JCW Suspension

Ever since I got the Mini, I wanted to do an OEM+ upgrade by doing a JCW conversion since they don’t make a 4-door JCW. I already completed most of that conversion shortly after buying the car and even sourced the JCW suspension new but just didn’t get the opportunity to install it to complete the transformation. After a few years of procrastination I decided it was time so I dropped it off with SJF so he could complete the install.

JCW suspension

The JCW coilovers are height adjustable but have a fixed valving and are made by KW. Since the car has almost 85k miles, I figured I’d also get brand new hardware, top hats, etc for the install to just freshen things up since putting those old components with new suspension seemed like the wrong thing to do. 

New front shocks and springs

New rear shocks

New top hats and associated hardware

The overall installation went pretty smoothly and I had the ride height set to just a little under factory height since it’s winter and the suspension settled maybe around 0.25-0.5” after sittting around before alignment. 

Front suspension installed

Rear suspension installed

New ride height

The car feels really amazing to drive. The ride is a bit more firm but very well controlled just as you’d expect from a KW tuned suspension setup. I’m definitely very happy with the upgrade and I’m glad that the JCW conversion is finally complete.

While the car was there I also had SJF flush the brake fluid since that was due.

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 84,996

- New JCW suspension (made by KW) all around

- All new suspension bolts, top hats, etc for the suspension

- Motul RBF600 brake fluid

New Seat Foam for the 944

The interior on the 944 is actually really clean and original. The only thing after 35 years is that the driver side seat bolster flattened over the years so I wanted to actually fix this to make things 100%. Unfortunately finding brand new OEM seat foam is difficult, if not near impossible, so I bought some new seat bottom foam from Design911 in the UK.

Seat out of car with new foam next to it

New foam

The only problem with the new foam is that it’s a bit generic for the standard seat so it’s not a direct replacement. It doesn’t have the appropriate cut outs for the power seat controls nor and doesn’t match all the contours needed to slot in to the seat frame.

Removing the seat cover and cushion from frame

New seat foam vs very old one

I spent several hours cutting and trimming the new foam to match the old foam then recovered and attached everything back to the seat frame. It was frankly way more work than I thought it’d be but not only does the bolster look better, the fresh foam makes the seat feel much better and supportive.

All the foam trimmings

Seat bottom frame

Everything put back together

MCS 2-Way and AP Racing Competition Brakes

It's been 7 years now since Bumblestook was retired from true competition trim and being a bit of a do it all car. One thing that always bothered me though was the compromise I made on raw handling performance opting for just a decent suspension setup and blingy brakes.I suppose it was fine when my initial goal was to maybe drive it around a lot more on the street with a few fun events every now and then. However, looking at my actual usage in the past years it was time to take the gloves off and put in something real again.

I worked closely with Brian at Karcepts to spec out a MCS 2-way adjustable damper setup with remote canisters that would optimize track handling while still being manageable on the street. I settled with Hyperco 850 lb/in front and Hyperco 750 lb/in rear 2.25" ID x 7" springs, Karcepts top hats and matching MCS 2-way remote dampers. It was also matched with 0 rate helper springs and Delrin couplers to avoid binding and minimize noise. 

I had SJF do the install since I needed to get holes re-added to the rear of the car to get the canister into the cabin but unlike the car's BSP trim, I wanted this install to be much cleaner. I got some RS Pro canister holders so it could get mounted up on to the rollbar for a clean install with easy adjustment.

Rear canisters mounted cleaning on the rollbar

I had a similar thing done to the front except mounted to a plate so that it could sit in the space behind the bumper and in front the radiator away from the engine heat while still being easily adjustable. The lines going to the passenger side dampers were really at the limit here due the location of the canister. There's just enough slack to make it work but I think if I have these serviced in the future I'm going to get slightly longer hoses made.

Front canisters mounted 

Cooling plate trimmed to allow knob adjustment

Clean install in the front

While we were at it, new tie rods and tie rod boots were all installed since my old ones were starting to show some signs of wear and I wanted everthing as buttoned up as we possibly could.

New tie rods and tie rod boot

Since I was already going down the slipper slope of performance upgrades, I worked with Brad on securing AP Racing Competition brakes with 325mm J-hook rotors from Sakebomb Garage. I decided to continue with using Carbotech XP10 front pads with part number CTFRP3116. This is for the D50 radial depth pads so that they have proper coverage on the 325mm rotors. My carbon brake duct shields needed significant trimming to not interfere with the new rotors. I don't even think they're really that necessary anymore but since they're already on there might as well still have the extra brake cooling.

New AP Racing calipers with Carbotech XP10 pads

Brake duct shield trimmed

Brakes fully installed

A few other things had to be done. A bit of the brake pad needed some sanding down since it was a tad too thick and contacting the rotors without the brakes applied. Also, for winter I run Enkei RPF1 17x8 wheels in the front to clear to the Spoon calipers but even with 5mm spacers they barely clear these calipers so I opted to put on 12mm spacers to get enough clearance. Thanksfully I already run extended studs so the added offset wasn't a problem. New brake lines were also installed and of course the whole thing flushed with Motul RBF600 fluid. Also flushed the clutch fluid and since we're doing fluids, flushed the diff fluid as well.

And of course the ride height was adjusted to what I previously had and a new alignment done.

Fresh alignment settings

Driving the car home, I was absolutely pleased by how the car rode even on its "race" dampers settings. It had a very "Euro" drive dynamic to it, stiff yet comfortable. Cornering felt nice and flat and the brakes felt great too. I can't wait til it warms up and I can really put the car through its paces.

Big thanks to Brian at Karcepts and Brad at S2K Takeover for the part selection and settings guidance and of course SJF Performance for bringing my ideas into reality.

Maintenace Update:

Mileage: 69,631

- 1qt 80W140 Redline diff fluid

- 1L of Motul RBF 600 brake fluid for brakes and clutch

- New front brake hoses

- AP Racing Competition front big brake kit with 325mm J-hook rotors

- Carbotech XP10 CTFRP3116 front pads

- New tie rods and tie rod boots

- MCS 2-Way Remote dampers with 850/750 springs and Karcepts top hats

End of Season Oil Change for Kay

Unfortunately, colder days means we're at the end of the season so time to change out the oil on the Cayman to make sure it doesn't just sit in contaminated old oil all winter. I let the car drain for a whole day so it seems more oil came out of it than usual so it took a full 9 quarts to get it just under full (I've got the FVD motorsports oil pan that adds about 0.7 quarts oil capacity so it's a bit more than stock). 

oil change time

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 56,021

- 9 quarts Driven DT-40

- NAPA gold filter

End of Season Oil Change for Scarlett

End of season means time to start to clear out old oil and any contaminants before the car sits for long periods.

Oil change time

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 174,303

- 11.5 quarts Driven GP-1 20W-50
- Mahle OC54 oil filter

Suspension refresh for the 944

I haven't been doing any motorsports events in the 944 because it developed a bit of a clunk when stopping at slow speed and the alignment wasn't what I wanted. I decided to get a fresh set of Konis and I'm glad I did since it turned out the old Koni front inserts started to have play in it. We reused the ground control coilovers that were already there and obviously the Racer's Edge camber plate that was also installed earlier this year. 

New front Konis installed

Rear Konis installed

I was also not happy with the uneven ride height so I had SJF reindex the torsion bars in the rear which unfortunately is easiest to do by dropping the entire rear and also had the front lowered a little bit. 

Reindexing rear torsion bars

The result was much more even ride height

LF - 25 1/2

RF - 25 1/2

LR - 25 5/8

RR - 25 1/2

The alignment was then properly done with the front camber maxed out. The rear is set 1 degree less, 0 toe and dialed in a little toe out in front to get better turn in.

We also noticed an oil leak from the plugs in the valve cover so new seals were installed. We also replaced the completely destroyed exhaust gasket. We then discovered the source of the clunk. The bracket that sits above the exhaust in the transmission tunnel wasn't fully tight. As soon as that was tightened, the clunk disappeared. 

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 98,728

- New valve cover gasket and plug set

- New exhaust donut

- New Koni yellow all around

- New bolts and hardware for struts

Oil change time for the Jeep

 Just the annual oil change for the Jeep

Oil change

Maintenance Update:

Mileage: 83,314

- New mopar oil filter

- 6qt Castrol Edge 5W-20