Just put some new windshield molding on . Installed a headliner and other body trim parts.

 

woo DIY painted headlight rings, grill , overlays, intercooler cover, and wheels! yay plasti dip.

 

Attempted a paint fix for a long scratch on my anthracite down tube, where the OEM cup holder bracket used to be. Looks decent in the garage; will take it out tomorrow in full sunlight to see if I can stand the way it looks. If not I'll either have to make another attempt or maybe plan on buying a replacement piece.

 

Blacked out the chrome beltline with electrical tape. It's not perfect, definitely a few bubbles, but I wanted to see how it looked. I like it, I think I'll track down plastidip and do it right, the grill and boot handle as well.

 

Why is everyone using plasidip to black out their cars? I see people in these forums using it to paint their roofs black, making boot & bonnet stripes and blacking out chrome. Plastidip is soft, will damage easily and will be difficult to remove dirt from. If you want a flat black roof, paint it with matte paint, like hot rodders use. If you want stripes use real paint, it will last much longer or use one of the countless aftermarket vinyl stripe kits available, if MINI uses vinyl stripes it must be pretty durable. As for blacking out chrome, numerous manufacturers make trim paint designed specifically for automotive trim, easy to use and gives you a nice matte black finish. If plastidip was so great to use for painting roofs, stripes and trim why doesn't any automotive manufacturer use it? Because they would be up to their a**es in customer compaints because of the durability. Using plastidip on your cars may be cheap and easy but you are only devaluing your car. I myself wouldn't even consider a car that has been plastidiped because it would make me wonder what else has been done to the car on the cheap.

'02 Liquid Yellow MCS and no Plastidip

 

Well, we use plastidip because as opposed to any rattle can spray paint, the finish doesn't look like a 15 year old ricer did it. Also because not everyone has their own painting booth to sand, prime, paint, and clear their car in, let alone an oven to bake it in. Talk about devaluing a car, improper painting is a surefire way to tank your car's value. Whereas, plastidip leaves absolutely no trace once it is removed.

Automotive companies don't use plastidip because it is supposed to be a completely reversable TEMPORARY thing. You don't sell cars on temporary items. That'd be like buying or selling a car because it comes with a bag of crisps.

 

put in new Philips Crystal Vision foglight bulbs

 

Agreed

 

Don't forget to black out the headlight rings also.

 

After a month or two of absurd heat, (105-115 Heat index) I finally decided to wash Momo, but its still to hot for a sponge bath and wax. So i had to settle for a regular car wash.

 

Plastidipped the tail/headlight rings and gas cap. A pretty easy job overall. It came out even better than I expected and only ran me $10.

Yes it's only a temporary solution, but it allows me to live with it for a while and I can decide if I want to paint them professionally later on. I probably will ... but for now I am saving my $ so I can get off these heavy OEM rims and run-flats.

 

Ahh yes, good call. Also the door handles.

As for the plasti-dip hate, I'd rather use it because if I screw it up, it's removable and I can try again. As for devaluation, if I decide to sell my MINI, the first thing I would do is peel it off and return it to a stock look, so that's a moot point.

 

Fixed one of my door sills. It was peeling up so I took it totally off, cleaned the door area, then spent 4 hours getting all the black foam crap off the back of it. Put some new 3m auto tape on it and stuck it back on. Might do the driver side tomorrow.

Just wanted to buy a new one buts it's like $200 each, wow.

 

Did the other door sill today, soaked it in googone and it came off much easier. Only took about 30mins total. Also got a new badge:

 

^^^^ Like the badge!

 

Well I added the GP intercooler last year and between the fact it has larger surface area, and that I am running with the M7 Extreme Scoop, I tend to finds lots of bugs and stuff stuck in the fins

Unable to locate a grill for it, I purchased some Home Depot SS gutter guard and then ended up with a large section of black powdercoated screen in the Marketplace and from my own template. The MINI's OEM underside bonnet diverter actually has an indented area to have a grill inset there. So tracing out a pattern was really simple task.

Both grilles set right in between the bonnet divereter and the back of the scoop. Nothing needed to secure it. It is sandwiched in there perfectly.

newICgrilles001.jpg?t=1281573646

Below photo, you can see the inset area aft of the front opening.
newICgrilles002.jpg?t=1281573694

Below photo - red arrows show where the screen is sandwiched between the back of the Extreme scoop and the inset area of the black OEM bonnet diverter.
bugscreen002.jpg?t=1281573861

This was the Home Depot Silver one I had before.
Silver.jpg?t=1281573972

This is the black powder coated one in there now.
PDdM7Scoop007-1.jpg?t=1281574140


After doing the grill, I felt ambitous, and decided to make a set for the front lower fogs too. Made a template and cut with sharp snips.

FogGrilles006.jpg?t=1281575098

 

How much do charge to make a pair for my fog lights?

 

Discovered the wonders of plasti-dip.... But I didn't buy the spray kind, I bought the paint-on kind. I tried doing the headlight rings but it looks pretty bad so I think I'm going to peel it off, get the spray-Plasti-Dip and try again. I see how easy it is to become obsessed with this stuff...it all started with me blacking out my toll pass (thanks, MINIBee!) and ended with random people from my apartment complex trying to figure out what the heck I was doing to my car

 

Got my Megan catback installed! Oh boy does that rumble now!

 

where did u get your Megan exhaust since i never knew they even made exhaust for the MINI...

 

I bought mine off of Way Motor Works. It's for the R50. The tone is beautiful. Price isn't bad either! If I'm correct, around $429.00 shipped. Well worth it! Check out his site. www.waymotorworks.com

 

My plasti-dip plans fell through after they wanted to tack on an additional $24 for shipping ($9 per can, plus 13% tax, plus $35 to ship "dangerous goods") so I canceled the order. Hopefully I can track it down somewhere in town, I'd really like to do my headlight rings/grill this weekend!

 

I'm not sure where you're located.. But if you have a Home Depot around you, they always carry the black plasti dip. It's cheaper too. That's where I was told to pick mine up to do my grille. Keep us posted!

 

I've seen on my local board that the Home Depot's in Texas carry plasti-dip.

 

Thanks, I am going to give home depot a shot! It's a bit of a drive, and they said on the phone they don't carry it.. but you can't always trust front-line service employees to give a **** and actually check the stock, I guess! If it works out, I'll post up the new blackout parts :D