[MINIFirst1.4]

Love this car already. After 12 years of cutting about in a 1.4 2nd Gen MINI First I decided on treating myself.

The plates on the 'First' will be transferred over soon before looking at parting with her, will be a wrench when I have to do this, she served me well over the years but can't go on forever I suppose.

I've already ordered replacement front grill trim and headlights in black. Rear light trims will follow, won't do the beltline, badges, handles or fuel cap though as I like them with the chrome effect. This car is like night and day compared to the 1.4

 

[Colonel Bogey]

Quite an upgrade. Congratulations.

 

[Steve71]

I like your new car, what year is it - manual or auto ?

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

June '18 - manual Steve.

Now swapped my plates over (4D), also got rid of the chrome light trims but the chrome grille remains as this is a 'remove the bumper' job.
I'm not into doing this myself so will need to pay someone else to do it.

 

[Steve71]

Bumper off is an easy job mate maybe have a go yourself ? Just take your time. I just did my first bumper off a couple of days ago it's not that bad, lay bumper on towel when you have it off to help stop damage to paint.

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

I've watched a few vids on taking off the bumper and practically everyone says 'never again'. Also, not only is that difficult in itself but none of those videos actually show the trim being removed, they all miss that part out .Apparently there are two clips (larger ones) at each end of the trim which are a nightmare to get off. I just feel I'm not capable of doing the job without offending my neighbours with blasphemous words at the top of my voice as darkness falls.
Congratulations to yourself on being successful with your efforts, but I'm out!

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

Today I just got around to contacting a local body repair guy to see if he could do this job and how much it would cost.

His reply: "The removal of the bumper and the chrome part takes a bit of time. The price for doing that would be about £200". WOW! Wasn't expecting that!

I've decided to renege on this route, I intend now to sell the black grille trim for the price I paid for it and buy one of those 'stick-on' trims (£90) which are more expensive than the actual genuine OEM part ( I paid £43.50 for mine).

In summary - The cost difference of 'the real thing' versus a stick-on part is £153.50 - No contest.

 

[steeve]

It's original number is very close to mine!

 

[Chrisnj]

What size wheels do you have on your car? Hard to see on your pics. Looking at a pre-facelift JCW same colour as yours (Apr 18 reg) that has 18" wheels and wondering what the ride is like?

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

What size wheels do you have on your car? Hard to see on your pics. Looking at a pre-facelift JCW same colour as yours (Apr 18 reg) that has 18" wheels and wondering what the ride is like?

It has 18' wheels running on RF tyres, my previous MINI a 2nd Gen R56 with 17's was a tad 'noisy' on the road with RF's, didn't bother me but it is more noticeable on the F56, again it doesn't bother me as I prefer RF's on the car to save the hassle of a puncture event. The ride is bumpy but that will be down to the RF's I think. Maybe others will keep you right regards tyre choice.

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

Finally got round to doing the grille surround. I baulked at the idea of coughing up £95 for this part (cheapest on eBay). Anyway, I found the same company flogging it on Etsy.com for £85 so just went for it. Looks good.
Also put a bonnet stripe on it a few weeks ago.

That's me done as far as cosmetics go with the MINI.

 

[Colonel Bogey]

Looks great. You must be well pleased.

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

I've ripped the bonnet stripes off now, was never really content with them tbh, the red shade was just wrong.

Purchased another set which are 'JCW Red' (or so it says) whatever that means, we'll see.

After removing the decal it left some amount of glue on the surface, a complete nightmare trying to remove this stuff, managed it after toiling with it for around an hour.

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

I ordered new bonnet stripes from Zak Graphics before I took off the other ones. I then realised I liked the way the car looked without the stripes so immediately cancelled the Zak Graphic ones I'd ordered. They ignored my cancellation request and went ahead with their dispatch, I'm not too disappointed about that. I'll post some more pics up on how they look when I apply them (fingers crossed I like them)
The 'Red' looks spot on so I might stick with them, or rip them back off knowing me.
Bloody nuisance this is, stripes or no stripes, I'm finding out the costly way.

 

[Chrisnj]

Are your Zak Graphics, the same style as you took off? That's the style I'm looking for in 'JCW red' to match my roof but I can't seem to find Zak Graphics when I search online? Can you put up a link for them or DM one ?

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

The decals were delivered today, I've not had a proper look at them yet but will update soon. I'll include a link to Zak Graphics if they are worth it, from what I saw in the box they look spot on JCW red. Will be back to confirm asap.

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

Are your Zak Graphics, the same style as you took off? That's the style I'm looking for in 'JCW red' to match my roof but I can't seem to find Zak Graphics when I search online? Can you put up a link for them or DM one ?

No they are not the same style mate

They are JCW red though, I've not got round to putting them on yet but I peeled a small edge back to compare, bang on. There's 3 different reds to choose from - 'Matte Red' 'Red' and 'Tomato Red' - Select 'Red' if you want to match roof.
The vinyl is top quality, night and day compared to the previous stripes I put on.

I wanted 'genuine' F56 stripes (part no. 51142414310) I found 3 different companies, their prices ranged from £65 to £69.

This site I found does them for half the price - £35. Link.

Zen Graphics - Mini F56 / F57 Cooper / S Bonnet & rear Stripes

shop.zengraphics.co.uk

I don't know when I'll get round to applying them but once I do I'll put pics up.

 

[MINIFirst1.4]

Right! I made a pigs ear of putting the stripes on There were no instructions with the product so I went for a 'dry' application, that turned out to be full of trapped air, small 'bubbles' which I tried to repair by pricking them with a pin.

So for the larger piece I decided to go wet, absolute disaster it was, in the bin it went. I wasted my money again! I'm hopeless at putting vinyl on a car, totally hopeless, never again.

Anyway I've taken a pic of the one wee little bit I managed with 'pierced bubbles' the JCW red looks good right enough, but that'll be ripped off as it looks awful. The car won't ever have stripes now, I move on.

If my missus got wind of my stupidity regards this car and bonnet stripes she'd kill me.

 

[JimV]

Sorry to hear..wonder what the price is for a pro to do it for you

 

[Chrisnj]

Right! I made a pigs ear of putting the stripes on There were no instructions with the product so I went for a 'dry' application, that turned out to be full of trapped air, small 'bubbles' which I tried to repair by pricking them with a pin.

So for the larger piece I decided to go wet, absolute disaster it was, in the bin it went. I wasted my money again! I'm hopeless at putting vinyl on a car, totally hopeless, never again.

Anyway I've taken a pic of the one wee little bit I managed with 'pierced bubbles' the JCW red looks good right enough, but that'll be ripped off as it looks awful. The car won't ever have stripes now, I move on.
View attachment 286227

If my missus got wind of my stupidity regards this car and bonnet stripes she'd kill me.

Shame its proved a problem for you as the colour match does look good. I've never tried adding vinyl myself either but might get some of these and give it a go. Might not be until the autumn though as I've got my de-chroming and UJ tail lights to fit first.