Congrats on the arrival. I'm still waiting for mine to go to production. It won't be long now. You're going to have one hot MINI with the JCW. Awesome!

 

I called ASKMINI today and the nice lady said that she couldn't tell for sure, but it will probably be produced in week 12 (like WebWerker there), which means I'll get it near the end of April! Score!! Wooohooo! Its got me even more excited now!

 

I know...the closer I get to an actual prod date the more giddy I become. It's like the feeling I got when putting up the Christmas tree when I was a kid. Once the tree went up the presents were bound to show up soon (even a lump of coal got me excited).

 

>>I know...the closer I get to an actual prod date the more giddy I become. It's like the feeling I got when putting up the Christmas tree when I was a kid. Once the tree went up the presents were bound to show up soon (even a lump of coal got me excited).

and the Christmas feeling never stops!

 

I'm waiting on losing myself to that xmas buzz until:

1) I sell my MC for a profit
2) my S actually shows up

In that order.

Then I will be "as happy as a little girl," as Dieter used to say!

 

Finally some great motoring weather!




Problem is my wife is all over me to put her mustang (convertable) back together so she can enjoy also. I guess it isn't going to fix itself, but my weekend MINI driving/bug splatting was worth it.

Have a great day all you April clubbers.

Andy

_________________


03 MC CR/B. Rogue exhaust, Pipercross induction intake.

 

Absolutely... perfect week.

I had my first experience with waxing the MINI this weekend (the dealer used a buffer and apparently cheap wax, little swirls everywhere in heavy light).

I tried the Meguiars NXT Tech wax per the recommendations over in the detailing forum. All I can say is WOW. This is some AMAZING gear folks. Probably the lowest effort wax job I've ever had the pleasure of performing. I say pleasure because seeing the results with only a cursory amount of hand rubbing made me smile WIDE. This stuff made my paint GLOW and got rid of most (but not quite all) of those nasty buffer marks. Highly recommended.

Anyhow, I'll comb back and fill in the list/repost it ASAP. Sorry to lag behind. We had out of town guests this weekend and I spent my day off yesterday motoring around looking for a new apartment :smile:

 

Andy.. thanks so much for that weather report. I'm GREEN with envy!

 

Andy, that weather seems so boring. One perfect day after the next.

How can you take it?

Regards,
Red

 

>>Andy, that weather seems so boring. One perfect day after the next.
>>
>>How can you take it?

What a waste!

Andy

 

tomorrow's forecast; dark and stormy - I go to the dealership! (how's that for metaphors )

 

Now that the weather is slowly improving on the east coast, I have to head to Wisconsin for a week on biz.

That should set me back weather wise quite a bit.

BTW, those heated nozzles are cool; I mean warm.
Company car Taurus squirting out of one Windshield washers (of course passenger side) this AM for at least an hour. Bummer. No MINI company cars yet.

Regards,
Red

 

WOOHOO!! Habanero has started production! Should be in the paint shop in a couple of days. That name just popped into my head. I haven't even given any thought of a name, but now that I have a VIN it's like Habe (for short) is about to be born.

 

>>tomorrow's forecast; dark and stormy - I go to the dealership! (how's that for metaphors )

Ryan, you need to show up in a dark full-length duster, too... and you still have no hair, right? Best to intimidate them even more than usual (as opposed to me wandering around dealerships with my barn clothes on )!

How did your meeting with them go?

kg - congrats!

 

Congrats KG!

Regards,
Red

 

Great name kg. I love it. Chilli Red is not only the fastest but the hottest color too!

I'll put a few extra drops of habanero on my breakfast tomorrow.

 

mmm, I love habanero chili's! better flavor than jalepeno, and way more spice too
Cheers,
Ryan

 

Hopefully Habe will be a little too spicy for the English guy/gals at the factory to handle. They'll want it on it's way ASAP. The little Chili MINI will be here in record time.

 

I'm at the vdc and the dealer has my jcw kit.

 

Ok... I PROMISE to get a new list up this weekend :smile:

I need some help guys. Ryan (the expert detailer) in particular.

Today a guy from a local detailing place came by and offered to wash our cars at the office for $15. Being the responsible owner I am, I asked him what he used to wash/dry. He replied microfiber towels for drying, soft terry for washing, and squeegee on the windows.

So I go out to look at my car after he's done, and there are hairline swirls ALL OVER my clearcoat. It looks BAD from certain angles.

I'll probably be able to at least get my money back... but the damage is done and I'm sure as hell not letting that IDIOT touch my mini again. So my quesiton is....

For a non-detailer like myself, what is the best way to remove these marks? I've got some Meguiars NXT Tech wax already and I know that works for some smaller scratches... but I'm afraid it may not be enough.

I don't really want to shell out for an entire zaino's kit or anything (but I will if that is what it takes). What is the easiest/cheapest way to take care of this for someone who has no detailing experience?

 

UH! Sorry to hear about your MINI JPL. As you've learned NOBODY will take care of your baby like you will. As far as removing swirl marks the only way to truely remove any deep swirls is to polish them out. Even Zaino won't remove swirls only hide them. Depending on how bad the swirls are will determine the course of action. For some serious swirls they have to be removed with a polisher (or hand) and something like 3M Perfect-IT Glaze. I hope that the swirls aren't that bad. If not then you can hide them somewhat with Zaino.

FYI, if you decide to try Zaino do the whole system. It works great. Once the car has been done it doesn't take much to keep it clean (as long as it's not out in the weather). I didn't have a garage for my S2000 and it stayed immaculate. Everyday I would go over it with a California duster then hit it with a watered down spray carnuba wax. Then buff it off. After that I would spray a light misting of distilled water and buff. The cool water helped the carnuba set and left a nice sheen. The total time from start to finish was about ten minutes. If I did that every day or other day I never had to wash the car unless I got it really muddy.

Best of luck getting your MINI shinning again.

 

JPL - I moved your thread to Detailing101, and provided a wee-bit of insight on MINI paint

Basically, you'll need to use a paintwork cleanser, and then a Swirl Mark Remover (SWR). 3M's Perfect-It SWR is great, not too abrasive, but keep it away from trim!

kgmini - I had an S2k on order before dumping it for the MINI. There seems to be lots of ex-S2k owners that are now MINIac's! Welcome aboard

 

I bought my S2K when they first came out a few years ago. It was a blast to drive. It's hard to compare the S2K to the MCS I test drove. What I can say is that the S2K was very raw and basic in nature. The MINI is much more refined. It's been a couple of years since I've driven a sports cars (I think MINIs are sports cars). When I drove the MCS I got a rush that I haven't felt in a very long time. I can't wait for Habe to arrive.

Now that my MCS has started production I've started to buy stuff for it. Very good stuff! On it's way as I speak I have Ferodo pads, a Rogue Eng. short shifter, and a Whalen ****. I still need to pick up a sway bar, intake, package shelf, mount for my iPod Mini, and I thinking about removing my factory stripes and installing a Viper stripe. AHH! So much to do and so little time. LOL

 

KG, The stripes aren't factory installed. The dealer puts them on. If you want the viper stripes which I like a lot, tell your dealer to hold the stripes, refund your money and get the ones you want.

Andy

 

Cool thanks for the information! I'll do that.