Wiggity Whackity
Ever taken a mallet to an exhaust before? I hadn’t until today. It’s some crazy shit, but good to know that my exhaust isn’t falling off the car.
After having Edward do some investigative work and offer me his professional opinion, it turns out the heat shield between the gear shifter and the exhaust was rattling and was also the causation of the squeaking sounds. He wiggled it and moved it a little further away from the car.
As for the rattling in the rear of the car, it turns out it really was the back seat latch. I didn’t really want to be an inconvenience since Ed was so gracious to lend me some of his time so I figure it’s something to play with for the next DIY day that MINI of Dallas hosts for MetroplexMINI members. I’m being ghetto and driving around with the backseats folded down, but as far as I’m aware the sounds have gone away. I’ll have to report back at a later time since the noise of the tsunami on the drive home was interfering with detecting any cabin noises.
The loud ticking noise was considered normal as it was the lifters/injectors/wiggitywhackness. So, I guess installing of the 15% reduced supercharger pulley is a go for when I have spare money. Let’s see, install the 15% pulley, colder sparkplugs, belt tensioner stop, and new supercharger belt -or- Canon 430EX II external flash and Manfrotto tripod with quick release head? I actually think the car would be cheaper than my photography habit right now.
Sadly enough, I haven’t picked up my camera in months. I think it’s going to be a little bit longer before I do have time to pick it up, as I’m about to start a 7-day stretch at work. Ka-ching: yes; sanity: none.
