Besides being a posterboy for why a clearbra is the first investment one should get in owning a mini...

Im pretty sure a Langka kit can repair most of the damage on the front hood, the sills however look terrible. Can someone advise me what I could do here? More than 150+ chips, all over the front hood... the bumpers look great though.

The only benefit I can see with repainting the sills/hood would be a good excuse the paint the wheel arches as well.

 

Yikes

That's some of the worst chip-age I've seen... personally.... I'd have them repainted at this point... I would go INSANE trying to repair all those... touch-up and Langka's great as long as you can stay on top of them and only have to do a few at a time...

But others who are real masochists might try the hard way...

 

Chips Ahoy indeed. I would not even begin to try and repair those.

 

1st owner's Jersey highways. Btw, thats not dirt or anything on the hood, thats the rock chips and thousands of little 'specks'...

Alright, Im repainting. I can find used hoods from $100-$300 so Ill probably go that route. Ill keep this thread updated in the future with how the work goes...

 

I'd invest in a clear bra as well.

 

IMO that is beyond touch-up. A repaint is in order. I think if you were to repair that many chips, 1, you would go nuts, and 2, you would probably never be satisfied.
Keep us posted.

Mark

 

I'm getting a new hood as part of an accident repair right now - here's my word of warning to you.

If you just put a new, painted hood on your car the color won't exactly match the rest of your car. To do it right, you need to blend the paint into the quarter panels and back into the doors. This is running about $4000 at my local dealer.

The accident wasn't my fault, so I didn't go looking for less expensive alternatives, but the process would remain the same wherever I took it. My advice to you would be to talk to a body shop about repairing your current hood before you just go with a new one. The hood might offer enough room to blend the new paint from the front to the back. At the least it would be less noticeable than if you went with an all-new hood.

 

I agree, I'd go for a repaint...AND invest in a clear bra so I wouldn't have to do it again!

 

if you're getting a new hood might as well get a carbon fiber one...