Julia

Yippy Skippy!! I won 1st plae in my division. Boy was it a lot of work and well worth it. It is so much fun being at the event and seeing all the great cars.

RJT

Congratulations Julia!!!!! It really is a beautiful car with a great name! Nice trophy too!
Are you in the SVR? Do you know Tom Sisson?

Actually you have to be REALLY INSANE to do full Concours
Last year Robert just decided that since the parade was so close to us (Fort Worth is 4 hours from Hot Springs) we'd do Full Concours. Our car was already really clean to begin with, or so he thought. Undercarriage requires a lot of time to clean because, you never really know what the judge will decide to check and there are so many nooks and crannies under there. We do not have a lift in our garage. If the ceilings were higher I'm sure we would. For now, Robert jacks up the car and puts in to Jack Stands.That give him enough room to get under the car using his creepy crawler thing. He take a really bright light with him and slowy cleans away. Sometimes he gets high as a kit when he has a particulary bad spot to clean and uses brake cleaner. Not much ventilation going on under there! He's about 90% done with the undercarriage now. He cut the cleaning short becuase he is in Long Beach, CA picking up a "new" 356 for us. When you see one you like, you have to buy it rigth away, becuase if you don't someone else will, so Max sits waiting until dad gets home and back to work. I can do a few things while it's up, but I really don't like crawling about in the interior when it's on the jack stands!

You've got to drive a 356 one day. It's totally different than driving a 911. Sort of like the difference between driving a ricer bike and a Harley. 356's are like Harley's made for cruising. You have to get out of the let's go fast mind set, unless you have an outlaw

JoAnne

Julia

Hi JoAnne, thanks! Yes and yes. Tom Sisson is a great guy. He won 1st place with his 356 yesterday. He is our membership director and I am the Social Director of SVR. Tom does so much for our club. Maybe I can get him to take me for a ride in his car.

What year is your new baby? And what does HWFM mean?

Next season, I will probably try the Street class. Engine compartments spook me. I worry about getting electrocuted and getting water somewhere where it shouldn't be.

I had my car up on jack stands when I repainted my wheels (got 0 decuctions on wheels!) and cleaned the wheel wells pretty good. I would need it out in the driveway to hose it out and didn't want him stuck out there over night with his bottom exposed! We are in the process of turning out 2 car carport into a garage! Skippy must have a real garage. The architect came out Saturday and as soon as he is done with the plans, we'll get our permit and get going. The cars will have to be out in the driveway while it is being built.

What brand of polishes and waxes do you use? I used 3M Imperial Hand Glaze for the first time and was pretty happy with it. Then I used Rejex as a sealer. Love Rejex. I did have some hazing on my hood though which I got .50 deduction for. And I worked so hard on that.

x-autoproducts

RejeX user wins 1st place....!!!!!


that's fantastic, julia.
you know, my company gave PCA zone 7 several cases of RejeX to give to each class winner, for every show they're having this entire year.
i'm certainly glad you like RejeX, and thanks for posting your pics.

best regards,

barry
X-Auto Products
800-559-1192
www.x-autoproducts.com

Julia

As a matter of fact, I got a bottle of Rejex with my win! We really do think Rejex is great. I went on the San Simeon Tour our club puts on and had more bugs than I can count on my car when I got home! I thought washing them off was going to be aweful and it wasn't. The bugs just slid right off. I practically just have to rinse my car these days. Great stuff and great shine! I use it on my headlights as well.

mxbanker

Congrats on your win!

Julia

Thanks, it was a lot of hard work, but worth it. Not just because I got 1st place (although I am happy about that) but because it one of those things that you get pleasure from for the fruits of your labor. Kind of like gardening, you work the soil and plants and you get beauty! I have to say, I now know every nook and crannie on this car!

RJT

Our New baby is a 1958 A Coupe:

It is not a Full Concours car, but after some good ol' cleaning and removal of the factory roll bar it can go touring (street) division in restoration class. I can't wait to see it. Robert drove all night and stopped at 5:30am at a truck stop somewhere in New Mexico for a couple of hours of sleep. He should be here late tonight or, if the weather thru OK is bad (as predicted), then it will be first thing in the morning. However, we can't spend too much time staring at it. We HAVE to finish Max for the Parade!!!

Max at the Fort Worth Parade last year. You can tell Robert was happy:


One year in Wash and Shine is a good thing to do. Sort of like cutting teeth. Is Tom still doing the Wash and Shine Class? Hmmmm....
Don't worry, you are not going to get electrocuted cleaning the engine. Get it steam cleaned professionaly at first, or if you are afraid of that, just do it all by hand using brake cleaners, gunk, etc. You may lose a few brain cells just from smellingthe stuff, but you will be super proud about how great your car looks as a whole. After that, you can then move on to full concours and do the undercarriage, then I will know that you are just as insane as we are!!! I mean, no one but you and the judges see the undercarriage, but there is something about a car that is so clean from top to bottom. I can't explain it.....

We have also used 3M Imperial Hand Glaze in the past and still do in certain instances. Now we are really big on using a ton of different Griots Garage products. Robert is a Clay fiend. He loves to clay the cars and the stuff really does work. I even like using the clay. You get to really feel your car. Sort of like the old days when we used Zymol and rubbed it all over the car. Something amazing about the connection. As for Rejax, Robert doesn't use any polymer type of products on the show cars. He doesn't really like anything that bonds to the paint. He is one of the old school guys that thinks paint has to "breath". We have seen Rejaxed cars and they look just great. He just worries about what they will still look like 5 years down the line. Do polymers stay on the car or with time, will they start to peel off? Maybe Barry will jump in here and explain a little more about Rejax products becuase I am very interested...... ANYWAY...... Hazing is a pain in the butt. We actually have a heated and cooled and dehumidified garage so we can control the temperature in there, especially when he is waxing a car. Just a little to warm and you can get the haze and the same if it's too cold. Humidity is the worst when it comes to hazing. Was it humid when you were waxing??

JoAnne

PS: HWFM is a imaginary team on the 993 board that we are part of. It's just for fun. Rigth now we are 993less, but I'm almost 98% positive we'll have one again.

PSS: Tell Tom Hi from me. And finally, I'm also the Membership Director of the Ozark Region of PCA. See?? We have a lot in common!!!

Julia

Sacramento is pretty dry. It was warm though. BTW, your new baby is Beautiful!!! I am so envious. I want one, I want one, I want one!!

I called the guy at Care Care Specialists today because I used the Imperial Hand Glaze just on my hood and it was really hard to remove. He said I applied it too thick and in too big a section. He said to do a 12" square area then buff off and continue. I did that and it worked great. I told him I used Rejex last week and he was not too happy about that. He said it was more for marine use and that I should use a good Carnuba wax instead, especially for concours. He recommended P21S Carnuba Wax, so like every "newbie", I ordered some. I have been pleased with the results of Rejex, but he said you get better depth of shine with wax, but it doesn't last as long. I don't care about lasting long because I looooove to wax my car! I have 30 days to get Skippy perfect before the next show.

I will tell Tom hello for you.

RJT

Julia,

I forgot to tell you that we also use 3M Finesse II finishing glaze when we see any fine scratches or overspray on the car. Works GREAT every time. We also use a Porter Cable random orbital buffer.....

This is where Robert is right now as I type:



Undercarriages are so fun. I'm waiting for the Bug Man to leave so I can change and crawl under the car too. I need to get my hands up and around the places that Robert can't get to!

JoAnne

Julia

I love your garage floor. We might do something like that when it's built. So many products...

That's Max up on jacks? Where did you find the new baby? In a few months we are going to start looking for a 356. For investment purposes, which model do you think has the most collectibility? A, B, C? Earlier, the better? I really like the A's.

RJT

Well for investment purposes an open car will get you the most when you sell it, but they are already getting very expensive to just buy. Speedsters are priced out of this world. We personally love the Pre A's (Max) and the A's (Gunter). We had a beautiful C coupe (Helga) that we just sold back to the original owner. A's and C's command the higher prices and for some reason B's are the least "desirable" and the best buys. It could be because they made so many, I don't really know. There is nothing wrong with the B's. Early B's have the A look with a lower price tag. There are many folks that prefer buying C's because they have the disc brakes and stronger engines etc. Personally we find nothing wrong with the old drum brakes you find on the A's if they have been rebuilt. Seems like lots of people buy a C as their first 356 and then move to A's or add A's to their collections. You can't go wrong with any open car, Pre A, A, B or C. Open cars are the hot ticket right now. Also Sunroof Coupes cost more, although some folks prefer non sunroof cars because the are notorious about leaking. Just remember that if you buy a basket case, you will be in it for more than you can get out of it, if your sole purpose for buying and fixing the car is to turn it over an make a profit. It is better to let someone else spend the 80,000 restoring the car and you buy it for 50,000.00. A pre A will cost the most to restore since parts are becoming very hard to find. From there the costs go down the ladder with the C's being the least expensive (still you'll put out some bucks) because there are many more parts available. Of Course if you do much of the work yourself, you can save money and learn alot along the way. Hope this helps.

Yes that is Max up on the jack stands. He is still up there tonight. Robert is almost done detailing the bottom half of the engine bay. Tomorrow I get to start in by doing the wheels and the tiny tight spots. Lots of work, but somehow it is theraputic, you know what I mean??

We found the new Baby in Long Beach, CA at John Willhoit's place:
www.willhoitautorestoration.com
John is one of the 356 So. Cal. Guru's. If you get a car through him, you know it's going to be a good one!!!! We bought this one sight unseen just on John's good word. We trust him that much.

Here's another seller of 356's in So. Cal: www.europeancollectables.com That is where we found Max. We bought him only two days after he came into the showroom. It was all about timing with that buy. We've done quite a lot of work to him to make him better, but it was a great car to begin with.

When you are ready to buy a 356 what ever you do, remember it's a very old car and not a 911. It takes a totally different mind set. Sort of like the difference between being a Harley owner and an owner of a Rice Rocket. What ever you do always get a PPI!!!

JoAnne

Julia

Hi JoAnne,
We looked at a 1964 356C today. It is pretty nice, but would need new paint because it has a repaint in not the original color of gray. It is silver now and has a green interior which I do like. It has two little dents that would not be an issue, but we don't think we don't want to buy a car knowing we have to repaint it, unless the price was lower. He is asking $17, 500 for it and also has it on E-Bay.

I have a little issue with Skippy's felt trunk liner that I need to fix. It has a small bleached out spot from the battery acid (I'm guessing at that). I am going to try a mix of black and white liquid shoe polish (to make gray) to see if I can match it up and then dab it on to blend. Any ideas other than that and a replacement!

AeroSmith

Ladies, beautiful cars and a very interesting thread. Many thanks for sharing.

Makes me want to get a 356!

Julia

Thanks and the shoe polish worked on my bleached felt! I want a 356 too. Someday that will come, but I'm never giving up the Skippy!