Buffeast 2.0: In the Buff (working title)









Prologue



Upon completion of my previous trip to the Great White North, my life had returned to normal. I was traumatized, but therapy and a 1/5th of Vodka (per day) slowly erased those memories. Nightmares of Mr. X, complete with cool blue mask and yellow teeth, haunted my sleep. One particular rainy Thursday night a knock at the front door drowned out the thunder over head.



I opened the door slowly and asked into the darkness, “Hello?”



“Hello Homer,” I could see the yellow teeth in the black night. Those yellow teeth....



“Mr. X, how did you find me?” I asked, my stomach a pit. Just a toothy yellow smile answered me. I retreated a step into the safety of my house. In a flash, almost too quick to perceive, Mr. X was behind me. I spun quickly.



“How did you do that? My door`s not even open? How did you move so fast!?”



Mr. X cocked his blue head to the side like a poodle-foo (or whatever those ummmm unique dogs are called). Mr. X’s eyes rolled back and his mouth hung open.



“I didn`t move fast, I slowed time. Your perception fools you,” he hissed.



“Like the Matrix?”



“No! Like Interview with a Vampire. I`m Brad Pitt.” He smiled with out moving his mouth; a freezing chill shot across my body. I tried to respond but nothing came out.



“Homer,” he continued,” wanna come to the Great White North and buff out some sweet rides?”



No my mind thought. I could not endure another 2 weeks of sleepless nights and bad jokes. Like a rat marching to Pied Piper I uncontrollably answered, “Yes.”........



Who is Mr. X? What is The Great White North? Why did you just right that horrendous (and confusing prologue??



Those who missed the original story The Greatest Detailing Adventure Ever Told might have a hard time understanding the lack of logic in my unploughed. Mr. X is a (semi)fictional character who owns a massive car collection of some of the coolest and most rare automobiles in the world. The Great White North is a place, between Heaven and Hell, where Mr. X store the majority of this collection (he has cars around the world)..



What made The Greatest Adventure Ever Told such a fun(ny) story is that while I took some creative license, the story was true. Bud was a real guy, their was an Epic snow storm, and Ryan Blanchette and I had some pretty interesting experiences. It WAS an adventure. This trip, however, was more focused. 12 days (many of them lasting 18-20 hours, sometimes more). The quality of the automobiles was amazing: Bruce McLaren`s personal road car (the first McLaren road car ever made), a 1965 Shelby Mustang, an original paint Lamborghini Miura, a 1 of 1 Bentley, the Pebble Beach winning De Tomaso Mangusta Spider (also 1 of 1) and so on.



As such, the focus of the story is solely on the incredible automobiles that I was allowed (and humbled) to work on,



The 1969 McLaren M6GT



In the later 1960`s McLaren was considering a road car to rival Ferrari. The McLaren M6GT was, in many ways, the first super super exotic car and the Godfather to the fabled McLaren F1. Ultimately McLaren only built 3 (maybe 4) of these cars, and only ONE was built at the McLaren race factory. This is that car, the rarest McLaren, and first ultra exotic every built.



Despite being the only true McLaren M6GT, this one has the ultimate distinction of being Bruce McLaren`s personal road car. This was the car he drove until his death in 1970. This amazingly unique automobile is unrestored except for a repaint. The steering wheel is the same Bruce spun, the seats are the same he sat in. The original Chevrolet solid lifter LT-1 V8 still sits in the back. (An engine which interestingly enough wasn`t released until 1970). With a curb weight of less then 1700 lbs and almost 400 horsepower on tap, this car is a rocket-ship, with a power to weight ratio that is near par with a Bugatti Veyron! (4.2 lbs per horsepower for the Veyron and 4.6 lbs per horsepower for the McLaren). It even approaches the amazing 3.9 lbs per horsepower of the McLaren F1!) Only this was in 1969!!!!



Here is the McLaren M6GT prior to getting started. First the paint was washed using Optimum No-Rinse and clayed using Meguiar`s Blue (Mild) Detailer`s Clay while ONR provided the lubrication. Mikey is seen in the background rubbing the paint smooth.







Mikey started by polishing the numerous tight ares of this rare super car by hand. Here a microfiber towel and Meguiar`s M105 Ultra Cut Compound clean up some of the scratching around the taillights.







The red-orange paint was riddled with deeper scratches such as the ones in this picture. While we started the McLaren on day one, delays from other projects, as well as the difficult paint required about 45 hours of my labor (and a total of 65 hours between Rory and Mikey) to complete. With Mr. X’s enthusiastic encouragement I was tasked at bringing all of the automobiles to the highest standard possible.







From start to finish compounding, or aggressive polishing, took the majority of the time to compete; approximately 25 hours. In the picture below I am using a Lake Country twisted 4-ply wool pad with Meguiar`s M105. Each section of paint required at least 5 separate (and aggressive) applications, some required far more. Note: The tape covering the fabled OBH 500H tag that signifies this McLaren as the only one built by the McLaren factory for Mr. Bruce McLaren.







The complex body presented numerous challenges. Here the McLaren`s door is flipped open to allow the edges to be polished. It is worth noting that this is true hand built car that is over 40 years old, none of the gaps are perfect. This required taping various body gaps and a lot of patience.





This picture, taken on the fourth day of the trip (but the second full day of working on the McLaren) shows the starboard side after multiple compounding at an intermediary step using M105 on a Porter Cable ala KBM.







The middle slat of the bonnet had yet to be compounded while the adjacent body panels have already received hours of being polished.







After the middle slat was compounded and polished.







The areas underneath the door handles required hours and hours of meticulous hand polishing. I tasked Mikey with the work and he worked until his fingers bled. (I did offer him a Diet Dr. Pepper once the bleeding became profuse)











Paint correction of the McLaren M6GT officially ended on day 6 due to multiple changes in the game plan. After paint polishing Rory got to work polishing the original wheels.



Note: The wheels (and tires) on this car are original. Even better, they are true Formula 1 magnesium wheels and treaded Formula 1 rain tires from the 1968 season. Rory is a metal polish expert and was tasked with restoring the magnesium finish to a high luster.







Here is the original F1 wheel wrapped in vintage F1 race rubber.







After an hour of being polished...







Polished wheels on the left.







With the wheels and tires re-mounted (they now look amazing!), Mikey and I carefully washed the McLaren of the dust that has accumulated by sitting for several days while Rory refinished the wheels. The original, pre-production LT-1 small block was gently wiped down with Optimum No-Rinse, as well as the rear suspension. Finally Mikey applied two coats of Blackfire Wet Diamond.







After Pictures.



These picture where taken on day 6 of the trip. We were fortunate to have sunshine at Area 51.







The bonnet radiated in the sun, with no swirl marks in sight.











The McLaren M6GT opened up.



















In order to save weight the McLaren was fitted with mechanical (as in you open them) headlights.















The rare fender in the sun. Note how scratched and swirled the rear plexiglass window is (which would be an accurate representation of the before condition of the paint.) Instead of investing the considerable amount of time in restoring the window Mr. X instead has decided to replace it and keep the original hanging up.











The gorgeous silhouette.















The Ford GT40: Once in a lifetime.



The second day of the trip was underway and I was working on the McLaren when Mr. X burst through the door.



“Homer, I want to do some laps in the GT40. Wanna come?” Mr. X asked.



And so it was on... The first thing about getting into a GT40 is that it is small. I had to hunch down in the seat to avoid my helmet hitting the roof, and contort my body in a unique position to avoid leaning against Mr. X while he piloted the beast. The side oiler Ford big block makes upwards of 600 horsepower, and with a curb weight of under 2000 pounds I knew I was in for a ride.



Mr. X checked the tires rigorously prior to heading out on the track.







My view from inside the was slightly limited, although I had a great view of the speedometer. This made it possible to judge who close I was to dying at any given moment.







Mr. X took the first 5-10 laps rather slow to build heat into the tires and help reduce the risk of spinning this invaluable machine into the tire barrier. Despite the gingerly pace, lesser cars such as the 800 horsepower Supra ahead, as well as a host of ZO6`s, Mustangs, and Bimmer`s all faded into the mirror.







Once warmed up Mr. X planted his foot to the floor and began to take turns at amazing speeds. The unbelievable power-to-weight ratio made hitting 140-160 miles per hour on the short front straight a breeze. The problem was slowing down as antiquated brakes had the GT40 dancing around under breaking. Turn one is a slow bending right hander that required the GT40 to slow to 80 mph in a matter of seconds before snapping towards the apex. Each lap my heart would skip as the GT40 danced under intense breaking, its vintage brakes scrubbing speed in high drama. A few moments later my heart would beat again.







Here is Mr. X blasting down the front straight at upwards of 140, his Stig like helmet providing down force. This GT40 is equipped with the fabled “Gurney Bubble” but Mr. X’s long stature meant he had to go roofless just to fit. Inches behind his head a 427 based Ford big block inhaled the atmosphere at an alarming rate, blasting sound waves out it`s headers that echoed long after the GT40 disappeared over a crest.







De Tomaso Mangusta Spyder Prototype.



One of one... Pebble Beach winner...



Alejandro de Tomaso was a famous coach builder who is most know for his Pantera sports cars of the 1970s. Before the Pantera, his company, De Tomaso Automobili SpA penned and built the gorgeous Mangusta (Cobra-eater). Many consider this design to be one of the most beautiful of all time. De Tomaso commissioned a prototype Mangusta Spyder, the only one ever built, and by default the rarest De Tomaso ever.



This is that particular automobile. Years had passed since this stunning auto had garnered a trophy at the world renowned Pebble Beach De` Elegance. The paint had been abused by previous care takers and was in need of serious polishing. Mr. X didn`t give me any easy projects this trip....



Mikey handled the washing and drying duties, starting with Optimum No-Rinse. Much of this project ran parallel with the restoration work being carried out on the McLaren. The Mangusta Spyder was started late on day two, after returning from the track. A total of 35 hours of paint polishing, carried out over the next 2 days (and LONG nights) had this one of one show car back to it`s award winning glory.



Car was taken to take all of the razor sharp creases and body lines. Polishing started with Meguiar`s M105 UCC on the (then) unreleased Lake Country 1pad system wool pad. This was followed by M105 on a Porter Cable using a Lake Country Orange Power Pad. Final polishing was also done with the Porter Cable using a black finishing pad and Menzerna PO85rd.