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I first saw this MINI a few years ago. It belonged to a father/son team in a local club that I belong to. What I saw was a severely neglected MINI that needed some TLC. I inquired to the father about using his car as a show piece to show how I could transform it, but he said that while it was a good idea, his son who has a learning disability wasn't doing so well in school and he didn't want it to look like a reward. His birthday was several months passed, so I put it in the back of my mind for awhile
Over a year passed, I got an email notification that it was the son's birthday through the club website, so I took the opportunity to say that I had a birthday present for him. His father contacted me, and this is how it began.
Notice the dent on the bonnet edge passenger side? There was another one on the right side on the front edge. I asked my new friend Rick from Dent Express to take a look and see if these could be fixed.
Got Swirls??? This is why you never use a truck brush to wash your MINI!
Got Swirls??? The car was washed the night before, but dried morning dew and lack of wax on this paint made the finish look cloudy!
Got Swirls??? Need scratches??
Got Swirls??? You can just make out the large dent at the lower edge of the bonnet just above the chrome grill surround at the lower center of this picture.
Got Swirls???
My 2-1/2 year old son wanted to help, so I gave him some claybar.
He also wanted to wash, too bad we had already finished washing, or so I thought!
Lukas being a ham
Taped off and ready for buffing. Rick from Dent Express gave it his best shot to remove two large dents from the bonnet.
Taped off and ready for buffing
Taped off and ready for buffing
Look at the difference! Swirl city on the left and major improvement on the right!
Look at the difference! Swirl city on the left and major improvement on the right!
No wax and very few swirls!
No wax. Although its hard to see the dent which hasn't been removed, the wavy reflection in the boot lid is because of the dented panel.
No wax,but the shine and gloss look great! Thanks to M80!
I Spy some MINIs! Had an opportunity to include my two MINIs.
Look at that gloss! The previous shots didn't have wax yet. I was afraid the sun would be gone, so we shot them at the end of the polishing stage. In these shots, two coats of M21 were applied.
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21. The dent on the front side of the bonnet couldn't be removed 100% due to accessibility issues. the dent on the upper passenger side wsa removed about 95%. Either way the owners were very pleased.
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21. 9 hours of buffing and the car looks new! A close up inspection reveals that it's not swirl free, but the owner agrees that it's atleast a 300% improvement over what it used to be and that's what was most important.
I had a great time, though the work was intense.
Tools & Process:
Makita Rotary Buffer with two W-7006 Cuttings pads (wore one completely out) and M84
Once the swirls were cut, the finish was hazy, so I followed that with a W-8006 with M83 and M80.
Then armed with 2 PC's and W-8006 pads, we polished out together using M80 to remove additional swirls and buffer swirls.
LSP was M21 applied with a PC and W-9006 pad on speed 3.
Final LSP was wiped off by hand using Supreme Shine MF towels.
Conclusions:
This extreme makeover wasn't about giving a free detail away. It wasn't about restoring a neglected MINI. It was all about teaching them the right way to maintain their car. To drive home the point that whatever they were doing right now to clean their MINI, had to stop. No more truck brushes, no more wiping the finish with their bare hands to clean the dust off, no more using their t-shirt to rub the finish. This father/son team got a second chance at enjoying the MINI they haven't seen in 3 years, and for me there is no greater joy than seeing an owner fall back in love with their car again after a polishing job.
Over a year passed, I got an email notification that it was the son's birthday through the club website, so I took the opportunity to say that I had a birthday present for him. His father contacted me, and this is how it began.
Notice the dent on the bonnet edge passenger side? There was another one on the right side on the front edge. I asked my new friend Rick from Dent Express to take a look and see if these could be fixed.
Got Swirls??? This is why you never use a truck brush to wash your MINI!
Got Swirls??? The car was washed the night before, but dried morning dew and lack of wax on this paint made the finish look cloudy!
Got Swirls??? Need scratches??
Got Swirls??? You can just make out the large dent at the lower edge of the bonnet just above the chrome grill surround at the lower center of this picture.
Got Swirls???
My 2-1/2 year old son wanted to help, so I gave him some claybar.
He also wanted to wash, too bad we had already finished washing, or so I thought!
Lukas being a ham
Taped off and ready for buffing. Rick from Dent Express gave it his best shot to remove two large dents from the bonnet.
Taped off and ready for buffing
Taped off and ready for buffing
Look at the difference! Swirl city on the left and major improvement on the right!
Look at the difference! Swirl city on the left and major improvement on the right!
No wax and very few swirls!
No wax. Although its hard to see the dent which hasn't been removed, the wavy reflection in the boot lid is because of the dented panel.
No wax,but the shine and gloss look great! Thanks to M80!
I Spy some MINIs! Had an opportunity to include my two MINIs.
Look at that gloss! The previous shots didn't have wax yet. I was afraid the sun would be gone, so we shot them at the end of the polishing stage. In these shots, two coats of M21 were applied.
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21. The dent on the front side of the bonnet couldn't be removed 100% due to accessibility issues. the dent on the upper passenger side wsa removed about 95%. Either way the owners were very pleased.
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21
Look at that gloss! Finished with M21. 9 hours of buffing and the car looks new! A close up inspection reveals that it's not swirl free, but the owner agrees that it's atleast a 300% improvement over what it used to be and that's what was most important.
I had a great time, though the work was intense.
Tools & Process:
Makita Rotary Buffer with two W-7006 Cuttings pads (wore one completely out) and M84
Once the swirls were cut, the finish was hazy, so I followed that with a W-8006 with M83 and M80.
Then armed with 2 PC's and W-8006 pads, we polished out together using M80 to remove additional swirls and buffer swirls.
LSP was M21 applied with a PC and W-9006 pad on speed 3.
Final LSP was wiped off by hand using Supreme Shine MF towels.
Conclusions:
This extreme makeover wasn't about giving a free detail away. It wasn't about restoring a neglected MINI. It was all about teaching them the right way to maintain their car. To drive home the point that whatever they were doing right now to clean their MINI, had to stop. No more truck brushes, no more wiping the finish with their bare hands to clean the dust off, no more using their t-shirt to rub the finish. This father/son team got a second chance at enjoying the MINI they haven't seen in 3 years, and for me there is no greater joy than seeing an owner fall back in love with their car again after a polishing job.
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