Josh Wardell’s MINI Cooper S

It’s amazing to think this was my 6th MINIsOnTop, our annual gathering in New Hampshire and ascent up Mt. Washington. As usual the weather was iffy with rain showers and thunderstorms moving in and out of the area, but luck was very much in our favor. Not only did we see plenty of sun, the sky was filled with incredible clouds all day and as a special bonus we were treated with two rainbows while we were at Mt. Washington!

We changed our base of operation to the now independent Attitash ski area, which was closer to the other events and afforded many more curvy trips along Bear Notch Road. Many local dealerships along with MINIUSA sponsored all but one meal from Friday night through Saturday night, ensuring more social gathering time than ever. I again rain the Concours, with even more participants than last year. Sadly this was the first year that my MINI did not participate, we instead gave Sam’s Cooper a chance to ascend the auto road.

I have many many more photos to process, edit, and post so check back for an update when they are online.

We had some record-breaking temperatures this past week as pictured here, in fact the OBC continued up to 97 degrees while driving on the highway! With the weekend in the 80s I was able to do some of my usual spring cleaning much earlier than usual.

Actually things started a full week ago when I got yet another windshield installed. In less than a year mine had developed two cracks in addition to hundreds of pits, thanks to pothole stones and sand from the extra nasty winter. For the last several months the windshield seal also leaked water into the passenger footwell every time it rained…extremely annoying! As always it was refreshing to get a new windshield and a nice clear view again.

Temperatures only just started to finally stay above 40 degrees two weeks ago, so on Saturday it was time to change from snow tires back to summers–but it was a bit unusual to do it on an 85 degree day! I decided to take full advantage and start my spring cleaning process. Wash, claybar, wash, machine polish, wash, and wax. Exhausting to do both projects in one day but it’s much nicer to be driving in a clean car again!

There’s still more to do when I get another nice weekend day such as the interior and much of the service I previously posted about. But it was a treat to get a small preview of summer in April!

Speaking of summer, MINIsOnTop 2009 will be in June, and registration is over this weekend. Send them in now!

With my MINI due for Service II very soon and approaching 85,000mi, it’s time for me to do a lot of preventative maintenance. Service II doesn’t ask for much more than Service I, most of which I can perform myself. But more importantly there are some other things that would be smart to do as I near 100,000mi as well as 5 years. So I’ve ordered up all the parts I’ll need and hope to get things done myself or by a good MINI mechanic over the next month or so.

– Oil change – actually did this last weekend as it was the most overdue. A 6-pack of filters from Atlantic British definitely cuts costs.

– Cabin air filter with activated carbon – should be a pretty easy task.

– New spark plugs and boots/wires – NGK BKR 7 EQUP plugs as Motoringfile specifies for JCWs here.

– New accessory belt – Specially ordered the JCW size. This will be one of the harder jobs I will attempt myself, so I got a tensioner tool used off NAM, and a Detroit Tuned Tensioner Stop “just in case” to install while I’m in there.

– New brakes, rotors, and steel lines – I will definitely need help with this one. I’ve had steel lines that I got for a steal sitting in a drawer for years, as well as a replacement set of Mintex Red Box pads that I am still very happy with. My rotors may not be bad yet, but I might as well put new ones on, they are pretty inexpensive from Atlantic British. A can of Super Blue for the bleed, as well as replacement rotor bolts, again just in case. I will also add DT brake caliper bushings to the fronts, hopefully all combined will help tighten up my mushy brake pedal that just bleeds have not fixed.

– Craven Speed strut tower plates – Not convinced yet on the whole strut tower mushrooming issue, but I’ve hit some nasty potholes this winter and drive daily over some of the worst roads in Mass (if not the country). $120 is worth some future piece of mind.

Sadly still no performance mods etc. Frankly I’m still completely happy with my MINI the way it is, and just want to continue driving it every day of the year for years to come.

After nearly five years, I completely own my MINI. I finished paying the loan last month and the title just arrived to prove it. I always paid a little extra each month so the loan was paid off a few months before its five year birthday this May. I would have taken a three year loan when I bought the car, but decided on a five year just in case I bought a house, which I did a few years later. Of course I have no intentions to sell my MINI and still love driving it every day of the year.