Tag: One man and his Mustang

Bridge Classic Car Show (part 1)

Last weekend was a new car show for me which was on the other side of the county at RAF Bentwaters. A little history about Royal Air Force Bentwaters or more simply RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about 80 miles (130 km) northeast of London and 10 miles (16 km) east-northeast of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England. Its name was taken from two cottages (‘Bentwaters Cottages’) that had stood on the site of the main runway during its construction in 1943.The station was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War, and by the United States Air Force (USAF) during the Cold War, being the primary home for the 81st Fighter Wing under various designations from 1951 to 1993. For many years the 81st Fighter Wing also operated from RAF Woodbridge, with Bentwaters and Woodbridge airfields being known by the Americans as the “Twin Bases”. RAF Bentwaters was the location of an 13–14 August 1956 night time radar and visual sighting of multiple UFOs (the Lakenheath-Bentwaters incident); it is also near the location of the alleged December 1980 UFO incident in Rendlesham Forest. The site is now known as Bentwaters Parks with the Bentwaters Cold War Museum which is located on the site, there are various offices and warehouses on site, and has even been used for television and film making.

Day of the show I checked the weather and there was a chance of rain late afternoon which shouldn’t be a problem as the show closed at three thirty. I was going to risk it and go for the forty minute drive there through some back roads and quite a scenic route. The show was to start at eleven but I didn’t find anywhere that said what time the cars were to be there. With that in mind I arrived shortly after ten and was directed to where the show was to be held. I was asked pretty much where I wanted to park. Bridge Classics has a few old hangers where cars were stored and worked on in their workshops.

The best bit of the show was that I had to drive past the end of a runway which was coned off, I was a little bit naughty maybe as I went through them for a quick ad hoc photoshoot. It’s not as though the runway was in use. The clouds and lighting were all natural and literally changed by the minute, there was no photoshop trickery involved, the only changes to this set of photos was some standard cropping work.

I was only there for a few minutes to take a few shots and then left, I think I started a trend as another car or two replaced me as I drove to the show itself, just round the corner!

At the show I took the best part of two hundred and fifty photos throughout the day, so I will split them up over two posts, with my ‘car of the show’ in the second post. The picture below was taken just after midday where I tried a panoramic view, I think you sort of get the idea, although the runway looks like it turns ninety degrees.

There were cars turning up and going throughout the show so some of the photos are out of sequence.

More photos of the how can be found here: Bridge classic car show

The show started out slowly and as soon as I parked up the very light misty rain started to fall. But the breeze soon dried out. I will just post a batch of photos as I walked around in no particular order.

This really nice Packard that parked up next to me was a close contender for ‘Marts Car of the Show’, it made such a statement when it pulled up. Perhaps the biggest car there.

In the next post there will be the car storage area and lots more cars along with my pick of the show.

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Kersey Mill Car Show 2023

I attended this show last year when it was held in May not in July as this year. The weather was predicted to be breezy but no rain, so I decided to go for it and turn up. This is a free show held in some nice surroundings just few miles outside of Ipswich.

As ever the alarm woke me to some nice sunshine which was drying the roads from the previous Saturday night’s rainfall. I opened the garage went through the process of getting the car ready to go out, that consists of unplugging the battery trickle charger and uncovering the passenger side of the car first. Then I walk round to the other side and fold up the cover, then I spotted a puddle on the garage floor. My heart missed a beat and then started to pound as I put the cover on top of the toolbox. I got on the floor to see what was going on and felt the puddle, it wasn’t sticky or smell of anything, that usually happens from a coolant leak. I looked around and couldn’t see anything immediately wet or dripping in the engine bay.

Behind me was my dehumidifier which looked to have water around it too. On looking the safety had cut out and wasn’t working, I usually hear a gentle hum and just thought that I hadn’t turned it on from when I was last in the garage. I turned it around and noticed the water collection draw was full, this was an overfill from the pipework that I had plumbed in to avoid constant emptying of the draw. What had happened was the drain pipe from the back now had a high hump point and the water wasn’t able to run away into the condensation pipe primarily used by the heating boiler. The angle of the pipe is fine when the unit is in a certain position, obviously I had moved the unit without realising, thus creating a slow back flow, the pipe would have backfilled into the collection draw and eventually overflowed which is when the safety would have cut in. The unit would have cut off, but the extra water in the pipe was just enough to overfill the draw. I grabbed a few old microfibre cloths and mopped the water up which looked a lot worse than it was, maybe a cup or so. Relieved I readjusted the pipe to the correct angle, and started the unit again to dry the garage while I would be out.

The drive was enjoyable, with sun and cloud taking it in turns to dominate the sky, but the grey clouds were the majority of the sky the closer I got to Kersey. I arrived some thirty on minutes later and asked where to park. I was directed to be on the right of the driveway on the grass near the entrance. I parked up on my own like some sort of Billy-no-mates!

I waited for an hour or so and went for a walk round. It looked obvious that there wasn’t going to be a big turn out due to the weather. There was a couple of lines of cars in place so I started there.

There was a car there that was getting some attention, but I couldn’t put my finger on it why. The car just didn’t look right. I will get to the reason why a little later. when i then became evident why it raised my suspicions. The front bumper just didn’t seem to sit right to me.

Walking over the little bridge to the area where there was some ‘street food’ stalls cooking some amazing smelling food. Near them was a few more cars. I stopped to talk to Paul for a while who owned the Capri, the same model and body kit a friend of mine had when I was an apprentice.

The Rolls Royce was real nice car and a candidate for my favourite car of the show.

Just past the food stalls was a few more cars outside what looked like the owner of the mill house.

Another candidate for my favourite car was this Ford Cortina, the simple reason being was that my Grandfather owned a blue one. Right next to it was a Ford Anglia, another car that my Grandfather owned.

Towards the back of the house there was little walkway with a sign for the cars to display and parking for the public parking. Unfortunately they never got used.

Mart’s Car of the Show

The little courtyard had a couple of cars there which was where I saw this nice Sunbeam Alpine.

That was pretty much it round that side of the venue, so I wandered back to where I was parked up. On the other side of the driveway some more cars had turned up thankfully.

The weather was very changeable with a couple of very light spitting of rain episodes, not enough to bead on the car though. But when the sun came back out along with the slight breeze it soon evaporated away, just like last week.

Back towards where I was parked a few more had parked up, a couple of which I had seen before with their v8 swap outs.

Back to the Lamborghini Countach I mentioned earlier, the owner had opened it up then I realised straight away what was wrong. The car was a kit car and the engine was a Land Rover v8 lump.

For a kit car it was done very well I might add. But, when you start to look around properly you could see the build quality wasn’t quite there. The car left an hour or so later, when it started up it made a nice rumble granted, but it should have been a very shouty howling V12. I had posters of this car on my walls when I was at school, the super car I always wanted, and still do.

Did you know:

That iconic rear wing was purely cosmetic. The Countach actually suffers front axle lift at high speed, and bolting a park bench on the back only exacerbates the issue. But customers loved the look, so engineers zeroed out the wing’s angle, rendering it non-functional. It was designed as a one-off for F1 impresario Walter Wolf, the spoiler wasn’t an official option either. Once the look caught on around 1976, Lamborghini couldn’t afford to re-homologate the car with a new aero wing. As a workaround, completed cars were taken off the assembly line driven to the factory parking lot, where employees installed the rear wing using an electric hand drill while awaiting dealer transport. Apparently the installation of the wing only took about 10 minutes.

After a four or so hours at the show I decided it was a bit slow for me too and left to go home. A shame because it could have been a nice show.

I was emailed a couple of photos yesterday; Thank You Scott. One as I was talking to somebody and the other as I was leaving.

Having a proper camera instead of a cell phone camera makes a difference. That’s all I’m gonna say on the comparison.

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Culford Car Show 2023 (part 2)

The sky had started to turn a nasty shade of dark grey in the distance and the air felt cooler, although the sun was trying to stay out. But as yet still no rain, but it didn’t look good. I started off on my wander round again, picking up where I left off just after the Ferraris corner taking the rest of the photos. As this was a ‘Classic’ car show, I didn’t bother to take photos of cars that were only five or ten years old, all of which can be seen in any super market car park doing a weekly shop. I have one question; why? I can understand an exotic car sports car, but your dad’s taxi just doesn’t do it for me.

With the wind still blowing around I was glad I wasn’t under the trees this time. I could see the sap on the paint on some of these lovely cars.

It was a busy as the day even as the day wore on, although the grey sky looming ominously closer might have put people of, it didn’t.

This F350 nearly got my vote of the day, I think it was the biggest vehicle there.

My blog wouldn’t be complete without a grouping of Mustangs, old and new.

Marts Car Of The Show:

This stunning 1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT.

I eventually got back to my car for a sit down and a well deserved rest after all the walking. I spoke to really nice people throughout the day. Including a couple who had their own photography business who I hope will get in contact with me. After a few minutes it happened, a few spots of rain. The reaction was quite funny to see, the car owners rush to wind windows up and shut soft top roofs, me included. The few spots only lasted for a couple of minutes then the sun came out. The rain drops had disappeared within a few minutes as the still warm cars along with the welcome return of the sun and the continuing light breeze helped the process of evaporation.

As I was talking to my friends back at the car, a ‘Health & Safety’ marshal came round and told us that the way out would be the way we came in, but not to move before three thirty, which was around two hours away. It got to three pm and few cars fired up, the marshals tried to stop them, but they carried on. A few minutes later there was a number of cars firing up ready to go, me included as I didn’t want to get caught in the queue of traffic to get out, maybe it might rain again. I think a lot of people had the same idea.

I pulled up home and gave the car a quick wipe over before I put her away in the garage and covered her up. All this rushing around and it didn’t rain anymore for the day. I was happy as it was a great show, chatting to wonderful people and catching up with great friends again. Looking forward to next year already for another really well run car show.

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Culford Car show 2023 (part 1)

One of the bigger car shows in the area is held at Culford School which is independent school with boarding options. The school will take all ages as long as you have the money and its not cheap with prices in the tens of thousands – per year. The grounds are impressive with lots of space to hold a car show, although the cars were not allowed to be parked at the front of the school this year. The entry to the event requires cars arrive before eight thirty in the morning, with the show ending at three thirty in the afternoon. So an early start was on the cards, but not to early as the venue was only about twenty minutes away for me. The only trouble was on the way there I realised that I had left my wallet at home, my plan for for a bacon roll went out the window. My excuse was that it was to early to think straight.

I took around three hundred photos on the day so my phone ran out of battery, probably because I didn’t put it on charge the night before. My excuse was it was to late in the night when I went to bed and I wasn’t thinking straight. But, I did already pack my portable power bank the night before in the cool bag pocket, perhaps I should of done that with my wallet. Some of the photos were taken in the morning, then after some lunch with an hour or so charge on the phone got me some power so I could take the rest of the photos. I had about two hundred and sixty of photos that didn’t have people walking in front of the cars or looking directly at the camera with stupid looks on their faces. To save a huge scrolling post, I thought I would split across two posts.

For something a little different for my car show posts in the future, I had an idea to pick my favourite car of the show. There’s no criteria, no pre conceptions, no categories and no prizes, just bragging rights that the car that caught my eye was the best there in my opinion, apart from my own of course.

I arrived at eight twenty(ish) with virtually no queue to get in, but it was little stop start in the grounds as the cars were being directed to the locations.

I asked where the Bury Retro Car Club was and was directed to the stand and parked up. The club had booked plenty of spaces and had two rows. I parked up trunk to trunk with a friend of mine who has a number of cars, this time he bought his ’65 Coupe. I got out had a quick chat and started to wipe over the car and remove the road dust. The weather was a bit windy and stayed blustery all day, although the wind was supposed to have died the night before, with no rain forecast.

I will start with the car club cars, as that was where I was standing.

I wandered up the lines and and back down each side.

There was a nice selection of UK ‘Fast Fords’ on show, most of these cars ended up in a ditch, wrapped around a tree or they just couldn’t be given away. Now they are commanding some pretty strong money.

There was an area of super cars including this 1,400bhp GT-R with a parachute.

There was a couple of Fiat Dino there. Contrary to popular belief they are not Ferraris by brand, although designed by Pininfarina and built by Ferrari. The brand Dino was Ferrari’s lower cost sports car that had the mid engined V6. The V12 engines were reserved for the prestige Ferraris’s of the time. this was Enzo Ferrari not wanting to diminish the Ferraris brand. Enzo didn’t want to produce the car but he relented to fight with the Lamborghini Miura at the time. These cars are now accepted as Ferrari although they are not badged as such.

There was a good turn out of proper Ferraris in one corner of the field.

It was about this time that the phone needed a recharge so I headed back to my car for some refreshments. I will post up the second part in few days with ‘Mart’s Car Of The Show’ to be revealed.

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Pakenham Power Show

Another first time car show for me was the Pakenham Power show which was about twenty minutes drive away from where I live. There was two other car shows on the same day that I knew of so it was going to be a bit of a gamble if this local show was going to be any good or not. I studied the weather apps as I missed a show the previous week due to weather warning of thunderstorms that never took place. The weather apps all said hotter than Saturday so I packed the day bag ready for the morning; battery pack phone charger, sun screen, head ache pills, wallet etc.

The alarm woke me up to an already warm day, I let the dogs out and got ready to go. I packed plenty of drinks into the cool bag, I was going to need them. The factor fifty was moved inside the cool bag so it was cool and soothing to put on on. The show started at eleven according to the flyers, but I didn’t know if that was for the public entry or when the cars were to start turning up. I left at quarter to ten so I would miss the rush to get in that I had played out in my mind. The drive there was super relaxed windows down and an easy cruise at fifty mph.

I pulled into the gates and nobody was there. I think the noise of me turning up triggered them to appear from the other side of a wall. I was asked what year my car was and my response qualified me to park in the lower section for fifty year old cars or more, which sounded much grander than it was. I was told to park in front of a bank of four other cars already there, which I think belonged to the marshals.

An ideal photo opportunity for a minute or two before they changed their mind and asked me to move the car backing it up to wall. I was pleased about that as the stones could easily fly up from tyres onto paintwork.

It wasn’t until I got home and downloaded the photos from my phone that my car was the same colour as the sky! The Samsung S23 Ultra did quite well in the strong light conditions considering.

Once I was parked up there was plenty of shade from the fairly high wall. I wasted no time in getting the chair our to grab a can of cold drink.

The sun was hot already and I decided not to wipe over the car with a quick detailer as the paint was already hot, sitting in the chair I could see the heat haze from the roof. Applying products to hot paint will cause them streak and make it look worse. So for a vary rare change, I didn’t wipe the car over once I parked up at a car show.

I had a wander over to the bus and some fond memories flooded back from being a kid. Looking at the back of the bus health and safety wasn’t a thing then as people jumped on and off the moving buses.

This vehicle is one of one made in 1897, it can reach speeds up to 30mph even back then.

It was now getting closer to eleven and some more cars started to arrive and park in the area I was.

The field by the side of the barn was slightly elevated and was for anything less than fifty years old. The little walkway on the left had some mini steam engines, just chugging away barely making a noise. I stood for ages looking at the intricate engineering that is still running seamlessly today.

There was a modern take on an old school fair ground wind instrument which was fed by punch cards. That was the musical entertainment for most of the day.

There was more cars coming in that were older than fifty years old so they got to park up on the other field.

There was this little mini rod that was buzzing around now and again. I think it had a lawnmower engine or something in there. The woman driving it was of a slender build and just about fitted in it. I doubt I could have got one leg in it!

Then we move to to the opposite end of the scale, this huge Bedford ‘Drifter’ 1969 motorhome. It was quite basic, but pretty cool to see. I didn’t even know Bedford made a motorhome.

Making my way back to the wall there was some local goods for sale, there was a proper BBQ, refreshment caravan, cakes and even bread that was made from the mill itself an hour or so earlier. We even had a brass band playing a couple of slots too, not sure what they were playing, but it was entertaining.

Having some lunch and copious amounts of cool drinks, the sun was creeping over the other side of the wall. Now there was no shade at all, I stuck it out till about two thirty then I had enough.

Some other cars were starting to go, so I joined them for another gentle drive home. It was a good show for very old cars, but it was small. Will I go again? Probably not as it was a bit to small for me. It was a nice day out and wasn’t far away. All windows were down on the way home and the sound of a V8 was flooding into the car. I was thinking, compared to the brass band – the sound of American iron sounded so much better!

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Feltwell Anglo American Car Show (part 2)

Carrying on from last weeks post where I only got halfway round the Feltwell Anglo American Car Show, I will continue with some more great cars. The weather was super sunny with a few clouds coming over later in the afternoon, and made it tricky to take some photos of the cars especially with the polished chrome and glossy paint jobs.

I’m not sure if the Anglo American theme extends to some Japanese fast cars or some German campers that had infiltrated the ranks! However, it was good to see them as they are getting rarer to find.

This Lada was getting some looks, it’s not the best of cars when it was unleashed on the public, but this was different as it was on air ride. He kindly let some kid in the car to bounce the car’s suspension, after a minute or so of some frantic movements there was a large bang and the car slammed down on the rear suspension. It turned out a pipe had broken and was haemorrhaging hydraulic fluid badly. The owner just said “Oh well, Looks like I’m in for bumpy ride home”.

Moving on to the rest of the rows of cars;

These are the longest cars I think I have seen apart from the stretched limos and hearses.

I don’t much about these Rocket 88’s, but it was an amazing car and I would have been happy to drive around in a pink one. Happy to be educated if anybody knows.

Then we come back to the Normal sized cars.

This MG ZT had a Mustang engine in it, but I think the owner was confused if it was an MG or Mustang, it looked a little odd to be honest with the classic Mustang emblems on it.

A nice selection of trikes all parked up with an accompanying Meatloaf sound track, so I stayed there for a couple of great songs.

I loved this Thunderbird, but in this light blue colour it looked like giant Hot Wheels car, or is it my imagination. Cracking car though.

The replica AC Cobra had the hood up and couldn’t wait to see under the hood. I was disappointed as it wasn’t a Ford block. In fact I would liken it opening a copy of Play Boy expecting to see some artistic photos of lovely ladies, only to find pictures of a building site. The disappointment was real, but It did sound nice.

The biggest engine of the day:

After I had looked all around I wandered back to my car for some lunch and get the hood up and assume the position in my chair.

I had a fantastic time and around three o’clock I decided to leave before before the queues started to form. To help with the traffic flow I was direct out a different way to the way I came in, the SatNav complained a bit, but I followed her directions. I’m glad I did because I drove right past the gates where My car would have driven through a few times over the years that she was stationed here with her owner.

The journey wasn’t as scenic as the journey to get to the show, but I will take an open road anytime! The fence on the right is part of the Lakenheath airbase itself.

I arrived home and spent fair amount of time getting the stubborn pollen of the car that had settled on the car while in the field. My hay fever was playing me big time as a result, but it was all worth it for such a good day. I will absolutely make sure I attend this show again. Well run show, great cars and the first show of the season. Will the other shows come close to this one? I hope so.

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Feltwell Anglo American Car Show (part 1)

After last week’s cancelled show I finally got a to one Saturday at Feltwell, which is about eleven miles from the wonderful Thetford Forest which I travelled through to get there. This is the third year for the show of its type, due to the popularity last couple of years, it has been moved to a larger field for a bit more space. I got up to bright sunshine and checked the website and Facebook and nothing anywhere to say it was cancelled. I had a choice of two shows, Fast & Loud which was an afternoon show in centre of Bury St. Edmunds or this Feltwell show about forty miles away. I decided against the Fast & Loud show as the last one I visited was full of two or three year old Ford Focus’ that have had eBay spending spree for go faster parts. Invariably the obligatory sound system with a sub the size of dustbin lid and an exhaust made out of the dustbin itself. All fitted to make them sound the ‘part’ with popping and banging to se who can BBQ their balls standing at the back of the cars! Not my scene all that, so it was a no brainer to take the drive through the beautiful Thetford Forest. On the other hand, if there was nothing else on and it was a nice day – I would have gone as it was only for three hours.

I loaded the car up and and travelled out the bottom of our village to join onto the A14 for the first part of the journey. I joined the dual carriageway just in front of a light blue ’67 Fastback. We travelled in convoy for a number of miles where I turned of to go the scenic route to the show, and because my SatNav told me to turn off.

After around twenty minutes I got to the edges of Thetford and rescued some images from the dash cam. Nothing in front of me, nothing behind me and I just cruised along at a gentle 50mph with the window down. so far this has been one of my favourite drives to any car show yet. Stunning.

Just short of an hour I arrived at the show, marshals efficiently directing the show cars onto the field, and visitor cars into the parking area.

I ended up parking near a Corvette and then a group of newer Mustangs pulled up next to me all in a line.

The thing with this show was I had to drive past Lakenheath air base. This is where the owner of my car bought if over from the states in the first place. When he finished his tours he left it here for somebody to buy, neglect it until I bought it.

My car had come home to its old stomping grounds!

This area has many airbases nearby and lots of USA spec cars owned by service men and women, turned up for the show. I got the cleaning stuff out and gave the car a quick wipe over to get the road dust of the car. By the time I had finished the car that were going to turn were here as we had to be in place by quarter to ten. I ended up taking the best part of two hundred and fifty photos on the day so I decided to split the post into two. The photos started at the front run and I worked my way towards the back of the field.

There are some more amazing cars to come in part 2’s post. The best part of this show? apart from there being lots of Mustangs, there were so many cars that I hadn’t seen before so I managed to spend lots of time looking around them.

Look out for next weeks post.

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Cancelled Kulture

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.

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Truth Or Myth?

I was told about a ‘scratch hack’ many years ago that removes light scratches from car paintwork, within seconds and cost virtually nothing. Sounds to good to be true right? I’m talking about the trade (not so) secret of the commonly used product WD40. I often wondered if it was true but never had a reason to find out. If I had a problem with paint, I would correct and protect it properly.

A little about WD40 first.

I was first developed around the early 1950s by Rocket Chemicals based in California who later changed their name on the basis of their product. The name WD40 stands for Water Displacement 40(th formula). The actual formula is a trade secret and only been held in secure vault in San Diego California since 2018. The product has not been patented to this day, to do so the ingredients would have to be disclosed. So if you want to copy it you could, if you try and reverse engineered like many others have and call it a different name.

The actual product hasn’t been changed for many, many years. The product was initially developed for a company to protect the outer skins of a super delicate skin of a ballistic missile from rust and corrosion. It later went on to find a host of household uses such as lubrication, protection and cleaning when it became commercially available in the very late 1950s. I won’t go into that side of it, you only have to look at YouTube or TikTok for various household hacks, from removing sticky labels, worktops, hinges, freeing up bolts etc.

I just want to look at this product from a car detailing point of view. It can be sprayed under the car to freshen things up, stop squeaks, apply a coating prior to winter to stop door rubbers sticking, short term storage or just polish up a bit. There are other products out there can do these dedicated tasks better than WD40, but not all of them together like this versatile ‘Jack of all trades’ product can.

Now of course there will be pros and cons for this ‘hack’;

Pros

  • Cheap, cost of a cup of coffee
  • Quick to use
  • Instant results
  • Looks OK
  • Disguises light scratches
  • Forms a protection barrier
  • Can prevent rusting
  • Long shelf life

Cons

  • Temporary fix
  • Only light scratches disguised
  • Body shops hate it
  • Often used to make cars look better than they actually are
  • Can be messy
  • Oil based
  • It can mess detailing pads up

The fact is that if you are spraying WD40 on anything, you are spraying an oil based type of product. Like I said in the cons, it’s only a quick fix and the old scenario of the car lot salesman showing you a gleaming car gives this hack a bad name.

The opportunity I had to try this hack out was that I had to remove a couple or stuck on hard plastic sill protectors on a car. Once they were removed it had left a couple of light scratches on the paint, even with my gentle panel removal tools. They are difficult to see but they are there.

So the tip so simple; spray a little on the paint and wipe over. Nothing could be easier, you don’t even have to rub it in just spread it about a bit.

The result is a miraculous cover up so the exposed paint could be seen again without the scratches.

So, does it work then? Yes – sort of

On the deeper scratches it improves it, but it doesn’t wipe them out. On lighter scratches does.

How? It’s all down the way light is reflected from the paint. The oil settles into the scratch and makes the light ray dispersion more uniform thus it disguises the scratch or swirl. This is a similar principle to car paint glaze which is a more durable option which needs a wax to protect it. I explain this paint defect principle in much more detail here. or cut and past this to your browser: htts://onemanandhismustang.com/difference-between-waxing-polishing-and-your-paint-job/

The general rule of thumb is if you can feel the scratch with your finger nail, you have a problem. If you can’t feel the scratch then it can be buffed, glazed or hidden in one way or another.

As the WD40 is oil it will eventually disappear due to the elements if on an exposed area. If the product is rained on a lot, it will need regular applications. So, if you want to mask or ‘hide’ a light paint surface imperfection, then you could use this product on a temporary basis. If you are going to buy a car, gently feel the paint to see if there is a oily film to the surface.

Another down side is that dust can settle in the WD40 spray and stick to it, so wiping it away could introduce more problems. The reason body shops don’t like it is the fact it’s oil based and once on your hands can be transferred all over the workshop. To clean it up properly in order to spray paint anything properly, this makes it all the more time consuming.

I tend to carry a small ‘sample’ sized can for a couple of reasons;

If you get a stone chip and can’t get to fix it for a while, spray the area with the WD40 and it will form a temporary barrier until you can fully remove it later to fix the chip.

If you are suffering from damp in your distributor cap (back to old school cars now) or HT leads etc, you can spray this to disperse the water. After all that was it’s sole purpose for development.

Did you know?

To get those super smoky burnouts in Hollywood films easily, they used an application of WD40 on the tyres! Not that you should ever do that of course, as it could be frowned upon by the local law enforcement agencies. 😉

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Hands On Or Off?

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! 😉

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