Hi,

I have just bought myself a set of plastic Cooper S flares for my mini.

Can anyone suggest the best method to fix the flares in place?

Thanks

Roc

Are they genuine Cooper S (or even remakes) flares?

Did you get the metal backing plates? These follow the lip of the wheel arch and were spot welded in the factory, but pop rivets or even self tappers will work OK.

There is a (genuine) fixing kit that has plastic buttons to fit to the body, however you'll need the meatl backing plates too and the (chrome) plastic finisher that runs front to rear clips the flare to the backing plate.

You might be able to fit them without the backing plates but the flares will get damaged without them.

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They are genuine re-makes, if that makes sense. These are new and i beleive that they are exactly the same as BMC made them.

I have the metal backing plates and will source the Cooper S chrome moulding.

Do I need to use the plastic tabs on the body, or is it better just to use double sided tape or a small bead of glue.

P.S. Any tips on how best to install the chrome moulding??

Thanks

To be truthful, I never use the buttons on the body, but they were used and are available (from Mini King, other might be able to supply??). I just use the (chrome) plastic finisher and never had a worry.

You need plenty of patence and time to put the finishe on. Park on the grass or put some carpet down before you do it. If you do it say on yr driveway it'll likely get badly scratched. The 'difficult' bits are the tighter bends on the trailing and leading edges of the wheel arches. Use some gentle heat say from a hair drier and don't try to bend it, instead 'roll it' to form these tighter bends.

Plenty of swear words also help

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I have fitted the S flares to our Mini K all I did was make up the metal underside, which it sounds like you already have, I then just sat the plastic flare on top of the metal bit, made sure it was sitting nice and tight against the body, then popped a couple of very short pop rivets here and there to hold in place, then I got the plastic S trim and a hair dryer and started to fit the plastic strip, the plastic trim holds the plastic flare in place as it has a recess for the flare and the underneath metal to clip into, I them popped an odd pop rivet at selected spots by drilling through the underneath bit of the plastic trim, through the metal and through the plastic flare only very short rivets so they hide inside the plastic trim, have to be careful not to come right through the plastic trim though. I have to redo a front one this weekend as some one backed into the K and broke one of the flares. The flares have been on the K for over 10 years and never moved. When I refer to the pop rivets I only used a small amount just an odd one here and there per side, the plastic S strip keeps it all in place, the rivets I only used where the S trim seemed a bit inclined to come off or not sit properly.

I would not use the buttons. If for some reason they do not sit close to the body after adjustment, use a bit of bathroom sealant (not glue). You can then peel if off without damaging the paint.

Just as a matter of interest how did those black plastic buttons attach to the guard, did they stick on or were there holes drilled screws etc, I remember back in 1969 my new Cooper S had the flares fitted by the dealer and I can remember seeing all these ugly black buttons on my brand new S, I can't remember how they were attached though.