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General MINI TalkShared experiences, motoring minutes, and other general MINI-related discussion that applies to all MINIs, regardless of model, year or trim.
@Yjsaabman - I assume these refreshed/painted S-Lites are your winter tires (?). Since you repainted them with Rustoleum, If you wouldn't mind posting an update as to how well the paint held up over time. I had refinished mine with German brand WURTH genuine silver and over a years time due to braking/heat - the finish (paint) has cracked like a spider web. I am not sure the expense I put into using these laquer base materials was "wurth" it. I plan on refinishing them again with silver VHT ( very high temp).
thanks!
Yes, the S-lites are winter wheels. Summer wheels are the MC40 style 2 piece BBS. I'll be sure to keep the group updated on how the paint holds up. Being winter wheels and a bit rough I went cheap this time. I've had good results with the VHT and Duplicolor wheel paints. It's been about a year and 15k miles on the Duplicolor on my E46 wheels and they still look great.
I spent most of the afternoon wiring up and installing a pair of self modded rear fog lights.
In a previous post in "WDYDTYMT", I described how I modified a TPM switch to activate the fogs.
Tonight I wrapped things up and finished the installation...
A preview of the components to be installed.
Sheesh! - 20 years of dirt, soot and grime.
After pulling the rear bumper, I took the opportunity to give it a good scrub down.
Removing the rear lower grilles; I mocked-up the placement for the intended fog lights. I then cut and Dremeled out a recess to fit the housing(s).
I preferred to have the wires well insulated and robust when running from the rear bumper and routed through/behind the interior panels.
I decided to utilize a power cord from an AC/DC adapter. Just for it's convenient encased 16 gauge wires and the ease of plug and play.
Plus it was long enough to fit the bill.
I was suddenly stricken with memory seizure when it came to wiring up the connections and the relay.
After what seemed forever; I was finally able to make sense of it all and could finally install the re-modded TPM (working) switch.
Yay.
Yay +1. It lights up when activating the rear fogs!
Oh yeh...about those LED strips in the first photo...
Today I watered my Sansevieria zeylanica (aka:"snake plant"). Bathed and groomed my dog....
Oh yeah -
I also spent 3hrs washing, waxing, cleaning and detailing my Mini.
I had spent a week or so disassembling the interior in order to (discretely) run some wires for the above mentioned rear fog light mod.
Between wiring and work hours left me little time for my ritual weekend car washes.
Fall here, has got to be one of 2wo worst times of the year. The other being mid Spring when washing the sap and pollen off your Mini becomes a daily chore - if not hourly.
Although I do a daily wipe-down after each and every drive; this time of year is almost impossible to keep my Mini clean.
Pictured above is an image taken of the amount of sap that had accumulated just a one hour after spending 2wo hours washing and waxing my Mini.
While sap deposits is a huge issue (you almost have to scrape it off), it is only compounded by the abundance of tiny, gnat like bugs that swarm this time of year.
They seem to love to gravitate, cover, stick to the sap and die on your car's finish. There was too much glare on the car to snap an image of them.
But I can assure you; by tomorrow morning every car will be covered in those annoying little bugs.
On the-other hand, I suppose I should be somewhat thankful - At least we don't often get snow down here.
Did something I've been meaning to do since we got Ziggy. It made an improvement, but there's just too much damaged to the plastic for them to ever come back fully.
Hazy headlights from a life outside and mediocre cosmetic care. Not my first rodeo! I know how much of a mess this will make! Despite my preparations, I still had cleanup to do! A definite improvement. The left is damaged worse, though. Here you can see some of the crazing and cracking that's present of the left lense. Overall a brighter, happier face. At least for a little while.
Those headlights look great! Did you coat them with product after polishing them up?
No, so I know it won't last long. Just a machine polish with PlastX. It is a huge improvement. The top, inner section of the left headlight was actually rough to the touch before, and now a microfiber glides right over it. I could get them better with wet sanding, then polishing, and finally coating. I'm just going to use it as an excuse to upgrade them down the road.
Did something I've been meaning to do since we got Ziggy. It made an improvement, but there's just too much damaged to the plastic for them to ever come back fully. Hazy headlights from a life outside and mediocre cosmetic care. Not my first rodeo! I know how much of a mess this will make!
.....
Nice results!
Interestingly, or just by coincidence - I've been working with polycarbonate and acetone on an project unrelated to headlight restoration and happened to come across a few videos with respect to acetone vapor headlight restoration.
Admittedly - I've never heard of before but found it pretty interesting nonetheless...
Like yourself; I've had pretty fair if not excellent results restoring headlights to near new condition just by wet sanding and polishing (by hand).
The vapor restoration process is indeed impressive (to me), and just thought I'd share.
I also found this vapor kit on AliExpress.
Looks great! I did this a few years ago on both my cars and used Meguiar's Headlight Coating as the final step to help maintain the clarity for longer and give some UV protection. It's alcohol based, so if you mess up or get overspray, it's easy to clean off with rubbing alcohol. I haven't had to touch up or recoat yet, and it's been about two and a half years.
Looks great! I did this a few years ago on both my cars and used Meguiar's Headlight Coating as the final step to help maintain the clarity for longer and give some UV protection. It's alcohol based, so if you mess up or get overspray, it's easy to clean off with rubbing alcohol. I haven't had to touch up or recoat yet, and it's been about two and half years.
When you say "I did this", do you mean sand&polish or acetone vapor? Thanks!
When you say "I did this", do you mean sand&polish or acetone vapor? Thanks!
Just meant the standard headlight restoration of sanding and polishing that Yjsaabman did. Although, I think I did more levels of sanding - I think I started with 800 grit wet sand, then 1000 grit, then 2000, then the polish, then the headlight coating spray.
i used the Meguiar's kit on the old clubman, and they turned out great. a few times a year after cleaning the car, i would hit the lights with the ball and wax again.
i used the Meguiar's kit on the old clubman, and they turned out great. a few times a year after cleaning the car, i would hit the lights with the ball and wax again.
this lazy a$$ used the one made for cordless drill. Prep the area around like above or prepare to clean an engine bay, first year mistake not made a second time. Easier to cover everything in plastic than have to clean the splatter.
Thought that's what we'd be coming home with a month ago (went to look at an R57), but she didn't like the blind spots and added road noise of the soft top. Looks great!
Last Thursday I replaced my upper engine mount, it was time the bottom bolt was covered in grease, with an eBay performance unit. Besides the added vibration the engine definitely feels way more solid paired with the torque solutions rear mount. However, it appears the cam shaft position sensor didn’t like it and threw p0340 and an occasional p0341. Went ahead ordered sensor from FCP and let her sit for the weekend, even though she was running fine, didn’t take a chance. Sensor showed up today and an hour later I had it in the car. Cleared the codes, took her out for 30 mile trip and no lights, no codes. Got to love fixing one issue, just to cause another.
