Hampton Roads Club Mini

Not sure if this is the correct place to put this, but I figured since I'm in Norfolk it should probably go here.

I just wanted to take a minute and throw out there that if anyone local needs any assistance doing any type of maintenance or preventative maintenance or parts replacement on their 1st Gen MCS, I would be more than willing to assist.

When I first got my car (06' MCS) and decided to do a pulley and belt replacement, Scottriqui was nice enough to lend his expertise and help me. This is one of the first times someone from an automotive community has been that nice and that helpful and I realized that the Mini community seemed to be a much nicer community. I've never had a problem helping people when they needed it, but I'm not used to having anyone willing to help me.

That being said, since I purchased my car, I have read through multiple articles on NAM and replaced just about everything that is known to fail, prone to fail, or is a 60k is range problem. This includes:

Crank Pulley
Belt tensioner
Belts
Passangers Side upper Motor mount
Lower Rear motor mount
Transmission Fluid
Oil
Cabin Filter
Air Filter
Thermostat
Power Steering hoses
Plugs/Coil/Wires
Struts/Springs
Rear Camber Arms
Brake Pads and Rotors
Coolant Flush
Auto Up Circuit
Etc.

I am also getting ready to do my Lower Control Arm bushings as well. I've also taken a bunch of stuff apart along the way. So if anyone needs any assistance with anything or ever needs a second set of hands to assist with something, let me know and as long as I am available I would be happy to help! I have a bunch of tools in my garage as well as some tools for specific jobs that I have bought along the way.

Thanks again to the community so far for everything! hopefully planning on being at some of the local meets soon!

-Jimmy

Yea I have a tensioner stop on mine from Alta, I actually bought their little pulley kit, ended up with a different belt then they supplied after reading NAM and talking to Way. My tensioner shock was actually bad, it was leaking and had no pressure, that's why I changed tensioners. I did my crank pulley with an ATI one thinking that was going bad too because I heard symptoms, but after I got it off, it appeared fine, but I'd rather get it off and changed before it fails anyways. I'm just gonna keep the stock one so that if I ever trade the car in, I can take the ATI off and resell it :).

I actually have the poly bushings for the tensioner rod, but I TOTALLY forgot to install them. I was so involved in what I was doing, I forgot to put them in. Because I have a brand new tensioner on there, I'm not worried about the bushings failing right now, nor for awhile, so I am either going to hold onto the powerflex ones from Way or throw them up for sale and worry about it next time I have to change the tensioner.

I've read multiple articles on doing the LCA bushings lol, just waiting for my Koni Sports to come in and I'm going to do it all at once so I only have to get one alignment afterwards.

I have a very good grasp on how to repair all of the major known problems now and have bought most of the tools necessary. Scott let me borrow his belt tensioner tool so I didn't have to buy one, but I have all kinds of other things to do all the repairs. I can do most of the jobs now without any walkthroughs or guidance, which is good because I feel extremely comfortable working on this car now. I still don't know it as well as MR2's, but that is soon enough 

For non mini specific type work, great bridge muffler and brake on Cedar Rd in Chesapeake is a very honest small shop.  Stuff like inspections, oil changes, alignments, etc.  If you feel you have a more in depth issue, Atlantic on VA beach Blvd has great reviews from many of our members