An old picture I found - Mini Cooper 1.3i

[markhinton]

I just found this picture of my friend's old Mini Cooper he had back when we were 17 (nearly 6years ago now, so just before I started wasting my money on proper cleaning products) - when he bought it the paint was badly oxidised, so I offered my hand to get it back up to scratch...

50/50

Reflection

...all that was used was some Mer polish, I then topped it up with some Natty's blue paste wax later on that night!

What do you guys think?

 

[markhinton]

Nearly 50 views, but no comments... is it because I didn't use the expensive products?

 

[Sam@NP]

looks good that, arches are horrible though

 

[marinemackay2003]

looks 100 % better after a slight clean up

 

[Knuckles]

In the first 50/50... Did you just apply the polish by hand or use a da? I'd love to be able to do that

 

[markhinton]

looks good that, arches are horrible though

I would got the sports pack arches too

In the first 50/50... Did you just apply the polish by hand or use a da? I'd love to be able to do that

All done by hand, like I said this is before I spent any money on 'real' polishes and machines - to be fair the paint was soft enough to work with, still got a good ache tho

 

[Chip-mk1]

How many hours did it stay shiney for?

That paint used to be rubbish! Vauxhall red from the same time is even worse!

 

[markhinton]

Wax helped keep it shiny for the 2yrs he had, but of course after that he stayed on top of it with the odd polish! Haha so many pink Corsa B's about isn't there?

 

[Chip-mk1]

Wax helped keep it shiny for the 2yrs he had, but of course after that he stayed on top of it with the odd polish! Haha so many pink Corsa B's about isn't there?

Yeah mine is terrible for going pink.
My mrs machined it and it looked mint:

But it was pink again in a few weeks of direct sunlight even with a decent wax on it.

Utter litter!

Shame cause it goes like stink in a straight line for an N/A car really, certainly trounces our RS2'd Ph2 172

 

[markhinton]

Looks purposeful, C20XE?

 

[Chip-mk1]

Looks purposeful, C20XE?

Yeah its a C20XE with steel rods and 285 cams on throttle bodies with a quaiffe diff.

I've not had it on the rollers since I changed the cams and I road mapped it but I would guess it must be up around 200bhp now potentially.

Good in a straight line, although the engine is getting a bit tired now do does the typical XE smoke on the over run at high rpm, but the cornering is rubbish compared to our clios even though its on coilovers etc.

TBH I only really hang onto it cause it gives me a spare trackday car and it gives me something to write about in Total Vauxhall mag, cant exactly have a clio as a staff car, lol

 

[Gally]

You need Zaino Z2 or Gtechniq C1. I'm sure you don't actually care.

The mini looks brilliant! I never even knew the word detailing 6 years ago! Natty's Blue aswell, still a good wax!

 

[Joe#]

Just shows what a bit of elbow grease can do

 

[Chip-mk1]

You need Zaino Z2 or Gtechniq C1. I'm sure you don't actually care.

The mini looks brilliant! I never even knew the word detailing 6 years ago! Natty's Blue aswell, still a good wax!

Yeah the mrs was saying she is going to try some special anti ultraviolet wax on it or something next time she does it, I really couldnt care less though providing it still goes down a country lane in a manner that is both irresponsible and fun

 

[497adam]

Being a mini the a-panels probably rotted before it needed polishing again!

 

[Chip-mk1]

Being a mini the a-panels probably rotted before it needed polishing again!

A series engines run a sophisticated self oiling system to keep all external components on themselves free of moisture, its also why the rear subframes rot like hell and the front ones are normally fine, lol

 

[aucky]

Great turnaround!