WC50 Delivered & Detailed

Brian Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Why is he wetting the engine compartment?

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Alexander Lipphardt Jan 18th, 2010 Link

because i have detailed the engine compartment as well :-)

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Gabe Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Nice job Alex :)

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Axel Griesinger Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Nice car Alex ;-)

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Paul Strieby Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Marvelous job — I concur on this being the best color for a MINI — when I have to repaint — this will be the color I chose.

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Florian Fleischer Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Yupp, nice car…Axel ;-)

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Axel Griesinger Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Thanks Florian ;-)

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James Russell Jan 18th, 2010 Link

I want one of these so bad. I think the color is perfect. It will be sad to have to drive this car after getting it this well detailed.

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James Irmiger Jan 18th, 2010 Link

I’d love to repaint my DS in that Connaught Green too! I’m very jealous. Nice car Alex!!!

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Josh Hway Jan 18th, 2010 Link

I like how the guy drops his clay bar and keeps on using it.

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Axel Griesinger Jan 18th, 2010 Link

here are some pics of the 3 days detailing event: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bigblogg/sets/72157622984198831/

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Kevin Stephenson Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Beautiful Results!

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JonPD Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Looks like my bi-monthly/weekly time spent with my GP. Very nice job Alex and gratz on the great car.

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Alex Jan 18th, 2010 Link

@josh there’s nothin wrong in using that claybar when its cleaned,warmed and turned “insideout” (which is not shown in the video) :-). But seriously and besides that: the paintshop of this wc50 was one of the worst i have seen on car in years which is even more shocking if you consider that this car had only some 30miles on the clock!

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Doug Jan 18th, 2010 Link

Incredible. Thanks for sharing, MF.

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Alexander Lipphardt Jan 18th, 2010 Link

@josh there is nothin wrong in using that claybar again as long as it is cleaned, warmed and turned “insideout” (which is not shown in the video) :-). but besides that and seriously: that wc50 had the worst paintjob i have seen in years on a car especially if i/you consider that the car had just a few k’s on the clock and was brand new!

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Steve Jan 19th, 2010 Link

So, I’ve got a dumb question. When people do details like this, how do they keep the rotors from getting that nice layer of rust/oxidation during the washing? This is my big problem with white wheels. I usually end up letting the car sit for a few days to let the rotating parts dry completely before I can drive it so that the rust comes off in manageable dust as opposed to slimy rust water that splatters everywhere.

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Alexander Lipphardt Jan 19th, 2010 Link

steve, that is no dumb question :-) ! rust and oxidation you sometimes find on the rotors also occure when the car stands outside for one or two days and in fact its quite a normal reaction especially in combination with humidity or rain. acutally there is nothin you can do to avoid that unless you park your car in a well temperated garage where every part of your car can properly dry right away. what i would suggest is that you protect and seal your wheels properly with 2-3 layers of a sealant or wax like poorboys wheel sealant, jetseal 109 or swissvax “autobahn” for instance. after that procedure you’ll be able to clean your great white wheels with just a normal hose and slight rinse :-)

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Carnell Jan 19th, 2010 Link

The production of the vids and end result of the detailing was superb. Two questions: 1) any direction for a novice detailer like myself (the “seal your wheels” tip above was great and 2) what camera did you use? I saw it was a handheld but I thought it would be a bit larger than what it was. Thanks again for sharing!

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lavardera Jan 19th, 2010 Link

I could see them introducing this color to production, but perhaps limititing to JCW cars, or perhaps limiting to the twins. I think that would be appropriate and prevent it from “diluting” the special edition.

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Axel Griesinger Jan 19th, 2010 Link

they assured me that Connaught Green won’t go into production with this color. but they also assured me that the WC50 will be limited to 250 pieces ;-)

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jimskater Jan 19th, 2010 Link

I saw the prototype at Mini United. Gabe’s right–it is a glorious color. The color is darker & richer than it looks. Dead bang match for a 1960’s Formula Cooper that was on the stand next to it.

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Richard Lin Jan 19th, 2010 Link

Black Wow on the arches…wooohooo! DAY2 PART 3

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Violet Jan 19th, 2010 Link

Really cool! What’s the music playing in the 1st vid? I LIKE it! =)

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Violet Jan 19th, 2010 Link

OK; for those of us w/out buffers, how do we get out those ‘defects’???

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lavardera Jan 19th, 2010 Link

Well in the interview with the Dr. at the Detroit auto show he did not flat deny this color coming into production. The question is where?

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Alexander Lipphardt Jan 20th, 2010 Link

@violet which “first video” do you mean :) ? the first listed on MF or the first out of 6 detailing videos? further…it will be very difficult to remove these defects without a proper machine i believe. by hand its actually impossible :-( ! or simply drop me a mail and i’ll be happy to come to your place in order to do a similar job on your mini :-)))

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keith Jan 20th, 2010 Link

hi.

Ive got number 32 and its already been back to the factory for issues with paint. have you had any problems??

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Mighty Mowse Jan 20th, 2010 Link

Best Mini color ever!

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Chris Lamb Jan 20th, 2010 Link

Nice bathroom Alex.

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David Jan 21st, 2010 Link

I’m glad I’m not the only one who saw him drop the clay bar and then keep using it. I stopped watching the video at that point…

That litterally made me shudder, not to mention it was on a brand new car.

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Alexander Lipphardt Jan 22nd, 2010 Link

@david as i said earlier…the bar was cleaned, warmed and turned inside out and fine before i continued claying the last few parts of the car so really nothin to worry about. especially when you consider that 99,9% of the swirl and buffer marks in the paint were caused @ the factory as the wc50 is hand sprayed (the green color only on top of a jet black) and the buffer trails and severe scratches we observed were caused by lousy polishing techniques and probably wrong products after the car has been sprayed with connaught green. after the paintwork correction stage the paint was 100% defect free and flawless!

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