JLs Detailing: Mini Cooper

Well while I was in the Charlotte area doing the 2 BMWs I was contacted by a friend of the family I was staying with about doing his cars. Well one of those was a Mini Cooper. The car was really fun to work on. Its small but it has some really cool lines to it. Oh and it moves pretty darn well too. I had a great time doing the detail and was the first time I used my favorite wax on this color.

Oh and as a side note many of you know that my wife's uncle helped me out on all 4 cars I did that weekend. He has also helped me out at my house on a couple of cars. After his stroke a few years ago he was unable to continue his profession as the ownere of a finance company and has been really searching for something to give him some value of self worth since he can't work any more. Detailing has seemed to help that as he has always been a car enthusiast and now is loving learning proper detailing and really would like to start doing it for others on a very small scale. Well I have been teaching him techniques and introducing him to very good products and he has started a very nice collection. Well we did 2 cars at his house this weekend and after I left on Sunday one of the guys from down the street stopped by and asked if he would be willing to detail his F250! He set him up for next weekend and when he called to tell me about it he was happier than I have heard him in years! Well here is what I did:

Tires/Wheels/Wells: Wheels got Megs Wheel Brightener with various brushes and such. I used the EZ Detail Brush, Black Magic wheel brush bent 90 degrees for getting behind the spokes, lug nut brush and foam finger pocket. The tires and wells got Majestic Solutions Super Green Stuff and a black Shmitt. When it was time to dress the tires and wells I used Megs Hyper Dressing @ 3:1 as a base coat with a CGs tire applicator. Then before calling the owner I applied a coat of Swissvax Pneu via another tire applicator. This combo has to give one of the very best looks for tires for me. The wells got Adams Undercarriage Spray.

Engine: First I took the leaf blower and got rid of all the leaves under the hood. There must be something about this area that lends itself to leaves getting in the engine bay because all 4 cars I did suffered from it. I then gave the engine a quick rinse with the CR Spotless system and sprayed it down with MS SGS. There was a lot of dirt in just about every crevice there was so I agitated it and re-rinsed. I dried most of the water with a leaf blower and then sprayed the engine bay down with Megs HD @ 3:1. I cranked the engine and let it run for about 20 minutes and it turned out great. I tell you this method has really given me great results and I love how new the engine looks afterward. I was so anxious to get started that I forgot to take any before pics of the engine or exhaust pipes so just afters of those.

Exhaust: I used Megs Wheel Brightner first on the exhaust with a black wheel shmitt and then polished them with Autosol. This was a great combo and gave a brand new look to the exhaust.

Wash: Well I wanted to be sure there wasn't any type of LSP on the car so like the others that weekend I went with a strong wash. I went with the foam cannon with 2 oz of CGs Citrus Wash Clear and 1 oz of CGs Strong Wash. I used the Zymol Sponge to wash and I also had a rinse bucket with a grit guard. The bugs got CGs Strong Wash @ 4:1 and a Majestic Solutions bug sponge. Well this combo as usual knocked the bugs out with no problem. It makes the job so much easier and it will do a number on tar and tree sap as well. The entire wash including wheels were done with the CR Spotless System.

The door jambs got a mixture of CGs Green Clean Total Interior/Exterior and MS SGS. Every part of the door jambs was scrubbed with a Swissvax brush. I then rinsed with the CR Spotless and dried with a MF.

Convertible Top: The top was first sprayed with 303 Convertible top cleaner and scrubbed with a new wheel brush. While that was scrubbed in I then foamed it with the above car wash solution and washed it with the Zymol sponge. It was rinsed with the CR and after drying was treated first with 303 Fabric Gaurd and then treated with 303 Protectant.

Clay: For this one I decided to stick with Bilt Hamber because its now my favorite clay, but I decided to go with the regular version. They both seem to remove the contaminants really well but the soft is more pliable. The regular seemed to do a little more of the work for me but its not tremendously more aggressive than the Soft. Again used water from the CR for lube, man that is wonderful not having to have a dedicated clay lube, and since I was mobile this weekend that was one less thing I had to carry with me. Again I do not see myself ever being without this clay! Thanks to Cooter and Ben for turning me on to it.

Glass: Glass inside and out got Stoners Invisible Glass. It was applied with a glass MF and buffed off with a WW MF. I have really fallen in love with this product again.

Trim: I used my combination of CGs Trim Gel and Black Wow on a TW MF applicator to get a great look on the trim.

Interior: The interior was in ok shape but when my helper got through it was yet again in phenomenal shape! I'm telling you the interior work he did this past weekend just amazed me. It was vacuumed with the shop vac and then the interior was wiped down with CGs Silk Shine and a MF mitt. My wife's uncle just loves the Silk Shine and used it on every detail we did. For the leather my wife's uncle wanted to try the CGs Leather conditioner this time. He had liked all the other CGs products we had used so he wanted to use this one. Well he liked it better than the 1Z Leather Care Lederpflege which really surprised me. I think the CGs Leather Conditioner gets a bad rap as its a very good product but I like the 1z better, but not my helper he loved the CGs.

Paint: Paint was in pretty good shape so I went with the continued tradition for the weekend and used Scholl Concepts S40 on a white 3M polishing pad via the Metabo @ 1200-1500 rpms. The gloss level that the S450 gives to paint is simply awesome. If you have not tried this line you really should. Not only does it produce a phenomenal shine but it does NOT produce dust which I love! Everything was buffed off with the CGs 530 XL MFs. Here are a couple of shots after polishing:




Protection: I used Jetseal again since I was going to be topping with a nuba, and not just any nuba but my fav.:applause2: It was applied with a CGs Stage 3 Applicator and buffed off with a 530xl MF. My helper commented about how good it looked after the polish and Jetseal and I smiled and said "Remember the Z3, just wait til I wax it".

LSP: For wax I broke out my favorite ~ Rubbish Boys OE. I applied with a 4" LC CCS pad and polishing pal using my hair dryer method to pre-heat the pad. I let the OE cure for about a half hour and buffed it off to a magnificent shine with a CGs Edgeless MF. After about another hour I wiped it down with Clearkote Quick Shine and a 530xl MF.

Well I love how it turned out and how much more vibrant the paint was. The owner was quite happy at least it seemed so from the large tip I received after he paid me! Here are the before and afters:




























My favorite pic:

 

looking good JL, the Mini has a very nice shine to it.

 

Thanks Dana thanks to your help with polishing and Rubbish Boys OE my cars are turning out quite well now!

 

Nice work on this one as well :thumb:

 

Nice work JL! Now I know what your Black Magic wheel brush looks like, hehe. I may have to check it out locally to see if it works for me. Thanks for sharing!

 

nice write up.

 

Nice looking job!

 

Glad to help out, but it also is all the hard work you put into your details.:thumb:

 

Looks great JL!!!!!!!!!! Nice color. Thats a cool little car. The interior looks great! The last shot is really nice!! i bet the owner was tickled!

 

Great work again JL, loving your choice of wax.

 

Sweet work as always JL, you are most definitely one of the best!!!

 

Oh and as a side note many of you know that my wife's uncle helped me out on all 4 cars I did that weekend.

Another great job JL! :thumb:

Glad to see you are helping/training your wife's uncle. I am sure he appreciates it!

 

great work JL

 

Thanks Duratys, its nice to be busy.

Denzil my man didn't know you had not seen the Black Magic brush. I got mine at Big Lots and they were $2 each so I bought a gaggle of them!

Thanks Phil.

Thanks 911 means a lot from a detailer like you!

Thanks Asphalt! See all those AIM conversations about detailing paid off! Now if I can just make you realize Philip Rivers is better than Big Ben my work will be complete.

Yeah I thought the color was really neat! Owner gave me the compliment I love to get..."Man this looks better than the day I bought it!"

You know even though you made it I'm not sure if you can love it more than I do! Rubbish Boys OE has yet to let me down and has looked phenomenal on every color and car I have used it on.

Thanks Corey. I know you are itching to do some detailing now!!!

Thanks DLR and its really satisfying to help him out as he has been great to me the entire time I have known him. I hate the situation but its nice to be able to pay him back in a way.

Thanks yukon!

 

Another great job, you've been busy these days mate!!!

 

By the looks of your details, they sure did. After tonights performance by Ben he is still better than Rivers.

 

4000 Posts. WOW - You're the man. congratulations my friend...:worship2::worship2::worship2::worship2: :worship2::worship2:

 

Wow that is quite a milestone congrats !!!!!!

 

looks amazing as always!!!!!!!!

 

Great write-up.

I guess I need to check out Majestic's Super Green Stuff. Looks like it works great!