Hello, OctaneGuy. I have a few questions if you don't mind.

The first - About lambswool mitt. I'm always careful to not let the wrist portion (elastic) touch the paint, and in fact, I was thinking of cutting the elastic portion away on the new lambswool mitt I just bought from DP (is that a good quality one?) Does the elastic part scratch?

The second - I have already bought some Epic and Clarity, and am planning to go with M80 since you talk about it so much. So my question is - what is your opinion for MINI paint - I hear you talk about different cars have different paint and require different polishes. So, my question is:

Swirl or M83? (I have some pretty decent swirl marks)
Finish or M80? (I think I know the answer to this one)
Amigo or M82? (I think I may have read that you say neither?)

The third - I got my PC and a set of pads from DP. Did you say that those pads are made by Lake Country? Is there somewhere where you have descibed which color pad from DP corresponds with with which Meguiars pad? I think I have four colored pads. Do you think those are just as good as the Meguiars pads?

And last and O/T to detailing - What kind of car seat do you have? My boy is getting ready for his big boy front facing seat. By the way, it was a great post that you responded to in my "Probably have to say goodbye to my MINI" where you gave all the pros of keeping the MINI and letting the baby ride in it. My husband read that and was more convinced that it was safe. THANK YOU. It's partially thanks to you that I still have it. Don't think I ever told you that.

Sorry so long...anyone else is welcome to chime in as well...

 

Well I'm not OG, nor do I play him on TV, but I can answer this question with a link to the DP site and their PDF on this very topic.

Try this PAD INFO link.

In general I use the white pad and Swirl, but for the harder paint of our Ford I switched to Swirl and the orange pad. BTW I have found for light swirls that an orange pad and Amigo does really well at removing - not just masking the swirls.

 

Thanks MiniMaybee!!

 

where is that octaneguy?

 

Maybe he saw the length of my ??? post and said, "Oh, h*ll no!" and went back out to work on a client's car!

 

The first - About lambswool mitt. Does the elastic part scratch?

KEN: yep, especially because it can retain dirt.


The second -

KEN: i used Griot's Polish #2 and #3 on my car. took my time.
i have a Polish #1 in my arsenal this year.

The third -

KEN: minimaybee already answered.


And last and O/T to detailing -

KEN: i use my legacy and civic as our 2yr old
carrier (just some ordinary EddyBauer child seats at ToysR/Babies/Rus).

on the MCS, i might get the Recaro seat.

i tried it before and the first thing you will notice that it is a PITA to
get your kid onto the backseat of a 2 door. next, you will notice that
the kid (as they get older) will kick the seatbacks even by accident.
remove their shoes!

i dont think MCS are pratical cars at all... it is more of a toy imho
than anything else... especially when you put a child seat in the
back. no room to put anything else.

 

I Carnac the Minificent predict that...
the great OG will tell you to try the least aggresive method 1st which would be the M-80 & to use the Meguiar's W8006 pad because if you have any probs w/the speed glaze it will be harder to figure out what the deal is if using a non-Meguiar's pad since the Meguiar's system uses a variety of chemicals and keeps the pad constant. If you find that 4 or 5 passes of M80 isn't removing enough of the deeper swirls, buy some M83 (Dual Action Cleaner Polish) & use it with the W8006 pad.


Lets wait to hear from the great OG now

 

Still no OG so I'll throw this out there in his stead - though he is more than welcomed to correct me if I error.

If your swirls are significant, start with the Swirl on the white pad. No luck go to Swirl on the orange pad. If they are still there you can try the Prima Cut on a white pad and then orange. Once you go to Cut however, you will need to step back down to Swirl to be sure there is no hazing. I have not really found an application for Finish.

Oh and Ken: Toy - Ha! Impractical - Ha Ha!
We use it every night with 4/5ths of our family driving around town. My two girls (10 & 14) in the back and my darling bride in the front. Our 17 year-old, freakishly tall (6'-3") son is left out of the mix because, frankly, we can't stand the teen 'tude going on with the boy (and because he don't fit in the back). Oh and he never gets to drive my MINI! (Now that's practical!)

 

Yeah, I gotta agree with MiniMaybee - come h*ll or high water, this will continue to be my "soccer mom mobile" and "grocery getter." If we ever need just a tad more space, we take DH's Sentra. I saw pics from Dr. Obnxs, and he uses a seat for his little girl that is like a Recaro. :D Once they go facing forward, the seat takes up less space. WOOHOO!!! And thanks for the tip about the shoes!!

The technique I would like to master is opening the hatch and putting Ben in that way. hahahaha I know that he is safe, and I can't WAIT to see the looks on people's faces when I do it! hahahaha

 

While that would be cool, what would be even cooler would be to get a convertible and learn how to toss the kids into their seats from like 10 feet away (preferably with the top down).
Oh sure they might get banged up a bit while you are trying to get the technique down, but most kids bounce.

 

well, that's different cause your kids can get in/out by themselves.
putting a 2-3yr old each time is a pita especially when they get
heavier.. i know cause i tried it.

why go the extra mile when you can let your other car do the
work?

 

WOW you guys don't even need me anymore! Good posts and no glaring errors or misquotes like on other threads. You guys all have it down pat!

Sorry, I've been busy preparing my shop and getting products in stock, my home cable connection lost internet access for most of yesterday and this morning, so that was frustrating. So I spent the day at my shop, and just got DSL installed--going to provide WiFi for customers and anyone driving past our shop on the 57 freeway I guess since you literally pass by our shop as you exit the freeway.

I don't remember if I said anything, but I'll be carrying the full Prima line at the shop for all you SoCal people. And nooo, not trying to steal any thunder from DetailersParadise etc.... You can keep ordering from them! This is something that I discussed with Heather awhile back and we were waiting until I get into the shop before making any announcements.

Ok let me try to answer these questions--and of course I don't mind. I love answering questions, as best as I can.


re: Lambswool
Yeah I don't like that elastic. I actually removed mine as well because I don't hang the mitt, and really there is no need for it. I also don't put my hand inside the mitt--I like to fully soap it up, then use each side for gently soaping the panels. I turn the mitt over when I start on a new panel. Then I take the whole mitt, and thoroughly rinse it in the rinse bucket--until it's completely clean and free of any debris. It will feel fluffy and slimy again, then I dip it into the soap bucket and massage it a bit then take the whole dripping mitt to the paint and repeat.

FWIW, today after I got back home from work, I washed my MINI--in 20 minutes. In that time I rinsed the car, washed using the two bucket method, rinsed it twice, once with regular water, and once with DI water. Then I sprayed the wet MINI with Hydro, then wiped it dry with the Prima Waffle Weave. Also brushed and cleaned my wheels with the excess soap water. Some people are surprised that you can safely wash and wax a car in 20 minutes.

re: Epic and Clarity
If you stick with the Meguiar's pad system--W8006 and W9006 pads, then go with M80. M83 is optional--its twice as aggressive but that doesn't mean it's bad. I PC'd many MINIs with M83 before I discovered M80 and those MINIs still look great today.

Swirl and M83 seem to be very similar. I haven't done enough comparisons in terms of aggressiveness between the two, but atleast from the standpoint of chemical makeup, they both respond similarly.

Finish and M80. I think M80 is more aggressive than Finish--it really feels more like Swirl to me and the reason I say that is I've used Finish on a black BMW, and it really didn't respond the way I expected it to, so I finished it off with M80 instead and got the job done.

Amigo really isn't like M82--if I said that, I have to correct myself.

On a scale it goes M82, M80, M83 (each being twice as aggressive as the next in the sequence). Amigo isn't aggressive at all---it really relies on the foam pad choice for any cutting ability.

re: Pads
Well I'm actually working on a writeup comparing the pad systems. I have a complete set of Prima pads which use the LC system-same densities. I will get back to you on how similar they are to the Meguiar's pads. I know there are several posts on saying that certain pads are "similar" to Meguiar's pads but because I didn't have hands on experience with the LC pads, it's hard to say for sure. So I will be able to better answer this soon.

re: Front facing
Wow, no I never knew that I was partly responsible. I'm glad to hear it though! When I'm taking my son to school each day, I always get all kinds of comments from the parents. Yesterday one mother who arrived in the typical SUV was saying that the all black MINI looked pretty nice---she called it cute. LOL. Then she told me her husband had a classic Mini years ago and wanted to geta new MINI but wasn't sure since they had two kids--now she's seriously reconsidering.

I bought this car seat
http://www.epinions.com/content_1654...kin_id=8003929


I actually bought two from Target--one for the MINI and one for my wifes SUV (Nissan Murano). It's an inexpensive seat that's lightweight and easy to use. It's not built or has the padding like a Recaro which cost 8 times as much, but my son doesn't complain--maybe he's just a happy kid all the time. I posted that Epinions review in Dec 2004, so I've had the seats for quite awhile and they've held up great.

 

I completely disagree. My son who is about 3 months shy of turning 3 gets into the car himself. In fact, sometimes I threaten that I'll "help" him if he doesn't move a little faster and he says "no, no daddy, I'll do it".

While my son does like to kick the seat back and also the front passenger seatbelt, he knows I don't like it, and he will stop if I ask him too. He knows I don't like him kicking my car. The key here is to say, "Please be gentle." Then he kicks much softer and eventually gives up.

I've got a child seat full time in the back seat. Plenty of room to carry stuff. You can use the floors or the spaces around the seats. We still make Costco runs, and shopping trips. Most of the time when I go on details, I leave the seat in place and just put my MF towels which I carry in a laundry bag in the seat.

Maybe my kid is a little different than most though. I introduced him to some Billy Joel songs, and now when he gets in the car he asks "Daddy, can I listen to Billy Joel??" and when it finishes he says "again, again please!". And most recently when we shut off the engine, he asks, can we listen to the end of the song before we get out? He hates it when I stop the music in the middle.

Btw, taking out or putting the seat in takes 30 seconds. Just attach the leash to the back anchor behind the back seat, then thread the seat belt through the car seat, apply your weight to the seat so it pushes down into the seat and cinch the seatbelt tight.

 

 

OctaneGuy....if one wanted to buy Meguiars products from you, are doing mail order to NAM people all across the land or is it strictly for cash and carry So Cal peoples?

 

I will be doing both, but I just wanted to make sure the SoCal people knew they had a walk in source as well.

 

How did the car seat thing work out before your son could get in by himself? My wife's due in about 1 month. I'm not too worried about the infant part, as there is a base that can stay in the back seat and you just drop the car seat on the base and it locks. I'm more worried about when he is too heavy for those seats. Is is really difficult? I won't be getting rid of the MINI, but I do want to know what I'm up against.

 

alice- i tried it when mine real little... the carrier thingie is actually pretty
heavy vs just carrying him into the car...especially when they start
adding lbs and are very close to graduating the rear facing setup but
doable.

the pro for the carrier is that your baby will not make the scuffings...
you will.

if you're like octaneguy and have the patience to put your kids in the
car, it is doable. but i can tell you that i am exteremly glad when
i buy lots of groceries every weekend and have the stroller, child seats,
etc. etc. that i have another car to comfortably fit everything and
everyone in without any fuss. especially when it's raining pretty hard.
that's when things can get real "interesting."

i watched a family of 3 getting into a MINI with about the same amt of
groceries vs what we had to load in my Legacy. i can tell you that i started
loading up after them while my wife bucked up our kid, but i was able to
return the cart, get in the car, drive out and they were still fiddling around
with buckling up their kid while their dad was strategically placing their
purchases in the boot. and this was in the rain. if you are willing,
you can do it. i personally dont use the MCS for such tasks.

 

I think Ken is lazy.
(tip off of one your other threads about washing cars)

I loved the Peg Perego System. I had a base in my wifes car and a base in my MINI. When my son was born he was 5 pounds--yeah tiny. But a month later he was 10pounds, and he grew quickly. By 6 months he had pretty much outgrown the system and we went to the Cosco Touriva seats.

I think the easiest way was to have the wife already sitting in the backset, and I would hand her our son from outside. She would then plop him into the seat. When she wasn't there, it does take a little muscle to step into the backseat and put the infant into the seat. I did this until he started walking which seemed only to be a few months ago, lol.

Time goes fast though. I'm sure glad I got to spend the first 2 + years in my MINI with my kid. I hear all kinds of horror stories about children who get car sick, or can't go long distances in the car without getting ancy, etc.. But my son has never gotten car sick.

Maybe he got accustomed to the motion and bumpy ride at an early age. I dunno, or maybe I'm just lucky.

re: Ken and grocery shopping
I never took a stroller to the grocery store, much less shopping. Everywhere except for some malls have shopping carts where you can put the Peg Pergo system in the basket, or you can put your child in the seat. Choose child friendly places, and it's even easier to shop.

The only things I needed to take were a diaper bag packed with diapers, baby food, formula, water, and some toys. That easily fits in the boot or on the floor. Then there was plenty of room everywhere else in the car for grocery or shopping items. 15 pounds of dog food fit easily in the boot. Huge rolls of toilet paper from costco fit up front. Or even a huge box of diapers fits there as well.

The problem about having another car to haul all the baby stuff is that you accumulate all kinds of useless stuff and just waste gas hauling things you don't need! You really don't need 3 strollers in the car when going grocery shopping if you have one kid. Or a dozen books scattered on the floor, or extra toys that he hasn't played with since last year. Or yucky things like old used cups from McDonalds and food all over the carpet--Yeah I've seen these things in customer cars.





I have a simple question. How much do your love your MINI? Now think how much do you love your child? Once you become a parent, you go through fun times and lots of difficult times. But you can't give up, you move on and deal with it, and find how to make things better next time. Owning a MINI with a child takes some thought when shopping. You understand the limits of what you can carry, and you stay within those limits. Maybe take more frequent trips to the grocery store--twice a month instead of once a month. Remember you're combining the two things you love most! Your MINI and your child, and life couldn't get any better!

In the beginning transporting your child will be easy. There will be times as he gets older that you will have to change how you do things but you accommodate that because it's worth it. Eventually things change again and it only gets easier. I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

hahaha. i bet everyone's pulling out their popcorn for my reply
so here it goes.

"LAZY"... that's really a pov. i don't recall being efficient lazy.
but washing cars, yah, kinda lazy. not really *just* lazy, I don't have
much spare time either (how am i going to wash 4 cars in one day?).
i only have a few hours window to do stuff for myself during the week or
weekend. unlike some people, i don't want to be washing/detailing the
whole day when i can be motoring! plus with weather and
things always getting shifted around (you know wat im talking about,
you're a parent) i need to be efficient. we try to make our kid's daily
schedule as consistent as possible, but it doesn't always turn out that
way. :impatient hey, dad gets to do most of the home chores.
my wife is a IT consultant/programmer. she is extremely busy with work.

the stroller is always in the Legacy regardless of us using it at the
store or not. and NO, i dont use the stroller at a supermarket or
any store (HOME DEPOT!) that has a shopping cart. who the
hell does?!

what you're confusing is that a stroller in a wagon or my 06 civic for
that matter along with groceries and most daily task stuff is
NO BIG DEAL! as far as space. so we don't even think about it.
we don't have to strategically place anything. it's boom boom boom!
and we're good to go. and on top of that, i always have a snow
shovel in both cars in the winter time.

yep, we carry a diaper bag set with water and some snacks a toy or
two, but no need to make redundant bags or any other 'kid stuff' load
of crap. the one bag goes pretty much everwhere the kid goes.

on my MCS, there's a subwoofer in the boot (BassLink), CD changer,
air compressor, BCE (bird crap emergency kit), and watnot... there's really
not much more space for anything else which is fine cause i don't use
the car other than for motoring.

So, is that lazy? no~! does that make me love my MCS any less?
no~. absolutely not! it's actually the opposite! well, that's how i
play this game.

hahaha either way is fine. use it as a daily driver or as a weekend
car, imho. watever works for you.

 

i couldn't help but grin while posting. hahaha.

 

There you go! I agree.

Yeah well with a subwoofer taking up your boot, I can see how your toy isn't all that practical.

As far as detailing and washing cars go, the good thing is that during the cold months, I have a lot of free time to be posting on NAM or motoring in the MINI since the winter months (even in California where it can snow on the beach ) gets cold enough or rainy enough that people don't use detailers until it's sunny again.

So back to kids and MINIs. I agree that how you choose to raise your kids and in what style is a personal choice. But if a MINI owner wants to try, and I would completely support that idea since I've done it, and don't regret it one bit- I don't think they should be discouraged based off of any ones personal views.

That's just my 2 cents. Hmmm, time to go pop some popcorn.

 

wow.

 

Hey don't be an A hole! not really sure who I'm referring to...


ok, sorry. I'm just trying to instigate to make things even more amusing. It's late and I'm still at work. I do have some pretzels though...not quite the same as popcorn.

 

Me too! Ken and I are buds! We aren't arguing in case anyone tries to misintrepret our little fun here. We're just having a lively debate on being parents.