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The old bonnet stripes on the Cabrio needed to be replaced, they were cracked and faded were they were not under the clear bra.
We decided to leave them alone under the bra, remove the rest, then go over the bra with the new ones, which are a little wider than the old ones.
Before.
Here you can see how they faded
How they were cracked
Removal.
We found heat from a hair dryer helped. I used an X-acto chisel blade to lift edges, but because of the cracking they came up in small pieces, it took about 1/2 an hour to remove one stripe.
It's off, but yucky
But with alcohol, WD-40, QD and elbow grease it cleaned up pretty well. Claying,Swirl and Amigo to follow, before new ones go on
OK, here ya go, stripes are on. It was not easy lining up the new over the old, we had maybe an 1/8 of an inch to play with, 1/16 or less per side. Took both of us, with tongues stuck out, and moments that were rather stressful, but we got them on. There are some bubbles, but sun and a pin will get rid of those.
I was never able to completely get rid of the lines from the old stripes, I figure it would take a rotary to do that, but the new ones cover them, so not a big issue.
Washed, clayed and polished.
They look pretty good in our opinion
Now it's time to cook some beer can chicken, Banana Gloss the bonnet, and wash Poco. Oh and drink some ales
Very nicely done, Mark. You can't even tell they're a layer of vinyl and a layer of clear bra under that new stripe. I was wondering if there would be a visible drop off where the clearbra ends. Don't see any.
Are those custom stripes ? They are closer together where they end at the grill than any others I've seen.
There is a drop off/seam at the edge of the bra, but not real noticeable, and if we still have the car 4 more years down the road, we will replace the bra, stripes, and start again.
The big thing I learned from this, make sure you REALLY like the look of stripes, because if they are exposed to sun, weather, daily driving, you will need to do a major rotary treatment to get completely rid of any sign that stripes have been on. Not an issue for me, as I like the stripeless look.
Very Nice. How old is your Mini? the paint job looks out of the showroom.
__________________ Babaganoosh:2007 MCS Lightning Blue|White roof w/ Union Jack |Cold Weather|Sport Pkg|17" Web spoked wheels|Performance Run Flats|LSD|PDC |Comfort Access|Xenons| Rear Fogs|Punch Carbon Leather|Dk gray color line
Ordered: 07/20 | Born 07/28 | Shipped 07/30| Delivered 09/01||JCW Tuning kit Aug 2009|
Great post! As an "under the bra guy" (did I say that?) I have thought about having to someday replace the upper parts of my sport stripes. It's nice to see someone take that job on and do such a great job!
Rich
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2008 PW/B Clubman S, Black Sports Stripes, Premium/Convenience Pkgs, Interior Chrome, Piano Black/Cream Trimline, Center Armrest, Garmin 760 w/ MINI Logo, FrontGuard Clear Bra, Chrome Bonnet Scoop. Ordered May 26, 2008, Delivered June 20, 2008 (25 days!) Go MINI of Annapolis!
Official Pepper White Clubman Owner's Club, Member #002; Member (Survivor), The Infamous "Week 23 Support Group" Thread!
__________________ 2008 Cabrio, British Racing Green, Sidewalk, mods, mods, mods ...
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Great post! As an "under the bra guy" (did I say that?) I have thought about having to someday replace the upper parts of my sport stripes. It's nice to see someone take that job on and do such a great job!
Rich
I think doing it the way we did it, is WAY easier than cutting the bra, and getting the new stripes to fit right. If it were to come to that, I think I'd remove the bra(one of my favorite things) and start over.
Well done! Sunny looks great with her new stripes.
Wish we lived closer to you guys and had known you were going to tackle this little project. I have a small plastic tool that's designed for removing vinyl and you don't have to worry about damaging the paint. (Of course, Mark is so good at things like this that damaging the paint is not an issue for him like it would be for me. )
BTW, what happened to her driving lights?
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GROMIT 2005 HO/B MCc Premium, Sport, Cold Weather, CVT, Black/Chrome Stripes, Driving Lights, Ian's Auto Up, Way Motor Works Cooper Intake, MinSpeed Exhaust
Funny I found this post. I am wanting to take my bonnet stripes off. They are not cracked, just water spotted and I can't get that corrected all the way. I wonder if mine will come off in one piece or in pieces like yours!?!?
Now to your question. Have you tried clay bar on the water spots, or a mixture of alcohol/water, mixed 50/50 (no, beer will not work) That may get them off. As to whether they will come off in one piece, there is really no way of knowing until you start pulling them off. The ones we took off of Lois's Cabrio had stone chips, and cracks in them, and that what caused the problem of them coming off in pieces.
) 
