I’ve always liked the look of factory 74-89 Porsche 911SC Carrera stone/gravel guards. When I found out the Mini Cooper stone guards were magnetic and a shiny black I wondered if factory Porsche stick-on stone guards might work, so I ordered up a pair from eBay for $45.

Another member here was nice enough to send me a pattern of the factory Mini Cooper stone guard to compare. As you can see here the wheel arch curve is exactly the same, but the Porsche guards are a little taller and thinner, plus the bottom edge angle is larger making it point downward. The highlighted yellow is the part of the Porsche guard that sticks out past the Mini Cooper guard and the black line shows the pattern of the Porsche guard behind the thicker Mini Guard.



The lower bottom edge of the Porsche guard was easy to trim flat to the Mini pattern. I also rounded the front to about the diameter of a dime similar to the Mini guard. The taller and thinner Porsche guard appears to look just fine as is, after trimming the bottom edge. Here is the Mini Cooper pattern and the trimmed Porsche guard test fitted in place.




And from further back.



I also test fit the other side with the yellow highlighted top portion that “could” be trimmed to match the height of the original Mini guard (kind of hard to see), but I think I like the Porsche guard as is better.



I may make a black pattern with that top portion cut off and rounded appropriately to see if it improves or detracts from the look. It is worth noting that the factory Porsche Turbo stone/gravel guards are wider and will provide more material to work with, but at about double the price.

The material itself is a great match to the plastic wheel arches and side rocker panels and the stick-on application means they don’t need to be removed at the car wash.

I think the Porsche stick-on plastic look matching stone guards are a better solution than the Mini magnetic smooth black ones.

What do you think?

 

Thanks for posting this!

My experience with the magnetic guards is not good. When I got the car, the dealer wax service put the guards on over unremoved wax! Every time the dealer car wash folks did something; the first time was putting one under the passenger seat, thought they lost it. Second time one really did get lost, showed the service guy, so dealer sent me a new set. So they are a pain, just like valve stem caps at a tire shop (always take those off before getting anything done).

I think the Porsche ones look great! Good idea.

 

BTW: Like your Ice Blue car!

 

I like the idea of putting them on and leaving. Never liked the idea of magnetic stone guards.

 

Picked up some black construction paper and transfered the Porsche pattern to it, then cut the top height down to the OEM Mini height and rounded the transition to the narrower Porsche angle. Also rounded both lower corners to match the OEM Mini radius'.



I think this is what I will go with. Same height as the Mini ones, but thinner/narrower. Leaving about a 1/4"-3/8" of body color at the bottom and around the wheel arch seems to and to the look IMHO.

Before I do the final cuts and install, feel free to express your oppinion on the best pattern to use. I know the differences are suttle, but... Always appreciate getting anothers viewpoint positive or negeative.

 

That looks really great! I think I prefer the first example with the more rounded top leading edge if I had to chose - reminds me of a shark fin - very nice.

 

This is what I ended up with. I may round the top curve a little more for a smoother transtion...







They went on easily and I was able to peel them off again and adjust, plus re-apply them slowly once positioned to insure no air bubbles. Nice thick 3M vinyl with a bumpy surface like the other black plastic on the car.

 

Thanks for posting whole car pictures. I like how the profile ramps up to the arch more smoothly. Mine look more abrupt in comparison.

 

I created my stone guards by going to Lowes and buying the "For Sale" magnetic signs in the sign department. I then cut the signs to the shape that I wanted and to fit the wheel arch. I painted them flat black. The cost of the signs were $10.00 for two and I used black paint that I already had.

 

mini coop that is a good cheap mod, well done

 

Thank you!

 

Bumping thread............
Got a decent picture of a Porsche Turbo next to Trigger. The stone guards I have are close.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53074154@N00/8132375125/

 

Now we just need a nice Cooper Carerra script for the side!