I have a new '06 coming next week. I also have some bonnet stripes coming from Cooper Flags. I understand that the MINI's are waxed at the factory, but I have to get rid of the wax (with a solvent) before putting the stripes on. What should I use? I don't want to Z the car now, just remove the wax prior to installation of the stripes.

Use some Dawn in your wash bucket and the wax will be gone!

Yep Dawn wash will get the wax

Ditch the solvent

With my Cooper Flags stripes were directions to use denatured alcohol to remove the wax. I did and nothing bad happened......but, it seems that Dawn would be cheaper and safer.

plain old rubbing alcohol will do the trick, just pour a little on the towel and gently rub it on then wipe with a clean microfiber and you are ready to install the stripes. Unless there is fallout or swirls or ?? Its always best to do any paint correction before installing any stripes.

No they are not.

Mine had no wax on it from the factory.

A dawn wash will get the paint very clean. Just don't rub hard, do more of a soaking with soapy water, lay the stuff on, don't rub, and wash off with hose water. Then dry with a blotting motion rather than wiping.

All you are doing is getting transport grim off, the paint and clearcoat are cured from the oven the car passes through.

Use a natural, as in pure sheepskin, washing mitt to lay on the soapy water, and a good microfibre drying towel.

Don't use any "solvents" on you paint

dawn detergent the bonnet. rinse well. apply stripes. then wax the area.

enjoy.

i will be doing the same when mine comes in october.

save bundle compared with dealer stripes which i understand don't even run the entire length of the bonnet.

Washing is great, but you really need to clay bar it to get it really clean. The cars come wrapped/layered in plastic and when they remove it little bits can be left behind. My wife's 05 had all kinds of white specks on the hood that at first glance weren't noticeable. Use a little dawn in a spray bottle as the lube and you'll be sure to remove all the wax/cosmoline (sp?) residue.


Congrats on the new ride, ready to break it in on Hwy 28?

I'd say methyl ethyl ketone. That's what we use at work to prep aircraft panels for the application of adhesives. I believe most clearcoats are polyurethanes, so if it's a fleeting exposure, it'll clean it well without damaging the surface. Acetone would be pretty much equivalent, although it won't dissolve the waxes quite as easily. A light oil like kerosene (old funeral parlor trick -- keeps those Hearses shiny black) or WD-40 (great for removing masking tape residue, too) or mineral oil, followed by a soap and water rinse might be preferable. They'd remove the heavy organics more rapidly and probably be a little more gentle to your finish. Just be sure to test them on an unexposed surface first, and then use them sparingly and evenly. I would use absorbent cotten wipes, like what's used to clean the rollers in printing presses, and then wipe down each full panel just two or three times.

That's funny, we use MEK to remove paint from components that can't take sanding. Granted, these are aircraft parts that haven't been "clear coated", but they've had CARC paint applied. I know for sure it'll lift zinc chromate from aluminum and if it can do that it's some strong stuff.

Just to be safe, nothing more then dawn and a clay bar is needed.

My Mini came waxed, and I had to strip and clay it. I believe the car was waxed at the New Jersey automotive port, where the Mini ship comes in for us east coasters. They do all sorts of stuff there, including mods, as cars enter the US.

I'm certain it was waxed, because there was wax stuck on my side skirt, which was a pain in the **** to get off.

So I used dawn, clayed, then zaino'd, and everything was good.

dish soap (dawn or ivory) works well. i put a drop in a spray bottle.

I also have a diluted car shampoo in a spray bottle at all times in the
garage to use to spot wash (and sometimes to just clean my hands )

i'd be very careful w/ MEK. it's been banned at all the facilities i've worked at
for at least the last ten years since it's mutagenic (messes w/ somatic cells aka eggs et al).
make sure you read the MSDS (mat'l safety data sheet) before using.
it's serious stuff w/ serious side effects if not used properly.

it also goes right thru regular vinyl/food grade type gloves like they weren't there.

yeah, it'll take off some chemical/salt finishes. we don't use it on alodine, but it's fine on sulfuric acid and chromic acid anodization, and is a blessing for the unfinished panels that arrive with a layer of shipping oils. The mil-spec, boeing spec, and douglass spec paints and all the urethanes I've seen stand up to it just fine.

That raises a good point. Gloves are very temperamental. I remember getting lacquer thinner on latex gloves. After that, I used it barehanded. That hurt. Even nitrile gloves aren't very good against most organics. The safest bet is probably polyvinyl alchohol gloves, since they're made from a really polar polymer. They're good at resisting aliphatics and aromatics. But they'll shrink up from moisture. For fleeting exposure, though, most solvents aren't really anything to be worried about. MEK is functionally very similar to acetone, but since it has a slightly longer backbone, it's better at dissolving heavier organics. Treat it the same and you'll be fine.