What did you do to your Mini today?

[twakefield]

1 hour ago, STXMINI said:

In an effort to be kind to the Littles, STXMINI got some new accessories today. The Big Dog put some OEM mud flaps on for me today (Front & rear). We're hoping this helps with the rock spray issue we're told happens when you follow us during runs.

 

Hard being the tallest girl in the class...

 

Looks good!!  Happy to follow you guys anytime   

 

Side note, do we need to have the jack stand discussion???   Never trust a jack  

 

Both cars had baths and are tucked away for the night  

 

Edited March 6, 2022 by twakefield

[1975_mini]

7 minutes ago, twakefield said:

Side note, do we need to have the jack stand discussion???   Never trust a jack  

 

I was giving it a pass because the wheel is still on, so it would only be a broken nose and a new pair of pants. 

[STXMINI]

Not sure what he’s doing wrong with the jack? He’s got it in the designated spot on the car. (Learned today that MINI marks them on the side skirt) and because it was lifted only to move the tire out of the way for install it was where it should be. 
Big Dog has worked on cars his whole life, he’s good, but thanks.

[twakefield]

Just now, STXMINI said:

Not sure what he’s doing wrong with the jack? He’s got it in the designated spot on the car. (Learned today that MINI marks them on the side skirt) and because it was lifted only to move the tire out of the way for install it was where it should be. 
Big Dog has worked on cars his whole life, he’s good, but thanks.

 

The rule is never trust a hydraulic or scissor jack with your life, always use a fixed jack-stand if you're going to be under the car.

 

It might just be the photo angle, it's hard to tell how everything lines up.  Assuming his head isn't actually under any part of the car, this is probably fine.

[DavidJCW]

I installed the JCW pro exhaust on Sluggo today!

[Bean]

The sport stripe on my Mini has seen better days. It has what looks like dark tree sap in several noticeable places. I gave it a good wash today and it had no effect on the appearance. Still splotchy. I am looking to invest in new stripes. (It also bothers me that I have gray stripes on the hood and black stripes on the roof. eh.)

Trying to decide between the full-length sport stripe again or bonnet stripes. Not sure regular bonnet stripes would look good with all the roof and rear-end real estate my car has (F55). I'd also like to keep the subdued blackjack theme going on. Any recommendations for design ideas and places to get stripes is greatly appreciated. Husband used to own a vehicle wrap business in NC, so we could design it ourselves if someone has a creative idea, but we no longer have the vinyl or large format printer, of course. (You can't see it in this photo.)

[STXMINI]

13 hours ago, twakefield said:

 

The rule is never trust a hydraulic or scissor jack with your life, always use a fixed jack-stand if you're going to be under the car.

 

It might just be the photo angle, it's hard to tell how everything lines up.  Assuming his head isn't actually under any part of the car, this is probably fine.

 

It was def the angle of the photo, he's just putting the clips on the flaps, which you probably can see hug the outside of the tire well, he was not "under the car."

I think my feathers are ruffled because it implies he's being stupid, when he's not, He knows his way around cars, and wouldn't risk getting under a jack by itself, we have all of the proper tools to lift a car, but it wasn't needed in this circumstance. We just needed the tire to rotate out a little more to reach the bottom clip, which he did from a safe place.

[1975_mini]

Today was a few interior projects, first was tucking all the wires for the Midland radio. Not a lot of work just planning the best routing behind panels I could easily remove and remembering where the hidden screws and clips are. Many of the panels overlap so you may have to remove 4 to remove the one you want. no boot full of wires anymore. 

 

Second project was the door cards and dash accents. The door cards were the piano black, and I had dash accents that I had wrapped with the street map of London (one of may first vinyl projects) and I was ready to change it up. here was the before:

 

 

I found a set of the faux carbon fiber dash insert and door cards on one of my junkyard scavanger hunts. I figure they are worth a try with the carbon fiber accents already on the car. I can pretty much pull an interior blind folded at this point or parked in front of a cabin in the woods with some help from @SneakyBaron (everyone should really go to the dragon at least once). Well after 30 minutes this is the result. I am pretty happy with it.

 

[1975_mini]

On 3/6/2022 at 9:38 PM, Bean said:

The sport stripe on my Mini has seen better days. It has what looks like dark tree sap in several noticeable places. I gave it a good wash today and it had no effect on the appearance. Still splotchy. I am looking to invest in new stripes. (It also bothers me that I have gray stripes on the hood and black stripes on the roof. eh.)

Trying to decide between the full-length sport stripe again or bonnet stripes. Not sure regular bonnet stripes would look good with all the roof and rear-end real estate my car has (F55). I'd also like to keep the subdued blackjack theme going on. Any recommendations for design ideas and places to get stripes is greatly appreciated. Husband used to own a vehicle wrap business in NC, so we could design it ourselves if someone has a creative idea, but we no longer have the vinyl or large format printer, of course. (You can't see it in this photo.)

 

I think you could go either way the sun roof breaks up the roof so you would not be left with a blank white canvas. You may want to do something with the boot as it does create a pretty large blank surface, you could do just boot and bonnet stripes. I also like the look of an asymmetrical graphic on the boot coming from one side to the middle, it avoid the tramp stamp feel or a center graphic, in my opinion. 

 

I always appreciate when someone has graphic that are unique. I am sure you would all love to hear you thoughts and thing you are thinking of incorporating.  

 

If you are thinking of printed graphics, especially because you husband can install, reach out to local sign shops you can get a better price on just the print job then the car wrapping places. If you are looking for just cut stripes/graphics there are a few folks we can point you to with larger format cutters.

[twakefield]

Nice work @1975_mini 

[Mother nature]

Hi ,Today I let Miss .Daisy rest she had a rough week. I had to go to downtown Baltimore on Monday and Fri which is a 2 hour drive 1 way. But the great news was I was getting 53 mpg. And with the fast prices that was so awesome!! She also just turn 180k in 19 years!! All is well and her and I look forward to going to Richmond next weekend to see The Devon Allman Project and Samantha Fish ,Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie) and the River Kittens on Sunday night in Hope well,VA and then Marc Broussard on Monday night! Rock on

[STXMINI]

9 hours ago, Mother nature said:

Hi ,Today I let Miss .Daisy rest she had a rough week. I had to go to downtown Baltimore on Monday and Fri which is a 2 hour drive 1 way. But the great news was I was getting 53 mpg. And with the fast prices that was so awesome!! She also just turn 180k in 19 years!! All is well and her and I look forward to going to Richmond next weekend to see The Devon Allman Project and Samantha Fish ,Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie) and the River Kittens on Sunday night in Hope well,VA and then Marc Broussard on Monday night! Rock on

Sounds like your sweet old lady can still hang with the best of them! She’s had a long week but she’s still killing it!

[Bean]

Elvis not only got his official DC Metro Mini sticker today, he also got a new set of side scuttles! Blackjack. 

[STXMINI]

10 hours ago, Bean said:

Elvis not only got his official DC Metro Mini sticker today, he also got a new set of side scuttles! Blackjack. 

 

Those really look great! I see the matching mirrors too. I can see just a hint of the roof, looks like it's also Black U-Jack?

[Bean]

12 hours ago, STXMINI said:

 

Those really look great! I see the matching mirrors too. I can see just a hint of the roof, looks like it's also Black U-Jack?

Nope. It's a sunroof with just the big stripe running down the middle. I think I'm going to get blackjack center caps and then call it a day on the blackjack accents. Trying to keep it subtle.  That's the idea right now, anyway.

 

[STXMINI]

I went down to MINI of MoCo yesterday because I had a screw in my left driver's side tire. As I was heading down my MINI rolled over 20k (She's a toddler.)

The service tech took one look at my stock tires and showed me how, not only the one with the screw needed to be replaced, but the back driver's side tread was also below spec. and needed to go. The other two were fine and could continue use. He said they were the worst tires MINI ever put on a car and they're constantly replacing them.

 

(And yes, I do all of my scheduled maintenance including my all wheel alignments.)

Luckily for me the two bad tires would be replaced under warranty. Unlucky for me, who the heck wants two good tires and two ticking time bombs on their car? Maybe I could have waited and got the other two replaced under warranty but I'm not driving the Dragon knowing those two bad tires were on my MINI.

I really wanted to ditch the run flats at my first tire change but he only had run flats in stock . Thankfully they were not the same as the ones coming off.  So I decided with The Dragon and MTTS coming up I'd just replace all 4 tires. 

 

With the new Goodyear tires on the MINI I have a much quieter and smoother ride. I also got a free wheel alignment and my first MINI swag out of the deal. So whatever....

[Mother nature]

HELP! I drove my mini to Lynchburg VA yesterday and she performed great! 52 mpg. No issues until today when I was heading back home(4 hrs) I stopped to look at a shop on Main street and when I got back in the car it won't stay started?? It cranks but won't turn over?? If anyone has any ideas on what is causing this Please contact me..I am stranded!! Thanks in Advance

[STXMINI]

12 hours ago, Mother nature said:

HELP! I drove my mini to Lynchburg VA yesterday and she performed great! 52 mpg. No issues until today when I was heading back home(4 hrs) I stopped to look at a shop on Main street and when I got back in the car it won't stay started?? It cranks but won't turn over?? If anyone has any ideas on what is causing this Please contact me..I am stranded!! Thanks in Advance

 

Oh no! Just saw this, I hope you were able to get moving again, let us know what happened.

[Mother nature]

Well we towed her all the way home and I got in and she started right up?? So I am not sure what happened! Thanks you your concern.,,

[1975_mini]

16 hours ago, Mother nature said:

HELP! I drove my mini to Lynchburg VA yesterday and she performed great! 52 mpg. No issues until today when I was heading back home(4 hrs) I stopped to look at a shop on Main street and when I got back in the car it won't stay started?? It cranks but won't turn over?? If anyone has any ideas on what is causing this Please contact me..I am stranded!! Thanks in Advance

 

I would check your battery voltage, they seem pretty sensitive to even a slightly low voltage when starting. Other than that we would need some more info. You could swing by a autozone (or any other parts store) they will check you battery voltage and pull any historical codes for you. If you post those codes we maybe able to give you a better direction to the possible cause.

[Scavenger]

Hey everyone! Hope all's well. Sunday, I replaced the Timing Chain Tensioner in my 2006 MINI Cooper S. It's a small, inexpensive part. It is important though for high mileage. I'm trying to be careful that I don't let the ol' butt dyno trick me into thinking it was some sort of miracle, but I really think the car is running a little better now. The main issue that seems to be solved is a slight hesitancy on acceleration.  I'll need a few more days of driving, particularly with the AC on to know for sure.

 

Happy Motoring!

[Chris_V]

On 3/6/2022 at 3:30 PM, Chris_V said:

Installed a wind deflector for the Roadster, as well as a set of the best smooth sequential turn signal, union jack taillights I've found yet. I've been talking to the wholesaler and I think I could get them to other R56/57/58/59 owners for under $400 including shipping. I just have to order like 50 sets.

 

https://youtu.be/xhkYCxa1B6Y

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I ordered and got in the 50 sets, and I'm able to sell them for $299 a set. No, they're not as cheap as the VLAND ones, but they also aren't as cheaply made, and look much nicer. And anyone in the area that picks them up from me I can install them right here. Let me know if this isn't allowed, but i just wanted to get another option for those of us in the US, that are actually available and not as expensive as the UK ones...

[Coopah]

Washed, de-striped, stripped, decontaminated with IronX, clayed, buffed, cleaned and treated the tires and trim, and put on two coats of McKee's Graphene Ceramic coating. A lot of work, but it looks the best it ever has.  The iPhone pics really don't do it justice.

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by Coopah
Updated

[Coopah]

Decided I missed the bonnet stripes.  Ordered these from House of Graphix and applied them after work today. These are a bit wider -10". 

[Perry]

Looks good! I ordered my side graphics from them. Good quality!