Blacked-Out Project

I wasn't a big fan of chrome parts especially for the exterior. Got the idea from one of the American forum motoring/underground after I saw this picture.



Tried painting it myself at firstand with a disappointing results. So I had no choice but to send it to the paint shop to do it for me.

Before: Chrome headlight ring


After: Blacked out head light ring & spotlight surrounds


After: blacked-out door handle & gas cap


Close up

The only parts left to be blacked out are the belt line and side gill. I am also contemplating to paint the roof and wheel black as well.

Damaged:
1. Paint Job - RM180 (CYT Paint)

Maiden Dyno

Finally I got the chance to dyno my MCS. When I first arrived at JC Racing. I was feeling kind of nervous. Quite frankly, I am not sure what sort horepower figures I will be getting. Although, I was expecting somewhere around 120 to 130 whp. But hey, you never know until you get the car on the dyno.

The results as follow :

Max Power : 156.12 whp
Max Torque : 18.07 kg-M

Mods : K&N Open Pod Air Filter , Custom straighflow exhaust(2.5" pipping).

I am quite happy considering the MCS horsepower on paper is 163 hp. It seems quite a bit of gain from my current mods. My only regret is tht I did not dyno when it was stock. Will be posting the dyno chart soon..

Mini Cooper Turbo (R53)

I came across this video clip in YouTube.. I must say, after watching this clip I was tempted to throw away my supercharge and replacing it with the snail instead.

Watch this video and you know what I mean..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbJ9Dh9ULUY

Goodbye 2008.. Welcome 2009

Firstly, i would like to apologize for my long absence. Since i thought of selling of my mini for a Type R, all mods project just came to a halt. I tell you, looking for a serious buyer in Malaysia is quite difficult. Most people wanted good stuff at cheap price. Well, I got news for them. Good things doen't come cheap.

So I have decided to keep my car and continue with my project. It's going to be a very slow process. But hey, slowly but surely i'll get there. Anyway, here are some of the things I've planned out for year 2009. If ll goes as planned I should have all these stuff installed by year end.

1. EBC red stuff brake pads
2. Goodridge brake hoses
3. M7 front strut bar
4. M7 rear strut bar
5. M7 supercharger pulley
6. Alta Radiator hose
7. Mini Pedal set
8. JCW gearknob
9. JCW floor mat
10. Hotbits header
11. N1 ECU reflash

Actually,the list goes on and on. But for new, I better concentrate on these list first. My long term goal is to get 185-190 whp. Will keep you posted once I started my mods.

GME Custom Exhaust & Rear Diffuser

This is one of those upgrades that I have been wanting to do for quite a while now. After first I thought of getting Fox exhaust which cost RM 3900. It is kind of expensive and I don't want to spent it on such an expensive exhaust unless it is titanium then it's okay. So I decided to go back to GME to custom an exhaust for me.

Since Ayee never done any exhaust for Mini before this. We decided to follow Skunk 2 design. It is fully stainless steel with 2.5" pipping and 2 mufflers. Some minor modification had to be done to the rear diffuser. We have to cut it shorter to make way for the bigger pipping. I've added some fins to the diffuser as well. Hopefully this will stabilised the air flow at the rear.

GME custom exhaust system

Follows the same route as the original piping

Single outlet as opposed to original double outlet

Rear Diffuser

Another view of the diffuser

After installation

For those who does not like loud exhaust then this set-up is not for you. I love the sound even though it is loud as hell. Performance wise, since exhaust system is less restrictive the car becomes more responsive and it revs up to 6000 rpm easily.

Damaged:

1. 2.5" stainless steel pipping with 2 mufflers - RM 1500 (GME)

2. Rear diffuser - RM 100 (GME)

GME Custom Heatshield

As I mentioned in my earlier posting. The heat shield that I purchased from Fast Lane was not up to my expectations. It's flimsy and it doesn't look nice. So I decided to go back to my pal Ayee of GME. He had made several custom parts for my TME last time. Basically, it will a copy of both Alta and Piper Cross heat shield, made from mild steel and painted black. The inlet and outlet piping will also be welded to the heat shield, so that the air filter doesn't bounce up and down.

The height was also lowered by 1cm. This is to ensure that we have sufficient clearance for the bonnet heat insulator. As usual Ayee's workmanship is second to none. The results can be seen in the pictures below.

Comparison between the old and new heat shield


Front View


Side view


Inner part view

Old heat shield

New Heatshield

The end result

From the comparison pictures you can see that the new heat shield is much more neater and looks way cooler. As you know black does absorb heat. So my next project would be to stick a refletive material around the heat shield. I am thinking of using this brand called Thermo-Tec which specialised in automotive heat control product.

I have also discuss with GME to custom a stainless steel air ram for me. If all goes well that should be ready by next week.

Damaged:

1. Heatshield plus paint - RM100 (GME)

New Bonnet Stripe

I've been getting quite a number of comments ever since I got the bonnet stripe. Majority of them said that I should have added the pin stripe since it looks kind of thin. Well, I did noticed that most of the mini does have pin stripes and mine looks kind of weird compare to theirs.

Since i got the bonnet stripe done at BESTFEEL, so I guess it's best to go back to them. For those who doesn't know. BESTFEEL is located in Sunway. Right next to Racing Fit adjacent to the car dealer.


Before pin stripe


After pin stripe


Side angle with pin stripe

Sometimes it's good to get feedback from others. In this case they were right, adding the pin stripe does makes a lot of difference. Now the bonnet stripe looks more thicker and it doesn't look weird anymore.

Damaged:

1. Pin Stripe - RM60 (BEST FEEL Sunway)