Well, I was thinking maybe the back window (driver's or passenger side), or maybe the window just behind the driver's door. That way I could see the decal every time I get in the car. Other ideas for the "best" placement of the Week 32 decal? Anyone?

 

Wow! It's been over 24 hours and no one has posted anything to our thread. I hope that means everyone has been out on the road all weekend.

Well, I have some updates. Note the new picture of Phantom in my Sig. It shows his new black nose (JCW grill). I have also posted some new pics in my gallery. Today, after giving Phantom a bath and a Hydro drying, my wife and I drove over to a very large, old cemetery near our home. It's Woodland Cemetery, the first one in Dayton, and is where many famous Dayton people are buried - the Wright brothers, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Erma Bombeck, some famous inventors like Charles Kettering... and lots more. I know that there are gravestones that date back to the early 1800s (at least).

Anyway, we took some pics of the trees and some of the monuments. I took some new pics of Phantom, too. Nice surroundings. Very pretty with the leaves changing colors. Hope you like them.

 

I saw another MINI today that looked like the Red Bull MINI (with the can on the back), except that this car was red, not blue, and the bull on the front of it was in a different pose than the bulls butting heads that I see on Red Bull cans. Any idea what it was that I saw? I only caught a glimpse as the red MINI was stopped at a gas station (near a University come to think of it) and I was cruising by on the street.

 

Hey Phantom -

I guess it's just me and you holding up the fort this weekend! Everyone else is probably motoring or VOTING!

 

Nice pics of the cemetery! Personally, cemeteries creep me out, but I live very close to Colma, CA which is famous for having a lot of 'non-voting' population! I think Jesse James and a handful of infamous folks are buried in an old cemetery somewhere in Colma. I, for one, will not be poking around in Colma!

 

Oh, and forgot to mention - nice grill! Looks great.

 

Nice grill Phantom.... looks especially good with the black stripes!

Drove through a couple of hours of snow on the way home last week! They even salted the roads and it really did a number on the Black Wow! I don't know if I could stand driving Bernard in the snow and slush.... I'd have to give up on my newfound detailing obsession!

No fall color here in LA.... eventually the leaves will just turn brown and fall from exhaustion, not cold weather!!

 

Thanks! That's exactly the way I see it. Better balance of chrome and black.

What do you mean? What did the road salt do to the Black Wow?

I remember quite well from my days in New Orleans. It's about that time of year when summer finally breaks in LA, and some cooler weather comes along. I think I always loved November and December best in New Orleans because of the break from the summer heat that began back in April or May.

 

Back drivers window is probably a good place!!! I'll have to go on line and order one!!

Grill looks great!!!

Motoring here!!! Did a little 140 mile trip!!

Salt and snow!! How does anyone keep that stuff off!! Whenever I've lived in northern climates I haven't had to worry about a car. Seems like it would be a lot of work to keep the salts off the cars.

Doesn't look that good here either for fall colors!! We need a good cold snap!!

 

Is this link okay? I get an error message. I can go to just cooperflags, but how do I find our decal?

 

Seemed to strip it down. The salt sat on the finish for almost 4 days til I could wash and after I had washed and hydro'd, parts of the black trim were gray and looked unprotected. I'm assuming it was the salt.... I had hoped that applying the BW wouldn't be a monthly thing!

I took Ken's advice on the detailing forum and bought a pair of those Kiwi shoe polish applicators.... little foam disks with a red plastic handle. They work perfectly for applying the BW.

 

I use the foam tire dressing applicators you can get that contour to the tire. They work great since they are concave, especially for the fenders.

 

False alarm figured it out!! Ordered a badge and 3 decals!!

 

When I clicked on the link in your note, I got an error, too, but when I copied and pasted the link into my browser, it worked just fine. Glad you got it to work. The decals look very nice, and I'm sure the badges are just as nice.

I think I'm going to put one on the driver's side of the car, at the back end of the window behind the driver's door. I need to go ahead and just do it, though. I hesitate only because it sort of breaks up my "stealth" look - the color mostly.

 

re: where to place the decal on the mini.

Haven't had a chance to try out locations for the decal, but I intend to do that this weekend. Will prob just tape it with some painter's tape to spot check several locations, probably starting with one of the clubbie's back doors, perhaps the club door itself, or somewhere on the driver's side. Then I'll pull the trigger put it somewhere.

BTW, the clubbie back door sure gets dirty fast! I didn't think I'd be using those two little wipers in the back much, but am finding that I use them quite regularly during rain!

 

Re: Decal... let us know where it finally rests - with a pic, preferably. Thanks.

Re: Back window. I had used RainX on my windshield in other cars, and did the same to Phantom. But then I realized that the back window needed it, too. Really does help keep the rain off - reducing, but not eliminating, the need to run the back wiper. I wonder, too, if there's a difference in how wet and dirty the back window of a hardtop gets compared to the back window of a clubman?

 

I've noticed the back window trim under the wiper seems to gather fine dust fairly quickly. I am continuously cleaning with detail spray!!

 

I have never used the rear wiper and I probably won't. I can't stand when the rear windshield gets dirty and has that ugly looking shape from the wiper.

 

I know what you mean!!! I'd be cleaning it after every use!!!

 

The back of the clubbie is a dust/dirt magnet. I'll have to put on some more Slick which seems to work like Rain-X except without the haze (my detailing bag of tricks is pretty full so don't want to buy another bottle of goo). Even in dry weather the back gathers dust like nobody's business. Oh well, just have to wash Trooper regularly - hard to do when it rains continuously, though!

yep, I'll definitely post pics of the decal 'in situ'.

 

For the dust (when it's not raining) I keep a small California Duster in the boot that I use before wiping with a quick detailer.

 

yeah, I have one of those Cal Dusters. Might have to do that, but don't want to be overly obsessive about it... although it really bugs me how dirty the back gets so I might have to cave to my compulsion to WIPE IT OFF when I see it!

 

The Cal Dusters are good but only if there's a really light layer of dust, otherwise you run the risk of digging crap into your paint. I pretty much only use mine in the spring when the pollen is out. Instead, I'd say carry some Quick Detailer with you and use that and a MF towel.

 

I had one of those "man, I really love my car" moments on the way into work. I realized that every single trip to/from work (or anywhere) is FUN thanks to the car. I forgot how much I dreaded commuting before.

I've still managed to not spend any money on stuff for the car, yet. I'm holding out as much as I can. Maybe I can make it until Christmas?

I do need to go get some snow tires though...

 

I visited the monthly meeting of the Ohio Mini Owners group last evening. It's a Dayton, Ohio Mini/MINI (and more) owners group that's been around for over 20 years, I think. They said they have about 40 members, but only about 25 or so were at the meeting. The core of the group seems to be those who are "classic" Mini owners. Some own 2 or 3 Minis going back to the 1960s. I got a chance to look over a 1975 Austin Clubman Estate that the owner believes was originally sold in Italy. There's a short article about a couple of owners in our local paper. http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/...18WOWMini.html if you are interested.

Anyway, it was interesting to meet some long-time Mini owners. The group is planning to host Mini Meets East in 2010. I think they plan to hold it at the Wright-Patterson Airforce Base.

Anyone else found a Mini/MINI owners group in their town?