There are videos all over YouTube about people using heat guns and torches to melt the plastic. These guys are going right up to the paint without any barriers. I'm not sure what it does to the texture of the plastic though. In some of the videos you can see the plastic dripping and melting from the heat.

 

yah, it'd be kinda funny if it came out super smooth (in some areas).

 

Did a mild polish and waxed my Z today. Was raining all day so decided to do some detailing. I think the Meg's blue clay is too firm for my Z's paint. It kinda hazed the clear as if I lightly wetsanded it. This was from last time so just polished it all out this time.

from now on I'm only going to use Griot's mud on this car as I've been on my G for spot claying.

Going to go over it again with SpeedShine after dinner.

 

Pulled my left front wheel and cleaned the wheel speed sensor today. While I was in there, moved my tied-up brake pad sensor inside the engine bay - looks much better (yeah, right, like anybody has their head between the wheel and the wheelwell liner).

Repainted my scoop for about the 12th time. Grrr. The fiberglass "bubbles" and bulges under the paint. About ready to replace it.

Gotta do a quick wash this morning, then drive a couple hours to VIR for the big Bosch/Koni Race - one of the RSR MINIs is on the poll for the ST race today at Noon!

 

Blimey- yah, I'm kinda like that too...meaning I like my stuff were you can't see nicely organized. Guess if you think about it you wouldn't want your underwear all bunched up in your crack so this makes sense to keep thing you can't see nice and organized for ultra sanity.

Hope that MINI wins!

Going to pull out my G in a little. need to pressure up the tires on the dd before that.

 

yesterday i started taking apart my Z to begin wiring up some new stuff im getting this week. car is in pieces right now...

 

woo, gotz my backup camera tracking number.

gotz the flatstopper ramp just now. looks pretty sturdy. got it from here.

very quick service. yah, $250 shipped, but when your tires are $300+ each
it's not a big investment.

 

I just drive my cars. Done.

 

yah, i wish it didn't snow (and use salt and other corrosive crap) in my area...

 

wooo! got my rearview camera. going to install that and hopefully some interior LED's i ordered from amazon tonight.

then tomorrow i should be getting my rear foglamp and
the rockers so hopefully my Z will be back together.

 

im almost out of Best of Show, so next season i think im going to get this.

 

Wax deodorant?

 

would you?




almost close to quiet winter thread, huh? ...

 

I have to agree with Mel, it looks like deodorant..

 

Yeah I thought Ken Photoshop'ed it so I went to Griots website and saw it for myself! Which leads me to a funny and embarrassing story. When we 1st got married my wife went food shopping and bought some icy-hot or ben-gay or whatever. Well it was a new type that came in a deodorant style container that looked just like deodorant. One morning when I was half asleep I got out of the shower and you guessed it took that container and put it on my underarms and proceeded to jump up and down, run around the house and whatever else to try and stop that burning........well you get the idea! We still laugh to this day. And thanks to you Ken as soon as I saw that pic thats the 1st thing I though of.

 

dogdal that's funny...well, not funny for you at the time, but


even griot's says not to use it under arms. anyway, i thought it
was pretty funny but looks like something i want to try on the car next
year.

got the rearview camera wired up on the Z. i can't get the dummy
foglamp on the center of the rear bumper off. nissan used so much thread
lock on it the bolt spins with the nut and there's really no way to hold the
bolt. so looks like im going to have to drill the whole assembly off
tomorrow. wish lotsie was close by.... im sure he could think of
something how to trim that thingie off...

 

Plasma cutter.

 

wat puzzles me is i have EZ-outs but if the bolt is spinning with the nut, how the hell do you hold the bolt?

im thinking about putting a regular drill bit into the
center of the bolt, hold it with pliers, and use a wrench
to turn the nut...

 

ended up just cutting the nuts straight down. man that dont sound good.
took my rotary tool with metal cutting disc and just went at it. the tool was about 1ft
from my face so i had like metal particles in my throat and nose. was tastey.

my Z is finished. installed rear view camera, interior lights, rear foglamp. all factory look. can't wait
for the weekend.

might snow over here next week...

 

Cleaned bird poo off the bonnet, checked tire pressures, and checked fluids (coolant, brake, and oil). I then tidied up my iPod setup cuz I got tired of seeing the cables looking all messy. The MINI needs a bath really badly but seeing as how it's supposed to rain on Tuesday I think I'll just let him get dirtier and give him a bath on Friday.

 

sounds like a productive weekend, leslie!

for me, i went out motoring my Z this am and QD afterwards. some pos
old sentra driving in front of me had steam of oil crapping out of its
exhaust and made microscopic spots of oil all over my car. so
QD took care of that.

going to motor my Z again tomorrow am, and hope to pull out the G
in the afternoon.

 

We had a little club meet on Friday night - Blimey had seen several hundred dry road miles since his last bath - plus one bug storm. A quick SOC was the perfect solution - 10 minutes and he was clean and dry.

Also had my mechanic install Powerflex front lower control arm bushings on Thursday. Haven't had a chance to really thrash the corners and do hard braking yet to test... but should be improved. My old bushings were in good shape after 58K miles - apparently MINI improved them in the later 1st gen cars so they don't fail early like the older ones.

 

blimey-sounds good. yah, that SOC is really useful when your car's dirtier
than a QD app but not dirty enough for a wash.

yah, my R53's bushings were all bouncy from the getgo... especially
the drivetrain.

so after doing the installs earlier in the week + dry cold air (29F this am)
my fingernails and finger tips are all trashed and painful to play the
keyboard.

so as usual, i put some superglue at the tip of my fingernails where it split
and walla, no more pain. i can play again.

this am pulled out my Z for a nice spin and QD'ed afterwards. i
think i finally figure out how to smoothly input throttle without bouncing
the drivetrain when taking off kinda hard from the line. very sensitive
throttle and aggressive gearing so needed some getting use to.

got over 825miles now. by 1k miles i think I should be broken in too.

 

pict of the camera (above rear plate offset to the left) and factory foglamp (middle of rear bumper bottom).



pict of the HU showing rear camera view... hey, my first pict of my white 2009 FitS!



pict of rocker switches i bought which fit the trim perfectly... left sw
for HU dvd bypass, center for rear foglamp, right for interior LED under seats.



and the pict of the final interior with everything installed...

 

ken - NICE