winter time is coming soon here in Minnesota, which means lots of snow and road salt. so far my justacooper has 110K and 8 years on it entirely in northern states (NY & MN) and has come out with almost no rust what so ever (driver side door has some i'm treating) so what kind of winter mods have people done to keep their coopers clean and free of rust?

I'm picking up some black vinyl this week to possibly to the bottoms of the doors before it gets wet out. (just for the winter) I'm also thinking about blocking off my lower grille so i don't have to worry about my grille being punched out by ice (it's already lost a few clips)
anything else i should consider?

 

bump up

 

I've been thinking about getting a aluminum skid plate to protect the oil pan and fan from ice and other road debris. It may be worth looking at given the low stance of a MINI. Good luck!

 

im planning on getting steelies and snow tires and bumping up the ride height once i get the coilovers in

 

i haven't had the chance to see one of those skid plates installed, do they traditionally cover the PS fan?

 

Thse skidplstes were pretty popular in older pre 2005 mini's...they often had a perforated shield to let air to the ps fan....but keep debris like plastic bags out...a real issue till mini started including a plastic grill with replacement ps fans and new cars..2005+.
The lower plastic airdam on the bumper and the plastic shields under the bumper takes the brunt of the ice chunkage....the ps fans tend to get grit and chunks too.
A retrofit airduct is avalble for the r53 (was oem on the r52 S's).
The bumper and hood gets lots of sand/rock abrasion...a clear bra is great. Same for the headlights...helps keep them clear.