Some "Wuf"-ification

test cell

One of the unique things about owning a Mini is the "you"-ification.  I'm not sure whether this is an official word out of the Mini marketing department or grew up from the community.  But what it refers to is the fact that every Mini is different and unique and as owners, we can modify them, configure them, and do what we want to make them a reflection of "You" as the owner.  It really starts I suppose at the Mini web site where they note "No two Minis are alike" and their configurator brings up a message indicating there are over 10,000,000 possible configurations.  Interestingly, the other night I noticed a TV commercial where Scion is using a similar sales perspective and came up with the tagline "United by Individuality".

Anyway, being a Wolfpack fan, having a red and white Mini, and plate that reads "MINI WUF", I figured my modifications are more likely to be a case of "Wuf"-ificiation.  Especially in the case of this one which is aesthetic.  One item that has been somewhat out of place on my Mini is the license plate frame.  It is a pretty cheap plastic one that came with the Mini from Flow Mini when I bought it.  It is the typical chrome with black lettering.  Along the top it reads "Let's Motor" and the bottom has a couple Mini logos and the "www.flowmini.com" web address.  On top of that, I have realized that I have no white on the rear of the vehicle (unless you count the spoiler, which I consider to be the roof).

I thought about picking up a frame from somewhere like the GoPack store.  Alas, while those have the benefit of NCSU references, they too are chrome.  Plus, I kind of like the "Let's Motor" being on there since it is a Mini.  The Flow Mini web site could be lost, though I suppose I don't mind shilling for them with that little bit since they were kind enough to not stick something on the actually body/paint.

So, I decided I would try to paint the frame white and red myself.  You can see the results here.  First I sanded it down a little bit (though that chrome was pretty tough).  Put some white Duplicolor spray paint on it, followed by some red touch-up paint that I used to handpaint all the red parts, then some clearcoat and a layer of Epic.  I think it turned out pretty well.  You might also note I picked up a boot badge holder from Cooper Flags.  I used a little red spray paint on that to make the extensions a little less noticeable.  Overall, I think it turned out quite well.