How the !?#@##! do you put on Cooper S chrome trim. The ones that go down the side of the car over the wheel arches.
Getting them to bend the opposite way over the wheel arches without kinking the chrome seems impossible!

The only job that caused my mate in Tas (good mini mechanic) to swear and throw tools
Sh*t of a job, but they say that slightly warming it with a hairdryer or low heat gun helps heaps, and do it in the sun on a warm day (like today - phew).
Mine has a couple of kinks, but it was the first time we'd done it, so we'll do better next time hopefully.
Good luck!

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1969 Mini Cooper S MKII (1330)
1972 Honda 750/4 (his),1976 Honda 400/4 (hers)
1982 Honda CB1100RC (ours)

You will want it nice & warm, yes & you will want to start the rolling from the wrong way first,,, that way when you get to the tight bend at the bottom it rolls the right way

if you don`t understand that then i`m sorry but if you play with the roll & experiment a bit you may see what i mean,,, it`s the only way to do it,,, roll it back on itself over the wheel arches & then it will roll happilly on for the tight bends at the bottom

yeah? get it? No? ah well?



easy-peasy

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No offence intended here but--> anyone writing a book about minis 30 years ago may not have experienced such worn or stuffed-with components as we are finding these days.

You should put your heart & soul into everything you do.

"When the going gets tough, pay someone to do it for you".
That's what I'll be doing with Barney after respray.

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

That's why I love 997 Coopers. Nice stainless steel 3 piece trims fit very easily.
Be very careful of using heat guns - you could end up with a crinkled mess at the tight turn. Mk2's are even worse with the fiddly bits at the point where the flare meets the side flange.
Do as TheMiniMan says and reverse the trim on the wheel arches so that the trim wants to fit the tight bend. I have found that there is a big variation of side trims available over the years _ some are definitely more user friendly than others. My favourite was the trim with the clear bottom so that you could see where the pop rivets went - made it easy to fix it bit by bit without it leaping off again.
Do it on a warm day. Leave them in the sun and work outdoors. Sometimes a bucket of hot water helps.
Having said all this they are still a ba@#$rd!!!!!!!!

For what it's worth here is my method of fitting the Cooper S type plastic chrome trim.
Step 1. Straighten the entire length of Trim. It must be one long straight length to make it manageable. I do this by carefully fitting it to a 5 meter long length of straight metal, for example a sheet of roofing iron or a long piece of guttering material or anything long enough with a straight edge that will allow it to bo pushed on and held straight. Once unrolled and fitted to the chosen piece of metal boil several pots of water and poure it over the entire length of the new trim. Allow it to cool and remove from the fixture.
You now have a nice straight piece of trim.
Step 2. Mark the centre of the trim and mark the lip it is to be fitted to at a point in the centre of the sill. This is the point at which you start fitting the strip.
Step 3. Push the new strip onto the lip at the marked points and work it on, carefully working toward the front and rear wheel arches.
Step 3. Now at the tight bend of the wheel arch and flare it must be very carefully worked up, out and around these corners. The length of the trim now will be very manageable and with carefull handling and working will fit around these bends . Take your time and ease it on. NOTE Do not be tempted to use heat of any type here it will only make the trim kink and all will end in tears!
Step 4. Continue fitting around the rest of the wheel arch and trim off excess material from each end.
Step 5 Drill and fit 4 short pop rivets in the factory positions, the original holes can be seen trough the clear new trim. (from underneath)

Hope all this makes sence and is of some use to all. After making all the mistakes possible in the early days I have used this method with 100% sucess.

Dave

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My mini mechanic was talking about this the other day (he refuses to put it on anyones car anymore) to a bloke who makes plastic moulds. According to him the trim we are trying to use is not designed to bend and we should be using furniture mould which is designed to bend. Apparently car trim costs heaps more than furniture trim. He said it could be made exactly to order as per original but you need to order a few thousand metres. He is still looking into it.

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Flute - 68 MK I Cooper S
Member: VMCI #2474
Member: International Mini Model Collectors Club

MY TIME TO SHINE


get the S trim and if u have a clothes line clip it all on the longest wire on the clothesline as u would on the car........ one on each side, leave it for 1-2 days in the sun and remove from the clothes line.

that'll get it plenty straight.. , be patient when putting on .. but was pretty easy after that .

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PrOuDlY aSkInG qUeStIoNs FoR uR aMuEsMeNt