Painting @#$(!&(#!&% Arches and Trim
 

So, this thread will be 2 parts. The first is to give a shout out, and the second will be a story with tips for those wanting to paint their arches and trim.

Part One

Shout out to RedBull. His work speaks for itself but what those who have not worked with him don't know is that he's one heck of a swell dude. Price to get the trim painted by his professional shop is very VERY competitive. As far as quality, look at his work and judge for yourself. Unfortunately my plans did not pan out and I could not hire his services but while working details out, he was prompt with calls, answers and communication(excellent customer service). Oh and his replies to private messages are almost immediate most of the time.

Part Two

Basically I have a 09 Clubman non-S with basic stock bodykit(non-aero). I hated the darn plastic bits for trim that regularly looked dull with the cold weather. OctaneGuy's Black Wow did wonders but it still didn't look right. I set out to get the plastic trim painted glossy black to match the roof and pillars. Contacted RedBull and he said he could paint all the parts(side skirts, all arches, front and rear trim underneath bumper, headlight surrounds and grill surrounds). All I had to do was remove the pieces and ship it to him. Sounds easy enough.

I've never removed the trim but have been underneath the Mini and noticed where the bolts are. Confirmed a few details with RedBull and was on my way to remove the pieces.

Tip 1: All you have to do to remove the pieces is to undo the bolts underneath the side skirts/rockers and pry the pieces of gently. They are all held by these clips that will break upon removal. If they don't break, you WILL break it trying to remove them from the vehicle. Just go out and get new ones.
Tip 2: Add $100 to your total expected costs to get these done. The clips are cheap at $0.75 to $1.50 but you will need quite a bit. I replaced every single one of them(basically cause I wrecked most of them and decided to just get new ones) and it came close to $100.
Tip 3: The rear is easiest taken off when you are underneath the car. Just slide underneath(mine's not lowered yet and I slid underneath easy enough) and slowly work your way from one side. They are held in by tabs.
Tip 4: Sometimes you have to yank quite hard. As long as it's a gradual pull, and not a sudden jerk, the trims/arches will be fine.
Tip 5: The front trim will be THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD TO REMOVE. I tried forever-from underneath, with bumper off, with bumper on and nadah. Cannot remove it myself. Had to take it into a body shop and got them to remove it. Putting it back on is also a PITA.
Tip 6: Order of removal is, side skirt, arches, then front and rear trim. Order of install is the exact reversal.
Tip 7: The removal should take you about 2 hours plus whatever the front trim will take you.
Tip 8: The aluminum trim on the side skirt(the one that says Mini Cooper and is silvery aluminum) is easily taken off when heated. It's basically an adhesive. You need to remove this to rebolt it onto the vehicle since there's 4 clips that goes there.

So the end of the story is, my pet got into something gnarly and needed surgery and took my mod funds away. I had uninstalled and was about to reinstall them without painting because of this occurrence. The $100 clips cost made me rethink the decision and I looked around locally. A friend knew a body shop fella who went out of his way to teach me to do it myself(following RedBull's instructions actually). In the end I got it done myself and with the car guy's booth. Mad shout out to J. from Racine, WI.

I just finished putting back the whole thing together. Once it cleans up, I'll take pictures. Craziest, most time consuming mod I've personally done.

you scared me away. :eek:

Its totally worth it in the end... I love my painted trim :)

Good luck with the rest of the project!

i second that.. i love mine too

You should not be "scared" per se. However, it's not as easy as some will tell you. I'm sure if you've been doing this 4-5 times, it gets easier. But the honest truth is, it will test your patience at times.

Oh one more tip: At no point in time did I have to jack the car up to remove or to reinstall. There are bolts on the underside that you'd need a short-length phillips head to get to because of the clearance but otherwise it's a no jack mod. Oh and if you somehow figure out how to remove the front, then great. However, if after 10-15mins of fiddling with it and having no luck, my best suggestion is to remove the front bumper(which is surprisingly easy with only 4 torx screws and 3(maybe more with fogs?) wiring that just snaps or twists off, and bring it to a body shop. Even if they charge $50 to remove it, it's worth the time, frustration and risk of breaking/scratching something. I believe with a longer(about twice the width of a regular flat head screwdriver) and flat tool, you can undo the tab but I couldn't figure it out.

Definitely give it a go but beware of unexpected costs. :P

Thanks for the writeup. I agree, my arches look dull and worn too and are actually rough to the touch (and no, no impacts) and are only 3 months old.

Looking forward to the pics.

Oh more good news. 24 hours after I finished the mod(finished installing rather), I went to class and came out to 2 nice fresh scratch marks on the freshly painted arches......

I WANT TO KILL SOMEONE!! To the touch, it feels like I can buff it out(feels like just surface scratch) but I'm not sure how soon I can use an orbital polisher on fresh paint. GAHHHH

Izzy - You're in WI? I'm thinking about installing a JCW aero kit myself this summer (assuming I can find the parts and get them painted). Maybe I'll have to have you over for a beer or two to help me sort it.

Yep, Racine, WI to be exact but I attend UW-Milwaukee so daily commute into town. And as for the aero kit-SURE! I'm more than happy to help another motorer! I'm trying to find more local Mini enthusiasts but even the local chapter seems to be rather quiet. So far I've seen only North Chicago enthusiasts(too long of a drive during rush hour traffic to attend their meetings though :/). Just drop me a note whenever you feel like attempting it.

Rock on! We'll have to do it for sure.

BTW Sorry to hear about the scratches - the east side of town can be a bear for automobiles that want to stay in good shape.

Well I got really irritated by it- so much so that I woke up at 5:45 am this morning, went to the unheated garage with two buckets of warm water(one with soap), washed off the panels and buffered the scratches. It came right off. Unfortunately I was working in mediocre lighting and there's still a slight haze of a scratch but that should take just one more run with the porter cable. Phew! :P

We can also dawn, claybar, detail both cars after your new JCW kit is installed. Gotta make sure the new trim is waxed and protected! ;)

Forgot to add that you should get the arches painted since you have them off anyways :P

You know... call me crazy. But I'm not so sure that I dig the painted arches thing. It looks good on black MINIs. Have any pics of your finished product?

I will tomorrow.

I'd love them for the sheer fact that I would no longer have to worry about getting polish/was on them when I'm detailing. :impatient:

That's the only reason why I did them :P

hmm.. sounds easy enough...

maybe once I can afford the jcw sides, i'll do this too.

now i gotta find someone who can hook me up with cheap paint.

who is this redbull guy and how much does he charge to paint the panels?

Here's the Red Bull guy:lol:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-red-bull.html

killasha: I would discuss with him regarding price since I'm not sure if you're planning to paint all the trim like I did or just the arches. Either way, his price includes shipping to CONUSA(which in itself is expensive since the pieces are pretty big)

so howbout those pics ?
edit: duh just saw the other thread with the pics

how much, if you dont mind me asking, did the whole project come out to, what was the 'competitive' 3rd party's price?

i think i'll mention that when i replaced my fender arches on mine (non painted -> painted) I did jack the car up and removed the wheel in order to more easily access the back side of the fender. If i recall correctly I was able to change all four fender arches without breaking a single clip- i dont remember having to buy any replacements anyway :razz:

WHAT?!!! You are getting ripped off royally...unless i'm getting a killer deal at my local dealership I replaced every single clip when doing my arches and I spent MAYBE 40 bucks...and I bought more than I needed because i wanted extra...

EDIT: Checked my credit card statements for dealer purchases...it was actually 29.73 for every clip needed...not sure how much each was...don't have the actual receipt anywhere anymore I don't think...it was a while ago.

zach999: I'm not sure how you saved your clips. During the trim removal itself, some clips did stay unchipped. However, they were also retained in the vehicle's body and if you try to remove it, the other side of the clip will deform. There's no way to remove the clip from the frame itself without destroying the flared ends.

ColinMc: The difference is that you did only the arches. I did the bottom valences of both front and rear as well as the side skirts. More bolts/clips to replace there. :P

AHHH ok, well I reused most of the other ones. I painted my front and rear bumpers as well...not the side skirts but I had them off for other reasons. I have a couple special pairs of pliers that remove those push pin style ones without ruining them. One that has an 80 degree bend and the other a 30, they work great....you can also get those style clips at NAPA for a LOT cheaper than the dealer if you do need any. I lost a couple of those and got replacements there instead of the dealer. Not the arches ones, but all of the other ones and the other bolts. They come in bags of 10 or so, or boxes of 25. I'll get some part numbers on monday when i'm back at work.

My mistake earlier though, I thought you had meant just for the arches. Got a little excited and jumped the gun lol.