I might be coming it depends if my dad gets out of the hospital on saturday or not

 

Got room for an Arkie at this hoedown? I would love to attend. Mark installed a Clea Bra on my MINI a few weeks ago. I am going to be running a 1/2 marathon in the St Louis Marathon that morning. By the time I get cleaned up and out of the hotel, it might be closer to 11:00 before I get there, but I would love to come. I have a box of DP stuff I haven't even used yet.

 

YES, you are most welcome to attend.

 

I'm there.

Just didn't want to crash it. Mark mentioned it while he was installing the Clear Bra. Sounds like a great gathering.

 

all Mini lovers are welcome to attend.

 

As of 6:41pm 4/4/08.... High of 68* partly cloudy...
Its on!!

 

Yup, looks like the weather is going to be great. I'm going to do a couple of areas of my MINI today. Full clay, polish, wax, so folks can see what this looks like next to areas that have not been done. I'll do the rest of the car Monday, which is also looking good weather wise.

Mark

 

I'll be there!

By the way, Mark, can you demonstate the use of Lanka? I have some in one of those small free sample packets if you do not have any on hand. I have a paint "lump" on my MINI that you can demonstrate it on if you wish. The lump is months (!) old so not sure if it will still work on that ...

 

a little word of caution for those coming. if you are used to the area, but do not drive on Kirkham on Sunday, make sure that you stop on the Stop that they put up only on Sundays by one of the churches. there is always a line of POLICE cars waiting for those who miss that Stop.

last time during the detailing event for the Porsche club, some participants got tickets. that would not be good...

see you all tomorrow. the weather will be nice

mark.

 

Well, I'm working Sunday and working on closing on our first house purchase this Tuesday. I wish I could make it. My Mini is dirty.....Plus haven't seen you all in a long time. Sarah and I will be moving to Kirkwood. Talk to you all soon.

Craig

 

Kirkwood, yay We'll be neighbors

Lois

 

That was a BLAST, it was great meeting you all. I found a NAM suprise on my boot. GOOGLE EYES!?!?!

 

The Detailing day had a great turn out and it was great to see everyone again. Thank you Mark for the demonstrations, they were helpful. It turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day out.

 

Yes, what a nice day!

Here are a few pictures from the clinic.

PART I: Washing a dirty car that has already been prepped (clayed) and waxed/sealed recently

We gathered at the Clear Shield Auto Bra of Marek (aka Mark). Doug/Zinful and Lois are chatting in front:



Mark (Lotsie) shows the buckets he uses for washing including the Dirt Guard that sits at the bottom of the bucket. The Dirt Guard acts as a grill to scrub your mit on and cathes the grit and dirt that settles to the bottom:


Mark uses the recommended double bucket method---one bucket for clean soapy water and the other for rinsing the dirty mit. He's got a neat home-made cart with wash mit posts!:


Here are the goodies that Mark brought along:



Rinsing the MINI:


Washing with a lamb's wool mitten:


Rinsing off the MINI:


Mark loves Hydro! This wax is sprayed on the wet MINI after rinsing off the car shampoo with water:


Drying down with a waffle weave microfiber towel. Hydro allows you to "wax as you dry" :


Lois' cabrio is looking good:


The folks gather around Mark's MINI to see how the trim is done:



PART II: Prepping, polishing, and sealing/waxing a badly swirled surface

Doug/Zinful loaned his truck for us to practice on:


First, washing the surface:



Lubing the surface with clay lube (soapy water will do). The kneaded block of detailing clay is in Mark's other hand:


Running the clay over the paint removes stuck on dirt and other contaminants:


Mark shows what the clay has pulled off. The truck did not have a clearcoat, so a lot of degraded paint (red) came off:


The "students" line up to feel how much smoother the clay has rendered the surface:


Introducing the Porter Cable (PC) rotary orbital (RO) buffer/polisher. Rather than applying the polish by hand, this tool makes the job quicker, more even and uniform:


Applying Prima SWIRL on to the foam pad of the orbital (do not turn on the PC yet---you will get Swirl all over you!):


Before turning on the orbital, rub the pad on to the surface to spread the product:


Wiping the surface. The process was then repeated, but now using a lesser (diminishing) abrasive polish and finally finishing with Finish (a sealant):



Voila!


Part III: Miscellaneous pics

Folks gather around Mark's MINI to see how plastic trim is cared for:


Mark says Black Wow works well on trim and will not poison your dog:


Applying Black Wow:


Mark of Ultrashield applies the clear shield to Mike's JCW:


Mark demonstrates how to mask the plastic trim of the roof:


Mick's classic Mini:



StlMini members socialize:

'Locogringo' tries his hand at using the PC. Now he can use the one he has at home!


A stlmini member admires Doug's truck, which is looking much better!

 

John, thanks for the photos Well except for the top of my head ones. I hope everyone came away with some good tips on how to detail their MINIs. Great group of folks to work with, and the turn out was wonderful.

I want to thanks Mark for the use of his space, which was perfect, and the snacks and lunch he provided, could not have been better

Now it time to hit the sofa

Mark

 

The detailing day was great. Thanks to Mark at Clear Auto Bra for the hospitality. Thanks to Mark, Lotsie, for the demo. Thanks to the St Louis Mini Club for hosting. Can't wait to try to PC out. I might start after work one day this week.

 

Man, I really wanted to go to this!!!
I had tickets to the Cards game, but I really wanted to come out!
Looks like I missed a good time.

 

Great job, Mark And great turnout And thanks to Mark from Ultrashield for the use of his shop & for providing the munchies

And I wonder where those google eyes came from

Lois

 

Thanks Mark with Ultrashield for having us. The event turned out great.

Thanks Mark for showing everyone some tips and tricks.

Thanks everyone for coming. It was nice to see everyone again after a long winter. Sorry I couldn't stay very long, but the track was calling me.

 

Now, for that you might try 'Back to Black' ---- ha ha just kidding!

 

I just added more pictures into the post above (scroll up). Enjoy!

 

Hey, that was me trying my hand at the Porter Cable, not Dan/Big Fun.

I will be trying mine out this week and weekend.

That was a great event. Great job to all involved.

 

Ooops, sorry about that---my poor memory at work. It's corrected now!

Have fun with the Subaru (then the MINI). Take pictures and share them if you have the time!

 

Mark, thanks for the time spent and expertise. I went straight home to wash my car!

I missed info about the Detalier's Paradise buy, and browsed their site for a while at home. Is this still available? Is is a code, or does it go through you? Hopefully its still on, because I picked out a few things I'd like to get.

Thanks, everyone, for coming out so I could get a look at some other MINIs and some other mods. You guys had some great cars.

 

I think Mark said to just let him know what you want.

I would like a gallon of Hydro please