Concours D ' Elegance Show in Carmel
This post is all about our trip to Carmel By the Sea. Envious Auto detail had the good fortune of traveling to Northern California to prep some cars for the biggest car event in the Country! This truly is a car lovers dream and a tremendous opportunity for a detailer such as myself to have the privilege of being trusted to work on such amazing cars.
Monterey Car week in Northern California is considered the Car Capital of the world from Aug 11th to the 16th. People from all around the world come to this beautiful part of California to enjoy amazing weather, breath taking views of the Bay, and of course some amazing very rare cars! Its during this week that there are a multitude of Car shows, auctions, drive thrus, and racing to keep the most thirsty of auto enthusiasts entertained to their hearts content.
This post also is features some work that I did before the show. We had a big paint correction project of a 1964 356 Coupe C, and some prep work of my friends 59' 356 Coupe A. Check out the photos and leave a comment!!
Monterey Car week in Northern California is considered the Car Capital of the world from Aug 11th to the 16th. People from all around the world come to this beautiful part of California to enjoy amazing weather, breath taking views of the Bay, and of course some amazing very rare cars! Its during this week that there are a multitude of Car shows, auctions, drive thrus, and racing to keep the most thirsty of auto enthusiasts entertained to their hearts content.
This post also is features some work that I did before the show. We had a big paint correction project of a 1964 356 Coupe C, and some prep work of my friends 59' 356 Coupe A. Check out the photos and leave a comment!!
What a beautiful car!! At first glance this Porsche looked flawless. But it wasnt till I pulled it out into the sun when I noticed it did need a significant level of paint correction. Now there were some areas that had a level or orange peel and some deeper scratches. But I needed to gauge my time effectively as I only had two days before the show to make this gorgeous car look its best before the Ocean AVE show. Since sanding the car was not an option I decided to choose my battles wisely and attack the various micro-scratches, some machine swirls I saw. Below is a close up of what I had to fix.
In looking very closely around the reflection of my sun gun light you can clearly see various scratches on the surface. Its these kind of marks on the paint that are really visible when in direct sunlight.
here is a great photo, this pic shows two kind of scratches, one is the general light cobweb "micro-scratching" this is that light white haze you see around the reflection of my sun gun light. But if you look closely to the right of the light you will see a deeper more evident scratch, this is called a R.I.D. So on this part of the hood there will be two separate strategies to address each one.
So I armed my self with my polisher, various chemicals and pads, and plenty of energy drinks!! And after a good 18.5 hours (2 days) this beautiful Porsche was brought back to its original luster!! I pulled the car out in the sun and it looked great!! Lots of fun but very stressful as I wanted this car to look its best!!
Before After
By taking the time to properly remove the scratches we restored luster, depth , and shine. Now when the car was pulled out in the sun it looked almost wet because we have maximum even reflection bouncing off the surface of the paint . I also sealed it with a high quality show wax to maximize the level of vibrancy. Below are some more pics of the completed project.
Prepping the 356 CoupeA
Fortunately this 356 CoupeA did not need as much intensive detailing as the CoupeC. We just took the painstaking slow process necessary to ensure that all attention to detail aspects were considered. Its amazing how even after the process of cleaning the car, waxing it, and wiping all the jambs, cleaning the glass etc, there is still so much more involved in getting a car "Show ready". The photos below give a peak as to how much more needs to be done .
As laid back and fun as a car show seems, for a detailer it can be a very tedious , long and sometimes stressful process. From the initial detail to the constant prepping and fine tuning, everything from staying on top of dust accumulation to watching out for a bird flying over head with a vendetta. Its the responsibility of the detailer to have ready micro-fiber towels and spray wax to do any fine tuning or last minute touch ups. But what goes on behind the scenes is a whole other story. This is where the passion lies and the obsession steps in . The following gallery below shows just how intricate it can be.
After about 4 hours of polishing and refining and wiping we finally got it to look right. When we looked at the clock we couldn't believe in was already 1 AM. We had to get some sleep and be ready in 5 hours. But it was well worth the effort.
We woke up the next morning and did some final intricate clean up to our freshly polished bumper
We woke up the next morning and did some final intricate clean up to our freshly polished bumper
In looking at the photo closely you can clearly see that there is some grit that is resting on the inner side of the bumper. We were really pressed for time so we addressed it at the show before the judges came through as we had a couple of hours . It can be a little hard to focus when you are at the show as there are many people that come over and ask about the car its history, and what kind of restoration was done to it. There was also grit on parts of lower bumper brackets as well. So we really had to stay focused and get these areas perfected.
With just a little bit of spray wax and some agitation the road grit was removed. Another thing that makes on location touch ups like this a little more hectic is that I did not have acces to compressed air , I had to use a micro fiber towel to clean up the area after I q-tipped it. Then I start thinking ' "Did I bring enough micro-fiber towels?" Where compressed air your just using air not precious clean mico-fiber paint towels!! LOL This is just an inside look to the method of the madness of a detailer.
We took the time to look at all the tools and make sure everything was in order as the judges were making there way down the street. Last minute scramble to make everything perfect.
The Judging
All in all this was an amazing learning experience. To be detailing at this level truly is a blessing. I wake up each morning feeling very lucky to be able to do what I love to do. Carmel by the Sea is a very special place, the architecture, small shops and places to eat really give this area nice charm, but its really the people that make it so great. I met a lot of people from many walks of life that all have one thing in common on this very special week. WE ALL LOVE CARS and CAR CULTURE!!! Regardless of language or culture, enjoying and admiring a beautiful car is really a universal thing. Please enjoy the slide show below showing the rest of our trip!!
I cannot finish this post without thanking some very special people that I am very lucky to know. Big thanks to my good friend and Mentor Julio, who without him this opportunity would not have been possible. I would also like to thank MR. Bob Smith in trusting me to work on his CoupeC and his other AWESOME cars!! Its customers like him who make my career that much more fun and rewarding.
And a very SPECIAL thanks to Mr. Thomas and Jody Glenn for their hospitality and generosity . You truly made my first trip to Carmel a very memorable one, one that I will never forget. I had a great time getting to know you and spending time with you. I am proud to call you my friends. THANK YOU :)
And a very SPECIAL thanks to Mr. Thomas and Jody Glenn for their hospitality and generosity . You truly made my first trip to Carmel a very memorable one, one that I will never forget. I had a great time getting to know you and spending time with you. I am proud to call you my friends. THANK YOU :)
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