My first show...

**Jngrbrdman** · 07-13-2003, 12:38 AM

I`ll have to upload some other pictures on Monday when I have the advantage of my office`s high speed T1. A 28.8 kbps connection is no way to live....

I`ve done cars for shows in the past, and I`ve had my car in local car club shows from time to time... But this is the first time that I shined it up enough that I created the standard that the other cars would be judged by.

I`ve spent the last couple weeks getting it ready. I`ve polished it out to where I`m 95% satisfied with it. There are some marks that I`m sure can be taken out, I just don`t think anyone will notice either way. White just gets whiter in the light anyway. The imperfections that I see under the 1000 watt lights are usually hidden pretty well from the average joe.

I finished my polishing last week and started on the Platinum layers this week. I went pure Platinum on this one. No AIO.

I know that may shock some of ya. lol I decided to go pure this time. Paint Pre Cleaner followed by 3 layers of UPP (on different days, of course). I finished up with the UPP layers on Thursday and put a layer of P21S on Friday and a layer of Vintage on today. I gotta say, Vintage applied a lot different this time than it did when I used it in December. It must have been because I was holding this chunk of wax in one hand and it was melting pretty quick or something. Before it seemed comparable to P21S in ease to buff off. This time it was a lot different. Much tougher. Must be the higher level of carnauba or something. The difference from P21S to Vintage isn`t noticable really. We`ll see how it does.

I spent a lot of time on Friday night working on the engine. I discovered Simple Green at last. I`ve always mixed up my own brew of degreaser, but I just ran out of Advanage and autoint degreaser concentrates. I gotta say, I`m very impressed. Simple green rules. :xyxthumbs Between that and several rags, brushes, and Qtips I got that engine in primo condition. I did the underside of the hood and even waxed it. Well, not waxed per se... I used UPP.

Still, it really looked good. The pic I chose to post first shows the great reflection I was even able to get off the inside of the hood.

Every painted area of that engine is clean now. I`ve got the damaged hands to prove it. lol I can barely type today because they got so cut up trying to get around different things. I guess its lucky I`ve got small bones so it was easier to get around in there. I even went so far as to wrap my fingers with shop towels and try and get areas that way. It was quite the site.... My neighbors really think I`ve lost it this time.

The show wasn`t a concours show by any means. There were some scary cars there. I`ve got some great examples of why you don`t use a wool pad and Diamon Cut with a $35 dollar buffer from WalMart.

Talk about scary... Mostly it was an import show, but there were a few domestics representing. There was a really sweet Vette and a nice Camaro SS there too. Sorry Bill... It was black.

I knew I wasn`t going to win in my class because my car is so stock it wasn`t going to get the points in that area. I swept in the cleanliness area though.

That was all I was really interested in doing. I wanted to set a standard so people knew what was possible. It was sad to see cars 2 or 3 years newer than mine looking worse than mine did when I started on it two weeks ago. Oh well... It was a great experience that really made me work my Autopian muscles. My car looks great now so it was all worth it.

**chris0626** · 07-13-2003, 12:43 AM

Anthony, that is some kinda GORGEOUS! And, wow! do I know what you mean about the tedium and blood involved in engine-detailing. I look forward to seeing more pix!

Congratulations. I assume you got all sorts o` "warm fuzzies" as people look at your car?

**Jngrbrdman** · 07-13-2003, 12:49 AM

Yeah, it was cool to see 5 or 6 people standing in front of the car looking at the engine. Maybe they were looking for the modifications that weren`t there. lol You won`t see any of them on top. Most of them are internal. The air intake is the only thing that really stands out. It was fun to detail for a purpose other than my maddening obsession to have a clean car. :lol I`m going to look for another show soon. I need more mods....

**Pats300zx** · 07-13-2003, 06:26 AM

Jngr....

WOW..the car looks fantastic. Awesome work !!!!!!

So have you been "bitten" by the car show bug???? Trust me once you start you find that you love it more and more.

Mods=Addiction (trust me)

**imported_Luster** · 07-13-2003, 07:29 AM

Originally posted by Pats300zx

So have you been "bitten" by the car show bug???? Trust me once you start you find that you love it more and more.

Oh yes, I`ve got it too. And my wife is also catching it!!!!

Great Job JNGR! We have 2 shows next weekend, I`ll post pics.

Bill

**Jngrbrdman** · 07-13-2003, 04:13 PM

Hopefully next year I`ll have more to show off and I might just win a class. Maybe I need to find some stock class shows to attend. It was just fun to participate this year. There are a couple things I want to add and then I`ll be more confident. They really do need to have some kind of `Sleeper` class or something.

**BlkEscapeMike** · 07-13-2003, 04:49 PM

Are there any cash prizes involved in winning shows such as this?

I`m amazed at how white that car is...huge props Jngrbrdman!

**JamesLF** · 07-13-2003, 06:10 PM

Your Acura looks great Jngr. I`m really impressed. Great job.:xyxthumbs

There`s a show coming up in about 5 weeks that I`m planning to attend. For some reason I`m kinda looking forward to the detailing more than the show. Seems odd to me. Maybe it has something to do with all of the new products that I`ve been gathering up thanks to Autopia.

**RegalGS** · 07-13-2003, 06:13 PM

Anthony,

Your ride looks awesome! If I spent a week working on my car, it wouldn`t look near as clean. Congrats on the "clean win". *ahem*

So, now a question. How do you folks find out about shows and stuff in your area? I`d be curious about getting involed in something like that... just for a once-in-a-while fun thing to do.

**Jngrbrdman** · 07-13-2003, 06:18 PM

Originally posted by BlkEscapeMike

Are there any cash prizes involved in winning shows such as this?

I`m amazed at how white that car is...huge props Jngrbrdman!

Sometimes there can be. This was just a small local show so the cash awards probably weren`t that big. They were cool trophies though. I think most of them were just doing it so they could hang out with other enthusiasts and talk shop. It was pretty fun just to hang out. Hotter than hell, but still pretty fun.

Dawn... A lot of it is just knowing the right people. The internet is a great source to get started if you get the search engines working for you. Also, if you know someone who is in the show scene then they might be able to get you started. I heard about at least 3 other shows coming up while I was there. I don`t know if I`ll enter any more this year since I got what I wanted out of this one. Next year will be a different story though. I want a trophy next year.

**JamesLF** · 07-13-2003, 06:21 PM

Originally posted by RegalGS

So, now a question. How do you folks find out about shows and stuff in your area?

Watch the Events section in magazines that you buy/subscribe to. People in car/truck clubs usually know what`s going on each weekend. If you know anyone that runs a custom shop, or if you hang around one quite often you usually can find out through them. Or if you know anyone that has a show car/truck they always know what`s up for the weekends.

Blue-Sun · 07-13-2003, 06:21 PM

wow, i see the reflection from the inside of the hood that you were talking about. very beautiful!

I wanna see more pics of the show and of your car.

**Pats300zx** · 07-13-2003, 06:23 PM

wow, i see the reflection from the inside of the hood that you were talking about. very beautiful!

Thanks Jngr..You have inspired me to detail the underside of my hood on my daily driver first chance I get....

**Jngrbrdman** · 07-13-2003, 06:32 PM

Thanks guys! I worked hard on that car. Its hard to get a payoff from white, but it can be done. I`ll post some more pics tomorrow from work. Here`s a good one of the underside of the hood. It was fun to do an area that I know I`ve neglected in the past. Gotta love simple green...