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I bought this car in mid-May, slightly wrecked and gave it a second life. It's now my summer / week-end toy.
It's a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible with 73050 km, which is kinda low for a 7 years old car. I've been looking for a convertible for a few weeks when I found this particular one. I was at first looking at Miatas, Solstices, Skys, etc. Well it didn't know it was the car I wanted until I saw it and bought it. In fact, I didn't even think of the Mini when I began shoping cars. It a fun little car, it handles very well.
Here is how I bought it.
My brother used to work as a painter in a body shop until he changed and became a trucker more than a year ago. So, he mostly fixed it for me. We had to get a new back bumper, fix the trunk lid, fix a few small dents here and there, then repaint it.
A quick stop on the frame master to make sure everything was fine. It almost was, just need a bit of work to be ok.
All sanded and taped, ready for the paint job.
Fresh paint done, begining of June.
We let the paint cure for a few days, then my brother wet sanded it, then polished it with is Makita rotary using his Presta stuff (I believe they are called Ultra Cut Cream and Swirl Remover).
Meanwhile, I detailed the interior
Vaccumed, plastics and seats cleaned using APC+ and warm water, carpet cleaned with APC+, Quick Out and hot water, then extrated with my ShopVac, glass cleaned with Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner, plastics dressed with Ultimate Protectant, seats dressed with Gold Class Leather Cleaner and Conditioner.
I also removed the rims and cleaned then using APC and Wheel Brightener.
On June 24, I was finally able to pass inspection to be able to drive it on the road again. We had to wait for the front seats belts that needed to me replaced and were back order at Mini...
Then yesterday, I finally was able to detail the car up to my standards.
Washed with Gold Class shampoo
Polished with Ultimate Polish vis pc (just the be sure there was no swirls)
Waxed with Ultimate Wax
Then today I sealed the paint and rims with Optimum Opti-Seal
Dressed the black trims with Ultimate Black
Dressed the tires with Endurance Tire Spray
Polished exhaust tip with Chrome Polish from Meg's motorcycle line.
I also gave the windshield an Aquapel treatment.
I still have to clean under the hood when I get the time.
The pictures were taken around 5:30PM after a short drive in town.
Thanks for looking.
It's a 2005 Mini Cooper Convertible with 73050 km, which is kinda low for a 7 years old car. I've been looking for a convertible for a few weeks when I found this particular one. I was at first looking at Miatas, Solstices, Skys, etc. Well it didn't know it was the car I wanted until I saw it and bought it. In fact, I didn't even think of the Mini when I began shoping cars. It a fun little car, it handles very well.
Here is how I bought it.
My brother used to work as a painter in a body shop until he changed and became a trucker more than a year ago. So, he mostly fixed it for me. We had to get a new back bumper, fix the trunk lid, fix a few small dents here and there, then repaint it.
A quick stop on the frame master to make sure everything was fine. It almost was, just need a bit of work to be ok.
All sanded and taped, ready for the paint job.
Fresh paint done, begining of June.
We let the paint cure for a few days, then my brother wet sanded it, then polished it with is Makita rotary using his Presta stuff (I believe they are called Ultra Cut Cream and Swirl Remover).
Meanwhile, I detailed the interior
Vaccumed, plastics and seats cleaned using APC+ and warm water, carpet cleaned with APC+, Quick Out and hot water, then extrated with my ShopVac, glass cleaned with Perfect Clarity Glass Cleaner, plastics dressed with Ultimate Protectant, seats dressed with Gold Class Leather Cleaner and Conditioner.
I also removed the rims and cleaned then using APC and Wheel Brightener.
On June 24, I was finally able to pass inspection to be able to drive it on the road again. We had to wait for the front seats belts that needed to me replaced and were back order at Mini...
Then yesterday, I finally was able to detail the car up to my standards.
Washed with Gold Class shampoo
Polished with Ultimate Polish vis pc (just the be sure there was no swirls)
Waxed with Ultimate Wax
Then today I sealed the paint and rims with Optimum Opti-Seal
Dressed the black trims with Ultimate Black
Dressed the tires with Endurance Tire Spray
Polished exhaust tip with Chrome Polish from Meg's motorcycle line.
I also gave the windshield an Aquapel treatment.
I still have to clean under the hood when I get the time.
The pictures were taken around 5:30PM after a short drive in town.
Thanks for looking.
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