Most liked posts in thread: What did you do with your MINI today?

A clean car is a happy car. Clean cars run better too. Washing your cars will save on the repair bills.

 

Dusted my car in the garage today.

 

Thanks Don. I'm keeping the lights on. The upstairs AC system took a dump on me, and my refrigerator was right there to rub it in. But, got both replaced, sort of. Still waiting on the fridge to arrive. I bought a cheap dorm fridge to keep my milk and veggies cold. Got a working freeze, so all that meat I socked way is good.

I'm still cooking. It's something to do.

CD

 

I'm in the middle of a wash, clay, polish and ceramic coating of my wife's car right now. Here's my rough estimate:

Products: $150 (Ceramic coating, polish, pads, soaps, clay)
Wash: 1 hour
Clay: 1.5 hour
Polish: 2 hours
Ceramic 1st coat: 1.5 hours
Ceramic 2nd coat: 1.5 hours
Ceramic 3rd coat: 1.5 hours
Detail (on a 6 month old car, treated very gently... vac, trim coating, leather conditioning, etc) : 1 hour

So that's $150 in products + 10 hours of labor (for a basically new car that didn't need a lot of paint correction). I'm probably way overkill for how most people treat their cars, but I'm way short of what I'd expect for a 'do everything to the max' detailing.

$100 an hour rates (shop rate for a fully trained/certified mechanic, so that would be too high IMHO) would take you to $1150. That leaves you with almost $1000 of contribution to the business (profit + overhead coverage for the facility / marketing / equipment). Sounds a bit excessive, IMHO, but if they are a high-end shop and focus on serious paint correction, high-end customer service, collector cars w/ difficult paint, I can see it. I'd bet there are cheaper alternatives in your area... just don't expect the same level of attention to detail from them.

Keeping the car for 2 weeks? That's just crazy. They should be able to turn a job like that in 2-3 days (even if they insist in curing the car overnight before delivery) unless it needs large # of hours of paint correction.

$500 for wheel cleaning/treatment seems a bit excessive as I've seen companies do a complete refinish (powdercoat) of wheels for under $90/wheel. It might be worth it if the wheels are severely crusty.

I had a mobile detailing shop (maybe 10 years ago) that would do a wash, clay and 2 coat of sealant in about 1/2 day in your office parking lot (2 guys)... it cost about $500 and seemed good value for the money given their product, quality and convenience. They had paint correction services, but that meant they kept your car for a while.

 

It was rewarding to find my frivolous exhaust purchase fixed a problem I didn't know I had.

 

Some new knurled nuts installed on the PS tank. They are red, so they add 2-3 hp each.

 

Did nothing to the MINIs, other than drive to the CU and to Lowes in the 2011, afternoons around here are way to prone to flash hail-storms. Two so far today.

Nothing big, just loud with the thunder. And all the lightening alerts from my weather app.

Take care, mask up.
Don

 

Haven’t posted in a while, here is a new shift knob I installed.

It is an universal knob, had to cut the plastic notches off the stock shifter.

Overall satisfied with the finish. The perforated leather mimics the stock steering wheel and no more HOTASS chrome on the top to burn my hands.




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Arrived last night! Brembo GT brakes.

Gonna re-do them in YELLOW



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New water system installed and works awesome. Tested the water from the tap before install it was at 205 TDS. (Hard Water)

After the install of all threes parts and a 10 minute flow test the test sample was ZERO TDS .

The black marks on the wall are from my Black rubber hose and that wall will be repainted soon.

 

Hey Don,

Still testing, But so far they go on easy, bonds well and comes off nice, but I still need to continue testing it in the real world with some abuse and washes. I think I am going to fully Polish and coat my wife’s Lexus RX 350 SUV for full testing since it is outside 24X7. That’s right, she knows my 15 year old MINI owns the garage.

I have two brands of Graphene coatings that I am testing. So far I like them, but let’s see how they stand up.

I will not use them on my customers cars. They only get tested and proven superior Gyeon ceramics or for a little extra money Kamikaze coatings.

 

I took the 16 Countrman down for yearly maintenance and a 2yr maint check too. Oil/Cabin Air/Brake flush/Sparkplugs, they said due to to time, it was covered on my extended maintenace, so went ahead and let them do it all. In the meantime I had seen a new MINI that tweaked my interest. Test drove, liked it a bunch, bought it. Really fast Does not wobble.

I will post pictures after I get it cleaned up again, damn Denver rain storms.



Teaser:

 

So I took a short drive prior to the daily rain and after spiffing the new MINI. Here are the basic pictures, need to find a quality photo shoot spot and take my big camera along. Here are couple snaps and the online link to a couple more.



Drive album

Don

 

Funny, I bought a JCW Clubman due to the fact it is really station wagon in disquise, I can use the room inside when traveling with my Golden Retriever, she is bigger now at 6 years old. . Not sure about bus, unless it is small fast short bus in yellow.

 

It is the 8 speed automatic, I do not think it is DSG but in the JCW is shift fine expecially if you toggle sport or put the selector in manual mode. I will ask at the dealer on Tuesday as I have to get that battery replaced the dealership fried. Improper storage.

More to come.

 

Hello friends... and Dave.0. Just kidding Dave.

I'm still hanging out at home. It's where my office is, so not that bad. But, classic car auctions and concours are all cancelled, so not much work to do.

As for my MINI, I'm probably putting about 100 miles on it per month. It's in the garage, so at least it stays clean.

HOWEVER, if you park a car too long in your garage in North Texas, things happen. I have an intermittent check engine light. I opened the hood to check things out, and a *&%$# rat had built a &*^%$ nest in the engine bay. I hope the check engine light isn't chewed wires.

Car collectors here have a big problem with rats moving in.

So, new bait stations are down. Some stupid old lady in the neighborhood had Animal Control round up all the feral cats, so the rats moved back in.

I'll have to take the car down to RAC Performance and have it checked out.

I hope everyone is doing well.

CD

 

Get some moth balls and place them around the garage. Even put a a hand full or two in a old sock and put it under your hood. That should do the trick.

 

Called up a bunch of local MINI drivers and went for a short drive for ice cream.

 

Went for a 3 miles drive before dinner, every mile is closer to that first oil change on the new JCW Clubman, for an implulse buy this one has turned out very good. I did get the battery changed out, no hassle, not even sure if they did an internal or warranty, really do not care, tech was fast, in and out in about 50 minutes with the battery software registration they do at the dealer. Probably go to a local BMW/MINI raceshop that is local for the first oil change, we shall see, the SA at dealer said not to reset any of the intervals so we can keep the MINI on the as delivered time and mileage. 10K or 1 year, at least they fixed that BS.

 

Made an appointment next week for a ceramic coating. I'll let you all know how it turns out. Dave O I know the price is high, but I'm 77 and don't have any family other than a wife and you can't take it with you so what the hell.