All of those products sound pretty fancy to me :P

How long did the clay job take?? I haven't tried that process yet because I haven't had a day to dedicate to wash/wax yet.

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Lol, I suppose they are pretty good products. There's much to be said for having the right tools for a given job. I think the car deserves something more like Swissvax Glacier, but I've got a baby on the way so "unnecessary" embellishments like that aren't in the cards anymore.

The clay job took roughly twice as long as previous jobs on this car, just about an hour and a half. This white paint really takes a beating, and winds up with a ton of rust flakes embedded in it after not very long at all, so I have been relying heavily on decon products before claying. I certainly recommend using something like Iron Out, Iron X, etc. before embarking on the job if your paint is similarly afflicted.

--Matt

 

I have a bottle of Iron X. I absolutely love it. But I no longer need it. I have dark grey paint now.

I expect the whole clay bar process to that long for me as well. Wish me luck when the weather clears up a bit!

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If you use NanoSkin's Fine Grade wash towel, it would negate the long hours of using clay bars. I don't even touch my clay bar anymore because of the NanoSkin products anymore. It picks up all the contaminants and they I get to work on swirl removal with my Griot and call it a day with Sonax Polymer Netshield and was on top of that.

 

Jeepers! I can get an awful lot of clay bars for $55. Food for thought, though, once I have depleted my stores of clay. I've still got a few seasons worth on hand.

--Matt

 

Yeah, I have some fancy Riccardo clay you can't find in the US, and I only use that on really small parts of the MINI or on my brothers beater because he has so much contaminants on his vehicle.

Use the NanoSkin on the wash process and you're done in less than 10mins and ready to bring the MINI in to start swirl removal.

 

Sounds convenient. I stocked up on a bunch of Griot's clay a while back when a local shop was going out of business, and won't be out for a while. I'll definitely check out this nano skin stuff when I'm out though. Those autoscrub pads seem pretty neat too!

--Matt

 

Thanks for the tip!! Much appreciated!!

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Super clean!

 

Very nice!

 

Thanks!!!

 

i have a 2005 r53 and i can't decide if i'm going to put my carbon fiber door handle and gas cap or not, any recommendation or pictures

If i do put the carbon fiber handle and gas cap (my mirror caps already have carbon fiber) i should make my tailgate, hood scoop and side scuttles carbon fiber? (as of the moment hood scoop and tail gate are painted gloss black while the side scuttles are stock)

 

Mirrors, handles and cap would be enough. Middle of the car stuff. You can leave the ends of the car as is. For example, I would never do the hood, door handles and cap and leave the mirrors without carbon. There's a continuity thing here.

 

I hate chrome, so I would (and did) do every bit of chrome on the car in black or carbon fiber. Get the belt line kit as well, it makes a big difference.

 

+ 100

 

For the headlight rings is it better to have it body colored than say black or carbon fiber? Also the fascia of.the headlight will it look better if i paint it flat back?

 

scoopy- first, that is a great looking MINI!! A classic look, the best OEM wheels ever made and the JCW kit sets it off perfectly. IMO go body color with the headlight rings and tails. I never understood 'petey eying' a PW...

 

Duplicate post

 

I actually like the black headlight trim rings for a PW...clearly because I have them. Lol. Not really a fan of the black hood scoop on a PW though, especially if it has the black HL trim. Just looks like a big, out of place, nose! Lol

And both my dogs, my cat AND my car have Petey Eyes....so perhaps I'm biased! Lmao

 

ok so i will have the headlight ring painted same as the body. should i also paint the fascia of the headlight flat black? will attach a sample pic.

 

We call black headlight rings " the panda bear" look. This too when the front quarter panel is blacked out as well. Hahaha.

 

hehe... i see.

 

What a great looking MINI! I hope you guys remember me. We just sold our Virginia home a week ago, then flew to the Gulf coast to buy one in Belleair, Florida. Both sales totally occupied our time over the past month.

Glad to have a quick moment to say hello and admire the MINI pics all over the site.

Dave

 

Good grief, Dave. Are you guys in Florida yet?

 

Congrats on the new home purchase! I hope everything has normalized for you and the family.

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