dom-PZ]

Can you keep us posted on the motorbike experience? I'm doing the same, passed my CBT and will start the license proper in the new year.

[Jester*]

Of course, crank out that theory as soon as you can. I downloaded an app and just did mock tests until I was blue in the face.

(This assumes you haven't done the theory yet )

[Dom-PZ]

Nope, no theory yet. Good shout to get it out of the way actually!

[Jester*]

If you want to go straight to DAS, then you need to have done the theory. So definitely bash it out!

[Jester*]

MCS

So the Mini has been returned and I'll try and note down exactly what has been done, the scope got crept to a good extent!

Engine Out - Clutch replaced with a Valeo solid flywheel clutch conversion kit. Including rear main seal & driveshaft seals.
Subframe off - Inner and outer ball joints, track rods replaced. Power steering lines from reservoir to rack replaced, power steering pump removed and cleaned.
Expansion tank replaced.
Oil cooler seals, camshaft & crankshaft seals replaced, dipstick o-ring replaced.
All coolant lines replaced with Stoney Motorsport hose kit in orange.
Steering rack bush and ARB bushes replaced.

Both my hubs were pretty goosed. One pinch bolt sheared and the other was so badly crossthreaded that they had to be replaced and the ABS sensors couldn't be saved so they also had to be replaced along with one wheel bearing which fell apart on the way out.

Replaced the plastic radiator cover with a used one that wasn't damaged. So I now have intact fog light brackets.

I think that was it, there is probably some more I have forgotten. I did want to replace the cam and crank position sensors while the engine was out but they weren't delivered in time so that will be a next year job.

I think the bill came close to £2k for everything.



I wiped down the expansion tank after this was taken! But you can just about see some orange hoses around the bay!.

So was the work worth it, I think so yes. No buyers remorse here. She drives really well, I need to recalibrate to the new clutch as the old DMF had a bite point so high I was almost eating my knee by the time she engaged. This solid flywheel valeo kit has a bite point so low that I really need to pay attention to the revs. But it feels like a much better clutch to use and I've managed to give her some spirited driving inbetween the terrible weather we've been having and the Mini feels incredible at the moment.



Insert moody shot parked at the train station as I went to the F1 Exhbition at the Excel Centre!

I have a pair of cabrio braces for the engine bay to fit and a V brace on the way from SW Motorsport to further my GP lite aesthetic. Then we'll be thinking about some seats.

Genuinely very fond of this car.

Other

My motorbike MOD1 course and test is next week. Had a 2 hour lesson during Storm Darragh, only on the tarmac pad at the training centre and no road riding! But I managed to complete all the MOD1 maneuvers during driving rain and wind. In theory the actual test, as long as it isn't in the middle of a storm should be much more straight forward!

[Jester*]

Interesting stuff with the Mini, which goes to show that sometimes the heart dictates what the head might have found difficult to justify.

My motorbike MOD1 course and test is next week. Had a 2 hour lesson during Storm Darragh, only on the tarmac pad at the training centre and no road riding! But I managed to complete all the MOD1 maneuvers during driving rain and wind. In theory the actual test, as long as it isn't in the middle of a storm should be much more straight forward!

This is a world away from my time.

We just applied for a Provisional License, jumped on any bike under 250cc (or unlimited if bolted to a sidecar), stuck on some L-plates and rode off.

No restriction to how long you could do this, but if you wanted to ride a solo above 250cc, or with an unlicensed pillion, or on the motorway, then you took a test, where the tester sent you around the block, a few left turns, a few right, then an emergency stop, so you could remove the L-plates and that's it!

Strangely there's no evidence that the more involved route to obtaining a bike license has reduced casualties, as all the data available can be related directly to the reduction in bike's annual mileages, with much fewer bike commuters since the 1970's.

In some ways it was safer to ride through traffic back in the day, when there were so many more bikes around, as car drivers were less surprised when they encountered one.

It's guaranteed that many more people have been put off riding bikes because the process is so onerous, though I still argue that bikers, or even ex-bikes, make much better car drivers, as you're much more "aware".

[Jester*]

Oh I have heard that the test has got a lot harder over the years!

I fully agree that learning to ride is making me a better driver, but it is a longer process, and quite stressful! So much fun though

Merry christmas everyone, I hope you all have a great time and thanks for reading my ramblings on the fleet.

Small update today!

MCS

My SWM rear V brace has arrived! Obviously in orange to match the emerging theme



This bolts into the existing mounting points for the rear bench, and its meant to be modification free but there is some little bits to do in order to make it fit properly!



You have to cut out some of the plastic in order to let the brace fit in properly. If I wanted to go back to stock the original bracket still fits and the cutting is then covered by the rear bench, So no real biggy. So eventually it looks like this with the brace in place.



Now I didn't make all the marks on the plastic being heavy handed. Most of them look like this inside the Mini! With a small aside of the other issue was the OEM bolts that fix the rear seat bracket have integrated washers which are too big to fit the bracket. So I liberated some bolts and washers from work and problem overcome. Which leaves the finished outcome as this.





I really like the look, and when I can tie in the rest of the interior it will look much better. The next step is to find out if BMW still sell the R56 GP2 rear bench storage foam. As I want to remove the rear bench and have that instead for the more OEM GP style. Then replace the seats, now I have the seats picked out I am just waiting to see if there are any Boxing Day sales coming that will save some £££ before ordering.

Other little changes coming, my girlfriend bought me an alcantara gear gaitor in orange stitch for Christmas and I'll get the matching handbrake gaitor along with a weighted gear knob probably from Driftworkz.

Other

I passed my MOD1 bike test last week, having great fun on the bike and enjoying the process. Getting more and more confident as we go and wanting to get my MOD2 booked for Feb time so I can hopefully start bike shopping in the months leading up to Spring!

[Jester*]

MCS

Small flurry of Mini activity. I was looking around the depths of the interweb for the R56 GP rear bench foam, the cheapest I could find was £120 before shipping. So I took my earlier advice and chanced my arm at calling BMW.

"Yes sir, there is one available in the UK at the moment at £101"
"I'll take it." Says I.

Fully expecting the fact that there was only one in stock in the country to mean there was a counting error somewhere and there were in fact non available. But to my surprise I got a text the next morning to say it was ready to collect. Upon collection my chance inquiry was rewarded.



If anyone needs or wants to have a look for themselves here is a photo of the part number. But here it is incase the photo link breaks 71107330570.



Now all I need to do is some trimming of the foam so it sits in place of the rear bench.But that can wait until the weather warms up as its a tad nippy at the moment :biglaugh:

Today however my weighted gear knob from Billetworkz arrived from the US. So I knew I could whip the surround out of the car and replace the gear gaitor in the warm and then fit the knob. Everyone loves a good unboxing and fitting so here are some photos.







Lovely boxing and quality from the off. I do like those kinds of little touches, for anyone that doesn't know the Mini OEM gearknob is a pull/push fit affair and not threaded. So you grub screw the adaptor in place and then wind the new knob in. Now my eye caught the fact the shift pattern is off centre, but angled towards the driver, so I do hope it is intentional and meant to be like that!



New gaitor on, a tad fiddly but nothing too crazy!

I also decided to compare the weights of the OEM vs the Billetworkz knob and see the below. About a 450g difference.





Here is the height difference, I always felt the position felt a bit low with stock seats, hopefully it will be assited by changing the seats as well later on.



Now I loosely positioned the adaptor with the knob on then made fine adjustments, only took a quick minute.



Now the final result. I like it, a nice change and fits in with the theme I have got going on!



Quickly watched a Youtube video on how to do the handbrake and did that double quick.



Also happy with how this one turned out! Here is the both of them as side by side as I could take it!



Now doing these 2 makes me want to do the steering wheel (slippery slopes and all that) so I have been eyeing up a retrim by Royal, but I'd like it to coincide with replacing the seats, so I only have to disconnect the battery just the once :biglaugh:.

Other

I have my MOD2 motorbike test lined up for the end of January, so I am hoping that goes swimmingly and I can also start bike shopping before Spring!