ts’ racing sport report

After 23,678 miles and 2.5 years of Vermont daily driving on tarmac rallye dust stewn and salted snowy roads, I was stunned at how much corrosion had actually started on certain areas of my 2006 MINI Cooper S R53. Time to take action and stop the corrosion. What can you do to a daily driver to help prevent this in New England? Waxoyl it!

Waxoyl Professional Hardwax applied.

Ok, so I had to get over the thought in my head that race cars don’t use undercoating (every MINI driver thinks his Cooper is a race car), as this coating adds some weight and is not part swapping friendly. And after undercoating, all my clean original looking parts are going to be covered up with a black coating. But, the practical side of me took over and I wanted to do anything (just short of moving to sunny SoCal) to save my MINI and enjoy it for years to come. This will also enhance the value of it as well because it has been protected.Last year I had a Waxoyl Professional application on my Audi S6 performed and I should have done this to my R53 the day I drove it home from Keeler MINI, near Lake George, NY on a sunny cold March day in 2006. Waxoyl USA is distributed by Rovers North the leading Classic Land Rover Parts distributor in the USA and they have Waxoyl Professional Application Centers setup throughout New England with more signing up everyday. If you are a Professional Shop, you can get started too! See here for the listing.

First you should prepare your MINI Cooper for a proper Waxoyl Professional Application, clean is best. Removal of loose dirt, or any loose dust and debris on all of the underside parts, also wire brushing of loose and flaky painted surfaces that have become rusty underneath is essential. A putty knife turned on it’s side works well to knock off the paint. Follow with a wire brush to get as much of the surface corrosion removed. There are some thoughts after this step; remove all corrosion, repaint and then Waxoyl or just Waxoyl over the corrosion areas. I chose the latter as there was no way I could even think about getting in and removing all the suspension parts and repainting the uber small areas. However, Waxoyl applied directly, will stop further corrosion and protect. Good enough for me.After I got my MINI Cooper S R53 up on the lift I was blown away at how much corrosion had already started on the rear suspension and sub-frame mounts – Waxoyl to the rescue! Waxoyl Professional Application was applied by Rovers North in Westford, Vermont, Official USA Distributor of Waxoyl AG products.

Preparation Steps

1. Pressure wash complete under body with hot water, let dry all day on the lift. If your workshop floor has radiant heat, it will dry relatively quickly. Note: Waxoyl will disperse any water that is left over from the power wash cleaning and stick just fine.
Drivers side rear suspension, prior to Waxoyl Professional Application. You can see where the corrosion has started.

Drivers side rear just in front of the tire. You can see where the little black plug is that will be removed, this area was totally coated in dirt before power washing.

2. Wire brush to any rust spots that have started on black suspension parts and paint. On my 2006 MINI Cooper S with 24k miles, this was mostly isolated to the inside area of the rear trailing arms and front lower cross-member. The rear cross-member had some surface rust starting on it, but not that bad. Another area was the power steering fan mount, this was looking crusty around the edges.
Passenger side rear with less areas affected, mainly just surface corrosion.

Complete underside just after power washing – in good shape and ready to receive Waxoyl Professional Products.

Front suspension and sub-frame are looking good, surface corrosion on exposed bolts and holes.

3. After using the wire brush, wipe down as much visible dust and dirt on any black painted surface that you see. Coil springs, struts, suspension arms, etc.

4. Remove all four tires.

5. Tape off all four brake calipers.

6. Protect as much of the underside of the engine and gearbox that you can with paper, from overspray.

7. Heat up the Waxoyl 5 litre tins in hot water.

Application Steps

8. Apply Waxoyl Professional 120-4 clear to inside of bonnet, interior of doors, inside of rear boot hatch, and inside of front wings. This is done with a special gun and attachment using a fogging application that creates an ultra fine mist.

Starting to apply Waxoyl Professional 120-4 clear to the inside areas of the bonnet.

Unscrew the black rubber bumper stop to gain access on rear boot hatch.

This gives you an idea of how well Waxoyl 120-4 atomizes and fogs inside the rear hatch. The overspray is fogging out of the open bumper hole on the left!

9. Raise MINI Cooper S R53 up on lift and apply Waxoyl Professional 120-4 clear to inside of chassis cavities, removed black side skirt plastic screws and fogged inside of rocker panels, fogged inside of remaining chassis channels, removed black plastic plugs and applied 120-4 to inside cavities in front of rear tires. Suspension parts received partial coating as well.

Applying Waxoyl professional 120-4 to the interior cavities in the uni-body on the MINI Cooper S.

10. Apply Waxoyl Professional Hardwax to any exposed black painted suspension parts. This includes, coil springs, struts, lower suspension arms, trailing arms and any cross-members. Stay away from the muffler, and petrol tank. We didn’t need to be concerned with spraying the entire underside of the MINI because of the already stout anti-corrosion undercoating and double zinc dipped metal body prior to factory painting. The factory uni-body has been protected well. Any Waxoyl, either the clear or black hardwax makes for good electrical protectors too enhancing the connection properties as it will keep corrosion out.
Applying Waxoyl Professional Hardwax to the black suspension and sub-frame components.

Waxoyl Professional Hardwax applied to front suspension and sub-frame.

Waxoyl Professional Hardwax applied to rear suspension. Note the really glossy wet look – it is! Not to worry, Waxoyl will vapor off and “set” in and have a more flat sheen to it. Waxoyl also does not become hard, but always stays “live” which makes it the perfect corrosion protectant. Opps, we oversprayed the exhaust! I’ll eventually replace this with a JCW unit when it wears out.

Waxoyl Professional Hardwax applied.

Mount your wheels back on and you are ready to go. The best conditions would be to not drive your MINI for at least one week to let the Waxoyl set. I didn’t really have a choice and drove right off, not really worrying about this. The tarmac rallye roads I drive are dusty and I have a long gravel driveway, which in turn automatically helped “set” the Waxoyl faster.

Note: make sure to vent the MINI and drive with your windows cracked or partially open for at least one to two weeks after application this gives proper ventilation. The Waxoyl vapors from the fogging application of inside the doors and inside the rear luggage compartment areas tends to stay, and this will help eliminate the smell.

12/2/2008 – 24,262 miles. Waxoyl photo update.

After several weeks I decided to take a peek underneath and see how the Waxoyl was setting up. Everything looks perfect! The glossy wet look has turned to a nice matte sheen and has actually conformed to the parts nicely. Looks incredibly weather proof now!
Several weeks after application, the Waxoyl Hardwax looks incredibly weather proof now!

A close up shot shows how well the spray coating was applied. This will eventually help when any service work is needed as the bolts will be corrosion free.