Was the trim well packed, or did you feel you were lucky to get it undamaged? I was thinking about ordering the top drip rail trim, but was worried it would arrive bent or broken since they’re so thin and fragile.

 

Each piece was in it's own cardboard box inside of a large box with padding all around. Seattle MINI always does a good job packing. Never had anything I ordered from them arrive damaged, and I did the top trims too.

 

I'm not sure that the weight savings is important to me but the titanium bolts sure do look good. Nice addition.

 

They sure do!


Don't mind the decade+ of curb rash on those R112's.

 

Looks great I just bought coconuts for my Mini also

 

Nice - what type and what color did you get? They do take a while to make them, but other than the minor fitment issue on my driver's side mat, I really do like the color and texture. Much easier to clean too - a quick shake and most of the dirt is gone.

 

Coco mats I bought are blue and white, I order from outmotoring so hope they can deliver fast. Yeah if order direct from cocomats will take some time. I have cocomats in my Porsche and they are great

 

Cocomats.com is the only source for those now so far as I know. They may be a reseller, but the order will probably go to the same place. They will probably be less busy this time of the year though - hope you get them quicker than I did anyhow!

In other news... ordered a can of 2k hotrod black - a semigloss 2k aerosol from Eastwood - about $20 from Amazon to respray the grills. Scuffed them up good with a maroon scotchbrite pad, cleaned them with a non-solvent prep spray, and shot them yesterday. I really like the color and the gloss level. Not gloss, but also not entirely matte either. If it warms up this weekend (we actually had snow today - didn't stick, but got cold. This after 78 this past Thursday) I will strip the silver stripes and play with the matte black air release film I have for the new stripes. It definitely is a more aggressive look than the silver. I finally installed the black rear grates in black that I picked up from Orranje earlier this year too. The rears in black *definitely* allow more of the Borla exhaust to be seen through the bumper cutouts than the silver grilles did - silver and silver interference. The silver through the black looks SOOOOO good.


Front. I am not planning currently to spray the bottom stainless grille. I like the bit of a chrome touch here and there. And it's mostly hidden by the driving lights.


Rear. You can really see those exhaust cans now. Before, you could barely tell the rear vents were functional.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a gallon of PPG Deltron 2000 DBC base coat in 862 Indi Blue. Have heard really good things about Deltron paint, ease of application, catalyst built into the reducer, and the Deltron clears are apparently really nice too. Will be ordering a new gun too, picking up an oilless compressor, dedicated hose, inline filters, and probably an inflatable booth. Will likely (and finally) begin on the body work in maybe a month when fair weather driving season is over for the winter. I will get the hood, front bumper, and front valance ready for paint this winter and spray in the spring when temps hit a reliable 70-75 degrees. For gun, I'm thinking about the Italco Shine HVLP - has consistently good reviews, and can handle both base and clear (although Italco calls it a base gun). I will be doing all panels off the car - and plan on finishing the inside of the hood as well. Now to research what PPG primers, sealers, and reducers to start thinking about!

 

Looks great! (as always).

for your painting adventure. I want to beat the rush and schedule my appointment for next June. I'm flexible on dates.

 

Notes for myself on paint and body filler:

Base -
Tamco Indi Blue 862 (uses catalyzed reducer) ~$798.95/gal
Tamco 13xx series reducer (probably 1370 medium reducer (good for 70-80 degrees) $59.95/gal
Mix ratio 1:1

Clear -
Tamco HC2100 medium solids clear kit with hardener $188.84/gal
Medium reducer good for 70-80 degrees
Mix ration 2:1

Sealer -
Tamco

Adhesion promoter (raw plastic)
HP2010 Top Dawg adhesion promoter single stage - $48.24/qt

Flex additive - not required because of the flexible nature of Tamco resins.

Cleaners -
Tamcon HR397 Wax and grease remover - $39.95/gal

----------------------------------

Filler - Rage lightweight body filler - $48.00/qt

Flexible glazing putty (bumpers) - U.S. Chemical & Plastics USC GarageTM Flexible Glaze USC-77704 - $25.95/8 oz.

-----------------------------------

gun (I think) - Avalon U-20 Compressed Air Spray Gun - 1.3mm Nozzle - Lightweight HVLP $299

or... Aurita 898-2 LVLP spray gun, 1.3mm nozzle $120

Compressor - Not sure yet, maybe a California Compressors quiet unit - they have a nice ~11cfm compressor for around $1200

Bouncy house paint booth... 13x10x8' - $580

Lots of other things too... need an electric DA sander, already have blocks and a couple grades of stick it paper. Need a couple of pump sprayers, filler spreaders, a good shorter air hose, regulator, multi-stage air dryer, pps adapter, cups, good 1k etching primer... but getting the materials and equipment sorted out.

 

Thanks! I have to adjust that one left rear mesh panel down a smidge on the outside, but happy about how it looks. I used plastic bonding epoxy to mount zip tie blocks inside of the rear bumper to hold the mesh panels from the back side. They are pretty long out of the non-aero bumper mesh grills for the rear, so went with these ones instead.

I can't wait to see what it looks like with the new bonnet stripes!

Lol - appointment may have to be later than that. I *think* we might be getting ready to start building our house around then. Gonna be a busy year next year!

Post 1000.

 

So anticlimactic.

 

So - probably going to be starting on dent removal and body work on my hood and front bumper in a few weeks, but I thought I would re-stripe the hood for the last few weeks the car is on the road so that I can check the stripe design and colors. If I thought matte black stripes on IB was going to be subtle, boy was I wrong. It exudes that same kind of palpable yet subdued passive aggressive attitude that the other half gives when expensive new parts arrive. I never really dug the IB-gloss black stripes when the car was new - they were 'nice'. These are not nice. They're awesome in a not 'nice' way.

Terrible dark garage cell phone pic. Will try to find time to get some pics tomorrow in the light. I probably won't add the wedge side stripes until after paint in the spring. Digging this.

 

How easy was it to remove the old vinyl stripes?
I've had some success in the past where the vinyl peeled off easy and didn't damage the paint, but it was on a car that I was prepping for a re-paint and wasn't too concerned with pulling up any paint.

My Mini is a different story. I'm hoping that my paint will not be damaged when I pull my vinyl.
Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

 

Not too bad removing the 'old' stripes, but I only added them maybe a year ago or so, so they were still pretty pliable. A heat gun will make removal go much faster and easier. An el cheapo one from Harbor Freight maybe if you don't already have one.

Vacuumed and washed the car today as I will likely be taking it off the road in a week or two unless the unseasonably warm weather continues. Took a few photos today so that the true effect of the IB and flat black stripes can be appreciated. Old stripes on the vent in the first picture for comparo. The repair I did to the underside of the vent with plastic fix epoxy is already failing, so will have to order an OEM primed hood scoop soon.

You can see a lot of rock chips on the hood, but the cheap paint job they did in the seams is starting to become pretty apparent. The lack of clearcoat on the front of the cowl panel is leading to the undercoating showing through in a couple of places - might not be able to see them in these pictures, but the engine compartment in general is awful - don't ever get degreaser on the paint in the underhood area... you'll be very sad.


I like these slightly wider stripes better than the old layout. I don't think I will do the gloss pinstriping after the new paint is on - I just added it to see how I felt about it. It's not doing it for me.


Different angle to see the way the light plays on the gloss stripes. They really do stand out from the paint much better than gloss stripes do. The thinking on the gloss pinstriping was that it would be easier to keep polish off of the gloss stripes when I wax or polish the car - a sort of buffer.


A much better shot showing how you can see the exhaust cans through the functional grills from behind the car.


And a shot from the road.

 

Nice out come.
I did use (have), a heat gun on the aforementioned vehicle to remove the vinyl stripes. They had been on there for about 4years and peeled off in 4" sections. The stripes on my Mini were put on about (less than) a year ago.
Thanks for responding!

 

When I removed the original stripes that came on my car from the factory it was a nightmare. I didn't have a heat gun at the time, but I waited for a nice hot day in the summer (a hot summer SoCal day - probably hotter than a heat gun!). I wish they had come off in pieces 4" at a time. I am surprised I still don't have nightmares about removing those. It took an entire weekend IIRC, and even with the hot sheet metal temps, both of them still peeled up pieces of clearcoat. I think I took them off in 2012 or so - not quite 10 years on the car. They weren't cracked or anything yet, they just didn't look that great to me anymore.

 

Well, they don't call 'em 'stealerships' for nuthin'.

Moterwerks quoted me $1,604 shipped, but only $1,400 if I pick it up. Meanwhile Seattle Mini can do $800 on the same part, but $500 shipping. How does BMW let this level of unevenness perpetuate?

 

Mini of Cincinnati parts department quoted me less than 700, but they don't ship. I may be driving out to the east coast after Xmas - I just might have to stop and pick one up if I can't recontour my hood with a hammer and dollies.

 

Any of my Indi Blue peers know the answer to ths long rambling will get around to it eventually Q?

So, PPG is a pretty expensive line of paint, and some folks say it's a bit tough to stray out the clear and it's finicky. So I started looking at other lines available to the DIY (that are not impossible to get if you don't have an account or are not an approved sprayer of product XXX), and I cam across Tamco paint a few weeks ago. So looked into them, and they have an almost cult-like following among restorers and it is hard to find anyone with something to say about them that is not positive. So they have a color request form on their website for any color that they currently do not have listed in their repertoire of OEM colors, so I filled it out and within four days, I received a link to buy. It's actually pricier than the PPG Deltron for an unreduced gallon at nearly $800, but every other part of their system is less expensive, so I don't mind (for example, their reducer is 56 bucks a gallon compared with 160 for the PPG Deltron stuff).

Here's the thing though. On the same new page that they put up (here -> https://tamcopaint.com/products/mini...39966073356368), I THINK they list this as a variant of Honda color code B504P 'Agaean Blue'.

In images doing a search for this color code and this variant name, I get some pretty images where the color match seems pretty damn similar... here is a Honda in Agaen Blue pearl...


versus...


So, my question: Was anyone aware that Honda used (apparently) the same color on some of their cars in the Acura line from 2002-2004? Kinda cool the things that you find out while asking about stuff like paint codes...

 

Don’t know about Honda, but do know that the Indi Blue color was an expensive option for the MINI, back almost 20 years ago. A $500 option... Now $800 a gallon...

An interesting tidbit... When my wife was putting together her car build, MINI had an optional Red color (don’t remember the name, through). It was a deeper, darker red than the base red the car could be had with and it was metallic. Looked great in the samples This was her first option for the car color, but by the time she was to place the car order that color was listed as discontinued. Indi Blue was her second choice. I have only ever seen one MINI with that color Red. Turns out, that red looked brown in any light other than bright sunlight. Indi Blue, however, turned out to be the best choice after all and we have loved it ever since we picked up the car. A great color for a great car! Hope your refinishing is successful...

 

I've seen color similar to this on an R50 - that the deep red color you mean?



Did a little more digging, and Honda revived the Aegean Blue on the Fit a few years back, and on the Accord - right now! Hmmm.... might have to swing by the local Honda place in the MINI and see if they have any blue accords in stock for comparo...

 

Yes - I think that is it!

I’m amazed you recognized that from my description. Thanks for the picture.

My wife had that red picked out with a white roof and mirror caps. Thought that was the sharpest color at the time. Well, by August of ‘03 when we were ordering the MINI, that red was gone. So that didn’t happen and it turn into Indi Blue with a white roof, mirror caps and bonnet stripes. The strips were a surprise from me for her birthday and she was able to pick up her car on her birthday. The dealership even wrapped it for her...

It will be interesting if the Honda color is the same hue and level metallic content.

 

I think I spotted a blue one at the Honda dealer today, will drive by with the MINI tomorrow and give it a look. I've always liked that red color as well - kinda like the purple color - pretty rare. Never seen it on a R53 though - wonder if it was an R50 color only?

 

I think that red was only a 2002-2003 color option. It was gone when we ordered our ‘04, so it would rare. Don’t remember if it was an R50 only option.