Hampton Roads Club Mini

truly amazing

A few hours of research, plus contacting BBS USA, has paid off! I was able to order the exact color of the paint on my BBS RK rims on my 2006 MCS. Automotive TouchUp will custom-make ANY paint code you need. In bottles and paint pens.  The color I needed specifically was Sport Silver, also known as Sportsilber Metallic.  It's a VW color from 1992.  

Cool video.  

Based on the building architecture in the background, the very first MINI appears to be in Germany (with another blue one to its left).  That would be confirmed by a "D" in the blue field on the left side of the license plate, but I cannot tell for sure.  the "DA" indicates Darmstadt, which is right around the corner from where Tina lives.  There are alot of MINIs in the area, to include Langenselbold and Hanau.  Ironically, I don't recall seeing that specific one.

Monster Squad   

I had a good time.  Was great seeing everyone there.  Happy Holidays.   

Definitely count me in.   

While I know you were hard set on a one day turn-around, in this day and age, it's hard to expect that if you are getting more than just an oil change or other minor work.  The belt tensioner required some time on the lift.  If it's similiar to changing the pulley itself, this means all of the engine mounts would need to be loosened so the engine itself could be lifted up to get access to the tensioner.

Atlantic Autowerks is a custom shop, which to me means work is a little slower, but with more TLC into getting the job done right.  A day's work can also mean a day's time in shop hours, not a normal 24-hour day.  I would say $850 is a good price considering all parts and labor.  As for the axle boot, yes, it's better to buy the whole axle assembly than repair parts of it.  The CV joints in my old '02 MCS wore out, and I replaced both axles at 105K miles.  Depending on your mileage, it might be better just to do that than do a band-aid repair and just replace the axle boot.

The ribs are lipsmakin' good.   

Kurt, I went back and reviewed my Verizon insurance coverage, which is through Asurion.  Regular phones are $45 deductible, non-iPhone smart phones are $99 deductible, and iPhones are $169 deductible??!!     Lots of changes since I checked this policy last.  Yeah, I would say Applecare is the way to go for that reason.   

If anyone is interested, our train club is having an Open House this weekend.  Yours truly will be running several trains and/or dispatching.  Go to http://www.trainweb.org/cbw/ for more information.

Welcome to the club.  Emporia's a good train-spotting town, too.   

That's good to hear.  Wouldn't hurt to run an STP fuel injector cleaner bottle through the system every 3,000 miles or so.   

As some have asked before, the Angel Eyes running lights on my '06 MCS were discontinued last year by MOSS.  It appears Ultra still makes them (part number BM10L96), but you have to order from this location at Edge Performance in the UK.  Cost is 81 pounds.  Speed Culture has them a bit cheaper at 70.88 Sterling.

Ultra still has the directions, as well as MOSS having a copy of them.

Here's a copy of Ultra's 1st-gen Catalog if you have interest in other parts from them.

Great photos!   

Make sure you check and see if there is a recall on the timing chain tensioner.  Might cost you nothing.