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So the prior owner, [from here forward known as P.O., or more affectionally, Dumb *ss], put a dumb sticker of the inner fender where the Vin sticker is located. [correction; paint code]
I'm big on stickers but only on my shop beer fridge so I pulled it off. [In an effort of transparency it was a "Pelican Parts" sticker. Love them but now hate their stickers.]
The sticker left the glue behind and using what I thought was the weakest solvent, [alcohol] I tried to remove the residue and it took the paint off! I have never seen this before. Lacquer thinner, sure but never alcohol!
So, be careful. Probably should have gone with simple orange or whatever it is but live and learn.
As to me under the hood is just as important as above, I taped it off, scuffed it up and painted. I used touch-up spray from www.theautopaintdepot.com and I have to say it was a nice match and sprayed in a nice atomized mist. I'm not sure I would want to do a fender or hood with a rattle can but it worked well here.
Anyone else have issues with what seemed to be mild solvents and Mini paint?
Oh well, all's well that ends well. Just another well spent evening in the shop.
robj
Took longer to tape off than to scuff and paint...
That’s a common issue with the paint under the hood and hatch, at least on the 1st gens. The paint isn’t clear coated in these areas and the base coat doesn’t hold up to much.
RB,
Thanks, I was wondering if that might be the case. Even with somewhat gentle rubbing to get the glue off, it went right to the primer, at least on the high spots. Even with no CC that kind of surprised me.
Seems kind of cheap on what is a somewhat expensive vehicle not to clear the engine compartment as well. Even GM does this.
rj
JC,
It worked good here and matched well as I had definite lines that I could tape off and paint to. It's strictly a base coat and I skipped putting clear over it as it would look so different than the rest of the engine compartment that it would really stand out. I'm not sure how well it would blend on a larger area. I'm sure they sell spray cans of clear as well but blending and polishing can be a tricky process and although I've done full paint on cars in the past, blending is an art above my pay grade....
Here it worked out great. Good enough for a "Bargain Mini".
Oh yea - been there. After buying my 06 S, I hosed out the engine compartment and sprayed it down with diluted simple green. Started scrubbing the shock towers with a soft bush an immediately noticed blue water running down the sides! I even got some blue paint on my wet rag (wet with only water) when scrubbing some oily residue off the inside bottom of the hatch.
Your fix looks good. I will be doing something similar to my shock towers as well.
Dang, Simple Green and water took the paint off! I guess maybe dish detergent would be less aggressive and still cut the grease but I'm almost afraid to try that.
After this happened I used soft rags [dry] to get the grease off then cleaner wax on a rag to finish cleaning. Hopefully the wax will help.
rob
The factory paint under those engine bays on the gen 1 MINIs seems thin. On my R52 it seems like they ran a little thicker paint but on older R53 it seems like it almost wipes off with scrubbing. We now carry some paint options https://www.ecstuning.com/b-bavarian...or-body-paint/
Most final wipe for painting is alcohol base, and will remove base coat(BC). There is a water based cleaner for raw BC you can use. Your probably better off with water and Dawn dish soap
