Trevor became a John Cooper Works MINI Cooper (No. 475) on October 28, 2005 with the installation of a John Cooper Works Tuning Kit.
I purchased the JCW Tuning Kit from MyMini and made an appointment with Downtown MINI for installation at 8:00am.
8:33am – Trevor’s front bumper is removed and the disassembly begins:
9:14am – Pancho takes apart the airbox:
9:21am – The original cylinder head is ready to be removed:
9:58am – The original cylinder head is gone:
10:00am – The JCW machined cylinder head is ready to be installed:
10:03am – The new JCW cylinder head is put into place:
10:28am – Pancho reassembles the timing chain:
10:50am – Engine assembly is nearly finished. The JCW engine badge (no. 475) has already been attached:
11:17am – Another view of the nearly-complete engine assembly:
11:27am – Trevor on the lift just before work begins to replace the stock exhaust with the JCW Sport Exhaust:
11:29am – The original “beer can” exhaust tip (which I prefer and I hated to see replaced):
11:30am – Pancho starts to remove the stock exhaust:
11:38am – The stock exhaust system is completely removed and ready for the new system:
The stock exhaust system (I kept the tip):
11:38am – The new JCW exhaust system is put into place:
11:41am – Pancho bolts the exhaust to the header:
11:44am – Trevor has a new exhaust and chrome tip:
11:46am – Time to finish assembling the front bumper:
12:11pm – Trevor’s ECU gets reprogrammed with the JCW tuned ECU file:
12:14pm – Success! ECU programming is complete:
12:24pm – Pancho returns from a successful test-drive:
12:35pm – Trevor gets a bath:
12:54pm – John Cooper Works rear and side badges are added to complete the installation:
Downtown MINI finished the five-hour installation with a few minutes to spare. Shortly after 1:00pm I motored home to begin the 1,250-mile break-in period.
Final photos taken at home:
