# Brand New Mini JCW... and my Studio Debut



## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

My posts on DW have been a bit quiet over the last couple of months. The reason for this has been partly to do with getting a new website made etc, and secondly, the fact I got married! This didn't mean a break from Detailing though - who could resist Detailing the wedding car in exchange for a lift for the Bride (Cheers to Davey for driving my good lady on the big day!).










Now all that mushy stuff is over, back to the Detailing. This weekend's project was a brand new Mini John Cooper Works. For those who don't know, the JCW is the pinnacle of the Mini family, with a pretty impressive spec sheet. (http://www.mini.co.uk/html/model_range/mini_john_cooper_works/home.html)

After finding DW, the owner decided not to take the dealer's 'lifeshine' treatment and brought the car to me instead for some pampering and protection. The car was dropped at my house after dark on Friday night, so at first light I went out for an inspection:










































Stickers on the wheels:









Before starting I had to remove my new wedding ring (I'm not used to all this bling!).









First job was the wheels. Tools for the job left to right - Megs Hyper Wash, brush for the tyres, toilet brush for the arches, Vikan brush, Megs brush, detail brushes, mitt, gloves and P21S wheel cleaner. Nothing stronger required for this as the wheels only had a small amount of brake dust.









P21S sprayed liberally:








Working from the back of the wheel to the front. Firstly using the Vikan brush:









Then the Megs brush:









Halfords bendy brush for behind the spokes:









Detail brush for the wheel nut recesses:









Small hed brush to reach those hefty calipers:









Finished off with a mitt over the spokes:









Spotted the wheel mount was dirty so the small head brush came in handy here also:









Car was then jacked up to allow better access to the arches:









Wheel spun slightly to clean underneath where the calipers had been:









Megs APC 4:1 sprayed to the arches:

















and scrubbed:









Rinsed and process repeated for all for wheels:









AS Tardis used with a MF to remove the delivery stickers from one of the wheels:









A strong mix of snowfoam was then blanketed over the car:









































Left to dwell for 5 minutes whilst I filled my buckets. Came back to this:









Pressure washer rinsed but some bugs were loitering on the front bumper so I applied some citrus degreaser and left that to dwell for 5 minutes to shift them:









Then rinsed the whole car thoroughly again:









Next up was the wash. Two bucket method with a lambswool mitt and Megs HW:

















































Delivery wax to be removed:

















Some holograms was becoming apparent in the early morning sun. Always hard to capture on camera but it was clear to see:

















Fine poly clay used with a weak HW solution as lube to remove any bonded contaminants from the paint:









































Even though the car has only covered 500 miles there was still a bit of contamination to be removed:









Car was again rinsed and dried with a large MF towel and Last Touch:









Paint thickness guage was calibrated and readY to go:









Thickness measurements confirmed the black on the roof had been painted over the top of the body colour:









Some slightly low points on the bonnet:









Here's the report:









I could then tape up the car ready for polishing:

















I chose a Megs Finishing pad along with Menz final finish for the correction via the Makita. Generally 85rd was sufficient, stepping up to 106 when the extra bite was needed, which wasn't often. After using Megs polishes with most of my previous details this was a nice change, and I was very pleased with the Menz.









































Whilst I was polishing my assistant, Jonathan, set to work on the wheels. Firstly with a coat of CG EZ crème glaze:

























and buffed:









Followed by a coat of Jetseal 109:

















Left to cure for half an hour and then buffed:









Then the interior was vacuumed:









Interior glass cleaned:









Interior plastics dressed and protected:









Leather conditioned:

















Once all the polishing was complete, my next stage was glazing the bodywork. A Megs finishing pad was again used, this time with Megs #7 Glaze. I switched to the UDM polisher from the Makita for this finishing stage:

























Details glazed by hand such as the door shuts, fuel filler cap etc:

























Last Touch used to remove residue from the tape edge:









Exterior glass polished with Halfords Glass polish:









The glaze was bringing out much more 'depth' to the colour:









The shine of the car was coming up nicely, popping the metallic flake, and the CG glaze on the wheels had given them a slightly colourful glow which I was really pleased with:









After it's success in the big DW wax megatest, I decided to use Collinte 915 for the last stage protection:

































Details, door shuts etc waxed:

























Whilst I was applying the wax Jon tended to dressing the tyres:

















Little tip I picked up from Will a.k.a. Slangwerks 









Exterior plastics dressed with Megs Hyper Dressing:

















So here's the finished result at the end of Saturday:










































































































































Sunday morning, and after a wipe-down with Last Touch the bodywork had another coat of Collinite, and Jetseal109 again for the wheels. A few small jobs whilst those two were curing.

Exhaust tips polished with a MF cloth and Megs Metal Polish:

















After around 15 minutes the wax was buffed. Then left for an hour and buffed again with Z**** Field Glaze to really bring out the finish:









Time for a couple more final shots before the owner collects:

















Thanks for reading. Any comments, praise or criticism welcomed!


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## Brazo (Oct 27, 2005)

Nice, job and great gloss on the JCW

It can sometimes take less than 24hours but worst case scenario and all 

Oh and my wedding ring hasn't been taken out of my detailing box ever since I can remember:lol:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Brazo said:


> Nice, job and great gloss on the JCW
> 
> It can sometimes take less than 24hours but worst case scenario and all
> 
> Oh and my wedding ring hasn't been taken out of my detailing box ever since I can remember:lol:


Great to have the thread up and running, thanks for your help. I was sat here constantly checking it! Just waiting for my sig banner to come up now?


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

^^^^^^^^^^ and here's the sig! vvvvvvvvvvvv


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

nice work dude.

popped ya studio cherry then


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## wrx man (Apr 18, 2008)

Very nice mate ;thumb:

Great first post in here - Well done 1


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## mart.h. (Jan 12, 2008)

cracking work looks fantastic in that final shot


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

also liking the site :thumb:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Mat @ SWS said:


> also liking the site :thumb:


Thanks Mat. My friend Phil has done a great job on it considering he's never done much web design before. He's earned himself free valets for life!


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## tallandy (Nov 24, 2007)

Awesome work mate! And love the car. I used to have the old shape JCW Works cracking motor! :thumb:

Looks stunning fully detailed, well done


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

mattjonescardiff said:


> Thanks Mat. My friend Phil has done a great job on it considering he's never done much web design before. He's earned himself free valets for life!


if you ever need any more help with web stuff, just shout


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Mat @ SWS said:


> if you ever need any more help with web stuff, just shout


Thanks Mat. Likewise, if you have any suggestions how I can improve the site please let me know. Cheers


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

ok, will PM you dude.

not much, but have one idea


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## christhesparky (Oct 5, 2008)

good first write up keep em coming


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## Christian6984 (Dec 20, 2007)

great work on the mini


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## ads2k (Jul 12, 2006)

Nice work


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## RenesisEvo (Nov 25, 2006)

Excellent result, looks better than factory new!

(I should point out that the R53 Mini JCW GP was the top of the Mini tree, but as R56s go that is the top motor at the moment).


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## StefanCS (Aug 12, 2008)

Great job and car!


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## bluenose (Aug 15, 2007)

Stunning. Great work and on the JCW and a very well worked write up. 
Nice job fella!


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## JCG (Feb 11, 2008)

Great post / write up and the car looks fantastic.


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## matrix_808 (Sep 22, 2007)

Where do you get that skinny head brush that you used to clean the caliper?

Very nice detail by the way.


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## Kev_mk3 (Sep 10, 2007)

cracking work


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## sensa (Jan 14, 2008)

That is ace chap. 

Site looks really good too. Very easy to navigate, especially like the FAQ section.


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## SimonW (Jun 3, 2007)

Looks fantastic, great work

Simon


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## chris l (Mar 5, 2007)

Great job looks stunning


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## [email protected] (Dec 21, 2005)

Very nice mate:thumb:


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## caledonia (Sep 13, 2008)

:thumb: Great work there. Great depth of shine and the reflection shots where fab. Top Class :thumb:


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## S-X-I (Sep 6, 2006)

Great work Matt, nice to see you've made the transition over to the Pro section.

Oh and nice sig, the person who designed that must be very talented lol


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## Marty_Mini (Aug 19, 2008)

So pleased with the car Matt. She now looks as good as she drives!! Awesome 

Marty


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## benji330i (Jan 8, 2007)

Awesome work chap.


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## [email protected] (Aug 25, 2007)

Hi Matt
It was a pleasure driving Em to the wedding even if she forgot half of her stuff!


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## ahaydock (Jan 4, 2007)

Firstly top work on the MIni - looks great. 

Secondly congratulation on your Marriage.

Thirdly - the website looks great :thumb:


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## Arun (Dec 25, 2007)

That looks brilliant mate, great work. Congrats on your 1st studio thread :thumb:

Oh yeah....almost no point in hiding the reg plates, you left it showing on the paint depth report!


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## jonesy1968 (Apr 12, 2008)

Really good job, car looks great mate. :thumb: Do love JCW's


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## Big Bru (Apr 27, 2008)

Top job on the Mini.:thumb:


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## Jim W (Feb 3, 2007)

Wow, great job! Love the photo series...

Your Megs #7 Glaze, how long have you had it? Don't suppose it smells like rotten eggs by any chance does it??


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## Detail My Ride (Apr 19, 2006)

Superb write up, and fantastic results :thumb:


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## rubbishboy (May 6, 2006)

Excellent job and great first supporter post. :thumb:


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Jim W said:


> Wow, great job! Love the photo series...
> 
> Your Megs #7 Glaze, how long have you had it? Don't suppose it smells like rotten eggs by any chance does it??


It's not the best smelling stuff IIRC!


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

matrix_808 said:


> Where do you get that skinny head brush that you used to clean the caliper?
> 
> Very nice detail by the way.


I'm struggling to remember I'm afraid. I'll try and have a think where I got it from.


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## matrix_808 (Sep 22, 2007)

mattjonescardiff said:


> I'm struggling to remember I'm afraid. I'll try and have a think where I got it from.


Ive seen a couple people use it on here, maybe ill start a thread and hopefully someone will know. Thank you though.


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

matrix_808 said:


> Ive seen a couple people use it on here, maybe ill start a thread and hopefully someone will know. Thank you though.


Your welcome to stick up my photo for reference if you like.


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## VixMix (May 8, 2008)

Liking your first pro post! :thumb:

I especially like the way you show the amounts of product you are using on the pad. That is invaluable info for us :newbie:s


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## Curtiz (Aug 11, 2006)

Congratulations on the wedding! Great results on the Mini, not a huge fan of them but i honestly love yours! Great looking car and excellent results


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## Steve-z4 (Mar 17, 2008)

Stunning job as always, good write up, excellent photos all in sequence


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

VixMix said:


> Liking your first pro post! :thumb:
> 
> I especially like the way you show the amounts of product you are using on the pad. That is invaluable info for us :newbie:s


Cheers for the kind words.

I'll bear in mind maybe showing a bit more of product application etc in future posts. I sometimes fall into the trap of over-applying wax myself TBH, so maybe taking the time to think about it and photograph it will force me to improve my technique a but further.


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## littlejack (Jun 11, 2008)

Great job and good luck for the future.


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## rfmatt (Aug 9, 2008)

Great work mate, lovely finish and you take some great quality pics, I always strugglr for good full car pics. Nice site as well. Awesome work!


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## chrisfoster1971 (Feb 16, 2008)

Yet another JCW Mini that i'd kill for especially now it looks as good as that fantastic work..


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

Someone left a post saying the black roof was a gel coat, and not conventional paint. I can't seem to find the post now (the author could possibly have since deleted it), but I was unsure so I contacted MINI. Here's their response:

Dear Mr Jones

Thank you for your patience while I have looked into your question.

The black roof on the MINI John Cooper Works is not a gel coat, it is painted in the standard MINI paint.

I trust this information is of use and if we can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

Yours sincerely

MINI Group UK 
Darren Hough 
Customer Information Advisor 
Ellesfield Avenue 
Bracknell RG12 8TA

Tel: 0800 0836464 
Fax: 0870 5050 206 
Email: [email protected] 
Website: www.mini.co.uk


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## PaulN (Jan 17, 2008)

Hi Mate,

Nice Job there. How did you go on when correcting the areas with low readings?










Cheers

PaulN


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## mattjonescardiff (Dec 12, 2006)

PaulN said:


> Hi Mate,
> 
> Nice Job there. How did you go on when correcting the areas with low readings?
> 
> ...


Only very light correction was required so the paint levels weren't a particular concern. Heavier defects might have taken some more thinking about!


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## RaceGlazer (Jan 10, 2007)

Nice job all round Matt, and a very thorough write up too.


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## shabba (Sep 28, 2008)

ver nice job mate really good work on that JCW mini


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## Thomas-182 (Mar 5, 2006)

Mmm that looks lovely, great write up and pictures!

Thomas


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## kevj81 (Jan 7, 2008)

Great job and write up as usual Matt


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