I'm not to sure alcohol would be the best thing to mix with those tabs, as it may strip wax off. I just use regular guy, cheapie washer fluid in the winter.

But I must say I have been pretty impressed with the Bosch wipers that are on Poco. We have had a few days of freezing rain/snow here, and they work great. With no exposed springs, there is always pressure on the windsreen, even when they are covered in ice.

Last night when I left the tree lot around 9PM it was 31F and pouring rain, now a 6AM skies look to be clear, and it is 51F. If I get off work early, it will definitely be bath day for the MINIs.

Mark

 

51F...dang, you're on the wrong side of the zero from where you're from, santa!


we got some sleetage this morning... not good. i hope i can make
it to work on time. hahahaha! (not looking forward to the
scraping and driving).

 

I'm pretty sure the non-freezing, "regular guy, cheapie washer fluid" contains alcohol.

 

Another day of drizzle and rain. Our two Justacoopers are as filthy as they have EVER been. It's been cold and rainy (and icy, some days, which means the salt was out) for two weeks now.

Tomorrow's high is supposed to be 34 degrees and cloudy. Sunday looks like a cold day, too. Damn, might have to wash them in the garage.

 

My MINI is totally trashed. The rear glass is so bad I could not even see headlights in it this morning. Supposed to get more snow and more bitter cold this weekend. Oh well, spring can't be that far away can it?

 

huh.... my MCS is super clean.


hahaha.

i haven't washed my dd's yet since snow season.... it's
going to be cold tonight so another excuse not to wash them.

hey, wife said i have clearance to get the A4 Wagon.
but it turned out it was a matchbox car.

 

Yours is sparkling clean, but you haven't enjoyed driving it in what... several weeks ? I enjoyed mine today. And yesterday. And the day before. And...

 

but mine is sparkling clean.

 

I have one that's sparking clean, too !

 

I have one that is sparkling clean as well. Just right now it's hidden under road crap gray.

 

rain finally stopped here and just finished washing Blimey... Good thing I have the clearbra ready to install, because my new aero bumper has more chips than my whole car got in the past 46,000 miles - over a dozen already... Geesh

 

Suppose its because the aero kit is plastic and they didn't use the right primer? Or I guess just being the lowest most leading edge it gets abused.

 

Make sure you point that out the next time some dummy on NAM disses the clear bra for that line you can see across the bonnet if you're within 8 feet of it.

 

The bumper comes pre-primed - the chips are leaving the primer behind, still bonded to the plastic - the paint and clearcoat just aren't anywhere near as hard as the factory paint, plus the bumper has lots of vertical surfaces that take direct impacts... Double whammy....

And the aero bumper has lots of paint down low, where the plastic trim was on the plain bumper - and that's where many of the chips are...

 

so you have a dd that's a MINI and a weekend
hobby MINI.

yah, my aero kit was the same way. it's the way they are with
dealer aftermarket paint. it's not that strong vs factory paint.
so i too touched it up and clearbra'ed right away after ownership.

 

Well I did not get off work early yesterday, and by the time I got home, the temps had dropped from a morning high of 52F, down to 30F, so no bath for the MINIs, plus I was pooped from work.

May wash them today, going to around 40F, but I also need to spend some time down in Santa's workshop making cutting boards.

Paul, your right about the alcohol in the cheapo windshield wash, but I tend to go through so much of the stuff in the winter here it is the cheapest stuff to use. I'll save my 303 tabs for warmer weather.

Mark

 

i use generic (-22F) washerfluid that's sold at gas stations/auto parts stores.

alcohol is the last thing im worried about in the winter time...
if i come out winter dent free im a happy camper.

 

Couple of inches of snow on the ground (unusual for us), Molly has not been out of her room in a week, except for last night to go to dinner. More snow fell overnight, need to get Molly outside to play for a bit. Snow and Ice forcasted for tomorrow so more hybernation for her unfortunately. Will need to pamper her and show her how much she is LOVED!!

Also need some ideas on a nice Christmas Gift for her. Any ideas??

She will be 1 Year Old in March (Production B-Day)...can't believe the time has flown by so quickly. I'm thinking about getting her some British Flag Side Scuttles.

 

Holy Carp I'm tired. Been working on the car ALL DAY... for about 12 hours solid, less 2 hours for meal breaks...

1) Put the car on ramps.
2) QD'd front bumper
3) Mixed up Soap and Alcohol solutions.
4) Cleaned front bumper with alcohol solution.
5) Touched up about 20 cool blue and flat black aero bumper chips, using Richard's micro brushes.
6) Waited for it to dry (helped a little with the heat gun). While waiting, removed my intercooler diverter and custom diverter plate.
7) Built a simple sheet metal bending brake outta steel with my plasma cutter and welder.
8) Used it to bend and fab a new custom diverter plate out of 18ga stainless to match my DDM diverter.
9) Langka'd my cool blue blobs.
10) Scratch-X'd the haze out from the Langka.
11) Cleaned the bumper again. Then started clearbra install.
12) More clearbra install
13) More clearbra install.
......
87) Finished clearbra install - OMG, what a PITA.
88) Removed strut bar.
89) Sanded strut bar and intercooler diverters.
90) Re-painted strut bar and intercooler diverters.
91) Removed power steering air intake under car and checked for oil leaks (I have something happening... gotta figure it out before warranty expires). Cleaned everything up so I can see where the oil is coming from (hopefully). Re-installed air intake.
92) Removed "CabrioS" badge from boot.
93) Scratch-X'd where badge used to be.
94) Off ramps
95) Check and add oil.
96) Move car to its spot in garage. Put minivan back in garage.
97) Post about it.

Oy Vey.

The clearbra looks about as good as the "professionally installed" one on my bonnet - which is to say, there are a couple of imperfections that only freaks like me and Chris would notice. But good e-freaking-nuff for now. I might attempt a repair of one of the little boo-boos later...

 

Well I got all three cars washed today - brrrr! It was 25 but the sun was warm. Shade side would freeze so hit them with a mitt in clear warm water so I could dry them. The clean should last one day. I'm driving the MINI on our charity toy run tomorrow to Children's Hospital. Oh well it was clean when the sun went down.
Paul - when the guy put the clear bra on the Pilot he would stick one side then pulled like hell and stick the other side. Then smooth the middle. Is that the same process you use for the aero kit?

 

Pretty much. I watched the video first.

I started at one side, and anchored it around the turn signal cutout. Then worked back to the end from there, and stretch to align around that end of the middle grille - then went to the other end, did the same thing, and that made the middle all line up just fine... but the little "wings" that go across the bottom, past the fog lights and meet in the middle are painful.

The primary areas are pretty straightforward - across the top and below the middle grille. The issues are at the extreme ends of the top (because you have to do the most stretching there, and end up with extra material to work in because of the way it stretches) and the area below the fog light cutouts where it blends into the "splitter"... that area is a biotch, because you have to stretch the film into a void, and no matter what you do, you end up sealing the bottom edge first because of the way it's contoured, and it's tough to squeegee all the solution out against gravity... that part would have been easier with the bumper off, I think. But would have still been tough.

As with most things, it only took about 10% of the time to do 90% of the area, and the other 90% of the time to do the tiny crappy areas.

I think I started about 3:30PM and finished about 7:00PM with no breaks. So 3.5hrs for just the bumper clearbra install...

 

blimey- sounds good. yah, my clearbra install itself (just
the aerobumper) about 3hrs. then another 2hrs gound around the car
with 2 heatlamps to dry majority of the water out... so it's a pretty long
process.

 

You're a mad man, Paul. After watching the pro install my clearbra, I was never happier to have a college education and a well-paying job.

I know... you saved a boat load of money for other mods. My hat is off to you, my friend. That is one helluva job to accomplish.

 

Sounds like a job well done Blimey. We need pics.

5F here right now, going to maybe make it to 15F, so no bathing the MINIs The Clubman looks worse then Poco, as Poco had a shower during the pouring rain the other day.

Mark

 

it's feeling like late Jan today with 0F and windchill -27F. we're going
to get a high of about 2F today.

i was working on this yesterday... glad i waited a month before going
along with the purchase cause it saved me about $650. this is
the flagship model from Roland.