thought I'd add this response at his request from a friend of a friend who read thtrough this thread:

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Ditto on the arketmay in exastay.

 

umberto,
I remember your original thread in which you made queries about interest levels. To see photos, however, literally brings your design to life. It really is fantastic. What is a stinking shame is the liability insurance requirement for things like this. What a silly world! I'd love to have one of your shades in my Mini. I'll keep fingers crossed that you find a way to profit some way with this clever idea.
Billie

 

I really hope something comes of this. but as mentioned in an earlier post. why can someone not remove the oem mesh, and replace it with a solid fabric or smaller holed mesh? You would use all the existing hardware. It would essentially just be an upholstery job, and someone could also do core charges on something like this. I mean, if my old 98 plymouth neon had a solid screen, why can't bmw/mini come up with something?

Even when the weather is not too terribly hot, I still don't like the added sunlight. I tint my windows not only to keep out heat, but also give myself a sense of privacy, which is diminished when you let in light. I find myself wanting to go to a darker % than what I did with any other car in my past.

 

umberto,
If you haven't already checked, some of the vendors here on NAM might be a good bet. I know here in FL, www.minspeed.net has brought several products to market that started w/ a desire to make our cars better. You can check out the thread on www.sunshineminis.org for the rear seat delete kit being developed plus several nice exhaust systems. If you decide to do this on your own and need parts mfg there are probably several places in your area willing to work w/ you. I have an injection molding outfit right down the road from my company's office and we have an inhouse fabrication division, http://www.vtmilcom.com/Manufacturing.htm. They're a little expensive but they are very familar w/ small runs. Please keep trucking on this, I wouldn't mind having one too.

 

That is my one real gripe with the MINI - the designers didn't take the American Sunbelt into consideration when they designed the sunroof...

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE find a way to build this thing - I'll buy one as soon as it becomes available (heck, for that matter, I'll buy your prototype! whatddyawantferit?)

 

I would definitely be interested in one of these. I really like the fact that it gives you three options for light: opaque, clear and mesh. That is the one thing I disliked about my old car with the standard opaque shade, it was either open or closed and nothing in between. Sometimes I wanted a little light in, but not full-sun, or I wanted to be able to have the glass open and still have some shade going on (I do this with my mesh shade often).

I really hope you can make something happen with this great idea.

 

Doomsday(like that name!): I looked in the vtmilcom website and could not find their contct tel #...do they do any manufacturing for automotive??

russell

 

Maybe you can contact palo uber and get them to produce it. Ofcourse they will claim it as their own and charge triple for it

Seriously though, I would buy this for $100 in a heart beat!

 

where are they located? I went on their site and could not find their contact info, other than emailing them, but where the heck are they located?

 

Honestly, I wouldn't let PU touch it. They'll just sell ones that break in 3 days and charge $400 for each one.

 

Umberto.....I was joking . Please dont tell me you emailed them

 

no worries....no email was sent by me

 

Still hoping this materializes sometime soon. Picked up my Mini Tuesday evening and it has been the hottest weather we've had thus far.

I did pick up some very light weight windshield covers from the local Dollar Store about a month ago. I've actually folded each one in half and it almost fits the Mini sunroof perfectly. It blacks the sunroof out rather well. Not the perfect situation, but for $3 to cover both sun roof areas and the windshield I guess I've done pretty good. It only takes a minute to tuck them into place.

I'd still spend the $$ for something that fit perfectly.

 

And rust before they break.

 

still working on it.........still trying to find a manufacturer.....

 

Hello... China?

 

Could you get to work on improving the sunvisors. Pleeeease!

 

Springo.......actually, I did not mention it, but that is another project of mine...you can see them in all the pictures in the beginning post of this thread.

I fashioned some visor extenders with pull-outs to either side to make the MINI's puny too short horrible dangerous visors act longer ...they do not impede the use of the visor's vanity mirror cover and blend in pretty nicely, as you can see ( because almost nobody mentioned them) with the headliner.

Do others out there also feel that the stock visors leave a little to be desired and are even somewhat dangerous?

 

I dislike the sun visors more than anything else on my pretty little MINI. You have some great ideas. 2 questions...have you done anything for the side sunvisor and where and when can I order these??? I guess that is 3 questions...

 

Springo....alas, no success so far....I am still trying to find a manufacturer to take on this a s a project..........any ideas out there????????

 

Have you tried contacting one of the various MINI stuffs related websites (like outmotoring.com or the like) and see if they'd be willing to partner with you on getting it manufactured?

 

oh yeah...i've contacted all the MINI aftermarket types....does not look promising

 

Looks like it's up to Mini owners to come up with our own contraptions. I guess I'm sticking to my Dollar Store make-shift sun shades. They do work well. I've not even had one person comment that I'd rigged a pretty good thing. I think they see them as being made for the car.

If I see them again I'll buy them out, post some pics, and offer some up to everyone.

 

Bummer!