[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Hi all,
I've just loaded many photo's of Betty MkII (taken today) into the gallery section - you can find them under drainaudio.
I'm very happy with her level of shine - in case any of you are interested here is what I did to achieve these results.

The day after collection from the dealer (last Friday) I had my friends at
clean-image.co.uk do the following: Clay-bar bodywork, light buff, touch-in stonechips, apply Supergard paint and upholstery protection, Metalmate treatment applied to wheels, finish body with machine applied Carnauba wax.

Then I did the following today: Wash (inc' engine bay - carefully of course) and then dry with microfibre cloth, polish all shiny plastics with Mothers Plastic Polish, treat all black plastics, inner wheels arches, rubber, underbonnet and interior trim with Autoglym Vinyl and Rubber Protector (very versatile amazing product), treat all glass with Rain X, finish bodywork and wheels with Autoglym Instant Show Shine.

I think the results speak for themselves!
Best of all, once you have treated all your surfaces in this fashion a couple of times it creates a build up that ensures the cleaning process is quick and easy - sometimes detailing is fun, but if you can save time why not?
About 10 mins after these photos it rained........all the water on both the bodywork and glass was forced into tiny beads. I then parked under cover and 2 hours later when I returned the car was dry and gleaming, with only a few minor water spots here and there.

A very positive/motivational thought (other than the enjoyment of a car that looks great) is to imagine the resale value on this car 3 years down the line having been supplied and serviced by the same dealer and kept in this condition..

And a weird thought......last night after dinner when we returned to my girlfriend’s place here in Bonn (Germany) the odometer turned over to exactly 5000 miles just as I pulled up and parked - that is pretty freaky!!

My (almost) first week of Mini Cooper ownership has involved almost 1000 miles of driving and much smiling.. Next week I'll have a few minor issues fixed under warranty and clear indicators, the JCW kit fitted, an oil service just for the sake of it (winter is upon us....why not.....another stamp in the service book) and no doubt more smiles!!

Cheers, Geoff.

[DeadCanDanceR]

Amazing!!! Congratulations!

[Veron781]

Beautiful

Nothing beats black...especially when it's that clean

[ALD0]

Very nice

[Veron781]

Clean shiny black MINI =


Clean black MINI + a trip down the M62 + winter weather =

[ALD0]

It's not Astro black!
It's an impersonator!

[Veron781]

Damn, caught out with my cheapo black....

Quote: Originally Posted by interceptor

It's not Astro black!
It's an impersonator!

Astro black is an impersonator of solid black, Asto Black is more like a dark blue but solid black is black

lee

[Carlos.]

Quote: Originally Posted by drainaudio

Best of all, once you have treated all your surfaces in this fashion a couple of times it creates a build up that ensures the cleaning process is quick and easy - sometimes detailing is fun, but if you can save time why not?

Even better, go to Morrisons once an month and spend a fiver to put it through a car wash, whether it needs a clean or not

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

HI..
Carwash.............you are kidding right!!
The day my Cooper (or any car I own) gets put through a carwash will be the day hell freezes over twice!!
Why not just buy a Brillo pad and save £4.75..

[Carlos.]

Quote: Originally Posted by drainaudio

HI..
Carwash.............you are kidding right!!
The day my Cooper (or any car I own) gets put through a carwash will be the day hell freezes over twice!!
Why not just buy a Brillo pad and save £4.75..

No im not kidding. Its only a car Spend 25p on a brillopad??? but then I'd STILL have to use the thing on the car, wouldnt I?

Lifes too short to spend polishing a black car thats gonna get filthy within
2 miles of it being clean

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Ahhhhhhhhh..
But that's where you are so wrong..
Since a few days ago when I cleaned the Cooper I've done about 200miles both in the city and on the Autobahn. The weather hasn't been great and a couple of times it rained pretty heavily.
The Cooper still looks very clean, bit of dirt on the rear bumper but other than that it's very shiny indeed.......dirt can't stick to the paint or wheels because they are so smooth and well waxed, nor can it stick to the glass due to the Rain X (also use their screenwash).
In fact, it almost cleans itself - heavy rain last night and this morning it's cleaner than it was yesterday, with only the odd water spot here and there!!

Work smarter, not harder...

Cheers, Geoff.

[Carlos.]

Quote: Originally Posted by drainaudio

Work smarter, not harder...

Cheers, Geoff.

The point really was, that I wish not to work at all

[BRG/Blk Cooper S]

Ah, not to work? - ok, now I understand.....
Kudos to you, but I just can't get to grips with laziness - life is way too short.

[BRMCooper]

my mate has a astro black mini one and didnt wash it for pretty much all its life (since may when he picked it up) he got pulled over by the fuzz the other day and told that theres was sooooo much dirt on the back of the car that you couldnt see the rear number plate! and he was right you couldnt see a damm glimmer of the thing! LOL i used to have a black mini and its the freaking nuts when clean but my god its hard to keep it like that!

Looks mint mate keep it up! if ya can LOL!

[nevillejnr]

Nothing beats black...I wash mine at least twice a week even when it doesnt rain!

I truly believe that with constant effort in cleaning and maintaining your car, you will be rewarded with resale value. There is nothing worse that test driving a filthy neglected car. Pets hair, cigarette smoke smells and burns in a car...no thanks I'll buy elsewhere.

[smc]

black when well maintained its shines

[Lawrothegreat]

I have astro black and put it through car washes! I also love washing it by hand. Astro black polished using a good quality expensive polish on a very bright sunny day looks nothing less than fantastic. I also like the car really dirty, to the point where you're using wipes to clean the rear number plate and rear light clusters, because then the car takes on a graphite type colour!

[ALD0]

Astro Black is a completely different colour uiin the summer when it's Sunshiney :cco: