Blue MINI Cooper

Tag: Detroit Tuned

  • Mostly Survived MOTD13

    We mostly survived this years MINIs on the Dragon. Had a great time as always except for the window-tint/no front markers ticket on the way down. The officer was a total jerk and mad that our group was not speeding so he decided he had to write up someone, I was that lucky someone.
    Then on the way home we stopped for some BBQ north of Cincinnati, and the steep angled driveway ruined my bumper. Yay.
    Here is a video from the brewery run.
    Time Lapse of brewery run

  • Many Matte Blue Parts

    Slowly but surely pieces are coming back in from the painter. Chad now has his annual “matte blue parts puzzle” to reassemble. I’m going to let myself believe that he really enjoys it. 🙂

    prior_front_bumper_blue

    blue_mini_parts

  • v3.0 Begins

    Insurance went out to Detroit Tuned, estimated the damage this round to just over $4000. New bumper is in already, but didn’t include any mounting hardware. Seems like this car is now cursed for bumpers.
    We are considering a few options for lights and/or filling in some of the extra holes on the bumper to hide things. Hopefully it should only be in the shop for about a month.

  • Minis on the Dragon 11

    We made it back, barely, from MOTD 11. Had fantastic weather while we where there all week until saturday and sunday. The car show was not only miserable to be at, but a miserable turn out. I won’t be entering it again, as its really just a popularity contest now, and whomever’s club has the most people show up wins. Yes, I’m bitter.

    Otherwise we had a fantastic time, met some sweet new people, and reconnected with out of state friends. See you all again next year!

  • Tires on Wheels Yokohama ADVAN Neova

    We have tires! Chad is putting on his ‘gently’ used ADVAN Neova AD08 Yokohama Extreme Performance Summer tires on my fancy new wheels. In typical Detroit Tuned fashion, the balancing weights got the blackout treatment so that we don’t have any shiny on the outside, even if its inside the wheels. If you’re wondering I preferred the Yokohamas over comprable Dunlop Direzza ZIIs because of the tread pattern. #Details

  • Blue Boot

    From the rear, it almost looks done! WOOOO!

  • Clean Up

    Chad has really been busy. Starting the interior tear down and clean up so reassembly can begin in ernest. We disagreed over what color the speaker surrounds should be. I want (and will have) black, and he was thinking they should have been blue.
    Thankfully, as of now, I’m still getting final say. I hope we are still friends after its all done. 😉

    Please enjoy these update photos. The blue is still AWESOME. I know have the correct size for my custom color label.

  • Wheel Options and Hamann Bumper

    All of the parts are now back from paint and distributed across what looks like, most, of Detroit Tuned! Sure hope Chad can put it all back together! The Hamann bumper is back and looking great without the license plate surround nubs. Same thing for the rear bumper now sans backup sensor junk.

    Been actively looking for a new set of rims too. The Focal F05’s that are on it now aren’t bad, but I’ve never liked them as much as I should. The best I’ve found, that will fit, so far are between two MSR Rims (MSR 091, and MSR 080) and the KMC Rockstar, all will be powder coated FLAT black, so the colors and hilights don’t really matter.

  • Powder coated engine bits

    The engine/engine bay components came back from the powder coater yesterday.
    They were intended to be black chrome, my thoughts were something close to the M7 Anniversary Strut Brace, but a bit darker.

    What came back is much more gun metal colored, and much less chromy than expected. Which I have to admit I like better than what I had requested. All the parts are a nice shiny deep gray, and the way the powder coat went on, they get darker toward the edges, which creates a really cool look. They are actually sort of steampunk looking the way the color blends.

    Of course in typical Detroit Tuned fashion, Chad did way more than what I was expecting, which is going to make it that much cooler! Just seeing everything that was a mixed bag of aluminum, chrome, and other metal all matching was awesome. Cannot WAIT to see it all together. The photos don’t really do the part justice.

  • Front end tear down

    Looks like Matt and the Detroit Tuned gang have been busy, the front end is torn down and getting cleaned and ready for fresh paint and powder coated goodness. I’m not sure if I’m more excited for the exterior paint, or to see the engine components finally match.