I recently had one of my next door neighbors contact me about my detailing services. He is quite wealthy, and an older gentleman. He has quite a collection of cars.


Up first is his 1966 Austin Healey 3000. I just finished working on it.

He personally has owned the vehicle for 36 years, and restored it some time ago. The car had a very thin layer of single stage paint, so I was VERY cautious when polishing this vehicle. In fact, I was not able to remove all of the swirls because I feared going all the way through the paint. The owner was more concerned with the depth and the look and feel of the paint, so I opted to spend more time on the LSP, rather than on the polishing.

Process:

Wipe Down with ONR
Claybar with Meguiars Blue and ONR Claybar Solution
Polish with PRIMA Amigo and Blue and Green Edge Pad
Meguiars G100 DA Polisher Speed 4 and 5
1 Coat of Meguiars Showcar Glaze
3 Coats P21s Carnauba Wax
2 Coats Zymol Carbon Wax (This wax, according to zymol is "specially" formulated for Porsche paints, but I really liked the way it looked on this car, so I went ahead and used it).

Chrome Polished with P21s All Metal Polish
Windows Cleaned with Prima Clarity
Final Wipedown: Prima Slick
Interior Vacuumed and leather dressed with Meguiars Leather Cleaner/Conditioner


VOILA!

Pictures:

Before:



Prima Amigo:


Definitely Single Stage:


After Amigo:



I also did a quick cleanup of the engine bay:

Before:



After:






Interior Cleaned Up:




After 5 Tedious Coats of Wax, and Final Wipedown (All Finished):












It was a fun little car to work on. On Monday he is bringing another one over from his collection, perhaps a Packard. Or, maybe the Continental GT. More from me on Monday!

 

Nice pics That's probably a 1966 MKIII not a 1934. My dad had one when I was a kid, amazing car.

 

Really? Good to know! I could of sworn he said 1934... oh well

 

Yea, I just checked google! You are right! :D

 

nice job skitelluride!

 

What a beautiful car! Fantastic job on it! Kudos to you.

 

Nice work! Way to be careful with the paint depth. My brother had one of these: 1962, triple 2 barrel carbs, 3 deuces as he called it on a 6 cylinder, overdrive in 3rd & 4th gear, LSD. Talk about power and style! They just don't make 'em like that anymore.

 

Nice job on a beautiful car.

If I had the resources to own a classic car, it would be an Austin Healey

 

great looking car....nice job!!

 

Nice work, it turned out really well and the engine looks way better now.
White is such a disappointing color for a sports car.

 

That's funny, because I've always thought the off-white/"antique white" was one of the classier colours on the old British sports cars, especially when pairs with the chrome knock-off wire wheels. I think that's why I like the Pepper White and all the chrome on my wife's MINI - it reminds me of the old Austin Healeys and MGBs.

 

My own perspective no doubt. I just feel so let down after expending so much effort on a white car and getting it as perfect as I can but with out the real punch a dark color gives when your done.
That said, the PWs look great and really classy. I guess I just like the depth and shine dark colors give.

 

True enough - white certainly isn't the colour for showing off your detailing efforts. I also think that the Pepper White looks so good to me on the MINI because the MINI itself is so reminiscent of the old British sports cars. Along the same lines, I think coral and sea-foam green (not on the same car, of course) look great on the 50's Chevys and Cadillacs, but I don't think they'd look good on much else.

 

So I wonder what Ski gets to work on next. Sure wish I had a rich old guy next door with a bunch of cool cars. Even if they were all white.
It is funny how much I like the PW MINI, especially the cabrios. The PW body with the black rag top just looks great. That was our second choice of color combos actually, but CR is faster!

 

Antique white is definitely a classic look, and Pepper White would have been my second choice for my MINI. It's been years since I'd owned a red sports car, so Chili Red was too cool to pass up. I would have gone with Glacier Blue (if that's what it was called) if it wasn't discontinued. It reminded me of that incredible original Healey Blue. What a color! In any case, restoring classics must be a dream job. Hats off to you.

 

You seem knowledgeable so what polish do you recommend for brand new cars like MINI's and what interior Armour All type products do you suggest for interior vinyl that are getting their first wax?

 

Thanks everyone. Yea, white is always a disapointing color to work on simply because the results after so much work do not show as well as it would on, say, a Jet Black MINI . But, overall, I think he was happy. And I have an appointment set up for Monday.

I believe I am going to be working on a Packard (Not sure on the color):





The guy also has a Bentley Continental GT in Silver with Chrome wheels that I think I will get my hands on eventually. He has three other cars as well, not sure what makes and models. I will post pictures as I knock out his lineup over the next couple days.


For the interior on the MINI, I can highly recommend Prima Nero from www.detailersparadise.com . It is great spray-type product that protects vinyl interiors, while not leaving a greasy finish like Armour All. Armour is badbadbad, IMHO.

And the way you worded it makes it sound like you are planning to wax your vinyl? Not necessary, leave the wax for the paint.

For a new car, generally a good start is a claybar, and a few coats of Prima Epic. All of this is available from www.detailersparadise.com .

If you are looking for a line of products to remove swirls, I can highly recommend the Menzerna line from www.detailersdomain.com . I've tried several different lines of polishes (Mothers, Meguiars, Sonus, Pinnacle, ect.) and have been most successful with the Menzerna line.


Another detailer on here who is a wealth of knowledge is Octane Guy. He has a detailing specific forum at www.showcardetailing.com .