Mini Cooper Opti-Coated

S

Scottwax

New member
2011 Mini Cooper convertible. Polished out his X-drive last weekend, wanted us back to Opti-Coat his wife's Mini Cooper. I'd looked it over the week before and it just had mostly light swirls in the paint so I was able to work it in more quickly than usual due to the small size and excellent overall condition.



It was really hard getting before shots, just before we washed it, low clouds rolled in and trying to time the breaks in the clouds with trying to take pics was an exercise in frustration. When the sun pops out for 10-15 seconds at a time, then you lose it for another 2-3 minutes... :wall



This is the only before shot that remotely had enough sun to make out the light swirling:







After Optimum Hyper Compound on this pretty hard paint:















ONR wash, Opti-Raser Pink to spot clay (paint was already really smooth)

Optimum Hyper Compound using an Optimum MF cutting pad and my Rupes 21 DA

Optimum Hyper Polish using an Optimum MF cutting pad, and a few tighter areas with a yellow Meguiars foam pad (needed some cushion between the backing plate and the bumper/tailgate area) again with my Rupes 21

ONR wash

30% Alcohol solution on the windshield

Optimum Coating applied to the paint and wheels

Opti-Glass applied to the windshield

ONR wash and wax @ 32:1 to clean glass

Armor All to dress tires/wheel wells



For how good of shape the Mini appeared to be in before we started, I was stunned at how much additional gloss the polishing added to the paint, and that the scuffs and scratches all polished out of the vinyl stripes on the hood.



































 
Awesome work as usual!



This is Austin with the 85 Oldsmobile Delta 88 please contact me if you would like to re-detail it please.
 
Msuperbauer said:
I've never used the Rupes. What makes it better?
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More power, uses all the pad so less build-up and faster cut.



Andy408 said:
Even without direct sunlight, I can still see the how glossy the paint is after polishing in this picture! :goodjob
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Thanks!



Thomas Dekany said:
Beautiful Scott!
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Thanks!



ChevyPusha said:
Awesome work as usual!



This is Austin with the 85 Oldsmobile Delta 88 please contact me if you would like to re-detail it please.
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Thanks, contacted you back.
 
I'd say the cut is pretty close to my Dewalt 849 rotary. I've tried the Flex (customer had one) and it was a pain to control, pulls all over, way more than a rotary does. The Rupes, you can one hand it, very, very smooth.
 
I know this is an old thread, but hoping the OP sees it.  I have a Mini Cooper S and I'm thinking of buying a Rupes 21, but going back and forth between a Rupes 15 and a Flex 3401.  Some have tried to scare me off from the Rupes 21 saying it's too big to work properly on a Mini due to the curved hood and roof.  Did you use a 5" BP on the Mini, or the original 6" BP that came on the 21?  Did you find that it was difficult on the curvy parts of the car?  I also have an old PC7424 that I'm going to put a 3" BP on for really tight areas, but for the price difference, I think the 21 is worth it over the 15 if it will work for me.  Thanks for your help!


 


 
 
Scott, that really looks nice.


 


(Are you going to be adopting Gloss-Coat for regular use on client cars?  I'm very curious about the product and know you have used it.)
 
fotomatt1 said:
I know this is an old thread, but hoping the OP sees it.  I have a Mini Cooper S and I'm thinking of buying a Rupes 21, but going back and forth between a Rupes 15 and a Flex 3401.  Some have tried to scare me off from the Rupes 21 saying it's too big to work properly on a Mini due to the curved hood and roof.  Did you use a 5" BP on the Mini, or the original 6" BP that came on the 21?  Did you find that it was difficult on the curvy parts of the car?  I also have an old PC7424 that I'm going to put a 3" BP on for really tight areas, but for the price difference, I think the 21 is worth it over the 15 if it will work for me.  Thanks for your help!
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You can use the Rupes 21 with both a 5" or a 6" backing plate, you can also use larger pads with the 5" plate do give you more cushion from the edge of the backing plate. I liked my Rupes so much I bought a second one, so now I have one set up with the 6" BP and the other with the 5" BP.


 
tom p. said:
Scott, that really looks nice.


 


(Are you going to be adopting Gloss-Coat for regular use on client cars?  I'm very curious about the product and know you have used it.)
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I am offering both Gloss-Coat and Opti-Coat Pro. Just set up an Audi S6 for next week with Gloss-Coat. He tends to change out his cars every 2 years so he decided to go with Gloss-Coat this time. Really like how wet and glossy it looks and how its stayed very slick with just ONR washes every 2 weeks or so since I applied it in July. 
 
Scottwax said:
You can use the Rupes 21 with both a 5" or a 6" backing plate, you can also use larger pads with the 5" plate do give you more cushion from the edge of the backing plate. I liked my Rupes so much I bought a second one, so now I have one set up with the 6" BP and the other with the 5" BP.


 


So you'd definitely recommend a Rupes 21 over a Flex 3401?  I'm about to pull the trigger and order it today.  My primary vehicle that I'm detailing is a 2013 Cooper S and a lot of people have cautioned me that it will stall on the curvy panels of the MINI, but obviously you didn't have this issue?  I'm also going to get the 5" BP and smaller pads...probably the new Lake Country HD.  Thanks in advance for your help!
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