Perhaps the closest car show to me is at Rougham Airfield, well what’s left of it. The control tower is the only remaining part of the airfield which is now a museum to the airfield and the squadron stationed here. There are volunteers who keep the place tidy and provide a glimpse of the WWII era with some period correct clothing. The location is a short six miles away from my house hardly time to warm the car up. The show is called “Buff The Ruff” organised by my car club ‘Bury Retro Car Club‘ and all vehicles are welcome. The show said 10am, I wasn’t sure if that was public time or time to arrive with the car. It turned out it was turn up time, to be on the safe side I arrived at a little after nine, I could of had an extra hour in bed. There was three of us there when i turned up with the same thought, when does it start. We drove onto a bit of land behind the control tower in a good position. In a line there was six of us as we were parking up now, a MK3 Escort, a MK1 Capri, First Gen Mustang (me) a Mustang II Cobra and then a white MK3 Capri, and a Model A hot rod, we got talking and promptly called it the Ford field! It didn’t stay a Ford field for long though.
By the time I finished wiping down the car it was getting on towards ten and quite a few more cars were starting to park up. The weather was overcast, warm with a light breeze and no rain was forecast.
This Ford Anglia was just like the one my Grandfather had, but it didn’t have this fancy engine.
I took a trip up the tower onto the roof to get some high angle photos just as some more cars rolled in which gave me an unusual angle to take some great shots.
This blue Charger nearly got my car of the show, a real nice car that sounded as good as it looked when it rolled in.
I took a few pics inside the tower to a couple of rooms that I hadn’t seen before. The Jeep outside had a few grenades in the back and I think a grenade launcher? I assume they were deactivated!
Marts Car Of The Show, this really nice 1984 VW Golf GTI MK II. Such a clean well loved nice tidy car. A great engine in the 1.8ltr Bosh K Jetronic, 112bhp. For it’s day this was a quick car and was the original pocket rocket with a scarce rag top. Often copied and the boy racer’s dream.
At around two thirty I made a move home as a number of other had also started to leave. I got home within minutes and for a change the fuel gauge didn’t move (much). A good show with some really nice cars and some and some nice chats with a few mates who turned up to support the show.
The background to my car is that it was brought over to the UK and stationed in RAF Lakenheath by a USAF pilot all the way from Virginia USA some three thousand eight hundred miles away. My excitement was high to see that Lakenheath Classic Car Show 2026 was back on this year. I was hoping it was going to be at the airbase itself, sadly that wasn’t case. The show itself was held in a playing field about a mile away from the base. My car was almost home, so near yet so far.
The UK is having a bit of a heatwave at the moment which makes a real nice change. But, sitting in an open field where there wasn’t a single cloud in the sky with a temperature up in the high thirties, it was hot for us Brits. My wife got up with me early and said “I have packed the cool bag, add anything extra that you may want”. I looked inside to find three bottles of water and a dog bowl!
I asked ‘What’s that all about?’ She replied with “just in caser there are any dogs there that need a drink, make sure you give them a drink”. Never mind me, she was more worried about the dogs over heating. I got my own drinks and lunch and packed it into the cool bag, and into the trunk of the car.
The show was to start at ten with drive which was about fifty minutes away. The order for today was a steady drive along the back roads scenic route to keep moving and not get stuck in any traffic. The marshals were super efficient and guided the cars straight onto the field and parked us up in turn. I got out the car and started to wipe the car down from the road dust accumulated by the trip in and set up the show board. By the time I had completed the quick wipe down it was approaching noon and I was starting to boil. I slapped on the factor fifty and drank a nicely chilled one litre bottle of water. Luckily and common sense prevailing for the day, I didn’t see any dogs being dragged around, so that meant I was now going to drink the water that was put aside for them. I had underestimated how thirsty I would get during the day.
There was a round hundred and fifty cars being hosted by the show. Some were the usual Walmart wagons, like three year old BMWs with stickers on them, a few newer Mercs and of course the boy racer specials, the Ford Focus STs, I didn’t bother with most of them. While making my way around the show, a first for me was that my phone (Samsung S26 Ultra) flashed up a warning of overheating which then stopped me taking photos. To allow the phone to cool down I went to seek out some shade and sit inside a little building for half an hour or so that was doing a roaring trade in cold beers. That’s two shows on the trot now where I was tempted, but I still resisted.
With the phone recovered, I quickly completed the rest of the lines of cars. Being so close to the air base there was a heavy bias to American iron and muscle.
There was quite a few modified cars there as well, the first two here followed me for part of the way to the show. Me doing a steady fifty five wasn’t fast enough for them, so I moved over to let them past on the country roads.
A popular car was this Skyline.
There was a few bikes and trikes too, but many didn’t stay that long.
There was a heavy Mustang contingent as I expected, so I grouped them all together here.
That leaves me with Marts Car Of The Show; which was this huge 1977 FORD LTD that looked like it had just come out of a showroom. It was like a land yacht in a great colour that continued inside. I’m not sure what garage would house this beast, I suspect it would have to be more like an aircraft hanger.
I got back to my car got the chair out, and sat down with a more cold drinks and little light lunch. The factor fifty was applied generously over the next couple of hours. I got into some great conversation with a couple behind me who had just purchased their new toy, 1947 Bentley and their story around how they got it.
The seatbelts which I do up and place on the seats just to make them look neat were so hot I couldn’t hold them and I was worried the metal buckles were going to melt the seats, literally they were that hot I had to use a couple of cloths to unclip them. At around three in the afternoon I admitted defeat – I couldn’t take the heat anymore and decided to go home. I had all the windows down while taking the scenic route home, longer by about five miles but much more enjoyable.
A great day out, in fact it was the hottest May Bank holiday since records had begun, so I was informed by the weather lady in the evening news. It was a shame I didn’t get to go on the base with the car it would have been awesome, but I know for a fact that my car was driven around these very roads in the late 1990’s.
Last weekend’s car show was on a Saturday and not a Sunday which made a pleasant change. It meant that I could write up about the show in my own time on the Sunday. Especially useful excuse when the wife wants me to cut the grass or do some DIY, I can’t keep my readers waiting now can I? The show was in the next county from from me, about a fifty minutes drive through some beautiful countryside of Thetford Forest. The show is listed as Anglo American Feltwell Classic Car Show which is always well attended. I managed to get to this show a couple of years ago and was surprised by the heavy American classics there. Feltwell is surrounded by some US airbases, two of the big bases are Mildenhall and Lakenheath, the smaller one is Feltwell itself. I like driving round this part of the country as the American cars from the bases are used on a daily basis and seen out and about. It always feels like home around Lakenheath as its where the serviceman was stationed that owned my car bought when he brought it to the UK with him. I was expecting plenty of American muscle and I wasn’t wrong.
I arrived at the location an hour or so after setting off with a couple mishaps on the way. The first being a water mains was leaking and running down an incline of a road. My nice clean car was now getting splattered with dirty water. To those behind me, it must have looked as though I was intoxicated trying to drive around the little streams trying to mitigate the dirt sticking to the car. The second issue was me missing the entrance to the show. It was ‘sign posted’ (I use that in the loosest of terms), by the odd bit of A4 paper stuck on the odd lamp post. I saw a few cars pulling into the turning in my mirrors and pulled over into into a layby. When there was a gap in the traffic I started the six point turn in the middle of the road. No sooner had I started my manoeuvres a dozen cars or so in each direction came into view, I couldn’t write it. Yep, I was that person who held everybody up! Once I turned around in what seemed like minutes, I pulled into the narrow lane and was directed onto the field. The marshal told me that they were going to keep all the Mustangs together, that was the theory but it didn’t work out that way.
The weather was holding out, with periods of sunshine and the odd cloud. I got straight to work on cleaning the car, when a couple of friends caught up with me (also fellow Mustang owners), and asked me if I needed therapy as my car had gotten dirty. I did say that I needed to lay down in a darkened room to get over the trauma though.
By the time I had finished cleaning, the show which started at ten was getting busy. Time for my wander round for the photo’s and started at the back of the field and worked my way up and down the lines.
At the end of the first line there was a nice Ford truck with a Mustang on a trailer. It didn’t get moved off the trailer, so I don’t know if it had been picked up or being delivered, but it made for a few nice shots.
Moving onto the second row of cars, many more were still coming into the show, even though it had now opened to the public.
This slammed Lincoln was getting some interest from the younger public.
The guy who owned this Thunderbird also owned a couple of other cars, namely the white Studebaker from the first batch of photos of this post.
The next row was where the Mustangs started, they were also scattered around the field, but I collated all the Mustangs here. The first one I think has an identity crisis and was trying to identify as number of Mustangs according to the grill. The limited edition Bullitt Mustangs were out in force and was parked either side of me.
Lot’s of great newer American muscle cars here too but they didn’t look out of place with the classics.
There was bunch of trucks together, I’m not sure if it was by organisation or not, but it was interesting to see how they have grown in size up to the massive orange Dodge Ram (which was also for sale at £120,000).
The rest of the cars from the lines in no particular order.
There was a number of motorbikes coming in and out throughout the day, mostly Harley Davdisons.
After my wandering up and down the lines I took a well earned break for a spot of lunch and got the chair out for some serious people watching. I was going to get a burger, but when I saw the price of £8 and heard the not so pleasant comments about them, I decided against it.
Although it has to be said the beer tent did look tempting for an ice cold beer, but I won’t drink and drive.
During my rest up watching the world go by, then I spotted them, two plod. They were wandering around the car show looking at the cars.
I heard one of them ask one guy about his number plate to which the guy said “no it’s just my show plate”. I can’t say for sure why they were there, perhaps they wanted to look at the lovely cars, or was it something more sinister? Surely they had better things to do? Everybody was on best behaviour, no revving up engines or leaving the show sideways. The plod walked past the front of my car and looked at my reg plate, I was expecting some sort of comment, although I’m allowed black plates with silver numbers. Perhaps they thought my plate was a show plate as well and didn’t bother. Regardless of what they were up to, I wouldn’t have engaged with them.
Marts Car of The Show:
This was it, a beautiful Oldsmobile Holiday. It caught my eye from a distance where I initially thought it was Chevy Bel Air. I was hoping to chat with the owner, but I didn’t catch them sadly. The car was immaculate and a seriously loved car by the looks of it.
The show was due to finish at four, but a number of cars started to leave around lunch. I got talking to few nice people and with a guy who was telling me about buying his Mustang from new in the ’60s, I love those stories. At two in the afternoon I made the decision to leave as the sun was coming out less frequently and the clouds were getting darker.
The journey home was amazing and peaceful, apart from my exhaust note through the forest on the way home. The water leak I drove through on the way here had stopped and dried up on the road where it had previously been running down. I arrived home and wiped the car down straight away to put it away. The house was quiet apart from the energetic greetings of the dogs. I plonked myself on the sofa and looked at the photo’s I had taken for this post to do a bit of quality control. Before I knew it, I had nodded off for an hour, I was only woken up by the sound of the dogs having a mental at the wife as she returned home from her hair appointment. What a great way to end the day after a great show.
The second show of the year today, but I wasn’t sure it was going to happen. One weather app said rain, the other two said cold and overcast at 17o. My wife was saying to me that I was mad at seven thirty this morning, I almost agreed with her. But, like a true trooper I powered through it. The cool bag was packed with a light lunch, but mostly drinks. The first stop this morning was going to be fuel at the Shell petrol station for a bit of open wallet surgery via a fill up of some V-Power. The guy in the next pump also had a classic Talbot Lotus was getting a fill up, we were having a chat taking our minds of the money on the display updating faster than a hundred meter stop watch. I asked “are you going to the Stonham Barns show?” He replied with no “me and a few mates were just going for a drive and some lunch”. That is awesome, enjoying his car with his mates and have a lunch looking at classic cars. The show at Stonham Barns has become a bit of local show. The show started at ten, but I got there at eight forty and there was only about tenor so other display cars there. My logic was to get in before the carnage waiting to get in. As it turned out I didn’t need to worry, I wasn’t that busy a show all day. I was directed into the main arena and direct to park next to a 1965 Mustang finished in vintage Burgundy metallic. The panels on our cars are the same, but there are some obvious exterior trim and interior changes between the two years.
I gave the car it’s customary quick detail to remove any road dust, During my ritual therapeutic dust off, the wind must have been just right as I got a waft of cooking, bacon! The burger fan was calling, my wallet was tucked in the jacket pocket while on the way, a purposeful stride with my nose leading the way. I ordered the sausage, as that looked even better than the bacon, to enhance my culinary delight I added cheese and some onions topped with a line of tomato sauce. I took a seat to enjoy my well deserved breakfast after my car cleaning. A crow flew down and was hopping around near the table, it was rewarded with small bit of the roll that I shared with it. At the price I just paid, it wasn’t going to get a lot. A sucker for wild life I relented and shared more with my new found friend. The more I gave, the bolder it got almost taking the bread out of my hand. The funny part was it hopped on the other side of the table and gave me the eye for more, that also worked and got more breakfast with me. I was trying to take a photo, and hold the roll at the same time, I think I did OK considering.
After the rather awesome roll I chatted with a few human friends I have seen for the first time this year. Then it was off to take some photos of the other cars. The show didn’t have a huge amount of cars which was a shame, but the quality of cars on show was great except for a few Walmart wagons that were allowed in, which was surprising as the info said pre ’70s.
As I was walking around the outer part of the arena more cars were coming in to park in the centre and started a couple of new rows.
Outside the arena was also getting busier as the arena was now full, I found a few of the finned beauties. I’m a bit partial to a fin it has to be said, they’re just mobile works of art.
Wandering back up the field there was only really another line.
This Pontiac caught my eye and almost got my personal winning vote.
That just leaves my winning vote; Mart’s Car of The Show. The artwork on the back of this was Ford was amazing, I hate to think how long and how much this was. The emblem on the cowl clinched it for me though!
A grey overcast day, it wasn’t full of cars, but it was pleasant with a lot of cars I hadn’t seen before and a few I had. The show was not really a family day, this was more of a true petrol head day out and spoke to lots of lovely people. I left just after two as a few other were starting to leave as well. A good show, no queue to get in and everything was very calm and civilised. My madness of getting up paid of as I enjoyed the show, even though I walking around with my jacket on. For change on the way there and and on the way home there was morons on the road that were near me and I had relaxing and gentle cruise home.
Last Sunday was the first booked car show for me at Kersey Mill a short trip fifteen miles away about thirty minutes away. This year the plan was to go the back route for a relaxing scenic drive with no pressure of the main roads. Before I had even got out of my little village or off choke at eight thirty on a Sunday morning, some idiot nearly took me out being on my side of the road coming round a corner. If I had of been doing thirty miles an hour it would have been a head on crash, best of it was he had a young kid in the front seat as well. I think I may have woken a few people up as my window was down as I expressed my displeasure in a raised tone, nothing from the driver he just carried on.
The rest of the drive was serene and enjoyable, many of the little villages that I passed through had speed limits in place so the car was just running on tick over through them, hence the longer time to get there. The marshal on the gate asked me if I was with a club which I wasn’t and directed me to field four. The trouble was I missed the entrance to the area and carried on round the corner. The marshal here was the opposite, a little bit of power had gone to his head and wouldn’t allow me to go back to the other field, about five seconds round the corner, even though nothing was coming up the path. Instead he ‘told’ me to park next to a red Alpha under a row of trees, err no! In my defiance I parked in the middle of the hard standing to keep away from tree sap and potential bird deposits. He didn’t look to impressed, I didn’t care to be honest, within a minute or so I was being surrounded with other cars with the same thoughts as me. I was next to cherry blossom tree which smelt amazing.
This is a great show with lots of different cars on display, from steam driven oldies to the less attractive couple of year old Tesco car park specials, I don’t bother taking photos of those, even with that in mind, I still ended up taking over two hundred pics.
I started taking photos in the hard standing area which was near the near the food, the smell of bacon rolls added to the lovely morning fresh air. Speaking of air this Chevy Bel Air (see what I did there) was pristine.
Walking through the end of the hard standing there was another field with lots more cars and a couple of car clubs, mainly Mini and Lotus.
My runner up car of the show is this glorious Model A, a rust patina special. This is about as original as it will ever get. Credit to the guy who drove it in.
This Mustang is modified with a wide body kit and Lambo doors, you either like the doors or you don’t. For me I can appreciate the work involved, but it’s not my thing I’m afraid.
Moving back to towards the mill itself there were some great oldies parked in prime positions at the front.
Around the side of the house were some super cars where I caught up with my Mate Craig, who has shared some of his photos with me for this post.
Either side of the main path into the mill itself there are display areas either side.
I used to play a game ‘Need for Speed Underground’ and my son used to customise this car to the max, the legendary Toyota Supra. Not seen one of these spec cars for a while.
This 1966 Plymouth Barracuda fastback was amazing, the rear glass section on this car is a work of art, I wouldn’t want to try and source one of them if it broke!
Mart’s Car of the Show
I haven’t seen an original untouched BMW M3 E30 (the proper M3) for such a long time, then this beauty parked up just behind me. A modern classic that dominated touring car racing late 80’s and early 90’s. He didn’t stay that long, but I’m glad I caught some pics of it.
Early afternoon a few cars started to leave, Craig and Lee decided to bring their cars into the show and parked up next to me and we had our own mini car show. After some lunch and a chat they went of for more car spotting and photos while I desperately tried to keep myself from falling asleep due to the early start, busy pretending to keep an eye on the cars.
Thanks to Lee, for this artistic pic. You can find him on Instagram @s2kathome
A little while later I decided to leave around three to miss the traffic as the show closed at four. Craig stood in a strategic place and caught some cars leaving.
He even managed to grab a couple of me leaving too. Thanks Craig for the pics.
I absolutely love this picture.
The drive home was just as leisurely as the drive there. What is better than a scenic route home, window open and a V8 rumble in your ears? A great day out with mates and looking forward to more. Hopefully I will catch up with Craig and Lee at more shows this year with our cars together.
After the quick detail to remove the road dust and put the car away, I plonked myself on the sofa and feel asleep for an hour (or so) cuddled up with my little dog. What a great way to end the day.
It’s known that I’m a bit of car cleaning weekend warrior. Not just my Mustang at car shows, but my daily drivers too. There is a problem with wet washing which drives me mad, hard water. In my area of the country the water is notoriously bad. I will explain this in a bit more detail as I have been looking into various water filtration options, so this post and an article all in one. Hope its not to long.
What Exactly Is ‘Hard Water’?
In simple terms, hard water is the stuff that comes out of your mains water supply with a high mineral content. While rain water is naturally soft, as it percolates through the ground into our reservoirs and aquifers, it picks up bits of calcium, magnesium, and sometimes even chalk or limestone. By the time it travels through the pipes, get treated at water plants and add chlorine to that as well, it then travels down miles of pipes and reaches your household taps and your garden hose, it’s a mineral cocktail.
While some minerals might be fine for you, they are the absolute nemesis for a clean car. When you spray that tap water onto your paintwork and let it dry, the H2O (water) evaporates back into the air, but the minerals stay left behind. They can bond to the surface, creating those stubborn unsightly “water spots” or “limescale” marks that we all dread as car detailers, or even the weekend warriors who just want a shiny car. This is a reason why car detailers carry their own water around to make their life easier and avoid those water marks. Sometimes these marks looks like a small octopus has climbed over your car, the rings look exactly like that, but whitish. Most people think water spots are just an aesthetic nuisance, a bit of white dust that can be wiped away. The real danger lies in what happens when those minerals from the mains water are left to bake in the sun. Calcium and magnesium (also bird mess) are alkaline. When they sit on your clear coat (or your single-stage paint if you’re still running an original classic paint), they begin a process called etching. It’s like a tiny, slow-motion chemical burn taking place. The minerals actually eat into the surface of the paint. If you run your finger over a bad water spot, you might feel a slight indentation. That’s not dirt sitting on the paint; that’s the paint itself being damaged. Once it reaches that stage, no amount of washing or polishing will fix it.
Damage Control: Removing Water Spots Without Killing Your Wax
If you’ve found your pride and joy covered in these white rings, you need to be careful before diving into removal. Most people reach for household remedies, but if you’ve spent all Saturday applying a high-quality carnauba wax or a high-tech sealant, the wrong “fix” will strip that protection off in seconds.
1. The Chemical Route – The Professional Way
Before you start rubbing the paint, try a dedicated Water Spot Remover. Products like CarPro Spotless, Gtechniq W9, Chemical Guys Heavy Duty Water Spot Remover Gyeon Q2M water spot remover etc. are all specifically formulated with mild acids that break down the bond between the mineral and the paint while being as gentle as possible on the underlying surface.
2. The Vinegar Dilemma
A 50/50 mix of white vinegar and distilled water is the classic “old school” fix. The acetic acid in the vinegar is great at dissolving calcium.
The Catch: Vinegar is an acid. While it’s great for the spots, it is brutal on car wax. If you use vinegar to clean your spots, you are effectively stripping away your wax protection. It leaves the paint naked as such and vulnerable to the next lot of hard water or UV rays. If you do use this method, you really should re-wax the area immediately.
The “No-Go” List: Chemicals That Destroy the protection of your wax and sealants while fighting hard water, avoid these like the plague:
All-Purpose Cleaners (APC) & Degreasers: Many people use these to “boost” their wash. Don’t. High-alkaline cleaners are designed to break down oils and waxes. They will leave your sealant patchy and ineffective.
Dish Soap (e.g., Fairy Liquid or Dawn Ultra etc.): These are an ultimate sin, yes they clean, but often have elements of salt as a stabilizer. We know what salt can do cars – rust! Dish soap is designed to strip grease from pans, it will strip every bit of wax off your car, leaving the paint dry and prone to more severe water etching. Addition of salt that could be left behind, you are making things worse.
Bleach-Based Cleaners: Never let anything containing bleach near your car. It will dry out your rubber trim and chemically attack the clear coat.
Aggressive Household Limescale Removers: Products meant for your bathroom tiles are far too acidic. They won’t just remove the water spots; they can stain the paint and permanently dull the finish.
Alcohol-Heavy Sprays: While Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) is great for prep, using it as a “quick fix” for water spots, it will also instantly dissolve any wax or polymer sealant you have on the car. Good for starting from scratch if you want to rewax your car to remove old tired layers of wax or sealants.
Abrasive Pads: Dish scouring pads or bathroom cleaning pads, you know the sort with the sponge and a layer of plastic nylon to get seriously aggressive with stubborn cleaning jobs. They will destroy your paint and can even lead to having a respray, DON’T do it. Polishing pads used by professionals are virtually always foam, sometimes lambs wool for deep cutting or heavy paint correction. I don’t need to mention steel wool pads either do I? That is obviously, down to bare metal stuff.
All of this now leads into what I’ve just bought to save me time and effort to remove water spots; ‘Prevention is better than correction’. I have been looking into the ‘Spotless’ washing systems. This is treatment of the water that you put on your cars which will stop the water spots appearing in the first place. My purchased was a Spotless water system by ‘SpotBye’ and I’ve used it to create a review. I have created that page here, or click the link below for the complete setup guide, and a review of the results. Spoiler alert, it’s a game changer!
If like me you’re stuck with hard water from the tap, you have to change your strategy. You can’t really just drench the whole car and then dry it at the end, well you could, but it won’t be a great finish. This is especially true on my black cars that shows the world and his mate for any marks what so ever. Try working smarter, not harder with a couple of tips from me:
The Sectional Wash: Work on one panel at a time. Wash the roof, rinse it with the hose, and dry it immediately. This prevents the tap water from sitting long enough to evaporate and leave minerals behind. Move onto the hood, then the fenders and doors etc. Work your way down the car, the dirtiest part of the car is always lower down.
The “Sheet” rinse: Take the nozzle off the hose. Let a steady, gentle stream of tap water flow over the panels. This “sheeting” effect leaves much less water on the car than a high-pressure spray which will leave droplets on the surface of the paint.
Drying Aids: (A useful process I often use). While the car is wet, spray a product like Chemical Guys After Wash, Gyeon Q2M WetCoat, Meguiar’s Hybrid Ceramic Wax, Dat Wax Hydrophobic Protective Sealant or a quick detailer etc. These products lubricate the surface and help neutralise the minerals, making them much easier to wipe away before they can bond or dry out on your paint.
Use a good quality microfibre cloth: A plush “twisted loop” drying towel is essential like Chemical Guys Woolly Mammoth or Slim’s Drying Towel. These towels are designed to pull the moisture and the minerals from the surface of the paint in a single pass rather than dragging them across the surface.
My new setup:
There are multiple ways to soften the water, that will save you time and effort in the long run. There are canister style, an inline tube, wall mounted, dual filters all the way up to the professional pumped options.
Before I show you the setup and use, this is NOT a sponsored post, the product was purchased with my own hard earned money. I have been trying to talk myself into this for a couple of years now. As I now have two black daily driver cars, this turned out to be a quick discussion and I didn’t put up much of an argument with myself after struggling to keep the cars presentable. I did my research and I bought ‘SpotBye’ canister system. Depending on your needs this may not be for you, but from what I have seen, its a great purchase.
These next few steps shows a quick setup guide for the equipment. The FULL setup details and downloadable manuals are in the link here or the link above.
SpotBye is a basically De-ionising Resin vessel. It’s a cylinder that connects inline with your hose. They remove 100% of the minerals.
The setup was quite simple, although the instructions are dire to be honest. After unpacking you need to add a resin into the canister carefully so the resin doesn’t get into the centre tube. The centre tube which passes the treated water out the canister is removable. Open the vacuum packet resin packet (5ltr) and carefully fill the canister, this is the media that filters the water. SpotBye does supply a rubber cap to prevent the resin going into the tube.
Screw the cap on and attach the standard size fittings for your hose.
The supplied water testing tool shows just how bad our water is. The classification level for hard water is anything over 120 ppm (parts per million). From my tap drinking water tap it was 309ppm!!
Attach the garden hose (yellow) to the ‘In’ and another shorter hose to the ‘Out’ fitting (green) for the water spray attachment you want to use. Allow the water to run a couple of minutes to flush the hoses through and get the resin working. The reading after a couple of minutes was astounding, 20ppm in this picture, but even went down to 18ppm. However, it’s noted that the filtration should be 0ppm according to SpotBye. But, an improvement of 96% was good enough for me. The green hose was all I have left which is sometimes use for syphoning a water feature. A new one is on order as I write this up.
I deliberately left my car to get dirty (such is the sacrifice I make for these reviews)! It was bad as there has been some ‘Sahara’ sand which was mixed in with the UK’s famous rain which leaves this nasty mess which looks even worse on my black cars.
Washing the car was a breeze, even on a warm day in direct sunlight and on a hot car, all of which are big no-no’s by the way for cleaning a car. There was copious amounts of suds from the car shampoo which lasted a long time on the car, something I haven’t had before, to this degree anyway.
With the car cleaned it was rinsed of and again deliberately not dried to see what happens if the dreaded water spots showed up. There was some light sheeting marks which dried of wit h a drying towel without any effort.
The pic below left of the door mirror shows what I mean, the rinsing ran of the car instead of sitting on the panel on the right pic.
The image here is dotted to show where I half dried the door in the sun.
Once dried there was no water marks even in this extreme scenario of hot weather, hot panels and in direct sunlight. From the image below in the shadow on the left there is no water marks. The white bits you can see is in fact the paint pearl effect glinting in the sun, you can also see the pink, green, blue, red and yellows of the pearl paint. The phone was having trouble to trying to focus but settled on the reflection of the fence.
With the car dried the car was literally ‘spotless’ as this type of washing technique is referred to. I was also interested to see what it would be like after a quick detailing. Why? Just because I could. The results were even better than when I picked the car up from the showroom.
Here are some close ups of the paint with no water marks, the bottom right is the reflection of the house taken on the hood looking forwards, which is why it looks upside down!
To get a great finish the paint needs to be smooth to give a uniform reflection of light. Having no contaminates on the surface goes a long way to help with the desired reflective gloss. All of this comes at a cost though, to keep the water pure as it can be the resin which decontaminates the water needs to be replaced, around £35 for 5ltr which is what my canister holds. The harder the water the quicker the resin will need to be replaced. The recommended output is 520gallons at 200ppm. The fact that the car wash literally took half the time and was so much easier that cost is worth it to me.
At the end of the day we spend a lot of money on fancy shampoos and waxes to keep our cars looking their best. It seems a bit mad to ruin all that hard work by drenching the car in liquid limestone from the garden hose.
I hope that gives a little insight to the finer points of detailing. Yes its over kill for some, but saving time back for myself and saving physical effort in order to get that good result is worth the small amount of money per car wash. I even save on not having to by products to correct a problem. Buying a few bottles of products to overcome these problems would outweigh the cost of the system I just bought.
I would like to wish all my readers, followers and casual browsers a very Merry Christmas & Happy New Year. I look forward to bringing you more reviews, memorabilia, walkthroughs and of course lots of car show photos in the coming year.
My little ol’ blog has been evolving into a ‘blogsite’ over the last couple of years with my stats telling me that I’m approaching a truly amazing 1,550,000 views, which I never believed would be possible. I fund this blogsite all by myself with a small contribution from the WordPress adds (sorry) now and then which contributes to the hosting fees, registration and everything else (but doesn’t cover it all) that goes with an online presence. I can only say a huge and sincere “Thank You” to everyone for keeping me encouraged to continue and making this all worth while.
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year, see you all in 2026.
After some twelve plus years I now have an issue with my most trusted TomTom Go 600, the battery has died. You may be asking why am I bothered as Google Maps is available phones, updated regularly and works, some consider it better than many dedicated SatNavs, TomTom or Garmin to name just a couple. Even my daily driver has an up-to-date SatNav which I use, a lot. This TomTom Go 600 is used in my Mustang and sits on the centre console in a weighted mount setup. I need guidance to virtually any location where I can’t see my own house. I honestly get lost anywhere, even somewhere that I’ve been before, often a standing joke with friends and family. I prefer to use the TomTom instead of the phone with google maps and the smart watch on my wrist for turn by turn notifications which is great, but the phones battery gets drained before I even get to the location. At car shows most of the phones battery is used up with the camera usage and then a little bit of reading while sitting in my chair. I often take a backup charger with me just in case I need to charge the phone, but it’s a pain. It’s often easier to plonk the SatNav on the console, plug it in so there is no battery worry on the phone. Besides, the screen is bigger on the TomTom and the sound is louder for directions.
On this device the battery lasts about one hour when not plugged in, or I can’t be bothered to plug into the cigarette lighter for the shorter trips. The battery no longer holds a charge of any sort, often to the point that even with power from the cigarette lighter, it can’t hold the power so the unit has shut off on me a few of times. Without external power, the device hardly has enough power to show the empty battery symbol and just dies, not even a proper shut down.
After a quick bit of research I found video on YouTube as a tutorial on how to change the battery, it was worth a go. Why go to the bother, just get an up-to-date model? I certainly could upgrade, however this model has free map updates for life! After twelve years, every few months I get a map update. This device owes me nothing, so a replacement battery and some cheap tools from Amazon £20 all in, would be worth a go. The battery arrived the next day along with the tools needed to take these sort of devices apart. I also needed a pen knife, a blunt one which is sometimes used to open packages etc.
Disclaimer: If you attempt this repair, it’s of your own choice and I won’t be held responsible for any damage or loss.
My experience of the practical wasn’t so easy as the video suggested, so I thought I would document what I did to fix it. I don’t know if the models are designed differently after a while, but my internals were a little different to the YouTube video even though it was the same model designation.
The first step was to separate the two halves of the device, this is where the plastic tools came in, well to start with anyway.
The two parts we so well together I had to get the penknife to get between the two halves and lever them apart. As I worked my way round I used triangular picks in various place to stop the device snapping back together again. There are no screws that hold the two halves together. As the device separated I heard a couple of little snaps where the plastic catches has snapped below right. I was not brutal in fact rather careful, perhaps the plastic is getting brittle with age. The face has a little piece of tape which holds the screen ribbon in place just before the connector itself to the main motherboard.
With the screen out of the way the plastic flat ribbon needs to be eased out of the connector by moving the white clamp towards the ribbon which will release the pressure on the clamp and allow the cable to be pulled out.
The two halves are now fully separated, put the screen to one side out of harms way. The below image shows one of the additional sprung connections at the tip of the screw driver. These are delicate and transfer the touch inputs of the screen to the main board. Hence the flat metal plate that is on the back of the screen.
Next we need to disconnect the speaker and the battery connections, using the plastic tools separate the two plugs.
Get yourself a nice set of screw drivers to remove the five flat cross head screws holding the circuit board to the back case.
With the screws removed lift the top of the board, the opposite to the connections at the bottom. With the board elevated you can then slide the bottom half of the board out of the case. With the board also put out of harms way the battery is exposed at the bottom. The battery will need to be prized away from the case as it’s stuck in place with double sided tape. As with all Li-ion batteries be very very careful.
The old battery and the new one side by side. The new battery on the left has a slightly higher capacity which should retain a little longer life. the original battery is on the right.
In the box supplied with my battery was fresh double sided tape, which needs to stuck on the back to hold the battery in place. The new battery is slightly smaller but still sits neatly in the area. Make sure that the wires are near the speaker and not the opposite end or they wont be long enough to connect.
Take the circuit board and align the bottom of the board to openings. Gently lay the fish the two sets of wires through the hole in the circuit board and then lower the board down into place. Align the screw holes and lightly screw into place. This will allow you to pick the device up and make sure the connections are fully located correctly. Once you are happy with the alignment fully tighten the five screws, do not over tighten. Next re-insert the battery and the speaker cables to the back of the board.
Hold the screen near the main circuit board that will allow the flat cable to fall above the ribbon connection. I couldn’t take pictures at this point as I needed both hands. While holding the screen still gently guide the flat ribbon into the opening evenly. Do not force the ribbon or it will kink, the ribbon should just slot into place. Once the ribbon is fully inserted in place, slide the white clamp away from the ribbon to clamp the ribbon in place. Both the screen and the ribbon should now be connected. Very lightly pull the screen to make sure the ribbon does not pull out.
Lay the screen onto the case to align the two halves again. Make sure that the sprung connectors are not damaged be fully lowering the screen down. Starting at the bottom snap into place and work up the sides to the top. As you snap the case together make sure the connections at the bottom are stay correctly aligned. The broken clips were at opposite ends of the device so it didn’t prevent re-assembly of the unit.
Now turn the device on.
Now check that the screen is still touch responsive once the unit has fully started.
Once everything was working I was able to give everything a clean and full charge. The difficult part was separating the two halves without damage. The YouTube video showed it almost falling apart which wasn’t the case. The plastic tools weren’t quite man enough to separate the halves, hence the use of the pen knife for a little more robust leverage. Once apart it was pretty simple to remove the board, replace the battery and re-assemble.
Total time taken: 40 mins
Difficulty Level: 4 out 10
Conclusion: the only real difficulty was taking apart without damage and re-aligning the motherboard ports to the bottom of the case.
Continuing on from my last post this is the rest of the Classics at Glemham Car Show. The show had food and drink but like most of the shows now days the costs were expensive. I doubt this is greed of the vendor, from what I have heard the organisers of the events charge silly amounts for the pitch. The vendors are forced to cover their costs. The organisers are now starting to charge significant amounts of money for the owners of these cars to attend the shows. It’s getting to the point where I’m starting to choose quite carefully what shows I attend. However the money goes to a charity then I don’t have a problem. But, just to make money from the car owners and let the public in for free is not on. Perhaps we need to vote with our wheels and not attend the rip off events. Let me know your thoughts if this all round the country (UK) or other countries too.
Back to the cars, after the rows of cars arranged by years of manufacture, there were super cars and general club stands.
This Lincoln was amazing and a huge car.
We eventually got back to the car for a well earned rest and quick bite to eat where we watched the world go by.
Mart’s Car Of The Show: is this wonderful Plymouth, the fins still get me every time!
A couple of the other cars started to move out early afternoon so we decided to follow suit. As we rode over the uneven fields to the dirt track for the exit we stopped of for a quick photo opportunity. I took many photos as did Craig and these are just some from the session. Many are similar but they are all different. I think we started a trend, I have seen a few Instagram posts of similar photo’s being posted similar to ours.
Craig’s photos first.
Then there are these which I took.
That completes all of my cars shows for 2025 sadly. I will find things to post about; reviews, books, memorabilia and maybe some upgrades on my little ol’ pride and joy. Thanks for staying with me during some of these recent large posts of the car shows.
Last Sunday was the final car show of the year for me that had booked into. The show was around one hour away at Glemham Hall in Suffolk. I had arranged for my fellow petrol head Craig to join me for the final show, we were ready to set of at eight thirty after packing the car. We had a choice to travel the main roads with a fair few extra miles, or go across country scenic route. We decided on the scenic route where Craig was in charge of the navigation.
We rolled up to the event and showed the printed ticket and was directed to the ’60s section. We parked up and took a couple of quick pictures before the general public and the rest of the cars pulled in. Due to the size of the show and the number of photos I have taken I have split the show into two parts.
I have mentioned in a few posts now I use Craig’s pics, they are so much better than mine and you can just tell which are his due to their superior quality, here’s the first couple. This is one of the few occasions where I wound all the windows down.
This is a busy show so we decided to take a wander around the show before the public were allowed in. We were parked up around two thirds of the way down the field so we started at the end and worked our way towards the main entrance. There was some regular attendees which I skipped over to avoid duplication of other posts.
Firs up is the general view of the show.
Mart’s Car of the show will be revealed in the next post, but this Saab was my runner up.
When we left the show we stopped in a field to take a few pictures. Here is a quick taster for the end of the next post.
More in the next post of the amazing cars and the little ad hoc photo shoot as we left the venue.
