Niall's R53 (Project) and R56

[Coopman]

2004 R53

-Aero Kit
-Kenwood DVD Stereo and Speaker upgrade
-Black Half leather interior

Some of the jobs i have already completed are:

-Black with silver trim stripes on bonnet
-Aero style grill upgrade
-Replacement of aero rear decals with black carbon style decals.
-Custom made driving light covers with cooper racing logos.
-Refurbishment of interior including new parts and professional respray various plastic componants.

Here is a picture of the car on the day i bought it.



A picture of the car in its current state.

[img]http://oi46.tinypic.com/k19o[img]

[mini87]

Lovely S Niall. I agree that the front grill upgrade really changes the look of the car, its something I will be doing myself in the future.

[Coopman]

Anybody selling r95 wheels let me know.

[Coopman]

My R53 project car and R56 everyday runaround. The R56 is midnight black with beige full leather interior. Its a completely kitted out car with lots of add ons so its staying the way it is.

[MiniMpi]

Your R56 looks great
Personally I'd remove the white bonnet stripes as it has a black roof but that's just me.
The Tuscan beige interior is gorgeous alright.

[Coopman]

Yeah I know what you mean, theres kind of a white stripes, white roof rule but they are fine for the moment. The garage put them on there prior to purchase. In the future i might put a jcw body kit on the car and put some black stripes with red trim on the car but i'm going to leave the white stripes put for the moment.

[Coopman]

New wheels arrived today for the Grey yolk. They are 17" R113 reps. It took me a few weeks to find a set with good reviews behind them that ticked all the right boxes, as i am aware the original is only available in 18" for the MK2 mini. Everything measures/weighs up anyway so i'm off to the tyre shop to get some decent rubber on these. Really hope i made the right choice opting for 17's for the smaller MK1.

[MiniMpi]

Look great Niall
Just remember to give them a good few coats of alloy wheel sealant as the outer diamond cut edges of those wheels need protecting from the salt and crap on our roads especially at winter time.

[Coopman]

You dont have to worry, i wont be driving this car on the roads anymore out of fear of curbing my new alloys haha. But on a serious note thats some great advice. I will do that actually.

[Derfinn]

What a lovely pair of MINIs you have.
And those new wheels are going to look gorgeous on the R53.

But then they also look great on the R56....

[Coopman]

Thanks mate. Hopefully i'll put a jcw body kit and some 18's onto the R56 eventually.

[Coopman]

New wheels and tyres on today. Have to say i was a little bit worried they would look too small due to the fact that i'm used to seeing this wheel in an 18 on the R56 but they look great and the car feels even better on the road.

On the downside my tracking is seized so i'm going to have to get that looked at. Any idea if thats a costly job anyone if new parts are required? The guys in the tyre centre said it may just need a mechanics hand so i'm hoping i can get it sorted parts free.

Back to the car anyway. Next job is to get some black surrounds around the front fog lamps. Think i may have found some on eBay to fit the aero bumper. While i'm on the topic of aero kits if anyone knows of a honecomb style plastic grill to replace the decals on the back aero bumper please direct me.

The chrome mirrors need to go too because i hate the things. Hard to find black ones to fit a mk1 but there are a few sets out there.

[Coopman]

I was thinking about adding a button ignition into the lighter of the R53 for a while as it is such a novelty on the R56, but had a brainwave yesterday and decided to go with this idea instead. Very simple really.



Also the car after a good detail over the weekend.