I decided to take the MINI to work this morning to see if everything was back in order after recently replacing the motor mount. The engine seemed to be running a little rough, but I just figured the new motor mount was a little more firm than the old one. I got off the highway …
Read more “Codes P1688 and P0107, WTF? Replacing Broken MINI Crank Damper”
GeorgeCo spent the past weekend at the track in both the GeorgeCo MINI powered by Beano and the GeorgeCo Porsche. Why the switch? GeorgeCo ran all day Friday in the MINI until the tires were shot. Light rain in the morning made the first session loads of fun. It dried out later in the morning …
We installed (and removed) the DAS Sport Roll hoop. Click here to see the complete installation process. Once you figure it out, installation takes less than 45 minutes, less if you have a helper. You loose the rear seats for passenger seating, but no one wants to sit back there anyway. You also get a …
Front Sway-bar Replacement: The R53 subframe design is a wonderful example of compact packaging. Unfortunately the tight confines of the front end makes replacing the front sway-bar a time-consuming activity. It is not particularly difficult, just time-consuming, especially if you don’t have access to a lift. The process outlined below will allow you to drop …
Passengers in the GeorgeCo MINI often complain that they are just but one pothole away from losing a filling. With the stiffer lowering springs and beefy swaybars fore and aft, the effective spring rate was probably in the neighborhood of 450 lbs. By way of comparison, the stock spring rate is somewhere around 200-220 lbs. …
With any luck, winter is slowly winding down here in the Mid-Atlantic. Time to catch up on progress with the GeorgeCo 911. We have been concentrating on easy, single-day projects that can be done in the semi-heated GeorgeCo garage. Today we update the pedals. Sport Pedals serve two functions. From an aesthetic perspective, they just …
Continuing our theme of making up for delayed maintenance tasks, today we tackle cleaning the throttle body. A dirty throttle body may affect throttle response and decrease gas mileage. For all 996s built after the 2000 model year with “e-gas” (throttle by wire) this task should take 30 minutes or less. For earlier cars with …
One of the things that has always bothered me about my car was the condition of the brake calipers. A previous owner (or possibly the dealer) at some point tried to respray them, but didn’t do a very good job. Three of the four blistered and pealed. The forth one was just faded. I finally …
If you find yourself deciding that what you really need in life is to buy yourself a Porsche 911 (and if you’re reading this, it will probably happen to you someday) you have to decide at what point do you want to jump in since production began in 1964. Are you looking for a daily …
Driving home yesterday when it was 110 degrees, the guy ahead of me swerved at the last second and served up a chunk of cast iron pipe for me to drive into. It was a broken piece with an end-cap, perhaps eight size inches in diameter and six inches tall. My car is only 4.5 …