I just had a busy weekend with a friend of mine dropping by to try out some new car detailing products which I will be reviewing shortly. Saturday’s weather was intermittent sun with the odd chilly spell, so Craig and I broke the usual detailing don’t rules where we cleaned my car in the bright sunny spells with the car being warm to the touch and not in the shade. The snow foam episode was intended just for my car, but the odd breeze also left dried water spots on his black car parked next to mine, that meant it was now going to be a two car wash day. The products we tried were good and I think I may have discovered a new favourite car shampoo, although I still have one more product to try before I can fully stand behind that statement. The day wore on and the weather forecast for the first show the next day’s car show was looking good. The best of it was the first show of the year was only seven miles away from me at a new venue (for me) organised by the Bury Retro Car Club called Buff The Ruff at Rougham Tower Museum, as it’s now known, but it was one of the fully functioning working airbases in the Suffolk and Norfolk areas.
Rougham Control Tower (originally known as RAF Bury St Edmunds), is a former RAF station, situated 3 miles east of the Suffolk market town of Bury St Edmunds. The airfield was built between 1941 and 1942, and had three intersecting concrete runways. The main runway was approximately 2000 yards long, and run in an East to West direction. The airfield was designed for a United States Army Airforce unit (USAAF) bomb group. Fifty concrete hardstands were constructed just off the encircling perimeter track. Two T2-type hangars were erected, one on each side of the airfield. Accommodation was provided for some 3,000 personnel in Nissen and other temporary type buildings. There were a number of squadrons based here; 47th Bombardment Group (Light), 322nd Bombardment Group (Medium), 94th Bombardment Group (Heavy) with their mighty B-17 Flying Fortress.
An excited big kid (me), went to bed with the weather still looking good for the Sunday. The alarm didn’t need to wake me up as the blind in the bedroom was up so the sunrise woke me and gave me a good excuse to check the weather. The sun was out and there was some blue stuff up there with the odd cloud moving slowly. I loaded my cool bag with some drinks and packed lunch, along with some sun cream!
I loaded the car and backed it out and the sound of the engine was something I had really missed. The journey was literally only ten minutes away as it was just off a main road and the first junction I came too, the car hadn’t really gotten warm after such a short journey. I got to the entrance a easy forty minutes before the official opening time of ten. I made a few changes of parking location, as I didn’t want to park under a tree. The second space I picked was the entrance to the field where the majority of cars were going to be parked up, so I had to move to nice spot I liked just in front of the main tower itself.
I took over three hundred photos on the day and quite a few of them were from the museum. The day I will split across two posts, just to make the page view a little more manageable.
There were a couple of groups of WWII enactment, mostly German with a few USAF guys wandering around. Just as you drove into the area there was a ‘dug out’ with a couple of ominous machine guns pointed at you, and a German SS guard by the barrier.
The main tower was over three floors, the top floor you had to go outside to get to the steps to take you up. The rooms were filled with models, equipment, bits of old planes, photo’s and information on the base and it’s history.
They had the odd mannequin showing the rooms, some of which looked a little creepy!
Going up the stairs to the next level, the building was almost trying to tell you a story of it’s own if that makes sense?
By the time I had spent a while looking around there were some cars arriving in convoy and managed to grab some unusual above pictures.
Outside there was some more US Jeeps parked up and a rather cute sibling!
Just to left of the of the Tower as you exit there are some bunkers or buildings which also housed some pretty awesome exhibits.
In part two’s post, the next hut along had a very interesting guy who was telling me about the weapons and he even let me hold a few as it was very early in the day and not many people looking around. Did I get to use the sun cream? Find out in the next post!
Over the course of the winter my pride and joy is tucked up in the garage with the dehumidifier and temperature controlled garage, which is vitally important. To supplement the car’s cosy environment is the next most important thing, the trickle charge to the battery. Couple of reasons being it keeps the battery at an optimum level and prolongs the life of the battery. I use the CTEK mxs5 which has served me well for the last eight years 24/7 and I haven’t had any problems, until now. The wall mounted charger showed that all was good and the unit was on the maintenance cycle as expected when I popped into the garage to check up and have a day messing around in there.
A couple of months or so ago I went to the garage and noticed that the unit’s quick connection (which has a traffic light set of LEDs) was flashing red, this is a visual sign of low power in the car’s battery. I just put it down to a recent power cut during a storm which had messed up the maintenance charge process. I reset the charger and the process started up again, and I thought no more of it. I went back in a couple of weeks ago and all looked OK. Something told me to check the battery level, I got in the car turned the ignition on and the volt meter was showing just over 11 volts not the 12.5 volts that should have been available. Those that know these old cars are aware that there is an ‘Ammeter’ not a volt meter in the instrument cluster. I didn’t like the idea of a direct battery feed going to the dash, it didn’t tell you a great deal either as they either didn’t work or just in the middle of the gauge. Safety in mind I swapped out the Ammeter for a volt meter which I made on my own. (If you want to know how I swapped the stock Ammeter to a modern voltmeter that also still looks stock, click here.)
I tried to turn the car over which was rather slow, but eventually she fired up before what seemed like an eternity of ever slowing turn overs until I reckon the last but one revolution of the starter motor managed to fire the car into life.
I ran the car for a few minutes to get a little power charge into the battery while I finished up what I was doing in the garage. After shutting the car down and reconnecting the charger back up, I closed up the garage and wandered back into the house where I assumed the horizontal position on the sofa to start researching the issue. I found a forum where it seems there is a generic failure where these units show the maintenance cycle, but it’s not actually trickle charging the battery, so the battery runs low. I got into some heavy reading looking for the replacement, and to see if anything new was on the market since I bought that last one. I have previously given the CTEK unit 10 out of 10 and after (nearly) nine years it’s still a deserved score, and they still make them. With that in mind I was certain that I was going to do a like for like CTEK swap out, but another brand ‘NOCO’ caught my eye. I did the usual comparison, review readings and there was virtually nothing in it between the two manufacturers for the price and functions. So I ordered the NOCO for one reason only. I have also reviewed the NOCO Genius 5 here or cut and paste this link to read it:
“Thermal Comparison: the new integrated thermal sensor automatically monitors and adjusts the charging cycle based on fluctuations of ambient temperature, limiting the chance of under-charging or over-charging, providing a more accurate and fully charged battery. Avoids under-charging in cold weather down to -4F and avoids over-charging in hot weather up to 104F.”
My garage can get hot sometimes in the summer, so this ‘Thermal Comparison’ for me was the winning function, just pipping the CTEK. To replace the CTEX with the same model would have been literally five minutes, going to another supplier was something I knew would take a little bit of time to get it nice and neat under the hood, back to how I wanted it, out of sight out of mind.
The NOCO doesn’t look as fancy as the CTEK, but it’s function for me at the end of the day, I don’t have to look at it all the time, so it’s not really an issue or is it?
Once unpacked there is a rubbish bracket that clips to the NOCO and is held in place by a rather tacky looking velcro strap. You have to thread the strap under the unit into the bracket’s loop all of which is a bit cumbersome. Perhaps it’s a quick release, but it would have been nice to have a wall mount without the velcro. For £80 I would have wanted something a little nicer looking to be honest. When I walk into the garage and see it, it just bugs me. Surely it would have been cheaper for a slightly longer bit of plastic for the all mount, than to make and brand a bit of velcro.
The cable length under the hood wasn’t long enough, so I had to cut the wires and splice a longer cable in (same amp rating), so that I could route the cable where I wanted it to be out of sight but also easy access at the front of the car once in the garage. This supposedly half hour swap of charger took me about three hours by the time I took the car battery out, remade the cable, re-routed the cable, cleaned the area thoroughly, reinstalled the car battery and clamp, mounted the unit on the wall and cleaned up.
So far the new unit looks to be doing it’s thing as I would expect. However, I did notice that the maintenance cycle (slow green pulse LED) took a while to initiate as I suspect the charger was stabilising the battery from what it had been left with from the CTEK.
The one function I’m missing though is the LED lights on the CTEK connector. This was a simple traffic light idea for the status of the battery charge.
It’s not the end of the world of course, but a rather nice to have which I think NOCO should investigate for an option accessory purchase, I’m happy to test and review the item if you are reading this NOCO. I’m yet to decide on the final position of the new charger, so it’s not the neatest of fittings I have done. But for now it will serve a purpose until I can fully trust the new charger.
It wont be long now before the first car show is ready, so I will need to get the car out, fill it up with fuel and give it the de-winterising of the products I applied for protection. That usually takes me about a day all in. Hopefully I will be a little more regular with the posts again once the car shows start.
I have more reviews to add so look out for those too. I can’t wait to get my car out and go for a drive.
I have been known to collect many things Mustang related, but I try to keep the collection to the tasteful items. I draw the line at such things like Mustang trainers, soft cushions, bedding sets, teddy bears, aftershave, Zippo lighters etc. as they are all just seem to be cashing in on the Mustang name. I like to collect things that are an of historical importance from the first generation of Mustangs, 1964 – 1966. Some of those items have been historical documents for the 1964 World Trade Fair Mustang launch, Newsweek, Time and Life, along with various other popular car magazines that covered the Mustang launch, test drives or articles at the time. I also managed to grab some items like original sales brochures, promotional literature and such like, which ended up in my collection. As many of the items I have are paper they tend not to stand the test of time unless looked after. Most magazines like Newsweek were just thrown away, making survivors of the time in good condition had to find. I collect these sort of items for their importance and not the monitory resale value trying to make a quick buck. I don’t keep them for a while and then sell the items on as an investment. I won’t part with anything I have, or sell it on for a profit. I have been given many rare items over the years which started my collection off – a special thanks to Gary W. who is also a big collector. It was Gary that started me on this slippery slope of emptying my wallet on a regular occasion.
I have added just added a couple of more items to my collection, which I have been looking at for a while now and wanted good condition ones. There isn’t much known about these items in descriptive detail so I wanted to put that right. I have spent a fair bit of time researching and also created a page dedicated to them here which I hope to add to as time goes along.
As I will add more posts to this website, then this article will be gradually pushed down the order. So having a permalink in the menu will help keep the information to hand and hopefully help out others.
So, what am I talking about? The answer is; ‘dealership model’ cars.
These models are something that were official promotional items made for Ford for their various in production and future production line cars as they changed the real car designs. These models therefore served an important purpose. I suspect many of these models were thrown away after a couple of years or given to children as toys to take part in some fantasy destruction derby with other toys, many of which ended up in the great (plastic) scrap yard in the sky.
The background to these models is that various forms of these promotional models started to appear at motoring dealership around the 1950s from various suppliers. These ‘dealership’ models as they became to be known are certainly not to be confused with the component model kits which were built and stuck together, like Airfix, Tamiya or Revell. These dealership models were prefabricated and distributed to the motor company dealerships. They were to promote and give a three dimensional representation of the new models that were being introduced by the various manufacturers. This gave the potential customer a much better experience of what they are going to buy, rather than just flicking through a printed catalogue. With these dealership models you got to appreciate the dimensions of the car from any angle.
I will try to sum up the information that is out there from the likes of Wikipedia and other collectable model based sites, concentrating on the dealership cars side of the AMT business.
What we do know is that these quite fragile models are highly collectable as memorabilia especially for important cars from the manufacturers, not just Ford. As for the numbers actually produced I haven’t been able to quantify, but they limited in number and not a mass produced item. The actual numbers produced will obviously vary from various motor manufacturers, and the number of dealers actually selling the cars of course. These models were not for commercial retail, they were just a promotional item that was going to binned when that model is no longer produced. Many of these model cars that appear for sale now days are pretty battered. However over time they have become recognised to be for what they are now, collectable items from a bygone era.
The costs for these models production has been reported at the time as anything between $50,000 ($650,000 in todays money), to $250,000 ($3,000,000 in todays money). Either way that is not an insignificant amount of money for a launch of a car with no idea of how it will actually sell, thus recoup some of the promotional money back at the time. A big advantage that Ford had was on 17th April 1964 at the New York World’s Trade Fair, the Mustang was launched to the public to critical acclaim. This was backed up by selling over 680,000 Mustangs in the first year, which is still a record. With that type of response Ford felt the investment would be worthwhile as they couldn’t make the cars quick enough for the public to buy them, with some dealers having lengthy waiting lists. Having an accurate model of the car that could be seen by the customer was a huge bonus at the time.
The History of AMT
In 1948 a company called ‘AMT’ was started up by West Gallogly Sr. in Troy, Michigan USA. ‘Aluminium Model Toys’ was created as a secondary business by Mr. Gallogly. Other manufacturers were already creating dealer models which were mostly zinc based. Gallogly also wanted to make the models out of aluminium, hence the name ‘Aluminium Model Toys’ was given to the company. However, very shortly after the name was chosen, the use of plastics materials rocketed around the world and the name Aluminium Model Toys deemed to be confusing for their plastic models, thus the name was rebranded to a shortened version of the name, ‘AMT’. In 1978 AMT was bought out by Lesney better know for ‘Matchbox Toys’. In 1983 Lesney relocated to Baltimore and sold the AMT company to ERTL, which was then to be known as AMT-ERTL. Later in 2007 the AMT name was no more and the company name was now just ERTL.
In 1958 AMT were producing ‘3 in 1’ kits which allowed three different version of model which could be made; ‘Stock’, ‘Custom’ or ‘Racing’ with numbered decals.
In 1962 AMT were also involved with ‘Slot Car’ industry which started in 1912 which is still hugely popular today. They manufactured various sizes of car such as 1:24, 1:25 and 1:32. The 1:32 scale was adopted as the standard by Scalextric for fun racing at home or the more serious competitive racing scene.
In the mid 60’s Mr. Gallogly went on to use his good connections with the Ford Motor Company to manufacture some highly detailed promotional models for them. What was said, who agreed it and what the actual deals that were struck at the time during those meetings is unclear. But, it must have been pretty good for the Ford Motor Company executives agreeing to the Dealership Promotional Models.
It was recognised during that golden era for the motor manufacturing industry, it was deemed the norm for a new model to be produced every year or two years max. To make people aware of the new vehicle designs which were in coming and in production, these promotional models were distributed to the dealers, often well before the actual cars arrived for demonstration cars or actual stock of cars for sale.
Sadly towards the late 1960’s and certainly before 1970s the dealer models were not a thing anymore and all but faded out from being produced and no longer sat proudly on a salesman’s desk.
The Mustang Models
Focusing on the first generation 1965 models as those are the ones I have. These models are extremely well detailed, and they were supposed to have been made with the colours that the manufacturers were painting their cars at the time. The colours I have appear to be ‘Rangoon Red’ and ‘Wimbledon White’.
Dimensions
The models are manufactured to the scale of 1:25, that converts to a measurement on model of 1cm will convert to 25cm on the real thing.
Photographing the dimensions against a tape measure is a little distorted perspective by the camera, so I have taken a few variations. But, the stated measurements are correct with the photo taken directly above the line of sight to the tape measure.
The length of the models are 183mm long or 7.20 inches or 7 3/16″
The Width of the models are 70mm or 2.75 inches or 2 3/4″
The Height of the models are 50mm or 1.96 inches or 1 31/32″
The whole model weighs in at just 105grams or 3.7oz
Construction
The construction is very fragile and light weight brittle plastic which is easily marked or dented especially on the leading edge of the hood which narrows to almost nothing.
The single piece floor pan forms details of the underside of the car, suspension, engine, gearbox, all the jig points, grommets, bolts, fuel tank, brake lines for the emergency brake cable, and a single exhaust system which comes from a V8 (I will elaborate on this below under The Details heading), as there are two exhaust manifold pipes, going to a single pipe, and on to a single muffler box. There are four screws in total two at each end that hold the model together. The exhaust tip is missing on the right side (passenger) as the one of the screw points cuts it off.
The other side (inside) of the floor pan forms the seats, dash area and centre console (which would have been an optional extra at the time).
The steering wheel and column looks to be a separate moulding attached to the dash. The interior detailing shows the heater controls, radio, lateral dash instruments, glove box, steering horn and even the markings for the automatic gearbox box selector, but there is no T Handle for the shifter or indicator stalk. Both of which I suspect would have been so delicate they would have broken being removed from the moulds or from just being handled. Looking in the footwell there is a third pedal for the clutch, this would be a contradiction for the automatic gearbox markings. The door cards look to be the ‘Pony’ interior or deluxe option, but there is no running horse embossed on the back of the seats, which are part of the ‘Pony’ interior package. The front seats are the bucket style and not the rarer bench seat option (around 2.5% of total Mustangs made) which was available at the time.
The four wheels are attached to a bar rested in locators on the floor pan mould (unseen) and spin freely. The wheels are shown with the hub caps and white wall tyres which also show some details as radial grooved. The hub caps will cover the wheels bolts, which would have been four lugs for the inline six cylinder or five lugs for the v8s.
The ‘glass’ or windscreen is a single moulded part which covers the front screen, the two small door quarter lights and the rear screen. It’s not uncommon to see one or both of the door quarter lights broken as they are quite fragile. The clear plastic is susceptible to easy scratches and marking. If you look on the inside (below) where the headliner would have been, you can see where the clear plastic has been attached to the top part of the model. You can’t quite see it on the picture, but the centre of the ‘glass’ is missing, obviously to save some costs on the clear plastic used.
The Details
The chromed parts of the models such as the bumpers, bumper overriders (front and rear), headlights, rear light bezels and grill are high quality with a good reflection, not just cheaper silver paint. These look to be separate components attached after the assembled model. On my models the red car has a little wear and tear on the hood leading edge. I suspect that picking them up and putting them back on the salesman’s desk a few times would contribute to that, or being raced around the furniture at home.
Starting at the front there are the headlights and the cross bar coral grill, the grill itself shows a honeycombed effect. The Coral and Pony logo are crisp mouldings. The licence plate just shows the Mustang brand. The hood leading edge shows the ‘F O R D’ lettering but not in chrome.
The side of the car shows the Mustang ‘Tribar’ emblems and ‘Mustang’ font wording behind the front wheels near the bottom. On the actual cars there is an engine option emblem that sits above the front bumper and below the waist line of the car, a few inches back from the headlight. These models don’t have those emblems, even though the underside of the model shows a v8 engine in place. The options would show, 289 (v8 option), 200 sprint (inline 6 cylinder) or HiPo for the GT model etc. Not having individual models made just for a i6 or v8 and more generic would keep the costs down for the models.
The rear quarter panel ornaments are shown as well as the side rocker cover strips, added as an optional extra at the time. The back of the car shows the rear light bezels with red plastic for the lenses. There are also back up lamps which were also an optional extra. The bumper has the overriders shown, but on my red model they are broken off, a common casualty on these models. This is the only part of the red model that has something broken or missing. The rear licence plate shows the Mustang branding.
The top down view of the models shows the cowl grill and the wipers. There are no door rear view mirrors on these models, as they were an optional extra at the time fitted by the dealers.
Other Dealer Models
Other colours were made such as Tropical Turquoise (top), Vintage Burgundy Red (middle), and American Blue (bottom). There may have been other colours, but as yet I haven’t seen them, which doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
There were some Fastback models made a little later on in the ’65, other colours are unknown.
The holy grail for many collectors would be the boxes that these models came in, they weren’t any special to look at. I haven’t seen any boxed versions up for sale yet, but I did find this image of one. With the box the models are worth a little more, but as with all things collectable, condition is everything.
SomeLater YearModels
1966
There was the trim changes notably to the front grill with the Coral bars removed, the grill now having brushed leading edge horizontal lines. The rear quarter panel ornaments updated to the three pronged style. This model looks to have been in Calypso Coral colour.
1967 – 1968
There was a major body redesign, with the models being Fastback, and not the Coupe style. The minor difference between the ’67 and ’68 were the side markers, which were not shown on these models.
(This image I found of a ’67 shows a broken front bumper.)
1969
This model is showing the performance end of the range. These models didn’t show any emblems on the front fenders that would have been there.
There was another face lift for the 1970 models. But, as I mentioned earlier, by then these plastic dealership models were no longer being made.
On Display
I purchased a display case (more details on that on the main page), for the models to be stored safely and away from dust.
I’m not sure I have covered everything or missed some important facts out. So if you have any additional information or maybe correct me, then please drop me an email, or add a comment and let me know. I will then update with additional information.
I’m always on the look out for any similar memorabilia with a certain online auction site being my main source. If you have anything interesting you may wish to pass on, then please also let me know and I will obviously pay for it along shipping costs.
Now we are at the end of the car show season it’s time to put my pride and joy away and tuck her up for the winter. This is more important than the hotter climates like the USA or Europe. The point is that when you pull the car back out again the car has been as protected as it possibly could have been. I have been asked a few times what my process is over the winter.
One of the most important things I do is to make sure the car is running on fumes. This is due to the fact that the ethanol fuels will ‘go off’ after a few months as it absorbs the moisture from the air. My car tends to run like a bag of nails when the car starts if it has fuel that has been standing. It seems that my carb settings and timings are sensitive to bad fuel, as a result I only use Shell V-Power premium fuel. It’s more expensive but the car does run so much better for it. I do have a five gallon jerry can that I fill up with fresh fuel when I need to move the car again for the first time in the new year.
The classic Mustangs have a lot of chrome and unless protected that chrome could start to pit, usually down to moisture and humidity. I have in my garage a dehumidifier and a radiator with an independent thermostat which keeps the chill away from the garage. The theory is that the car never goes below freezing. I have written an article about humidity and car storage here.
The thing to consider is the environment where the car is to be stored. A decent amount of dry air circulation around the car, and in an ideal situation not standing on a cold concrete floor as this will cause damp issues rising up to the car. I have laid some heavy plastic tiles which insulates the cold floor and the car which I also wrote about here.
First and most obvious is to wash the car, but make sure it’s thoroughly dry, especially if you don’t have a dehumidifier before you put the car away. Use a dedicated car blower if you can rather than a drying towel.
I then wax the car with a longevity wax rather than a show car wax. This will form a micro barrier to the elements, not that it should be needed in a climate controlled environment. It doesn’t matter what wax you use just something to protect it. I used Chemical Guys Quick Detailer P40 this year as the car had a wax a couple of weeks ago. So this was a top up more than anything as this product has a level of carnauba wax as well.
The big piece of work is the wheels. These wheels are chrome and need proper protection. I always clean them and apply a wheel wax during the car show season. But over the winter there is a little process I follow. I clean the tyres and the chrome as normal then I apply a squirt of Gibbs directly into the join of the wheel at the top and allow it run down to the bottom where it will puddle. WD40 or similar will do the same thing. You want enough to penetrate into the gap all the way round but not wate it so it runs out. Don’t wipe it away, just soak up the excess as it pools at the bottom. You won’t be able to get the wax right where you want it, so a penetrating product will get where you cant.
With the excess spray wiped away it was time to protect the chrome. I use Angel Wax Bilberry, it smells wonderful and gives great results. This wax is much softer than normal paint wax and is just like spreading a room temperature butter.
Ideally you will allow the product to cure and then buff it away. I apply it liberally but I don’t buff it completely away. This will leave a thicker barrier than you really need, but I just like a thick layer. This will make the chrome dull, but just make sure the wheel is fully coated.
The rubber tyres can be susceptible to cracking and I over apply an amount of Meguiar’s Endurance tyre gel. This product protects the tyres and keeps the rubber nourished. Applying this much will usually give rise sling as the car rotates. But as the car is now stationary it won’t be a problem. While you are at the wheels check the tyre pressure to make sure they are correct so they don’t deform.
If you have metal dust caps like I do, before putting them back on, squirt a tiny amount of WD40 or similar product that will make sure the cap doesn’t corrode metal to metal.
Glass is given a good clean, to make sure nothing is stuck and will be difficult to remove after a time of being laid up.
Where the rain or water car wash water can get into the car I make sure there is some water repellent applied. This is especially at the end of the rain drip rails that goes into the rear quarters. I squirted an amount onto the drip rails so it follows the same path as the water.
As the doors will be shut you don’t want the weather seal to stick and possibly tear when you go to open the door again. I use a Chemical Guys Tyre + Trim Gel which is dry to the touch almost straight away. I could have used this on the tyres obviously, but I prefer the Endurance.
It’s applied around the door frame and also to the rubbers under the door. Around the screen glass both front and rear there is a layer of black mastic, not how they came from the factory, but it seals the windows properly. The top right photo below shows an arrow where the before and after on the sealant.
The two images above is the trunk area where the before and after can be clearly seen as it’s applied. For the chrome trim and the wipers these are given a a layer of wax, again not buffed to a shine. Before shutting the car up, open the windows a little so that the car doesn’t sweat and go mouldy. Allowing a change of air will help prevent this as well. Having an open ventilation into the garage can have a minor advantage for fresh air, but it doesn’t allow for the dehumidifier to control the moisture in the garage environment.
The battery trickle charger CTEK MXs 5.0 is connected as I always do when the car is in the garage.
I removed the screen washer bottle and rinsed it out and hung it up to allow it to dry. Previously I have left water in the bag and it had gone bad and stank with things trying to grow in it. I had a bit of a job to get it clean again, I won’t be making that mistake again.
Inside the car is a quick vacuum out. I tend to keep a couple of old air fresheners for the winter, give them a quick spritz them with Mitchell & King Leather scent. I hang the air fresheners back in the car being sure to make sure they are free hanging and not touching anything. Inside the car I tend not to pull the parking brake on as this may seize in place. If you’re worried about the theft you could use a T Park Handle lock here for a bit more peace of mind.
Finally the car cover goes on and the humidity gauge goes on top of the car in the middle to get the average reading of the garage. the sweet spot is 50%, with a couple of percent either side.
Last thing is to turn the dehumidifier on which I have already got set up from the previous years which sits around the fifty percent mark all year round now. On the back of the unit there is a filter which is removed, cleaned and replaced. It doesn’t hurt to squirt a little air freshener towards the back of the unit in order to give it a little freshen up.
I do have a little tip regarding the dehumidifier, hang an air freshener near the unit, this will fill the garage with your scent of choice. The downside is that the freshener tends to get dried out fairly quickly due to the functionality of the dehumidifier.
With the car now laid up for the winter I still tend to open the garage up in the nicer weather once or twice a month to let some fresh air in and make sure there are no leaks and that the dehumidifier and the the battery trickle charger are still working ok.
When the new season starts I have to remove all the waxes, and the over application of trim on the paint. this isn’t much of an issue as I give the car a service, grease, check the brakes, full valet and good once over before the first show anyway.
I hope that helps a little and gives you some tips to store the car short term.
Looking forward to the first car show of the year today so I spent yesterday afternoon giving my car a final wax and once over to check fluid levels, tyre pressures, lights working etc. as you normally do after a winter lay up. All was good except the fuel was a bit rubbish and was not running nicely. Over the course of the winter lay up, I tend to run the tank down low with some fuel stabilisers in it too. The car fired up second time around after pumpin’ a little more fuel into the carb from the first turn over.
The go to wax of choice is Mitchell & King ‘Lily’ which I love and used on her as a treat.
I went to bed fairly last night and thought I would look at the Stonham Barns ‘Kustom Kulture’ car show webpage to check what time I could get there for the gates opening; all was good, ten till four. The alarm was set and by the time the alarm went of I hadn’t had a great sleep. I looked out the window which was grey and overcast, but no rain was forecast, in fact the sun was due to come out. I was tempted to flop back into bed and grab a lay in. But, as it was going to be my first show of the year I made the effort to get ready and went to the garage. I turned on the dash mounted GoPro and fired her up. I needed some fuel on the way to the car show and headed to the planned stop at the Shell garage for some V-Power fuel. As I was filling the tank a rather nice McLaren 720s pulled in next to me. We were chatting about cars and the fuel we were putting in – we both agreed it’s more about the ‘smiles per gallon’. He told me he was off to a track day, where if he gives his car a thrashing around the track he gets 2mpg where he drain the fuel tank in 18minutes! But, he said he’s not looking forward to changing the ceramic brake set up as it costs a staggering £22,000. I took the picture below left handed as I was filling up, so it wasn’t a to bad an effort considering, although not centred as I would have liked.
I paid at the counter and looked for a packet of jelly babies to enjoy at the car show. I continued the drive to Stonham which was about ten minutes from the petrol station, enough time to have a quick blast to clear some of the old fuel out which helped, still not perfect, but getting better. Strange, not many cars near the village as I normally see, so I suspected that my timing for arrival was perfect. As I got near the show there was the expected queue but moving fairly quickly, just normal daily cars, not old school or pre 1973 as the requirement said. I pulled in the gates and there was a single bloke directing the traffic straight into a field for the car boot show. I stopped and said “No I’m here for the car show”, his couldn’t give a sh!t attitude was, “It’s cancelled mate.” Stunned and quite aggravated I turned around in the car park to start the journey home. There was a couple of chances on the way back to clear the carb a bit and the running was improving all the time.
I got home to park up on the drive and wiped the car down before moving her back into the garage.
So my first car show was cancelled and the sun was out. So why was it cancelled? I checked the website when I got in, nothing about it being cancelled, it was still on. I reluctantly logged onto Facebook to see if anybody mentioned it. Somebody had posted that it was cancelled due to a water logged field. Yet the cars were being parked up on field next to it.
I’m not impressed that they didn’t update their webpage, I HATE Facebook at the best of times so I don’t rely it – ever. Not everybody has a personal Facebook profile where they share what they had to eat this morning and other such trivial rubbish. (Rant over). I must concede that on this occasion checking Facebook would have helped.
Underside
A couple of weeks ago I applied some Lanoguard to the underside of the car and reviewed it here. Or, look for it under the “Rust Treatment” menu on the header with my other rust reviewed products.
The process is dead simple and took around half an hour to do the underside of the car. Just remove any old surface rust and spray on to coat and protect the car.
Before pics of the axle with the POR15 paint on it has a semi gloss look to it.
Then after the application had fully cured, about one week later or so according to Lanoguard, it looks like this:
The slightly rusty U-clamp bolts have changed back to their more natural colour without the slight surface rust on them now. So far I’m pleased with the results and how easy it was to do. In fact if you have somebody who wants to help out with your project car, this could be a great way as you can’t really go wrong with it. Tell them where to squirt and let them get on with it. In fact I’m now going to buy some more to treat the underside of the wife’s car too.
To sum up the day, I got up early so missed out on a Sunday lay in, I missed out on a car show and now I’m pretty sure that I’m gonna be asked to help my better half in the garden. 🤦♂️ I’m sure I can find something in the garage that needs cleaning to avoid that one! 😉
Next week another car show, in fact two on the same day so I will choose which one to go to, providing it’s not raining and not cancelled, so hopefully I can kick start my car show season properly.
As for the Jelly Babies, they’ve all gone now as I was eating them while typing this post up.
Last weekend I had the chance to use my new bit of detailing equipment. The particular item isn’t my first venture into this area of car detailing. I’m talking non-touch drying or air blow drying.
There are various methods to dry a car after a good wash and shampoo pampering;
Chamois leather, old school method.
Pros:
Great for large surfaces
Very efficient at absorbing water
Only one is required to dry your entire vehicle.
Cons:
Requires water to use, not ideal for waterless eco-friendly sprays
Potential to scratch vehicle if used incorrectly
Dries hard, not as convenient to store
Synthetic Chamois Leather, modern take on old school
Pros:
Great for large surfaces and small areas
Very efficient at absorbing water
Softer than traditional chamois
Easier to store
Cons:
Needs water to work, not for waterless washing
Potential to scratch vehicle if used incorrectly
Needs regular rinsing and wringing to use
Micro Fibre Towel, modern technology
Pros:
Great for large surfaces and small areas
Super efficient at absorbing water
Comes in many various sizes
Varying levels of plushness
No need for water, ideal for waterless cleaning
Can be used inside and out
Cons:
Cheap cloths can leave small fibres
Can leave streaks
Easy to store
Air Drying, dedicated air stream (hence non touch)
Pros:
Great for large surfaces, gaps and small areas
Very efficient at drying
No water spots
Non Touch drying
Cons:
Needs electric power to work
Can blow lose debris on the car if used incorrectly
Bulky to store
Expensive
Can be noisy
My new equipment is the Carbon Collective Air Force 1 Car Dryer Limited Edition (but only the colour) where I just completed a full in depth review. Carbon Collective are better known for their quality coatings and treatment products more than their accessories. This car drying unit of theirs is a cylinder design which is very similar principle to a follow along vacuum cleaner, but it blows air instead of sucking up dirt. The point of this unit is blow a filtered jet of air over the area to be dried. Not just a car, but anything that needs drying like; motorbike, cycle, household use, boat etc.
The forced air stream will dry the area without the need to touch the paint so it won’t cause any marks or swirls on the paint from the drying process itself, unlike a chamois or microfibre drying towel which could introduce swirls or marring. Not wanting to repeating myself too much (from the review here), there is a 5m mains cable, a generous reinforced 5m hose, adjustable air flow dial and an optional fan heated function. The base unit has lockable casters in each corner to stop or allow movement as required.
The nozzles are silicon tipped so any accidental contact with the surface being dried will not mark it. Each of the fittings has a bayonet style locking feature with a sealing ring to stop any unwanted air direction. With a maximum of seven cubic meters per minute being forced out through a small nozzle opening it needs to be securely held in place.
Perhaps the most important thing about this product is the filtration. Not one filter, but two, even though the accompanying book of words states one filter. If air is being sucked into the unit that low to the ground, then accelerated out with 900g of force, then any debris moved at that speed has the potential to be literally fired at the paint work. Think of hail stones, but on a much smaller scale. The removable filters are washable or cleaned with an air line.
Am I converted to this ‘non touch’ method? Well yes. Apart from the cost of running a 2800w motor and potentially a 600w heating element on top of that at the same time. The cost of running this for one hour (as this is published) will be approximately one British Pound per hour. Saying that when being caught out at a car show when it rains then the microfibre towel is still used of course.
I have lost count of the number of times I have gone to wax a car and found a water drip or a water spot left on the paint surface, it’s rather annoying at the best of times. This process does away with that as the air gets into the gaps and hidden areas where the water can sit. The down side is getting the equipment out, setting it up and putting it away again. Compared to taking a drying towel out the storage draws wipe over the car and put the towel in the washing basket when finished, there is more to it. But, the air drying is more thorough, providing you make it more thorough.
You will need to be careful with the air stream at the lower parts of the car not to blow loose debris around and potentially back on the car. Turning down the air force can be a real help under the wheel arches or on wheels etc. Once you master the technique is great. Probably not for the average weekend washer of the daily family car. But for a detailer this is a great addition to the detailing inventory. Not the cheapest of items, but I will get good use out of it.
I tried to film the process with hand on the phone and the other drying in the left hand video. The right hand video is just to show the force of the air from the wide opening nozzle blowing water around on the floor.
I do have another blower which is hand held MetroVac Air Force Blaster Sidekick SK1.
This is a 950w single hand held unit which has advantages and some disadvantages over the Air Force 1. I will get round to reviewing this bit of equipment very soon.
Nearly back to starting car shows again, and looking forward to that and getting some fresh air, well as much fresh air as you could get around classic car fumes! 😉
My last post I mentioned that I would be doing more reviews and I have started that by adding a few more products to the Detailing Menus at the top. I had the option to use a couple of products that I hadn’t actually purchased. This is a first for me as I always by my products with my own money, that way my reviews are totally impartial as I don’t have to please any sponsors because they gave their products to me free.
The first review I did was a sponge that costs £22! Now that’s a lot of money for a sponge regardless of what is called, in this case Ultra Black Sponge made by the very respectable ‘Rag Company’ who make some awesome products. Their latest sponge is a very dense foam with a series of parallel cuts as part of the ergonomic design. The sponge is getting plenty of hype on a few detailing websites as being the next best thing for car wash detailing. Click the image below or here to be taken to my review of this rather unique sponge.
I used the sponge in conjunction with a product made by P & S. Their (new product to me), Absolute Rinseless Wash which is designed to be a just that. Wash the car and dry it off. If you are looking to reduce the amount of water used to clean your pride and joy, then this is for that ‘gap’ between a full wet wash or a totally waterless wash. Again for a full review of their product click here or click the image below.
A little spoiler alert, I only liked one of them!
A couple of years ago I exhibited my car at the Classic Car show at the Birmingham NEC, for the Pride of Ownership category. I enjoyed the show over three days, I meet some great people and also meet a few cheats as well for the voting. As I was with my car I didn’t get to see much of the show itself. I fancied going along this year as a spectator to have a proper look round at the cars and any reason to part with some of my hard earned cash. That was until I looked at the prices! I think somebody is smoking some plant extracts to come up with these prices.
How can they charge this amount? Quite easily so it seems. Yes, I get the insurance, and venue has to be paid for. The vendors will pay even more for their pitches. The cost of food up there is super stupid, (I always took my own for that reason). My question is are we, that being the classic car owners or enthusiasts, being taken for a ride to go to these types of shows? I believe so, and as a result I won’t be going this year sadly or any other years until the prices are more reasonable. The prices shown above are just the cost of the tickets to get in. On top of that the cost to travel there and back, oh plus parking of course which means I have to sell a kidney to fund. I appreciate the cost of living is going up, but now rather than this being a nice day out to look at cars, it becomes a bit of a luxury event. That makes me sad to be honest.
Am I being a bit tight with money or is this a general opinion? I have also noticed a trend for this year’s car shows; the exhibitors are being asked to pay £10 for a ‘ticket’ to attend the show. The public get in free to see the cars! It has to be said that I honestly don’t mind paying a bit for charity from the entrance fee, but without the cars – there is no show. I know a couple of people who have voted with their wallets and not gone to some of the shows this year where high entrance fees are charged. Perhaps charging just a couple of pound for the public and exhibitors is the way to go? What do you think?
I normally post over a weekend but this post I just couldn’t wait to share with you a link to a website that somebody sent to me. Thanks to Michael S for messaging me. The link was accompanied with some congratulations on “my ranking” which I knew nothing about. Thinking it was a wind up, I checked out the main website and it was proper legit. The website “FeedSpot” home page is noted as being the “Internet’s Largest Human Curated Database of Bloggers and Podcasts“. There is some really interesting stuff on the website and it’s really worth checking out, not just because of my blog reference. A great place to start for anything.
The date is noted as September 14th 2022 on their webpage and could be a recent addition.
Scrolling down to number 10 I found my little ol’ blog sitting one place above another great blog I have mentioned many times in the past by Mustang Maniac. After reading the list I also sent a congratulatory message to Adam on his blog appearing in the list as well. Like me he was unaware of the listing, but was also well chuffed he was on the listing.
I know it’s a real niche reading audience thing, I’m fully aware that the list is the team’s opinion, others may not agree and it’s all subjective of course. Many wouldn’t even give my blog a second glance in the scheme of things. But, it has really made me smile and ended my week on a monumental high.
Over the last few weeks I have been having a few trips down to Mustang Maniac where they have been developing a part which is aimed at people like me. It’s obviously going to be a mustang part, but more for my own pleasure of driving the car.
These heavy gauge steel bars have been black zinc plated for longevity and a good base for some proper coloured paint. A touch of déjà vu transporting me back ten odd years to when my car was being restored; Adam said ‘Take these back with you and satin spray them for your homework’, so that’s exactly what I did the next afternoon.
Preparation
First of all was the prep to make sure a good paint bond where I cleaned the bars with a little isopropanol alcohol to remove any greasy or oil spots from being handled. I set up a line to suspend the bars and started the little and often undercoats to allow faster drying. The same for the satin black top coats to give a nice even coverage. The weather was sunny on and off, warm with a light breeze. Spraying from a rattle can in the breeze is all about timing and technique, the later from me being a little ‘rusty’ from not having done it for a a good few years.
The wife wasn’t to impressed with the new style grey and black patched grass I managed to create for her. The completed articles are mow ready to be taken back to Mustang Maniac for fitting and couple of other little bits at the same time where it would make things a lot easier with a car lift.
There are specific threaded bolts with a mid shoulder that are made specifically for the bars and will replace the originals when fitted.
Some may have an idea of what they are, if you know or think you know drop me comment. I hope to drive the car to Mustang Maniac next week sometime and I will obviously document what they are for then and bring you part two and a review. 👍
This show was held at Stonham Barns organised by the Knuckle Busters Car Club on the 19/9/2021. This particular car show was for American cars only and is usually well supported and this time around that was no exception. I arrived early and I was asked if I wanted to attend in the centre ring. Why not? Early bird gets the worm and all that. I parked up next to some stunning cars which made my car look like a Matchbox or Dinky toy!
I parked next to a massive Buick that could only be described as a ‘land barge’, such a nice car it was too. Me and the owner sat in our chairs and chatted most of the afternoon.
I decided to have a wonder round and take the pictures before the public came in.
I thought I would batch the Mustangs together here, but there wasn’t as many as I thought there would have been.
A car I had seen a couple of shows earlier, but I couldn’t get that close to before. Another iconic car from Ford – the Torino. I wanted that car so bad as a little boy. My nan even knitted me a Starsky jumper. Thinking about it; I still want one!
This Corvette was beautiful.
The ones next to it weren’t to shabby either.
Back to the other cars now and in no particular order.
Truck Time. I was speaking to the guy who owned the Viper powered truck, he said it scared him on two levels; one the petrol it used and the other was that the truck wanted to kill him!
We have to pause and and look at what Pontiac did when they created this gorgeous and much coveted car.
And my no means least, I was also strangely drawn to the taxi as well.
Throughout the day there was music and a really good live band with plenty of 50’s rock & roll with a little dancing as well.
The day was dry and warmish and didn’t rain for a change. A great day and so much American iron I wanted to drive home. But, I could only drive one home and that was my little lady.
So that’s it, my last car show of the season and the drive home was the scenic route to make it last that bit longer. I was sad the shows were over. There are some New Years day runs, or Boxing day runs but I don’t attend them as the weather is usually bad or there is salt on the road.
When I got home the car was wiped over with a quick detailer that is carnauba infused. The chrome wheels were waxed but not buffed off, the wheels also got a squirt of Gibbs Brand into the seams to protect over the winter. The tyres given a heavy coating of tyre treatment before being put in the garage. Even though my car’s garage has a radiator to keep the frost out and a dehumidifier as well that runs day and night; the car still needs protection. I intend to get the car out over the next couple of months to give the car a polish and proper wax ready for next years shows, providing I have two clear days of dry weather to do it. The wax I use is recommended to leave on and cure as long as possible. Which in my case is overnight. The next day I will buff and shine up.
I will still be doing updates and I aim for some car detailing product reviews, so keep an eye out.
For Sale:
I have been selling a few of these ‘T Park Lock’ handles and the feedback has been good. I even sold out my first batch and now the second has arrived. I’m even throwing in a free little key ring as well now while the stock lasts. Click here to go to the For Sale page to buy one. Press to lock system and simple to fit with no modifications needed at all to your car.
It was a good year for 2021 car shows, let’s hope there is more of the same for next year. But, this is the UK after all and it rains – a lot! So I’m not gonna hold out to much hope that they will all be dry and sunny. We can live in hope though.
