Protected once more

Posted on by Ian C.

I’m happy to report that I once more have two MINIs, and both are “clear bra” protected again … GPMINI had to go back to Sublime Restorations to have the hood re-done because the GP hood scoop decal was not properly fitted … and GBMINI#6 had to make two trips to get it’s removed clear bra put back on.
With Josh’ MINI at work, we have a nice threesome picture 🙂

In the end, I was pleased with how the clear bra re-installation was handled by Herb Chambers MINI. They organized for me to have the work done at closer-to-me Herb Chambers Dodge; the service managers there looked after my car and me very well, and promptly called to let me know when the work was done. Unfortunately the work needed two trips because the hood protection piece was damaged on the first visit – but the final work is well done and (on the Dark Silver) hard to see the edges:

But I thought it was a MINI …

Posted on by Ian C.

I got a package in the mail, about GBMINI#6 … from BMW … it says “Congratulations on your decision to purchase a certified pre-owned BMW“:

Strange, but reminiscent of early days with GPMINI!

I spoke with Kerry at Herb Chambers MINI, and she’ll get corrected – it seems to simply be a matter of mailing out the wrong envelope, since the MINI dealership computers confirm that the car is CPO / MINI NEXT.

In a very vaguely similar vein, GBMINI#6 might have thought it was a Dodge today and not a MINI or a BMW! She spent much of the day at Herb Chambers Dodge in Peabody – I delivered her there this morning so that new “clear bra” protection could be installed; Kerry arranged for installation there to save my trip in to Boston:

Unfortunately things didn’t perfectly! The installer had been told the MINI was at Herb Chambers Chevrolet, so waited for the car-that-never-showed … eventually the Service Manager at Dodge tracked down the error and got the MINI to the right place.

But then, the hood part of the protection was apparently damaged so couldn’t be fitted – Kerry told me this but no-one at Dodge knew, so I got a call that all was done and assumed they’d got a fitted the correct part – but no … when I retrieved GBMINI#6, it was protected “below the belt” but still naked above! Hopefully, this will get finally sorted some time this week.

A new toggle switch panel

Posted on by Ian C.

I took apart GBMINI#6’s center stack today, to install a new toggle switch panel:

Thus, no more empty toggle positions (although the front/rear fog switches currently don’t work); and I now once again have somewhere to install the (unique?) chrome toggle rings (which I removed from GBMINI#3 before I sold it) – of course, I took the opportunity to install an auto-up windows MINI circuit (another benefit of not owning an R56!).

I also checked the AUX input cable to the back of the radio, it seemed to be properly installed – but it still doesn’t work! 😦