Interior/Exterior Interior and exterior modifications for Cooper (R50), Cabrio (R52), and Cooper S (R53) MINIs.

Interior/Exterior calling all Joey moder's

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Old Nov 19, 2008 | 01:47 PM
  #1  
4Boogie's Avatar
4Boogie
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all throttle no bottle
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From: Wilmington,NC
calling all Joey moder's

My girl thinks I'm crazy but I'm about to crack open the headlights and do it. Any tips would help. What did you use to seal them back??? I have 03 MCS Xenon 's. Did the rings with plasti-dip....they look nice. I plan on baking them for 6 min on 200 to open them.
 
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Old Nov 19, 2008 | 02:46 PM
  #2  
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4Boogie
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all throttle no bottle
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From: Wilmington,NC
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Old Nov 19, 2008 | 02:56 PM
  #3  
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Jason C
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From: Wylie, TX
Take your time and go slow. The older the light the harder the sealant. Mine is an 04' and they where a bear to take apart. Be sure the paint is dry and the bulbs are back in straight before you fire them up to test. Soft paint and hot lights equal drippy paint. Ask me how I know. But hey, they come apart easier the second time.
 
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Old Nov 19, 2008 | 03:53 PM
  #4  
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4Boogie
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all throttle no bottle
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From: Wilmington,NC
I just tried one time and it didnt budge. Maybe I should try a heat gun. I dont want to keep cooking the thing over and over
 
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Old Nov 20, 2008 | 09:37 AM
  #5  
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Jahmills
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Joined: May 2006
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From: Illadelphia
I had to cut mine open with a dremel tool, used the 1.25" cutting disks, then resealed with some black silicone.
 
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Old Nov 20, 2008 | 11:18 PM
  #6  
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phatfiddy
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I used a heat gun on mine.. worked great. im sure mine were a little easier than some due to being 2006 though.
 
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Old Nov 21, 2008 | 12:12 AM
  #7  
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MINI_chili
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From: Houston, TX
When I did mine, I did 6 min @ 230 deg. to get them apart and it took a lot of muscle (I got antsy around 5.5 min and pulled them out, the second one at the full 6 was easier. I'd image another few degrees, or 20-30 sec would help, but I was too chicken to try. To seal them, I put them in for just over 4 min @ 230 deg and just pushed it together as hard as i could and it sealed completely.
make sure the lens is clean on the inside (I wouldn't try a special cleaner or anything b/c there might be residue that may react to the heat, just do your best not to touch it, I guess), and do your best not to touch the areas the light needs to reflect off of. all that chrome chips REALLLY easy, sad story.
it worst part of mine was realizing the inside of the lens was kinda foggy after sealing it and the only option was pulling it apart
make sure you get it together good, my friend and I tried it on his tundra long before I had even heard about it and his lights were nuts. the directions we found required 10 min @ 330 deg!!!<<-------(PLEASE DO NOT COOK A MINI HEADLIGHT FOR THIS TIME @ THIS TEMP) and they still to both of us and a screw driver to get them apart. and didn't seal
a suggestion... don't use a screw driver to pry the pieces apart, it gets the adhesive everywhere it shouldn't be.
hope this helps
 
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Old Nov 21, 2008 | 07:24 AM
  #8  
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PortMCS
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From: Union, NJ
You guys are brave !

I too would love to do this and like to do most of my mods myself, but on this id rather find someone locally to do it for me.
 
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Old Nov 21, 2008 | 08:14 AM
  #9  
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miniman101
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From: Minneapolis Minnesota
So I too want to do this, but I figured you could just take it apart somehow. I didn't realize you have cook it in the oven!?
So starting from the beginning, I take the whole light unit out, take the bulbs out? and throw it in the oven for six minutes at 230 degrees? And that should make the seal able to be pulled apart?
 
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Old Nov 21, 2008 | 10:18 AM
  #10  
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DrPhilGandini
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From: Albuquerque New Mexico
Yes
 
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Old Nov 21, 2008 | 03:23 PM
  #11  
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miniman101
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From: Minneapolis Minnesota
Wow thats a little more involved than I thought. But non the less. Next spring I will do it, so I will have to get full details on it then. Are there any other threads on how to do it already??
 
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Old Nov 23, 2008 | 02:59 PM
  #12  
4Boogie's Avatar
4Boogie
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all throttle no bottle
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From: Wilmington,NC
Well I tried and could not get my headlights open so I went with vinyl. I plan on getting new black Halo's and Aesthetic Creation carbon Fiber headlight rings later but I had to do something right now. I had taken them out a few days ago and did my headlight rings so I really didnt want to wait any longer. I had some vinyl from Vinal Styles rushed to me and tried it myself. You really need 3 people for this job. One holding a hair dryer and two streching the vinyl. They turned out ok but I will get those Halo's and send them the Vinyl Styles














 

Last edited by 4Boogie; Nov 23, 2008 at 03:01 PM. Reason: misspelling
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