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

I tried to repair a crack in my JCW aero bumper and failed the first time but not the second time.

I mixed up a nice strong batch of epoxy and added something to strengthen the bond from the back and got it all setup and clamped it into place. After a few hours of drying I removed the clamp and bingo it's perfect. I only had a little bit to sand on the front and add a little filler to level it out. I will let it sit for the night and start finish sanding tomorrow.

This project it taking a lot of time but it's worth it to do everything by hand.

Getting closer to Primer.

 

My neighbors think I went to work for the state highway department. It really has a blotted look to it.

 

I finally finished sanding my bumper last night. Took off the tale and washed it down to remove a weeks worth of dust. Today will be another wipe down and another tape job for primer weekend.

Then more sanding...... Before color

 

Nice little garage you have there MM!

Sanding down one little bumper is easy Dave... Since I started the respray on my rusteration I have used 2 rolls of 180 sticky paper, a full 5 gallon of medium reducer, and a gallon of wax and grease remover... Still not close to done, so I had to pick up another 5 gallon can last weekend, and have a sand paper sleeve of assorted grit blocking paper that is starting to wear thin again!

Ahh the things we do for the things we love...

 

Went for a nice ride in the foothills today on the Moonshine Rally. It was a great day navigating twisty back roads with my wife....she only punched me and screamed "SLOW DOWN" twice this time.

 

Congrats.

 

I changed my oil, replaced my turbo oil feed lines with the Detroit Tuned steel braided one, and since it was off, replaced my downpipe with the amazing Akrapovic piece. It was all a first for me but I took advantage of lift access and sacrificed time and knuckle skin to save $600 that the local dealer was going to charge me for just the oil feed line install. And as I'm sure you DIYers already know, ef these heat shields!!! Man those things are the hardest part of the entire job.

 

I finally understand why my head hurts when I wake up in the morning.[emoji102]

 

Not a problem, it was a fun way to spend the morning.

 

So this is really yesterday's report. Today I just was happy that Black Top started up after yesterday's engine cleaning. I mean, I was careful, but you never know!

Yesterday was lovely weather, but I had no where I had to be, so I washed Black Top and took a first pass at, well, I won't call it engine compartment detailing, let's just call it cleaning.

I also Penetroled the rest of the black trim and man that looks great now. Then some Rain-X on the windows which I was pretty sure I had polished up properly, but this morning's drive to work looked like I was riding through fog, so some more polishing is in order. Before Penetrol, I figured out how to get the right rear trim clips back into place. (Hint: It's called force!) Here, have a crappy "before" pic.



I was also disappointed yesterday that my floor jack hadn't magically fixed itself, or at least leaked in some way that would show me what was wrong with it.

I stared pretty hard this weekend at some dual action polishers at AutoZone. The more I look, the more I see little scratches and such that I need to tackle. I haven't been able to find one that attaches to an air compressor--does such a beast exist?

 

Found it......

Brake pads rattling in the calipers....

Now to fix it.

 

Crossed a mileage milestone this morning on my way to the office.

 

Just stand next to your MINI and smack the hail with a tennis racket.....

But you gotta be fast....

 

Ummmmm.... Maybe I should take it out and blow the dust off....

I did notice some squirrels slinking around the neighborhood.... Kinda testing the water so to speak... Maybe the Gnatster needs to be pushing back a little...

 

The rattle has been found and dispatched......
It was the brake pads rattling around in the calipers.
A short length of fuel line and everything is quiet now.

 

Turned a few wrenches on the race car over the past few days.

 

Was he driving a red MINI with reindeer stuffed in the boot ?

 

Are you going to start a new thread called "What I did with Gnat today....."

 

A Chad original. Save that box as once Chad dies it will be worth ...well probably not much.