What did you do to your mini today?
6th Gear
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,461
Likes: 1
From: Vancouver, WA
RJKimball, that's funny - my WIFE has a Kia Soul! In Ignition Orange... check www.kiasoulforums.com, or www.soulhamsters.com...
I bought some spacers for my R53 custom exhaust, it's 3/16"" off but otherwise snorty and wonderful. This weekend he gets to go to a car show, gets a detailing and an interior cleaning...
I bought some spacers for my R53 custom exhaust, it's 3/16"" off but otherwise snorty and wonderful. This weekend he gets to go to a car show, gets a detailing and an interior cleaning...
I think our handle on Soulhamsters.com is also RJKimbell, though I hog the computer for NAM!! Check out my Garage both Molly & "SMAUG" are there, if you know who SMAUG is, you're probably a GEEK, like my Husband!! Funny my Husband was never a Car Nut until he met me...Lucky HIM!!
5th Gear
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 668
Likes: 0
From: South Florida
I got new tires for my MINI on Wednesday. The Conti's were almost out of tread at a touch over 15, 000 miles! I got Yokohama Avid Envigors after reading all the positive reviews on this site and Tire Rack.com. And bonus: the tire store matched the Tire Rack price! Sweet!
6th Gear
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 1,575
Likes: 0
From: Maryland, USA
I got new tires for my MINI on Wednesday. The Conti's were almost out of tread at a touch over 15, 000 miles! I got Yokohama Avid Envigors after reading all the positive reviews on this site and Tire Rack.com. And bonus: the tire store matched the Tire Rack price! Sweet!
Wow, better check my runflats. Have over 12,000miles on mine!
2nd Gear
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 106
Likes: 0
From: Fort Wayne, IN, USA.
Used some Armor All Wheel Protectant for my MINI's rims today! Made them more shiny that usual 
Monday I will be changing the spark plugs (NGK Platinum), NGK wire set, air filter, oil change (Mobil 1 0w-40) and filter! Oh, and a strut mount replacement. Then she'll be happy again and I'll be able to take her for a drive!
Monday I will be changing the spark plugs (NGK Platinum), NGK wire set, air filter, oil change (Mobil 1 0w-40) and filter! Oh, and a strut mount replacement. Then she'll be happy again and I'll be able to take her for a drive!
I got new tires for my MINI on Wednesday. The Conti's were almost out of tread at a touch over 15, 000 miles! I got Yokohama Avid Envigors after reading all the positive reviews on this site and Tire Rack.com. And bonus: the tire store matched the Tire Rack price! Sweet!
2nd Gear
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 103
Likes: 0
From: The Netherlands
TL;DR -> Coendek modded the rear-lights yesterday. Joeymodded the front, painted the front-grill.
Rear light modding was simpler then I expected:
Just take a sharp knife, plunge it into the glue, about 4-5mm is enough. Don't twist the knife, but rotate it a little so you can use a small hammer to tap through the glue. Go round the whole unit and it will pop open. Remove the lens, leave the rest. Use some crepe-tape (that goes around bends) to cover the inside. Spray it, let it dry in the oven for about five minutes at 125C, repeat at least three times. Leave the unit alone for about half an hour.
Clamp the rear into a workbench, remove the tape. Put the lens back on. Use silicone-based kit (the stuff you use for your bathroom, but clear, not white) to glue it back together. Put a little rubber/silicone mat on the lens on which you set a gallon-jug filled with water or anything actually. Leave be for a few hours.
Carefully test the silicone, is it strong enough to hold the lens? And is it really closed? It would be a small disaster if water came seeping through
Bolt the unit(s) back in: done!!
The Joey-mod isn't much harder, but you'll have to have some guts to do it.
First remove the screws that hold the Xenon-unit under the headlight. Then unbold the three nuts (10mm socket), one on the front, two in the back. Unclamp the wiring and the washer-tube.
Carefully take out the headlight, then remove the washer. Now here's the part where you'll need some serious guts. Put the headlights in the oven at 175C for about 4 minutes. This will make the sticky stuff that holds the lens on the unit quite soft, you will still have to use some force, try to do that with some gloves on as the unit will be hot. No screwdriver necessary just do it by hand to decrease the chance of scratches and stuff.
The first time took me a lot longer, had to put the unit back in the oven as it had cooled down quite a lot.
All right, once you have the lens of, remove the large silvery interior. There's lots of DIYs that'll tell you how to get it all out. Just clean it to get any grease from your hands off the parts you'll want to paint.
Spray-paint the parts, let it set in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 125C before adding another layer. Repeat at least three times and finally let it set for 20-25 minutes before putting it all back in again.
Once you've done that, put the headlight on it's back and carefully put back the front-lens. Then put it all in the oven for 4-5 minutes at 175C. Press (quite hard) to reattach the lens, reattach the washer. Put the bulbs back in and then put it in the bonnet where it belongs Don't forget to reattach the washer-tube and the wiring :P
The grill was easy as I wanted it all matte black. Just undid the little nuts on the bonnet and with some careful prying took the top-part out. Cleaned it, let it dry, sandpapered it a little. Painted it, left it of 15mins, repeated that a few times.
The bottom part of the grill was a b*tch. The chrome thingy came of easy, that other thing wouldn't budge. Had to paint it while still on the car.
In the end I just put it all back where it belonged and that's about it.
Need to paint the grills a few more times, I ran out of paint and it is matte now. Don't know if I want to keep it that way just yet.
I'll take some pictures tomorrow, it's 3:00AM so that'll take a little while.
BTW: one of the washers was glued together by the previous owner, I accidentally broke it so I had to order a new one. ($100)
As the car has painted wheel arches and the paint starts to peel off, I bid on some new arches with the fancy (US only) lights in it. I already bought some before, I hope I have them all now so I can replace them.
And I've bought new headlight-trims in dark-silver. It'll be hell to put them on, so hope to have some help doing so or at least a good DIY/how-to
Need to paint the boot-latch (above the license plate) black to now.. Bummer
Pics!
Rear light modding was simpler then I expected:
Just take a sharp knife, plunge it into the glue, about 4-5mm is enough. Don't twist the knife, but rotate it a little so you can use a small hammer to tap through the glue. Go round the whole unit and it will pop open. Remove the lens, leave the rest. Use some crepe-tape (that goes around bends) to cover the inside. Spray it, let it dry in the oven for about five minutes at 125C, repeat at least three times. Leave the unit alone for about half an hour.
Clamp the rear into a workbench, remove the tape. Put the lens back on. Use silicone-based kit (the stuff you use for your bathroom, but clear, not white) to glue it back together. Put a little rubber/silicone mat on the lens on which you set a gallon-jug filled with water or anything actually. Leave be for a few hours.
Carefully test the silicone, is it strong enough to hold the lens? And is it really closed? It would be a small disaster if water came seeping through
Bolt the unit(s) back in: done!!
The Joey-mod isn't much harder, but you'll have to have some guts to do it.
First remove the screws that hold the Xenon-unit under the headlight. Then unbold the three nuts (10mm socket), one on the front, two in the back. Unclamp the wiring and the washer-tube.
Carefully take out the headlight, then remove the washer. Now here's the part where you'll need some serious guts. Put the headlights in the oven at 175C for about 4 minutes. This will make the sticky stuff that holds the lens on the unit quite soft, you will still have to use some force, try to do that with some gloves on as the unit will be hot. No screwdriver necessary just do it by hand to decrease the chance of scratches and stuff.
The first time took me a lot longer, had to put the unit back in the oven as it had cooled down quite a lot.
All right, once you have the lens of, remove the large silvery interior. There's lots of DIYs that'll tell you how to get it all out. Just clean it to get any grease from your hands off the parts you'll want to paint.
Spray-paint the parts, let it set in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 125C before adding another layer. Repeat at least three times and finally let it set for 20-25 minutes before putting it all back in again.
Once you've done that, put the headlight on it's back and carefully put back the front-lens. Then put it all in the oven for 4-5 minutes at 175C. Press (quite hard) to reattach the lens, reattach the washer. Put the bulbs back in and then put it in the bonnet where it belongs
Don't forget to reattach the washer-tube and the wiring :PThe grill was easy as I wanted it all matte black. Just undid the little nuts on the bonnet and with some careful prying took the top-part out. Cleaned it, let it dry, sandpapered it a little. Painted it, left it of 15mins, repeated that a few times.
The bottom part of the grill was a b*tch. The chrome thingy came of easy, that other thing wouldn't budge. Had to paint it while still on the car.
In the end I just put it all back where it belonged and that's about it.
Need to paint the grills a few more times, I ran out of paint and it is matte now. Don't know if I want to keep it that way just yet.
I'll take some pictures tomorrow, it's 3:00AM so that'll take a little while.
BTW: one of the washers was glued together by the previous owner, I accidentally broke it so I had to order a new one. ($100)
As the car has painted wheel arches and the paint starts to peel off, I bid on some new arches with the fancy (US only) lights in it. I already bought some before, I hope I have them all now so I can replace them.
And I've bought new headlight-trims in dark-silver. It'll be hell to put them on, so hope to have some help doing so or at least a good DIY/how-to
Need to paint the boot-latch (above the license plate) black to now.. Bummer
Pics!
Last edited by Floor-is; Aug 21, 2011 at 07:38 AM.
2nd Gear
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 69
Likes: 0
TL;DR -> Coendek modded the rear-lights yesterday. Joeymodded the front, painted the front-grill.
Rear light modding was simpler then I expected:
Just take a sharp knife, plunge it into the glue, about 4-5mm is enough. Don't twist the knife, but rotate it a little so you can use a small hammer to tap through the glue. Go round the whole unit and it will pop open. Remove the lens, leave the rest. Use some crepe-tape (that goes around bends) to cover the inside. Spray it, let it dry in the oven for about five minutes at 125C, repeat at least three times. Leave the unit alone for about half an hour.
Clamp the rear into a workbench, remove the tape. Put the lens back on. Use silicone-based kit (the stuff you use for your bathroom, but clear, not white) to glue it back together. Put a little rubber/silicone mat on the lens on which you set a gallon-jug filled with water or anything actually. Leave be for a few hours.
Carefully test the silicone, is it strong enough to hold the lens? And is it really closed? It would be a small disaster if water came seeping through
Bolt the unit(s) back in: done!!
The Joey-mod isn't much harder, but you'll have to have some guts to do it.
First remove the screws that hold the Xenon-unit under the headlight. Then unbold the three nuts (10mm socket), one on the front, two in the back. Unclamp the wiring and the washer-tube.
Carefully take out the headlight, then remove the washer. Now here's the part where you'll need some serious guts. Put the headlights in the oven at 175C for about 4 minutes. This will make the sticky stuff that holds the lens on the unit quite soft, you will still have to use some force, try to do that with some gloves on as the unit will be hot. No screwdriver necessary just do it by hand to decrease the chance of scratches and stuff.
The first time took me a lot longer, had to put the unit back in the oven as it had cooled down quite a lot.
All right, once you have the lens of, remove the large silvery interior. There's lots of DIYs that'll tell you how to get it all out. Just clean it to get any grease from your hands off the parts you'll want to paint.
Spray-paint the parts, let it set in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 125C before adding another layer. Repeat at least three times and finally let it set for 20-25 minutes before putting it all back in again.
Once you've done that, put the headlight on it's back and carefully put back the front-lens. Then put it all in the oven for 4-5 minutes at 175C. Press (quite hard) to reattach the lens, reattach the washer. Put the bulbs back in and then put it in the bonnet where it belongs Don't forget to reattach the washer-tube and the wiring :P
The grill was easy as I wanted it all matte black. Just undid the little nuts on the bonnet and with some careful prying took the top-part out. Cleaned it, let it dry, sandpapered it a little. Painted it, left it of 15mins, repeated that a few times.
The bottom part of the grill was a b*tch. The chrome thingy came of easy, that other thing wouldn't budge. Had to paint it while still on the car.
In the end I just put it all back where it belonged and that's about it.
Need to paint the grills a few more times, I ran out of paint and it is matte now. Don't know if I want to keep it that way just yet.
I'll take some pictures tomorrow, it's 3:00AM so that'll take a little while.
BTW: one of the washers was glued together by the previous owner, I accidentally broke it so I had to order a new one. ($100)
As the car has painted wheel arches and the paint starts to peel off, I bid on some new arches with the fancy (US only) lights in it. I already bought some before, I hope I have them all now so I can replace them.
And I've bought new headlight-trims in dark-silver. It'll be hell to put them on, so hope to have some help doing so or at least a good DIY/how-to
Need to paint the boot-latch (above the license plate) black to now.. Bummer
Pics!
Rear light modding was simpler then I expected:
Just take a sharp knife, plunge it into the glue, about 4-5mm is enough. Don't twist the knife, but rotate it a little so you can use a small hammer to tap through the glue. Go round the whole unit and it will pop open. Remove the lens, leave the rest. Use some crepe-tape (that goes around bends) to cover the inside. Spray it, let it dry in the oven for about five minutes at 125C, repeat at least three times. Leave the unit alone for about half an hour.
Clamp the rear into a workbench, remove the tape. Put the lens back on. Use silicone-based kit (the stuff you use for your bathroom, but clear, not white) to glue it back together. Put a little rubber/silicone mat on the lens on which you set a gallon-jug filled with water or anything actually. Leave be for a few hours.
Carefully test the silicone, is it strong enough to hold the lens? And is it really closed? It would be a small disaster if water came seeping through
Bolt the unit(s) back in: done!!
The Joey-mod isn't much harder, but you'll have to have some guts to do it.
First remove the screws that hold the Xenon-unit under the headlight. Then unbold the three nuts (10mm socket), one on the front, two in the back. Unclamp the wiring and the washer-tube.
Carefully take out the headlight, then remove the washer. Now here's the part where you'll need some serious guts. Put the headlights in the oven at 175C for about 4 minutes. This will make the sticky stuff that holds the lens on the unit quite soft, you will still have to use some force, try to do that with some gloves on as the unit will be hot. No screwdriver necessary just do it by hand to decrease the chance of scratches and stuff.
The first time took me a lot longer, had to put the unit back in the oven as it had cooled down quite a lot.
All right, once you have the lens of, remove the large silvery interior. There's lots of DIYs that'll tell you how to get it all out. Just clean it to get any grease from your hands off the parts you'll want to paint.
Spray-paint the parts, let it set in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 125C before adding another layer. Repeat at least three times and finally let it set for 20-25 minutes before putting it all back in again.
Once you've done that, put the headlight on it's back and carefully put back the front-lens. Then put it all in the oven for 4-5 minutes at 175C. Press (quite hard) to reattach the lens, reattach the washer. Put the bulbs back in and then put it in the bonnet where it belongs
Don't forget to reattach the washer-tube and the wiring :PThe grill was easy as I wanted it all matte black. Just undid the little nuts on the bonnet and with some careful prying took the top-part out. Cleaned it, let it dry, sandpapered it a little. Painted it, left it of 15mins, repeated that a few times.
The bottom part of the grill was a b*tch. The chrome thingy came of easy, that other thing wouldn't budge. Had to paint it while still on the car.
In the end I just put it all back where it belonged and that's about it.
Need to paint the grills a few more times, I ran out of paint and it is matte now. Don't know if I want to keep it that way just yet.
I'll take some pictures tomorrow, it's 3:00AM so that'll take a little while.
BTW: one of the washers was glued together by the previous owner, I accidentally broke it so I had to order a new one. ($100)
As the car has painted wheel arches and the paint starts to peel off, I bid on some new arches with the fancy (US only) lights in it. I already bought some before, I hope I have them all now so I can replace them.
And I've bought new headlight-trims in dark-silver. It'll be hell to put them on, so hope to have some help doing so or at least a good DIY/how-to
Need to paint the boot-latch (above the license plate) black to now.. Bummer
Pics!
I was going to install torque arm inserts, but it started to rain. Grrrr
I installed a boost gauge in order to see what the supercharger was doing...pain in the butt, but worth it.
I also replaced the stock BPV with the broken spring with a new DT BPV....WOW, what a HUGE difference that made!!! The motor actually has some guts now...I love it!!
I also replaced the stock BPV with the broken spring with a new DT BPV....WOW, what a HUGE difference that made!!! The motor actually has some guts now...I love it!!
6th Gear
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 4,461
Likes: 1
From: Vancouver, WA
She got a nice mini Detail (did not do Interior). I used all Griot's Garage Products...Wheel Cleaner, Car Wash, Spray-on Wax, Vinyl & Rubber Dressing, Speed Shine, and Window Cleaner...she's l@@kin' mighty Spiffy!! 
She will be visiting MINI of Portland in the morning for a Passenger Window Squeal and a PDR job...hopefully, the dent is on the Passenger Side Body Panel right behind the door..cross your fingers they can pull it out!!
She will be visiting MINI of Portland in the morning for a Passenger Window Squeal and a PDR job...hopefully, the dent is on the Passenger Side Body Panel right behind the door..cross your fingers they can pull it out!!
2nd Gear
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 70
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
Since buying my Clubman I have noticed the poor rear visibility. One of the main offenders are the rear headrests. So, in about 5 minutes, I fixed the problem.
Before (note the stops on the right rod of each headrest)
Drive the pins out & set the stops aside
Replace headrests
Enjoy the added visibility
Before (note the stops on the right rod of each headrest)
Drive the pins out & set the stops aside
Replace headrests
Enjoy the added visibility
Too bad the center post(s) on the doors don't remove as easily! :P
Just kidding, that's part of the character. I had an R56 loaner from the dealership and ended up removing the rear headrests entirely for the same reason. I also pulled-and-flipped-around the driver's side headrest, because it was mussing up my 'do. Actually, it was just rubbing (annoyingly) the back of my head. Thankfully it fits in there backwards.
Just kidding, that's part of the character. I had an R56 loaner from the dealership and ended up removing the rear headrests entirely for the same reason. I also pulled-and-flipped-around the driver's side headrest, because it was mussing up my 'do. Actually, it was just rubbing (annoyingly) the back of my head. Thankfully it fits in there backwards.
Funny my Husband was never a Car Nut until he met me...Lucky HIM!!
I fully aligned the custom exhaust, fueled with Super Premium, and took the R53 on an Energetic Drive this weekend. MAN that car loves Energetic Drives! Seems to drive better after I return... and Tunnels are especially rewarding.
5th Gear
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 1,083
Likes: 112
From: Mount Doom, Mordor
C ya,
Dutch
