Washed many days worth of fallen pollen off of the car.
Bright and shiny again for a very short period of time.

 

I replaced my intercooler boots last night at 112,500 miles with new Mini OEM ones... Seems to have smoothed out the low RPM issues I was having... Could just be me though.

 

Mary Jane just got some new tires for our long commute back and forth to work.....

 

How difficult was this install? Ive been looking to do it, mine are starting to show a few tiny cracks. Could an amateur DIYer do it with basic tools?

 

I took a picture (with my phone, so take it easy on me) of the blacked out parts that I finished up last night.

 

Looks great! I just blacked out my Beltline, but prob keeping the rest of my chrome. The belt line just made sense to me as it pretty much unites the black roof with the car, ya know?

 

Replaced the fuel filter gasket, which the pros had forgotten.

This is why I prefer to do my own work.

 

Took her out last night for a spirited drive to fill her up. Loved every minute of it!

 

I didn't do anything, but the rock on the freeway had its way with my windshield!

 

Ouch. Check with your insurance company. Many companies now offer free windshield repair (not replacement).

 

^^Call Safelite, they've repaired 2 chips in my wife's Nissan and you can't even tell they were ever chipped. Get it before it splits!

 

I really like the look. Are you planning to do the door handles as well? I am looking at doing some of this myself but I don't know where to start. Can you point me to a link or provide a little direction on what you used and etc?

 

Well, there are beltline blackout "kits", but thanks to helpful NAM folks we used Scotch 33+ Electrical tape and exacto knife. Went on nicely and looks great. Can be pulled off easily, etc. so thought it was a great option. Door handles can be Plasti dipped, Ive heard. Also outmotoring.com has door handle covers in black. Lots of resources out there for us Miniacs!! Just post a question here and the suggestions are very forth coming!! Good luck!

 

Electrical tape! Awesome! I like the idea that it can be removed if necessary. I'll start by using that on the belt-line and take it from there.

Do you happen to know whether plasti-cote or plasti-dip is removable?

 

call your insurance company right away, i waited and my windshield crack is now too big for the insurance to cover. I call today safelite and its $421 for a replacement

 

Plasti Dip is absolutely removable, and I read somewhere on the site that Mineral Spirits will help do the trick if you can't get it to peel off.

The blue Mini up there ^^^^^ is mine, and all of the chrome is Plasti Dipped so that I could get a feel for what it looked like. I do plan on going a more permanent route someday, but for now, a $5 can was as much as I wanted to spend to experiment. I used a beltline vinyl kit from OutMotoring, and it took a small sample piece for me to get the hang of it, but after that it was VERY simple. I've read that the tape is also a good fit, so it's up to you (the cheaper route would probably be best this time around, to be honest).

I don't have plans to do the door handles yet, but it might turn into a rainy day project. My mini is my daily driver, so I don't really want to tear things apart that will incapacitate my ride for more than a few hours at a time right now.

 

You don't have to remove the handles. Just tape and paper around them and spray the Plastic dip in lite coats. Be sure to protect everything you don't want sprayed---

 

I'm afraid of doing it in the parking lot (the painting).

 

^^^^^^SEE?!?! Miniacs are the BEST!

 

No need for electrical tape / exacto...the outmotoring kit is cut to size, and $14 shipped! Save yourself the headache IMO.

 

The kit that I received from OutMotoring was the perfect height, but it was by no means cut into lengths, so a knife was a necessity for my "Gen 2" kit. And they'll be using electrical tape instead of vinyl.

 

Had tint done last night. Really completes the car. To celebrate I took it for a long ride to a Skip Barber open house at Lime Rock Park. Ran great on the twisties on the way up. After a day on the track with some instructors, ran even better on the way home . I really do love this car!

 

After seeing that non of the cover sold have the hold for the comfort access button I may have to do this. That or try and find some cheap covers and dremel out the button and plastic dip those.

Anyone have close up pics of the results?

 

Installed my new go-badge black jack carbon fiber stuby antenna today and gave my mini a bath.

No name yet i cant think of any name for my mini.

 

Cleaned him top to bottom, front to back, and inside out.
We'll see how long that lasts.