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

No kidding. I already have a reserved parking spot at the hospital. It's the humpty-dumpty spot.

 

Met up with the Panhandle MINI folks and went to a baseball game. MINI of Pensacola paid and it was a great time!

Sounds like they do pizza and beer instead of donuts down here also. Will take some getting used to.

 

Got the coupe filled with Shell premium ..drove it for 60 miles...again tank filled completely..it consumed 1.6 gallons for 60 miles..

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Was it all down hill? :lol:

 

[emoji23] [emoji23] [emoji23]
Wish it was down hill..

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Ordered the fasteners to install my recently acquired GP2 engine belly pan and bought front and rear adjustable sway bar end links to use with my Greene Performance coil overs being built by Colin.

 

Saturday meet with a big group at our monthly donut meet. We even had a rare showing by Dark Helmet.

I finally got the old flaking Pentrol off the trim and redid it and replaced the belt line black out tape.

 

FYI You can remove Penetrol at anytime by blasting it with a pressure washer from about 6 inchs or closer with wide spray.

 

Took the 16 Countryman to the bumper doctor today, we shall see what the paint match looks like in 5 days, they are going to do the entire bonnet and bumper, etc. Then putting on new clear bra. Of course the replacement headlight assembly ($895 +or- a $), do not break your headlight lens, headlight works fine but it is an assembly.

Earl Gray I sure hope it matches only 9 months old, really has not been in the sun and UV, garaged of course.

Of course, I got a POS Focus for the rental car via Geico, I think Enterprise went out of their way to piss me off. :mad2: Might take it back in a day or so and piss and moan.

Don

 

Save your old headlight if it's a Xenon, or at least the bulb and ignitor for spare parts. Is that enought time for the paint to cure before putting on the clear bra? A friend recently had some wrinkling, or a haze problem with a carbon piece that was protected a few days after clear coating(2K clear). If you don't have an issue like that, will it fuse to the newly painted surface and have problems down the line if it ever needs to be removed for reinstallation?

 

I was thinking along those lines myself. They managed to match my Thunder Grey paint and it was about a year old. I can't tell the difference, but I do remember them telling me not to wax it or apply stripes for at least 60 days.

 

Nice to hear that you received what you paid for at the body repair shop as that's not always the case.

 

Tried that. It got some of it off. Ended up using the citrus finish stripper and a stripping pad. But very carefully as to not get it on the paint. I tried to tape off the paint but the painters tape won't stick after I sealed the paint 3 weeks ago.

 

It's 2016 and body shops "Bake" the paint with heat and IR lights to cure it right in the booth so you do not need to wait. Also they do not use single stage paint any longer and everything is base coat clear coat and is dried in the booth. In the old days you used to have to let a car "Gas out" a.k.a. to cure to release all the solvents in the paint and let them evaporate. Thanks to the EPA and Technology with water based paints body shops no longer have to wait a month or two before sealing a cars paint.

Most times the car has already been sanded, polished and waxed before you get it back from the body shop.

You can wet sand, buff right after the car is delivered to you.
Most clear bra or PPF installers ( Paint Protection Film ) will cover after one week and that's only because they are booked. We have an XPEL installer near by that does very high end cars including Ferrari's, Limbo's and McLaren's right from the body shop.

Apparently just because people can buy one of those cars (Ferrari's, Limbo's and McLaren's) does not mean you can park them without hitting something. :lol: :ihih:

 

This morning I showed up at my favorite tire place 15 minutes before they opened.Tire balance & rotation from my friends at Discount Tire. In & out in 23 minutes & Free. Heck I didn't even buy the tires & wheels from them. Front tires at 6/32 & rears at 7/32. Seems the GTI likes to use its tires more than my MINI did.

 

These bad boys came in today from GB. Can't wait to stick em on

 

http://stickyfingersdecals.com/ourshop/cat_952344-Wing-Badges.html

A couple folks reached out to me and let me know that theirs started to peal and fade after a few months. I'll be hitting these with some clear to hopefully prolong the life of them. When I spoke to stickyfingers during the process they let me know they now go thru an extensive curing process. We shall see. Either way, the added clear should help.

 

I gassed out once while wearing my full leathers and full face helmut. Talk about a captive audience... :frown2: Damn near laid the bike down.