Squeak, Rattle, and Silence...

Ever since I removed the center console side pillars and other items to put in my Craven shift well, I've noticed an increase in rattles in the cabin. I'm okay with that since I know that a sporty suspension is not necessarily a smooth ride. MINIHERO is rougher than some because of the lowering springs currently installed.

I attempted to eliminate these rattles and I can report success in silencing them. The area I worked on is in the following photo.

I knew that there were gaps between components in the center stack as well as between the side pillars (those ride side items) and down at the console level. I wanted to find something that was pliable but firm enough that I could shove it into these gaps. Shove it might not be the best term but that is what I ended up doing...

I thought about some type of felt material but knew that would be too soft to get into those tight spaces. I happened to go into Howard Brother's Hardware store in Duluth, GA and just started to roam around to see what I could find. I ended up asking for assistance and was directed to a roll of gasket material. It looked to be a perfect fit. It was rigid enough to push into tight places but had some give which would dampen rattles.

It worked perfectly. It can easily be cut with scissors and folded into appropriate thicknesses. Some of the gaps were only wide enough for a single layer of gasket but some areas needed 3 or 4 layers. For thicker areas I just folded it up until I got what was needed. I put this material into any gap I could find.

My first test drive proved that this solved the problem and there is now an eerie silence in the front of the cabin, well, aside from that wonderful whine of the supercharger :)

So, if you are experiencing rattles then you might want to try this technique. I do expect some of this material will wiggle out over time but I'll just continue to "repair" those pieces as needed. That small roll should last me a lifetime.

Click this link for an example of the material I purchased. I'm sure you can find it at most any auto parts store.

MINI Clock

The fun factor of the MINI brand is the best. I never tire of the fun things they come up with either from their YouTube channel or on the MINI USA site. They just came out with a MINI clock that will reside on your computer's desktop. Looks like the speedometer but instead of speed it represents the face of a clock. Some cool items:

• At the stroke of each hour a small MINI comes out of a "garage" and depending upon the hour does a variety of interesting things. I won't spoil it for you. Get the clock and behold.
• Once it starts to get dark the "dash" lights up. Just wonderful attention to detail.

You can get the MINI Clock here and below is a quick shot of it on my desktop.

Tilting and Shifting

I've been intrigued by the look of a tilt shift lens and though I don't have one, it is possible to recreate it effect using Photoshop. Or at least approximate the effect. There are a number of sites that provide instructions on how to do this and I'll provide links below. In my case, as a rabid member of the AtlantaMINIS club I've been wanting to take a photo of our gatherings from afar. Last Sunday we had an event that ended up at Brasstown Bald which is the highest peak in Georgia. I decided to get a shot from the observation tower to try this effect. Unfortunately, I could have used another 100 mm reach on my lens but had to make do with the 200 mm I had at my disposal.

The steps I took are:

1. After doing my "normal thing" in Lightroom I brought the image into Photoshop - note I cropped a bit in Lightroom as required by my lack of reach with my 200 mm lens.
2. At this point I duplicated the layer - always protecting myself from frequent disaster.
3. On the duplicated layer I created a mask by clicking the create mask icon at the bottom of the layers palette:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
4.  Next click the Quick Mask icon at the bottom of the Tools palette so you can see your masking:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
5. Now you will paint in a mask which will be used to limit the areas that a lens blur will be used. I created a gradient that has white where the blur will occur and black where the blur will be blocked. The gradient I created looks like this in the gradient editor dialog:
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
6. With the quick mask turned on and the gradient selected you will drag across the image making sure the "red" mask is in alignment with the portion of your image you want to be in focus. I tried this numerous times until I got the right look. Important: Make sure the mask is selected and not the image. You'll know because there will be a little white outline around the mask in your layer. See below.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   Mask is selected
   
   
   
   
7. Click the Quick Mask button again to turn off quick mask mode. You'll now see the "marching ants" around the selected areas.
   
8. Use the Lens Blur filter and play around with the settings until you get a look you like. For the MINI image I used Radius: 39, Brightness: 6, Threshold: 237. Mix to taste.
9. If I didn't like the "blur" when I had the lens blur filter dialog up, I would escape and then redo steps 6 and 7 until I got a look I like. If you redrag a gradient in quick mask mode then the one you had created is just replaced.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
10. To complete the look put in a curves adjustment layer and increase the contrast. You can go the, um, cheap route and just use a contrast adjustment layer and bump up the contrast to around 30. You lose fine tuning if you do that rather than a curves adjustment.
11. Top it all off with a saturation adjustment and bump up the saturation. I went up to about 40 on this image. These last two steps start to give the image that "plastic" look.
12. The final result for this test image:

For more examples go to these sites:

• Tilt Shift Photoshop Tutorial 
• 50 Examples of Tilt Shift - Also shows the tilt shift technique for videos
• Keith Loutit's 'Little Sydney' - Awesome examples of tilt shift videos, mesmerizing.

The MINI Dirty Butt Problem

If you happen to own a MINI Cooper then you are certainly aware of what I call the "MINI dirty butt problem".

The aerodynamics of our favorite little car are such that it scoops everything it can find off the road and dumps it onto the back of the car. My goodness, how frustrating it is to get MINIHERO all shined up and on the way out of the neighborhood find that someone's grass clippings have been deposited onto the back of my car....

There is one particular component of the car that also acts as a shelf where road material just stacks up. That would be the rear window wiper. Many people find the rear window wiper to be of great value, I don't. That little wiper collects road trash like moths to a light. If you've ever pulled back a wiper on a MINI that is over 3 years old, you'll find that it, and the collected grit, act like sandpaper. There is probably a set of nice "scratches" on the glass underneath. That wiper also results in doom to the stickers I have on the back window. All of this leads me to the decision to remove the wiper.

Simple procedure, just remove the nut and soak the wiper connection in WD40, and soak, and soak, and soak. If the wiper has been on for any amount of time then it is almost fused and it will take a few days of soaking before you will be able to pull it off. Next step is to removed the wiper motor which requires removing the inside panel from the boot. To remove the panel, just remove the screws and forcefully pull off. There are clips that hold the panel on and you will certainly feel that you are pulling too hard - you are not.

The motor is held on with 3 bolts, just remove, unplug the wiring harness, washer supply line, and slide the motor out. Make sure to plug the washer supply line or you'll have a bit of dripping... You now have a small hole that needs to be plugged. You can order a special plug for this purpose but an article on NAMM noted that a bicycle headset cap can be used to plug the hole.

What's cool about a headset cap is how many different styles and colors exist. You are sure to find something to add that special "bling" to your MINI. You can get these at a local bicycle shop, though choices may be limited. Do a Google search and you will find many choices such as here.

I found one at a local shop that is of the carbon fiber line which looked very cool on MINIHERO as noted in the photo. So, there you go, another "mod" to MINIHERO. Though some would question the removal of the rear wiper, I find it much easier to keep the trash off the rear and I like the cleaner lines.