MINI books to read

Posted on by Ian C.

I just finished “The Mini – the making of a modern icon” by Brian Laban, which I bought from Amazon UK because I could not find it available in America. The book primarily details the history of the classic Mini but is well written and interesting with chapters called: Size, Style, Class, Sex, Taste, Speed, Speed 2, Money, Love, Faith and Rebirth (only the last two chapters reference the new MINI).

In the sections on the new MINI, there are a few photos I have not seen before (as well as ones I have seen like the Spiritual concept cars mentioned recently); I’ve copied a picture of the interior of the ACV 30, and a picture of Frank Stephenson sculpting our new MINI:


If you are more interested in the new MINI, check out the other great books available:
“New MINI” by Graham Robson
“MINI” by Patrick Paternie
And for anyone wanting to get their hands dirty, the soon-to-be-released:
“MINI Cooper Service Manual” from Bentley Publishing (supporters of MINIsOnTop)

Cleaning White Wheels

Posted on by Ian C.

I love the white 16″ wheels on GBMINI, but they do get dirty. I washed the car before MINIsOnTop but only today got to wash again after more than 1000 miles! I have tried various things to keep the wheels clean – last September I had Green Stuff brake pads installed; they are supposed to reduce brake dust but I don’t recommend them.

My latest discovery is Insulator Wax from AutoFanatics (local to me) – actually I like this wax so much I have used it on the bodywork too, to great effect!
Anyway, the Insulator Wax is supposed to help keep the wheels clean. So this morning I started with wheels as dirty as you see, sprayed them with P21S then pressure washed the car, then the wheels. At that point the wheels were basically clean.

Next I washed the car with Zymol shampoo, and wiped the wheels using a sponge soaked in the same shampoo. Then I hosed down the car, dried it, and dried the wheels with Bounty towels.

So here’s before and after:

 

I am pretty happy with that!
The P21S does a very good job of persuading the dirt to lift off the wheels, but the insulator wax has further improved things so that I basically do not need to rub the wheels – they come clean with the pressure wash alone!

So here is GBMINI with everything clean – wheels and all (but not waxed, too hot today!)

GBMINI#2 washed