Have the accessory belt in place, turned over the engine - looks good. Installed the intercooler. I replaced all the self-threading bolts with regular bolts. I understand the technology - vibration and all, but, as these bolts screw into aluminum brackets, the treads would eventually wear out. Some sort of Loctite, Threadlocker is a better option.
I had to re-engineer the intercooler cover front bolt supporting brackets(2). I had wondered why one of the bolts was missing when I purchased the car in 2009 - 64,500 miles. I lined everything up, sat it in place - where it should be - and no go. There is two substantial brackets, the top hole was not lining up - period. I enlarged (drilled out the unthreaded top brace hole) to let the bolt align properly. A sloppy design.
2/28/2014
February is almost finished and no - on the road again - MINI
...
Went out and purchased a battery - attached the trickle charger, cleaned out the garage working area and installed a few parts... progress.
...
update
been busy
looking to have the MINI
up and running
February 2014
