I've devoured all 36 pages of the original Dorky Cheapskate modifications thread - and with the thread's location it's mostly all pics of R53s! Show us your dorky cheapskate mods for your Gen 2 Minis! Share your ideas!

I am currently working on chroming my JCW Sport Gauge. The first attempt was using some 1/8" Chrome Pinstriping - $3 at O'Reillys, but that failed horribly. The whole curving thing messed up my sticker.

The next attempt will probably be with Spaz Stix paint. But that's gonna be like $19 (although if it works it'd probably be enough paint to do all the Mini's gauges for those without chrome line trim already.



Doesn't that all black gauge just drive you nuts? Drives me nuts at least....

Any other ideas are appreciated! What mods have you done?

 

Let us know how that turns out! I haven't thought of using a chrome paint before.

I haven't had my R56 long enough to do any mods yet, but when I do, I'll post it here. Good idea. I loved the gen 1 thread.

 

Thanks for starting this thread. I've read a lot of the other one, too, but it IS mostly R53 related.
I've got nothing for now, but will post if I come up with anything.

 

Kudos on starting this thread for Gen 2s! Here's my quirky mod: vinyl 'stache! It won't add hp (probably might after dyno testing) but it will add character

http://instagram.com/p/Z6iuEOovsT/

 

70s style!

 

Popped off hood scoop, spray with Plastidip matte black, reinstall. $6

Removed the factory hood stripes. $0

 

Forgot to mention: removed the plastic plug from the scoop, replaced it with metal mesh gutter guard, under $3 from Home Depot. Looks fine

 

That's what I'm talking about. Do you have a pic?

 

I'd like to see pics of the mesh vent too!

My mod this week was to finally do the Front/Rear speaker channel swap for the stock stereo system. Not sure if it counts as dorky, but it's definitely cheap!

Useful links:
Instructions
Helpful Video
Wiring Diagram

It's almost like adding a subwoofer for free!

 

Get chrome paint, clean your pieces well with rubbing alcohol, paint them chrome, then paint them with polyurethane paint, one or 2 coats should do it. The poly will protect the chrome paint from coming off the plastic!

I've done this successfully with many shiny black items both inside and outside the car

 

Thanks! Looks like there's also Black Backing I might need to apply on top of the Chrome paint - or is that just if I'm not applying the chrome to a black surface?

 

My experience with painting plastic is this.

1. It's a pain in the ***, but totally doable. Be prepared to not install you part for about a week.
2. Do a test piece if possible on similar plastic
3. Have an extra part in case you mess up or don't like it, it's hard to undo
3.1. If you really want to, you can sand the part with very fine sand paper, a wet sanding is also effective. Yes sandpaper works wet, I use it under running water, just don't apply too much pressure to avoid deep scrapes
4. Whatever the original color is, paint it the new color after cleaning it well (rubbing alcohol is usually effective enough without being corrosive) (some shiny paints can be difficult to get to stick to plastic, (like doing shiny blue on black, or shiny red plastic your painting shiny black) I've had good luck with using cheap flat black as a base coat, $1 Walmart brand, sticks to almost anything)
4.1. Touch the cleaned part as little as possible to avoid getting body oils on it
4.2. Flat black as a base, then shiny white is good to make another shiny color pop out without several coats of your final color (again, a test piece is often worth the extra time to see a possible final result)
5. Put that part somewhere where dust and bugs won't get on it (don't know why, but bugs love fresh paint)
6. Wait for said paint to dry, use 2 coats if needed according to instructions (usually within 20 mins, or after many hours)
7. Use a light first coat, do this several times until it has a nice cover on it
7.1. Do small cracks, nooks, and corners first to avoid drips on larger flat surfaces
8. Don't use the *** end of a can, you'll get chunks
9. Don't be afraid to shake said can for several minutes, it really needs to be mixed well
10. If possible, hang the part so you dont have to handle it to paint multiple sides and angles, then just leave it alone for at least a day to let it set.
11. Cover it with the polyurethane spray, 1-3 coats. This part you can sand with very fine paper to smooth out drips if you get any between poly coats, dont worry, it will look clear and smooth after another coat
12. DON'T TOUCH IT FOR ANY REASON after you poly spray it for several days! The poly takes a good while to set, the more coats you use. Install it too soon, and you'll dent the poly with finger prints or tools, then you have to start at step 11 again.

I know this sounds like a lot, but it's really not that bad, and totally worth it in the end!
Good luck! Pics when your done!

 

I must see a picture of this as well!

 

Hmmm. I have some 1/4 inch hardware cloth that would probably work well if painted first.

 

Search on ebay for "Fuba stubby".

Enjoy your $5.90 shortened stubby antenna shipped for free from Hong Kong.

9" or 7".. either is tons better than the ridiculous RC antenna the cars come with.

 

Yes, sorry for the delay! Here it is:

 

Another dorky cheapskate mod: before paying a vinyl shop to cut a custom hood stripe for me, today I used plastidip to see if it would really look as hoped. Blue painters tape to define the shape and mask off the washer jets, and newspaper to cover the car from overspray. Since it dries stretchy, I used a straight razor to slice a line in the coating along the tape when I removed the tape and paper. Pics:

 

That looks great!!

 

I like the custom stripe. Really integrates the black scoop into the design.
Nice color combo, BTW. :-)

 

Thanks!

I learned a little lesson: if you are going to do this, don't use a razor to scribe the plastidip to pull away the tape. You'll carve a shallow but real line into the clear coat! I suspect (hope) that waxing will minimize it, but were I to do this again, I would do one heavy coat (despite the longer drying time) and remove the tape and paper before it starts to set up. (If that's even possible...it starts to set up quickly.)

 

I've heard people say to not let vinyl installers cut the vinyl on the car, for just that reason I guess.
What if you laid the blade flat on the Plastidip and pulled up the tape along the blade? It'd be tedious but avoid the scratching. Haven't tried it, just thinking.

 

Do you get much better sound with the swap? Where do you get the swap wiring harness?

 

Dressed up seat levers: the lever has an "overbite" through the middle and each half is a little less than half of a 3" round sticker (got these from zazzle.com).

 

Pimped out key fob

 

bratling,

How did you get the wire mesh to stay in place?