# B&B Autostyle. 1971 Mini Paint Correction.



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

The story behind this one goes back to the beginning of July. 
A mutual friend of ours organises an annual classic show for Mini's as part of their list of stationary shows and runs throughout the season. The venue for this show,as it has been for the last six years is the front garden of his house,the aim being to fit 100 Minis onto the lawn! Hence the show's name-'Mini In The Garden'. The target has always just fallen slightly short,the record being the low nineties but it's a hell of an undertaking all the same.










As usual the show is held for charity,in this case the Northern Ireland Hospice and after I Detailed the organiser's MG ZT 260 back in March he asked if we would offer a prize to be drawn on the day. Happy to help and bring a couple of cars to the show ourselves the prize was decided to be a full correction on any car of the winner's choice and that as usual we would travel to their home to do the work.
Anyway,a couple of the day to accompany the first photograph.



















Excuse the wonky plate on the Mazda,the left hand arm of the bracket broke on the way to the show!










With a Northern Ireland creation in stainless steel.....

By four o'clock 85 Mini owners,from a total of 92 had bought a ballot ticket for our prize at 3 quid a go. With entry fees and another ballot ticket prize given by the local Mini dealer the show had raised just under £1000 for the Hospice. Our prize was drawn and after chatting to the winner I discovered he lives in County Donegal. For those who are unfamiliar with geography that means a round trip from Belfast of roughly 200 miles! 
After the show a friend who owns the MR2 in the above pics suggested he go with me and lend a hand with the detail. As a very talented sprayer who knows how to correct and refine paint properly I jumped at the offer of help and to stay at his holiday house in Donegal that night and consume a few beverages!

Monday morning,7.30,crossing the border. Couldn't resist a pic of the van! Just got the livery sorted and the G60 steels fitted.










Our 1971 prize winner. After a brief chat to the owner it transpires the Mini has been resprayed by himself in the garage and has been given two coats of 2k paint.










Paint depth readings after two coats are comical. Most panels show upwards of 300 microns with parts of the bonnet near 400. Plenty to work with here then!
Initial inspection reveals the Mini is heavily swirled however with masses of wet sanding marks and pig-tailing from heavy compounding sessions.










Wet sanding marks on the driver's side door,










More on the leading edge of the bonnet,










Wheel spats could do with a little attention,










More sanding marks around fuel filler cap,










And general swirls and wash marks pretty much everywhere.










After a two bucket wash with Megs Hyperwash and rinsed through an open hose(even though the Mini has been restored a couple of times during it's life i'm not about to pressure wash it due to tired door seals) the car is clayed with Sonus green and dried down with the usual Monza Car Care drying towels.
Due to the severe sanding marks and hazyness in the paint we set about the correction with Meguiars 105 via orange Hexilogic and the Makita, starting at 900 rpm and then risen to 1200 to work the compound. The plan was that I would follow Matt as he compounded with me refining via Meguiars 205. We stuck to this,swapping occasionally during the day for a bit of variation. On most panels this reduced depth in the single stage paint by 3-4 microns.

Driver's side front wing. The first panel we tried this combination on:










Halfway down the Driver's door:










Door refined against rear quarter panel:










Driver's side refined:










This is the first time I have encountered a classic Mini and it had a few new challenges. Tight areas around the rear pillars were corrected with 3M yellow spot pads,areas around the badge and number plate lamp were compounded and refined by hand with 3M green followed by yellow. Also by hand were the sharp corners on the Mini's triangular A-panels.

Rear panel. A little hazy after compounding:










And refined:










Bootlid;



















Once this process was complete the Mini received a pass of 3M Ultrafina via blue 3M pad,worked at 900,moved up to 1200,then 1500 and back down to 900 to burnish and put some real deep gloss into the paint.










Another hour of finishing. Glass polished with 3M Finesse via Makita at 900 and sealed with Rain-X. Same for the headlights and tail lights. Paint sealed with Colonite 476s and then waxed with Swissvax Onyx. Chrome grill rejuvenated with Autosol and sealed with Meguiar's metal polish. Tyres with Migliore Bella Lustra.

The final finish:





































After a few tough Details of late on cars with rock hard lacquer,namely Audi's,
this one was a total pleasure,especially when the owner seemed to go into shock when he saw the car at seven o'clock that evening! We said our farewells and headed off across Donegal to our holiday home residence for the night.....










Thanks for looking folks.
Regards,John.


----------



## carrera2s (Jun 28, 2009)

Very nice work!:thumb:


----------



## Rgk Detailing (Dec 6, 2006)

excellent work mate!, somthing a wee bit differant to work with, I can imagine the owners reaction after seeing the turnaround.


----------



## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

VERY nice Mini and very nice turnaround! Mine will look as good as that one day......:lol:


----------



## coopersworks (Dec 8, 2009)

Probably the best car in the world !


----------



## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

coopersworks said:


> Probably the best car in the world !


(said in carlsberg style voice)
Mini dont make cars anymore but if they did, they would probably be the best cars.....in the world. :thumb:


----------



## mlgt (Apr 11, 2008)

Great turnaround


----------



## Rick74 (May 31, 2009)

brilliant work,lovely wee mini aswell


----------



## Beau Technique (Jun 21, 2010)

Worth the save.
Cracking work on a lovely little classic.


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Thanks Scott. Great to work on something a little out of the ordinary.


----------



## 123quackers (Jan 29, 2009)

great clarity look pin sharp...........:thumb:

Love the wheels real smart.......:argie:


----------



## Mini 360 (Jul 17, 2009)

10" revolutions  My mates got these on his white mini. Looks the dogs danglies


----------



## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

very very nice work as always. and the van is looking mighty well!!!


----------



## rharris21 (Aug 18, 2010)

Awesome work. Cant wait to do that to mine someday. Everyone says mine is in v good nick but I can bet from looking at pics on here theres endless swirl marks!! All good fun! Great job mate.


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Cheers mate. Nice first post! Welcome to DW.


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Ronnie said:


> very very nice work as always. and the van is looking mighty well!!!


Thanks,turned out really well. Was a tad concerned when I heard the customer had painted it himself. Not too bad a finish though. 
Have you taken custody of that special BMW yet?


----------



## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

oh yes.....


----------



## Sssimon (Aug 26, 2010)

Looking well mate, awesome job and you got to have a romantic interlude with Jenks.

Cheers for the work on the golf this week, Harry was well impressed as he was sure the bonnet was a goner.

wee 106 is still looking good too, maybe ready for another polish though


----------



## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

Stunning work  hope mine will look even half as good when its finished


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Sssimon said:


> Looking well mate, awesome job and you got to have a romantic interlude with Jenks.
> 
> Cheers for the work on the golf this week, Harry was well impressed as he was sure the bonnet was a goner.
> 
> ...


----------



## kad 16v (Aug 15, 2010)

that is stuuning, i cant wait to get my hands on a black car as the work really comes up good

nice to see a classic mini looking great again

top jop


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

awesome! Mini looks great! 

and a DeLorean :argie:


----------



## mk2jon (Mar 10, 2009)

Nice work,it looks so good on 10 inchers :thumb:


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Cheers lads. The DMC is an import from Texas although there are a few RHD examples lurking about over here. We were tucked up in the corner of the show and then it got parked in front of us. Somewhat overshadowed!


----------



## minimadgriff (Jul 8, 2007)

B&B Autostyle said:


> Cheers lads. The DMC is an import from Texas although there are a few RHD examples lurking about over here. We were tucked up in the corner of the show and then it got parked in front of us. Somewhat overshadowed!


Is that one of the re-make ones then? Made from all left over parts etc?


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Not sure Griff,most likely was though as i'm pretty sure all that left the factory were lefties. A chap who has a furniture store in East Belfast owns a RHD one, however it came into being. The RHD drive examples are like mythical creatures,my Dad was involved to an extent in the wrapping up of the DMC affair and he even insists they don't exist! Wouldn't believe it myself only i have seen it in the flesh.


----------



## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

great improvement


----------



## pooma (Apr 12, 2008)

Cracking job, Cracking write up on a cracking wee car.


----------



## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

Looks great mate :thumb:


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Cheers Showshine. Nice to receive compliments from everybody and nice when a pro has a look as well.


----------



## Guest (Oct 11, 2010)

Great work, I've got a wee 1995 mini covers in swirls but I haven't got the confindence built up yet to tackle it. That was some treck to do the wee motor aswell!!


----------



## Baker21 (Aug 7, 2007)

Great write-up there and a nice little story to boot, loving the 'holiday home' and that is one heck of a 'garden' to hold that many Mini's............:doublesho

The Mini itself looks awesome in the afters and I am sure the owner was over the moon, good days work there and thanks for sharing..........:thumb:


----------



## Bratwurst (Jan 23, 2009)

Great job on a lovely wee buggy! :thumb:

The finest cars in the world IMO


----------



## horned yo (Feb 10, 2009)

amazing work


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

capri kid said:


> Great work, I've got a wee 1995 mini covers in swirls but I haven't got the confindence built up yet to tackle it. That was some treck to do the wee motor aswell!!


Just got home after a 14 hour day to see the Mini thread resurrected! Thanks for the kind remarks. Was indeed a trek,the Mini was in Raphoe and the house was in Frosses' village,the other side of the county. Get some practice in and have a go at the Mini! Love the 2.8 Special by the way,used to be a Ford man myself.


----------



## Mr Face (Jan 22, 2009)

Nice one, and I was there when it was new :lol:


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

Baker21 said:


> Great write-up there and a nice little story to boot, loving the 'holiday home' and that is one heck of a 'garden' to hold that many Mini's............:doublesho
> 
> The Mini itself looks awesome in the afters and I am sure the owner was over the moon, good days work there and thanks for sharing..........:thumb:


Thanks very much Baker. The holiday home had no electric,no running water and the bathroom was 'out the back'. None of that matters though when you have packed some beers! 
Owner was well chuffed. He was especially pleased that we got the sanding marks out and I was pleased that we didn't have to cut too heavily to remove them. The micron removal is obviously an approximation,without the laser pen method it's virtually impossible to get an exact measurement but 3-4 was the general removal rate.


----------



## StuaR32t (Jun 6, 2009)

Stunning!!:buffer: 

thats it... my mini's definitely getting re-done in black. lovely example and tastefully modified!!:thumb:


----------



## karburn (Feb 1, 2008)

Well done. :thumb: Love the classic old Mini's


----------



## B&B Autostyle (Apr 4, 2010)

StuaR32t said:


> Stunning!!:buffer:
> 
> thats it... my mini's definitely getting re-done in black. lovely example and tastefully modified!!:thumb:


Ta very much. Big Mini following over here and that one is one of the nicer ones about now.


----------



## Defined Reflections (Jun 4, 2009)

Very nice! my first car was a mini


----------

