Hey guys,

This will be a bit long, but hopefully at the very least some people will get a laugh so please read through this.

Let me start by saying that I am extremely challenged when it comes to doing anything that requires any kind of manual skill. To put it in a simple way, my arms grow out of my $%&. That said I always try to do things myself (in part because I'm a broke student, in part because I really do want to learn and then be able to say I did it), and it always ends up in a disaster. Some examples would be trying to change plumbing in my mom's apartment and flooding the neighbors bellow , trying to install ceramic tile in the kitchen by myself resulted in an SUV obstacle course similar to the one my local Land Rover dealer has and many more.

So my latest and greatest involves my mini and my newly acquired JCW Scoop

I purchased the scoop this week from a fellow NAMer thought the market place here on the site and against my better judgement decided to install it myself. After all how hard can it be right?
BTW the JCW scoop feels really light and flimsy compare to stock, but maybe its because it's so light.


So I search the forum and found this and similar threads. I mean all there is to it is take a screw out and then pull up.

Little did I know, that in my hands even something so simple would go wrong.
After I successfully took the screw out I yanked on the scoop and it would not let go. So I went back to the forum, rechecked the threads and they all say pull hard and don't worry. So I did.

The scoop came out but two of the clips stayed in the bonnet breaking the plastic part that holds them. (bottom left and bottom center on the picture)




This is the unbroken piece with a clip in it.


Never fear, I said to myself, I don't need this scoop, I'm installing the JCW one.
So I took the two clips that were left in the bonnet using pliers and started aligning the jcw scoop.

Very carefully and gently (at least in my mind) I proceeded to push on the scoop so that the clips would pop into place.
The scoop just would not go, so I gave it a few little taps where the clips are.
I'm sure you can all guess what happened next
One of the plastic pieces holding the clips broke.
Right away I decided to pull the scoop back, but two other clips were already securely in. So the plastic holding them broke as well.
So now I have the JCW scoop with three broken plastic pieces, and one is about to break as soon as something touches it.

The broken one as you can see are the two on the right side of the picture and the one on the bottom left. (the tow center ones remained were not damaged)










and the unbroken one:


These are the clips, one with the housing that is supposed to stay in the bonnet.


and lastly this is what the scoop looked like before I broke it


As you can see unlike on the stock scoop, the plastic pieces on the JCW look like they were glued on.

Now I don't know what to do. I hope some one can help.
Not only, did I brake the expensive JCW scoop, but I broke the stock one as well, so now I got nothing.
I'm looking for advise on how to either fix the JCW one, or attach it securly to the bonnet any other way.
I went to my local AUTOZONE and they said that they carry similar clips, but not the plastic housing that holds them. Also most of their clips are for domestics, and none of them resemble the mini ones.

A couple of more pictures here

I would greatly appreciate any help, and also if you can't help but laugh, thats ok too.

 

jb weld from any auto parts store. it's a two part mix. Ive used it to glue anything from plastic to metal. glue your clips in place on the scoop let it sit overnight. then push it in place.

Then next time leave the moddin to the pros

 

I meant to do a writeup of how to do this properly after I installed my scoop a few weeks ago, and I forgot....too late now.

My JCW scoop came broken like that from the factory, and my SA just ordered me another one. Those mounts are obviously very fragile. The JCW scoop is light because...it's Carbon Fiber!

You'll need a different screw for the middle mount point, the original plastic clip won't fit into the JCW threaded hole. I took my scoop the local hardware store and went through all the screw drawers until I found one that fit. edit : looking at your pics, I guess the original scoop had a screw in that middle point already. I guess they changed that for the 08 or 09 year because mine had a plastic expanding clip in there.

Another tip - the clips that fit into the housings in the bonnet are a VERY tight fit. I had to squeeze the tips of the clips with a pair of pliers to make them slightly smaller so that they snapped into the housings without having to put too much pressure on the scoop. Don't worry that some stayed in the bonnet and some came out with the scoop, mine did that too.

This is not a job that needs to be "left to the pros", I'm a complete klutz when it comes to this kind of thing but really you just need to take your time and not rush it and most importantly (as you've learned), don't FORCE it. It took me about 45 minutes (not including the run to the H/W store) to switch out the stock scoop for the JCW.

Don't forget to move your scoop grill over too, unless you're going to leave it fully open. It's only 4 screws.

Hope you get the mounts fixed...good luck!

edit : one more thing, put a towel over the engine bay while you're working under the bonnet so you don't drop any screws or clips in there.

 

Not sure I understand how to glue the clips on. You mean just hard glue them in without bothering with those plastic pieces that hold them?

 

Personally I would rebuild the broken piece out of a solid material, something like that "Mighty Putty" they show on TV. Build a solid replacement, same height and width (use your old scoop to get it right) with the clip embedded in it already in the right place. Then when you're pushing it down into the bonnet, you're pushing against a solid object rather than a thin plastic holder.

 

Almost, the jb weld will hold up if you use something to replace the broken pieces. i would cut some squares out of sheet metal then cut a groove in it to slide the clip into place. then jb weld it together. just make sure you sand all contacting points with 220 sand paper to promote "bite"

 

I went by a couple of automotive stores and they all say that plastic epoxy stuff like mighty potty will not stick to carbon fiber.
Can some one confirm or deny this?
Which jb weld product would I need?

 

there is a product called Fusor that will mate carbon, fiberglass, metal, plastic to each other. it is costly though.

the jb weld in the white tubes is what ive used on plastic bumper repairs, fiberglass, and metal. it's only about $6. I cant stess enough the importance of propper prep. sand with 220, clean with rubbing alcohol, or thinner. bond pieces together, then let it sit overnight.

 

Ding, ding, ding....we have a winner.

Muladesigns is right. We use what's called Lord's Fusor epoxy. You'll want #142. It's about 45 bucks a tube but well worth it.

I JUST fixed my last week. I did the same thing... (and I'm in the bodyshop business...lol. It's a really poor design and the JCW scoop is even worse than the stock S scoop)

If you have a problem or feel you're not capable, let me know. You can send it to either one of my bodyshops and I'll fix it for free and mail it back to you. (I was a broke college kid long time ago...lol)

If you want, give me a call at work if I can help you. No charge.

Mark

Collision Specialties, Inc.

(704) 882-1150

 

Mark,

Thank you so much!!!

I will be calling you on Monday for sure. I better not attempt to do this myself. I do want to pay you something, I'm sure you or your mechanics can spend the time working on a car of a paying customer.

This just goes to show how great the mini motoring community is!!!

 

Nice touch Mark. Kudos to you!

 

Buy a new clip?

 

This is why I love the MINI community....Mark, that's awesome of you

 

Thanks guys but I just want to be able to help since it's in my field. A little bit of time and materials that I can donate may make a big difference to someone that doesn't either have the time, money or knowledge.

Like ya'll said.... it's part of being in the mini community.

Porthos,

It's not the clip that breaks, it's the "surrounding opening".... which is not replaceable without replacing the scoop. (really poor/weak design)


Mark

 

Mark, you're a class act!

 

So after lots of hard work and enormous amount of time and effort Mark was able to fix the clip mounts on my JCW scoop.

Mark that you so much!!!

I hope that if any of you are in North Caroline or anywhere close to Indian Trail, NC and you need work done on your car you will take it to Collision Specialties! I can assure you that Mark will do a superb job on your Mini or I'm sure on any other car as well


Thank you Mark again.
here are the pictures of the fixed scoop to compare with the ones I posted earlier.

 

You're welcome but what's with the tinfoil? Did you add it for extra packing?

If so, I assure you that the epoxy we used won't compress. You'll break it off again before it comes loose.

Regardless, glad it worked out... if you have any issues, let me know.

Mark