mini love - part 49

I had taken a month long trip to Asia in mid March. I planned all along to partake in HPDE days upon my return, and wanting to drive in the last two days of April. The problem is there is a long list of things to take care of in the street car named Desire before any track days can be entertained.


I had been plagued by a number of worries last season. One is the supercharger has been making high pitch noise and despite that I removed it and serviced it twice. I believe the inside bearing for the twin scrolls must be worn due to oil starvation. The other issue is more concerning. Upon braking at the end of a long straight there is this tremor. I suspect it is cause by a CV joint or wheeling bearing.

Of course there is the perpetual need for brake pads, rotors, and tires. Driving on track is expensive. Something I vaguely knew but not realize how fast you use up the consumables.

Rather than taking a chance to have the supercharger rebuilt I purchased a brand new one for just slightly more than the cost of rebuilding.

the Quickjack makes serving my car so much easier and safer

Mini has been riding quite low but thankfully the plastic skirt is pretty tough

a Maserati cruising by

changing the supercharger is quite involving

it pays to be meticulous with care

this is a new JCW (John Cooper Works) supercharger that comes with a 12% reduction pulley which needed to be removed

the old supercharger is out and the output horn removed

thankfully Cravenspeed is local and they loaned me a pulley puller to remove the JCW 12% pulley

it is a photographic illusion that the new supercharger is larger

I planned ahead and have the needed gaskets and o-ring on hand for this job

this o-ring for the water pump always got compressed and deformed a little so best have a new one on hand every time

the new o-ring is on

this are the (new and old) gaskets for the supercharger inlet pipe

I compared them closely to note any geometric dimensional differences

as the new gasket is less supple than the old I played it safe and reused the old gasket

I have taken the front end apart countless time but it still take me a lot of time to put it all back together. It is better to be careful and take my time as mistake is costly. So far my work have been perfect each time without triggering any fault code.

as I recovered most of the coolant I only need to replenish a little new coolant due to the inevitable loss from spill

Next I de-winterized Brunnhilde. The anode rod for the water heater (top) is just about corrode through so I installed the one that I recovered from the old manual ignition heater.

I also re-installed the manual winch onto the trailer which I put away for the winter

I gave Brunnhilde a good wash to begin the new season

my neighbor acquired this 981 Cayman