7 replies to this topic

[daddycool]

Hi all,

The Sportspack arches on my mini are pants to put it quite plainly. The back ones have dints in them and lots of stone chips. The front ones have been cut straight at the front to look something similar to a miglia arch. The trim is very thin and doesn't fit between the arches and the body work very well. The paint is also coming off the front drivers side, you can see that they haven't been keyed before spraying.

I am looking to replace them as they are the only thing that is letting the look of the car down. I have been to my local mini garage and he can get me a set of genuine Rover arches for £95 each(£380 set). This is too much for me at the moment and this isn't even sprayed up. He says Rover did two types of sportspack arches, the originals are the best and are more flexible, these are the one he has. The later ones are less flexible.

I was wondering if I can get them anywhere else cheaper, or what experience you guys have with the copycat arches, there seems to be a lot of fibre glass copies? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Joethemojomower]

Hi all,

The Sportspack arches on my mini are pants to put it quite plainly. The back ones have dints in them and lots of stone chips. The front ones have been cut straight at the front to look something similar to a miglia arch. The trim is very thin and doesn't fit between the arches and the body work very well. The paint is also coming off the front drivers side, you can see that they haven't been keyed before spraying.

I am looking to replace them as they are the only thing that is letting the look of the car down. I have been to my local mini garage and he can get me a set of genuine Rover arches for £95 each(£380 set). This is too much for me at the moment and this isn't even sprayed up. He says Rover did two types of sportspack arches, the originals are the best and are more flexible, these are the one he has. The later ones are less flexible.

I was wondering if I can get them anywhere else cheaper, or what experience you guys have with the copycat arches, there seems to be a lot of fibre glass copies? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hey, i just bought some sports pack arches from MiniSport and they are TERRIBLE they are rubber, soo flexible, and impossible to paint

So i was recomended onhere) to buy some sports pack arches from Mini speed, Apaarently there copies are ABS and much easier to Fit and to paint are the way to go!!!!

i only ordered them last night so am expcting them tuesday, i will let you know how they are and how i get on, So dont blow all that money on Genuine, buy the Mini mspeed copies that are 'as close as damn it@ to the Genuines :]

[coopermpi]

i think mini spares well genuine for about £80 per arch. i have the minispeed abs ones which are good, and fit really well and paint easily.
They are up for sale, if interested PM me. They are painted in flame red89.
I was told to get FG ones, abs or if budget is no issue, genuine, which i have now sourced, and look no different imo.

[Embey]

I've got a set of fibreglass copycats on my mini. They've only been painted for about a month now but so far so good, I did rub/sand them down before my dad sprayed them. They're not the best fit in the world but seem to be ok once they are fixed on. Also the passenger side arch seems to be a slightly different shape to the drivers side which means the wheel scrapes of it sometimes (This is probably just a faulty set I got). I payed £70 for them on eBay so I'm still glad I saved the money and the finished result looks just as good as the real ones in my opinion.

[The_Mistro]

i had some of the rubber sportpack arches, and i sent them straight back, they just did not fit well, they were just horrible, ergh, hated them! then i got some fibreglass copies from min-its, and they are brilliant, i think they fit well, they came ready primed, so just a case of spraying them whichever colour you want! think it was about £90 for the 4 arches if i remember correctly!

Edited by The_Mistro, 10 April 2009 - 10:02 PM.

[Mini_the_Minx]

I have a set of FG opys from MiniSpeed and they are utter rubbish! They are moulded terribly, they foul my front 13 x 7's even though the inner arch is cut away as far as possible. They are very weak and the inner webbing split apart so the front is slightly hanging off. They came primed but the primer they used was rubbish and poorly done so I have to cut back and re prime. And when i called them to complain, they weren't interested and even hung up on me!!

If you go for FG copies, and there are some brilliant copies about, make sure they aren't from MiniSpeed!! I paid £100 for mine and it wasn't worth the hassle.

[rosco454]

When i bought my car it had the rubber types sportspack arches and there is nothing good about them at all.
The car is being rebuilt anyway but for the previous owner they must have been a total waste of money.

[daddycool]

Hi all,

The Sportspack arches on my mini are pants to put it quite plainly. The back ones have dints in them and lots of stone chips. The front ones have been cut straight at the front to look something similar to a miglia arch. The trim is very thin and doesn't fit between the arches and the body work very well. The paint is also coming off the front drivers side, you can see that they haven't been keyed before spraying.

I am looking to replace them as they are the only thing that is letting the look of the car down. I have been to my local mini garage and he can get me a set of genuine Rover arches for £95 each(£380 set). This is too much for me at the moment and this isn't even sprayed up. He says Rover did two types of sportspack arches, the originals are the best and are more flexible, these are the one he has. The later ones are less flexible.

I was wondering if I can get them anywhere else cheaper, or what experience you guys have with the copycat arches, there seems to be a lot of fibre glass copies? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Hey, i just bought some sports pack arches from MiniSport and they are TERRIBLE they are rubber, soo flexible, and impossible to paint

So i was recomended onhere) to buy some sports pack arches from Mini speed, Apaarently there copies are ABS and much easier to Fit and to paint are the way to go!!!!

i only ordered them last night so am expcting them tuesday, i will let you know how they are and how i get on, So dont blow all that money on Genuine, buy the Mini mspeed copies that are 'as close as damn it@ to the Genuines :]

That would be great if you could let me know how you get on with them, will you be spraying them yourself?

thanks

Matt