Our next club meeting will be an NXT Garage Detailing event on Saturday, January 22, 2005. Our plan is still preliminary but we will likely be detailing our MINIs, performing mods, and discussing our Vegas plans, much like last month, except with a bunch of new products to play with!

Everyone is welcome!! Please RSVP

If anyone wants to do the Rubber Shift Boot mod (5 or 6 speed), let me know so we can get the parts before hand.

If anyone needs a NAV or British Voice update, we can do that as well.

Please visit our website for more details:
http://c3club.org

 

Excellent, Richard! See you there. Is it potluck again?


Clover

 

I'm always a little concerned about asking members to bring food, only I feel like I'm asking for too much, especially on a monthly basis. With Jirawan always going all out, and her crazy work schedule, I don't want to be placing a burden on anyone. Maybe we should do a potluck once every few months, and in between just do simple stuff. I like your Salad idea and Pizzas. I'll leave the discussion open to other members. Maybe I'm worried for nothing.

 

Oh Heck! I will have to see you guys in February. I will be heading to San Francisco that weekend for the NASFT Show. (Fancy Foods Show) It is held the last week of January every year and I never miss a chance to go.

So February another detailing get together? Hope so.

Thanks, Richard for putting these things together.

I was also kind of hoping we might do a quick MINI fundraiser of sorts for the pacific rim crisis. Any ideas?

 

Hi Robyn!!

Aw shucks!!! Well yep, we are doing these monthly, so check us out in February!! We'll probably skip March because of the AMVIV2005. Not sure though.

We'll talk about the fundraiser.

Richard

 

Hey, since you always offer your home and expertise to us, no worries about us bringing food in return. I like to cook and despite what Jirawan says, she is domestic, as well! I also enjoy doing the decor, when decor is called for, that is.

I do like the Salad & Pizza idea for next time. Shall I get some pizzas from Costco to heat in your oven, or do we order from a local pizzaria? I guess since we won't necessarily know the head-count until that day, perhaps ordering in is a good idea. I like Pizza Hut better than Caesar's or Domino's!

Name YOUR poison!

Clover

 

Yeah Caesars is the cheap stuff that I eat normally! But Pizza Hut or Shakeys is splurging!! So lets do it!

Thanks for the reassurance btw. Since there will probably be no more than 12 people, I don't think waiting is a bad idea---then we can just order a couple large pizzas and do a MINI run.

Richard

 

LOL! I'll look into discount coupons for Pizza Hut. They usually have great deals. I've used them for art jury lunches. But, I could just get a couple of those big, fresh pizzas at Costco...I'll check out the prices on them and beverages, too.

Clover

 

Sounds good!! Thanks!!!

 

Just a quick reminder that this Saturday is our next c3 Meeting. It will be an NXT garage detail day again. From 10AM to 4PM. Everyone is invited--no matter what club you already or don't belong to. Even those SCMMer's who had their Meguiars Garage detail clinic cancelled due to the rains can come if they want. It's on a first come first serve basis. The most we can realistically get done is about 8 to 10 cars, so keep that in mind if you are coming, and you MUST email me ahead of time if you're planning on coming.

nam@c3club.org.

We're already expecting a good turnout! If you've got an extra PCDA, feel free to bring it so we can accomodate more cars. Please PREWASH your car if at all possible to keep my water bill manageable.

If you want to help out, we can use a 6 pack of sodas or chips. We are planning on ordering pizzas.

We will be accepting donations to CAN (CureAutismNow) as well.

Finally, if you're going to AMVIV2005, we'll be accepting prepayment for the kickoff dinner as well. More details coming soon.

Check out out club website for details and important information.
http://c3club.org

 

Richard,

I'll be there to help out. Thanks to Richard, Meguiars, and everyone at the last detailing party, this time my MINI won't need a lot of work.

Also, if anyone coming is interested in having motion photos of their car taken contact me. We could probably sneak away for a little bit in the late afternoon after your MINI is detailed.

Dave

 

Oh I'm so glad you can make it Dave! Your photography has blown everyone away. What a perfect opportunity as well. Get a free detail and go with DiD to take the most incredible pix of your car to permanently capture that shine!

I highly recommend having DiD shoot your car atleast once! Really top notch stuff!

Richard

 

Sooo im a lil slow lol...you have these meetings every month? Where is it scheduled...where can i find a lil more info on it...i think i saw a link ..ill back track to it...ill be out and about with the "Tank" for the march meeting..if thats cool with you guys. Also how hell do i post pictures on my p file of my car.....ugh...

 

You can visit our site at http://c3club.org

We post our official news there.

The Profile image doesn't work. But you do have a gallery. Look for the link at the top left of your screen below the NAM logo next to Homes/Forums

We try to do this monthly whenever possible. We've done 3 sessions so far, and they've always been very successful.

We do this at my house which is near Culver City. Visit the link above for details.

Richard

 

caress,

As Richard points out the profile picture isn't active, but you can put pictures in your signature, which will show up when someone views your profile.

We have a frequently asked questions section of the site where we have provided answers to questions involving picture uploading, posting, and signatures.

If you have any questions after going through and trying out the FAQ let me know.

Dave

 

Here are some of the pictures I took today. All the pictures are clickable for a higher resolution version. Be sure to click the last one of Lukas; such a cute kid.

It was good to see so many people and so many MINIs. From what we pieced together there were 19 cars total at today's event and 15 got the Meguiar's Detailing treatment.

Thanks to Richard for the excellent advice. I noticed a few people comment that things were more efficient today because a lot of people were already trained in some aspects of detailing from the last events.

Also, today we celebrated another birthday with another COOPER CAKE. The COOPER CAKE tasted as good as it looks. Just amazing.

See everyone at the next meeting!

Dave

 

Excellent pics!!! I love the MINI cake and my son. Actually the pic of Toshi washing the car is pretty great too! Thanks so much for joining us DiD! I had a blast and can't wait to do the next one. I wonder if the parties can get any bigger though.

Btw, the wife REALLY loves the picture of Lukas--can we get a copy for printing??

 

Here's Toshi beginning the cleaning of Oona's beautiful Astro Black Cabriolet! Jirawan is watching! (Jirawan baked the AWESOME MINI Cooper Cake...it even had the shark-fin nav antenna!) This MINI was GORGEOUS! And Oona drove here to Los Angeles from NYC! What a great gal!

Clover

 

4.9 megs of jpeg goodness are sitting in your e-mail inbox.

That was easily my favorite picture of the day.

BTW, if you zoom in on his eyes in the full size image you can see a MINI on your driveway.

 

Here's Lukas, OctaneGuy's son, and the next generation MINI enthusiast! LOL! He's teething! I adore him!


Clover

 

re: Eyeball
OMG, you are so right!! That is so amazing? I looked at his eyes 400%! You know there was an episode of CSI Miami where they arrested someone based on extrapolating the reflection from an eyeball. It seemed outlandish--well especially cause the picture was from a low res cell phone I think. LOL, but still, amazing you can see 4 people and a MINI in his eyes. Shows how steady your hands are too.

 

Shows how much VR helps steady the lens. I have slight tremors in my hands.

 

Wow what an incredible day we had! It doesn't get much more fun than this. We had 24 people show up in 20 MINI's. We had lots of sunshine, doughnuts for breakfast, sushi, pizzas, greek salad, a realistic MINI Cooper cake, homemade banana bread and deserts! More than half the people that came were first timers to our clinic, and the majority of MINI's were 2005!

We also did an Ian Cull (GBMINI) Auto Up circuit (http://www.gbmini.net/MINIcircuit/index.shtml) and an MTH Cartune ECU mod (http://www.mth-powerchip.de/_neu1407/e_index.php) and prepped a 3rd car for the MTH mod for next months meet!

As you can see, we do more than just detailing! Spryguy put up a post on NAM (http://www.NorthAmericanMotoring.com) asking for help on installing his AutoUp circuit. I saw it, and suggested he come to our clinic, and not only did he get the circuit installed, but he left with a freshly detailed car that looked a lot better than when it arrived.

Look at the menu! That's an actual 3d MINI Cooper Cake!

We used NXT Car Wash Soap! The most common comment was how good NXT smells!

MINI's everywhere!!

Here I am the host, demonstrating how to use the G100.
I gotta say, I used these Dr. Scholls Gel Inserts in my shoes, and if felt soooo good, even though I was on my feet all day. Go here and get a $2 coupon! http://www.drscholls.com/showcase.aspx?scid=2

To help explain the power of the PCDA, I like to refer to this picture of MINIclo's Wicked Wanda's bonnet from our first Garage Clinic. The dramatic before (on right) and after is enough convincing!


You're never too young to learn!
This is Jerrod, Nathaniel and Alice's son with someone else's EB MCS.


The fun never stopped!

c3 members guiding first timers!
Nathaniel at the controls of the G100 with James providing guidance. This was Nathaniel's first detail clinic. He purchased his MCS second hand from a woman who wasn't an enthusiast, and treated the MINI very poorly. It's good to know his new MCS is now in a loving home!

In No Time At All, He's an Expert!

At Our Clinics, we teach the full process, including Clay Bar!
While our clinics are designed for beginners, we like to cover the entire range of steps. We're also glad to answer any questions along the way. We use NXT Car Wash, Meguiar's Quik Detailer, Clay Bar, #83 Cleaner/Polish, NXT Tech Wax, Gold Class Metal Polish, Gold Class Trim Detailer, ScratchX, and Gold Class Clear Coat Wax.

Look at all the gunk that was removed! I took this picture after he had been working on the bonnet for atleast 10 minutes, so it's not as dirty as it was earlier!

Even how to clean up past mistakes like paste wax that got all over!


And ugly stuff like this!

I wasn't sure what Meguiar's product I could use to get rid of this, so I used old my trusty stand by and finished up with Gold Class Trim Detailer
MINI Plastic Care # 83-12-0-142-624

Working on your own car is fun, but so is working on someone elses!

Our clinics aren't just for adults!

It's about teamwork!

Making new friends!

And Helping Others!

Toshi with the PCDA. His PCDA was stolen last month, but Meguiar's came to the rescue and helped ensure that we could continue to do our clinics!

And Learning from others!

Work or play, it's all fun!!

That's what's so great about these events. You can either sit back and have your car worked on by others...

...Or you can jump right in and do it yourself!
Oona had only been in California for 3 weeks as she is a New York native. She drove her cabriolet across the country putting on 3500 miles! Our NXT clinic was first MINI group outing since she arrived and she was VERY pleased and excited! It was quite an honor for us!


This was the days youngest participant! It's actually my son,Lukas, being held by Toshi's wife, Kuniko!

Because our club doesn't charge dues, we rely on donations from participants, and from what we call the core c3 members to help keep the club going. c3 was founded by 4 passionate individuals, affectionately known as the core. This core has grown to 6 active members + 3 other part time supporters. The core is responsible for providing food and drinks for our participants. We also split the cost of expenses. This also forces us to be frugal and creative! Here is a sweatshirt that we silked screened at Richard's house, 1 week prior to this clinic. Richard held a PhotoEZ silk screen party as a part demonstration and part production! Being able to utilize new technologies with a bit of know-how enables us to try out ideas that wouldn't ordinarily be possible due to the costs involved.

While this picture was from last week, it shows the screen before paint was applied.

Look how pretty this 2005 Hyper Blue MCS looks! The sun was going down fast but we got the job done! The driver side rear panel between the door and the rear wheel arch had some mild abrasions in the clear coat. Looked almost like steel wool or a rough terry towel rubbed from side to side. I buffed it out with #83 using a red pad, then buffed on NXT Tech Wax with a polishing pad.

All in all, it was an incredible day of meeting new people, teaching proper car care techniques, introducing the full line of Meguiar's products, eating great food, and playing with so many MINI's!! Our following seems to be growing by the month. I wonder how big it will be next month! [:D]

Stay tuned for February's event! We're expecting something really different exciting and to happen.

 

Just wanted to drop a line to say "THANKS!!" for such a great Saturday. The event was so much fun! This was the first MINI-related event that I've attended, and I can't imagine having a warmer reception. Everyone was so nice, so inviting, and so informative! I felt very welcomed, and had a great time working on both my own and others' MINIs. Who knew cleaning cars could be such a blast?

Mucho props to the c3 club. Thank you to Richard and his wife for opening up his home to all of us (even us strangers!), and thanks to everyone for the great pizza and the sushi and the salad and the Krispy Kremes (!) and the cherry cheesecake cupcakes, and the drinks and the 3D Chili Red MINI Cooper birthday cake!! It was all fantastic.

I went home very tired, but I was reveling in the glory of my shiny MCS and the excitement of having met such a great group of people. I will definitely be at the next one, and next time I'll bring my own Variable-Speed Dual-Action Orbital Buffer!

 

Weezgrrl,
It was a pleasure that you attended!! Stay tuned for news for next month, it's going to be even better.

Thanks for your support and nice comments! We look forward to seeing you again soon!!

And your PCDA is definitely welcome! LOL. Actually I'm in talks with Meguiars to see if we can get a little group buy going on for their G100! I'll let you know later this week!

Richard