why do you want Amber lenses so badly? most people try to get the clear lenses, atleast in my experience

 

Hello all - I'm home from Vacationing in Scotland, and boy there are MINI's everywhere!
I sawa few that was a "ONE". I stopped to talk to someone driving it and turns out she worked for MINI. I asked her what the ONE stood for since in the states we mainly have Cooper and Cooper S. She said the ONE is a very basic with nothing in it, under the Cooper.
interesting!

 

Hi all week 23 ers. Haven't posted in a good while. Been way too busy driving all over in Maggy. She now approaches 6500 miles and each one of them has been a shear delight!!

Quick update. We went to our first MINI rally last weekend near Ann Arbor. A 100 mile tour of twisties called the Fall Color Blurrr! I went out with the first group ( the self identified fast guys) but stayed to the back, as I was a little unsure that Maggy & I would keep up with these guys. By the end of the rally I had moved to #6 and was putting Maggy through those curves with what seemed like wanton abandon!! Miss Orca has decided that she does not like rallies and will spend future rallies on her nice couch at home - thank you very much!! Poodles do not race like maniacs on two lane country roads even if they do get ice cream in Hell (Michigan that is)!

The one thing I did determine is that this old lady needs some tuning up on performance driving MINIs before we take on something like the DRAGON!! So next spring we are off to a MINI perfomance driving school. As a gesture of good will the beloved hubby will be attending too! Only after completing that course will I venture to the Dragon after what I heard at our rally.

 

Hey everyone! How are you? I belong to a MINI club in MI and we went on a four day vacation to Niagra falls and Cleveland OHIO. FUN!!!!! there were 18 MINIs in our caravan!

 

Starry, which club do you belong to? Is it the Michigan MINI group? Sounds like fun though.

 

Hi all, Glad everyone is enjoying their MINI.

I found four more photos of MINIs from Europe--I can agree with gem girl PA, there are a LOT of MINIs in Europe...
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...61#post2526861

Also, MSN.com just did a coverstory about fuel efficient cars for 09, the MINI's photo (a red cooper S with no aerokit) was the photo at the front page. If you want to feel even better about your car, click here...(when you click from hotmail to the link, its the mini photo, the prius is the first photo in the article)

http://editorial.autos.msn.com/artic...umentid=668602

 

Ah, yes, and I wanted to update you all on my manuscript writing

I'm Canadian, Married to a US Navy sailor. I "pass" for American, but a lot of foreigners married to the military do not. We are different than citizens, and sometimes have different needs. So, I'm recording my adventure in a book. You can chart my progress here, at my Multiply.com site. I figure I need the public embrassment if I don't proceed too much on it! HAHA

http://marriedtomilitary.multiply.com/

 

Starry, did you ever get stars put on the MINI? Any photos from the trip?

 

Grrr.

[rant]
i CAN NOT believe how soft the paint is. I had to jump start my Acura, because i've been neglecting it and the battery is almost dead. Well, i park just a little too close, and you guys know how non-committal the door hinges are. Well, the door swings part the first "open" stop on the hinge and BAM, right into the rear quarter of my Acura. It hits the plastic bumper cover, and leaves a streak of blue. I think, well, it doesn't look to bad and it was a glancing blow.

Well, i wipe off the white paint from the edge of my door and what do i see?

BARE METAL. Took the paint right down to metal. It's a really small spot showing though, so i guess that's a positive.

At least I have the day off tomorrow and I can see if any of the local dealers carries some paint touch-up supplies.
[/rant]

*sigh* I barely got thru cleaning 1/4th of the car. It's a 1/4th clayed and half of the interior is "clean".

what a day.

 

Man, that sucks! I am so sorry Krim.
Um, I guess on the positive side your experience will help the whole community--I dont know how to fix a paint scratch, and if you do it yourself and post about it, you'll teach us all.

So sorry.

 

I'm right there with you! I park in a rented garage that is barely wide enough for most normal sized cars. I try really really hard but occasionally I just bump the plaster on the wall with the edge of my door. There are TONS of little dents from other cars over the past few years who have parked in my garage, but only the ones I've caused have paint marks to go with them! The apex of the door edge is already beat up after only 2 or 3 of these accidental encounters with drywall.

DRYWALL! Our paint can be taken off by drywall!

 

^
I feel for ya, i suggest maybe taping some cheapo sponges to the wall. I wonder if it's the LiB.

Thanks, i'll try to post some photos when i get it repaired.


Okay, now that i've calmed down a bit, it's not that bad, but yeah, it does look like it's down to the metal. I just went out and cleaned it up and put a quick coat of wax on it to keep it from rusting til i get some paint on there.

I also cleaned off the blue from the Acura, and it looks like someone took a blue crayon to the paint. Came right off and the white is barely damaged.

I wonder if it would be worth spraying a harder coat of clear on top. Or maybe get a clear bra for the door edging... hmmm...

 

Umm.. yeah, looks like the white paint is just as soft, in fact maybe softer.

I got a rock land just above the rear view mirror and it left a crater. I'm glad it didn't chip like my Acura does though. But yeah, it's a genuine crater, just like if you were making pasta and you make a little volcano flour in the beginning.

It's funny because when it landed, it made such a loud BOOM, that i was expecting a huge dent and missing paint. I did see the rock, it was a little smaller than a golf ball. When i got out of the car, it took me about 10 minutes to find the little crater. It's about 2mm in diameter, i think i'll buff the ridge down, and then you'll barely be able to see it.

 

sorry, I've been traveling a lot recently. Went back home to philly to watch the world series!


I like the look of the matched color lenses. It all stems from the fact that I like the amber signals. It shows people where to expect the turn signal to come from(even though it's pretty obvious), and the amber color matches the laser blue really well.

When I didn't pay for the clear lens option, I was appalled to find out that they still gave me clear side marker lenses. A $30k car and they can't figure out how to match turn signal colors.

It bothers me when the color of the turn signals are different, even if they light up the same.

I'm a little ocd, I know.

 

Nice to see everyone is having a great time with their cars. I am as well. Had a minor incident that required repainting the right side. Pepper White is apparently difficult to match; the first shop I went to botched it. I ended up having a second shop sand that side down completely and redo the paint. He had a tough time too, but it worked out OK. The only issue now is in my head, knowing the car isn't completely original. I still love my car regardless and I'll get over it. It's a relatively minor thing and I figure when I restore it in 30 years I'll have to repaint the whole thing anyway.

Had my first run last week as part of SCMM's annual chili cookoff. A good time was had by all.



My next big plans are to install boost and water temp gauges. Currently trying to figure out if that is something I can tackle myself.

 

After talking to my SA I found out they void your warranty so just do it properly!

 

Any Philly / Delaware W23ers joining the PhillyMINI Night Owl run on the 15th? If so I'll see you there!

 

can't make that one, but going to the social saturday night, you going to that?

 

Well, the touch-up paint arrived from automotivetouchup.com, and i have to say that they did a great job matching LiB, I can't really tell where the repair job is, unless i run my finger down the sill, or stick my face a few inches from the repair. I haven't put the clear coat down, but once it stops threatening to rain, ill sand it with a t-shirt and clear coat it.

$30 for 1/2 oz paint, clear coat and primer (4 days door to door) vs $40 MINI paint and clear coat set (+3 weeks special order)

Other news, the dash rattle has gotten worse and i think my scoop is starting to deform. I guess i've been running the mountains a bit too hard.

I did clear bra the inside of my car though.
The area around the seat belt top is starting to get all dinged up and so i put a strip of 3M film there and on the piano black trim near the seat belt. I'm thinking of putting a small piece on the window because my belt seem to keep smacking the window when i take the belt off.

All i need to do now is....
install boost tubes.
beg, cheat or steal for a Stage 1 kit
install mud flaps
hardwire V1
redo rear stripes

Looks like I missed an event and i've been really wanting to go to one. i think i'll definitely keep on a look out SCMMs run up to Sequoia next spring.

 

SCMM does something pretty much every week. It's usually breakfast or lunch-related; the joke is that we're an eating club that just happen to all drive MINIs! We're going to Planes of Fame later this month.

 

Picture evidence!!

Not because I don't believe you but because I'm interested in your replicating your success.

 

IF You have the AEROKit, the rear mud flaps are not really designed to go with it, so you will have a gap at the back. Its hard to explain, but the gap is between the car and the mudflap, the mudflap does not sit flush-- the curvy aerokit is the reason. Hope thats clear. So, mudflaps= think twice w aerokit.

P.S. Everyone still shifting from 2nd gear into 1st rather than 3rd because the gear box is so tight??
Matt is the driver of the MINI, not because I "can't" drive stick shift, I can-- but its annoying as hell to revvvv like crazy because I shifted to the wrong gear.

Do you just learn the "feel" after time? Or, is it still happening to you?
Do you feel the gear box is a little bit too tight?

 

P.S. WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!

McMillin Lomas Verdes community, part of the Burbs around Otay Ranch Town Center (mall).

Got a forclosure for a steal, $370K. 4 bedroom 2 bath. Only a short drive to Naval Pier for Matt.

I'm coming to San Diego alone in December with the dogs (close escrow DEC 26!) and will stay in the empty house until March 01 when Matt arrives from Italy.

So, if you're in SoCal, I'll post my new number soon. Looking forward to motoring with you!!

 

In California that is a steal! Congrats.

 

I've played the PIX or NOT game.

j/k, it was REALLY hard trying to get the macro to focus on the edge, these are the best out of the 20 that i shot where you could see a visible difference in color. The waviness is because it hasn't been t-shirted yet.

1 dab of primer. 3 coats of paint. 2 clear coats.