1937 Ford Cabriolet

Well it was an honor detailing this vehicle, it took me a bit of time but the owner of this vehicle said my favorite words “Take your time, I’m in no rush”. Well that was music to my ears :woo: Well a day was arranged and here is the vehicle as it was delivered to me:

:druling:






Lets see if I can make these lovely white wall tires look better




Looks good doesn’t it. Looks can be deceiving :whistle:

Well for the most part the vehicle was just a little dusty but the first issue, well not really an issue just something to keep in mind:

The windows wouldn’t go all the way up, like I said not an issue, just something to keep in mind during the wash.

Well first things, like always I start at the shoes. No need to go too aggressive, so I went with Menzerna Gel, then agitated with my Zymol brush:


The tires were scrubbed with my Meg’s brush:


Wheel wells were scrubbed with my down graded Zymol sponge and here is how all that scrubbing looked like:


This process was carried out to the rest of the tires, rims and wheel wells.

Once I was done with the shoes of the vehicle, I got my two buckets ready:


Before I begin the washing process though I needed to take care of the soft top on the vehicle, for this I decided to go with Zymol Fabrique:


Now seeing as I couldn’t take my hose and rinse the top I decided to just spray the soft top with Reverse Osmosis water in a spray bottle, followed up with a coat of Zymol Fabrique:


Gently scrubbed with a Meg’s brush:

To rinse the soft top once again I simply sprayed it down with Reverse Osmosis water in a spray bottle, took a bit of time but I had all the time in the world :thumb:

Once done, the rest of the vehicle was washed, the shampoo of choice was Zymol Clear with the two bucket method and my sea sponge. To clay the vehicle I decided to go with Yellow Riccardo:


Here is how the clay finished off after just the rear fender:

As you can see the clay lube was water.

Next step was to tape up the vehicle and there was lots to tape up and cover :shrug:


Well once I was done taping up the vehicle to take some paint gauge readings, for this I used my PosiTector 6000:

Took lots of paint gauge readings as you can see by the chart:



Now what I was eagerly waiting for, the paint inspection with the help of my 3M Sun Gun:



Lets see, swirls. Check :thumb:


Holograms, check :thumb:


Wet sand marks :sheep:






That’s a 10-4 :woo:




Deep scratches, check :thumb:

That about does it..oh wait, wait more:









Well I think that’s enough, as you can see I had my work cut out. Lots and lots of goodies for me to tinker with. Now I have to admit I couldn’t help but admire all the swirls, sand marks, holograms and deep scratches…I admire them because I know I can get rid of them :giggle:

Onto the task of finding a suitable polishing and foam pad. Several sections were taped off, the reason I did this was because I had a hunch :nod: yup a hunch. You’ll see what I mean as the detail unfolds. Well I start off with the least aggressive combo, so I got out my favorite least aggressive polishes and foam pad:

This combo actually delivered some results, not great but some results:

But nowhere near to my satisfaction and to my surprise the rear section where I decided to start polish was clear coated, I was expecting single stage paint :shrug:. Well time to bump up the polish, with another 3M UK Blue Finishing pad this time around I decided to go with Menzerna Intensive Polish. This combo did okay but still fairly deep RIDS remained so bumped up the pad to the 3M UK Black Polishing pad partnered up with Menzerna Intensive Polish, followed up with 3M UK Blue Finishign pad with 3M UK Ultrafina and this combo delivered as I expected:


This vehicle was covered with sand marks, someone skipped a step or two :shrug: That’s okay I don’t mind one bit, before:


After:

As you can see the sand marks were quite deep so a second pass was given.

Now if you look closer:

The vehicle was far from finished, vehicle needed some sharpness, some oomph, pop…pow! Well you know what I mean but that will come latter

I haven’t even gotten through the correction process and I was already wondering and thinking and :shead: on what wax I was going to use on this vehicle…I know, I know I was getting a head of my self but I just couldn’t help it.

Well on with the paint correction, again still working away at the rear of the vehicle, before:


After:

Still a few deep scratches, so a second pass was required with Menzerna Intensive Polish and a Black 3M UK Polishing pad.

Here are some 50/50:



Rear driver side fender, not perfect but coming along nicely :thumb:

The rest of the Rear driver side fender, before:


After:

Again a few deep scratches that came out with a second pass.

Rear driver side quarter panel before:


After one pass:


Now look was awaited me on the other side:

Aren’t they beautiful :flirt: Well at least I think so :thumb:

Polished side:


Not polished side:


Well here is how these sand marks finished off:



That’s after one pass, a second pass was required to completely remove all deep RIDS.

Now on to the driver side door, here is a 50/50:



Oh look:

Single stage paint :thumb:

Polishing proceeded:


Non polished side:


Polished side:

Now the hood had lots and lots of deep scratches, luckily the vehicle has lots and lots of clear coat for the areas that had clear coat and lots of paint for the areas that were single stage paint, I double checked before bumping up the polish to 3M UK Fast Cut Plus.
Here is how well this combo delivered before:


After:


Once I was done with the hood time for the driver side fender again with Fast Cut Plus:



Not surprised to see that the fenders had lots and lots of deep scratches, but Fast Cut Plus made quick work of them. Now for the rest of the fender.

Before:


After:









Now let me tell you, the fenders took me some brain storming and some time as there were corners and crevices that were hard to reach…but with time I got them all.

Here is how the driver side pillar finished off, sorry no before:


Here is the passenger side pillar before:


After:


Not sure what to call this area but it’s right after the hood finishes and the windshield begins, any who before:


After:


Now I got about half the vehicle done, now I’m on to the passenger side. I decided to tart off with this:

Not only was this sand mark but they were extremely deep, here’s what I mean:

Compounding alone would not remove this so wet sanding it is :woo: Now I knew I was going to be wet sanding because the owner touched up some paint chips so I had my sanding pads 2,000 and 4,000 grit soaking in water for a few days:


Now I decided to do a little experiment, I kindly asked the misses to get me one of those pesky red lasers, she asked why I just said I needed to do an experiment :whistle:

Well I took the laser and attached it to one of my tripods:

I saw this several times at Detailing World so thought why not give it a shot.

Now you might be asking, what am I up to? Well I wanted to know exactly how much paint wet sanding plus compounding would remove. Laser is all ready to go:

Now the trick is to make sure the laser and tripod never move and that’s it you now have a fixed point where you can take accurate paint gauge reading :thumb: I tell you those UK folks are brilliant.

Well let the wet sanding begin, first 2,000 followed up with 4,000 and this is hwat it looks like:

Goes perfectly well with the rest of the vehicle :lol2: sorry I couldn’t help my self :shakehead:

Next compounded twice and here are the end results:

Much, much better but like I said the deeper marks remained as they were into the metal, not much I could do with those, regrettably:

But I was happy with the results. Once I was done wet sanding and compounding I took yet another reading and with the help of the laser I knew exactly where to take it and with this set up I found out I had removed a whopping 17.4microns of paint.

Well now for the rest before:


After:


Before:


After:

Another pass and it should do it :thumb:

Here is how the rest of the passenger side fender finished off:






Well pressing on, the passenger door before:


After:


For the passenger door I decided to give Menzerna Intensive Polish a try and it delivered quite nicely, some areas took two passes such as:

But that was fine with me, I had nothing but time. So I got curious, I still had the laser on the tripod so I wanted to know how much paint Menzerna Intensive Polish was removing, so laser ready and here are the reading before:


After:

One pass of Menzerna Intensive Polish partnered up with a Black 3M UK Polishing pad removed 1.1microns :thumb: Neat huh, well I thought so :shrug:

Well The fun was not done yet, I saved the best for last. This area:

I was tempted on wet sanding this are but this particular area was not single stage paint, it was clear coated so I decided to go with:

This area was stubborn, here it is after one pass:


Here we are after two passes:






Oh remember this:


Here is how this side finished off:



Again not done yet, not even close.

Well all that’s left is the rear passenger fender before:


After:


Before:


After:


Well that does it for the paint correction, not done but from here on in it was jewel, jewel and jewel. Now for the jewelling process I went with something that I hadn’t used in a long time but it was the only product that was giving me the crisp and clear results I was looking for. The product of choice is none other then Menzerna Final Polish II. I kid you not I had to remove the dust of the bottle as I haven’t used it in a long time any who I decided to refine the finish twice, why…well a pass was just not enough, but on the second pass the finish looked just right. Some areas required another pass with Menzerna Intensive Polish and a Black 3M UK Polishing pad not too many areas but some.

Well that does it for the paint correction, now for what I had been eagerly awaiting, applying the wax. Before the vehicle was given a final wipe down with Menzerna Top Inspection and inspected again with the 3M Sun Gun to insure all holograms had been removed, once satisfied I applied a coat of:

I really like this stuff, but it sure is a pain to use in our climate. I mean it’s literally wipe on wipe off because if I let it haze it’s a bear to buff off.

Well Once I was done with HD Cleanse Professional it was time to apply the LSP, what LSP did I settle on…well it was a tough decision, all I could think of was Zymol Destiny, Atlantique and Vintage. I didn’t even consider Swissvax…not sure why though…just personal preference :shrug:

Well at the end I decided to go with Vintage:


Oh yes, even the inside received some Vintage:

Seeing as I had the time, I applied two coats of Vintage. I applied first coat, buffed it off let it sit the next day I gave the vehicle a quick wipe down and applied the second coat, buffed it off and the following day I gave the vehicle the final wipe down with:

Can never get enough of this stuff :woo:

Still not done yet though, I had other bits and peaces to finish off. I had to polish all the chrome on this vehicle and it has lots of chrome. The product of choice like always is:

The interior was given a quick wipe down with a quick vacuum, wife took care of the vacuuming :thumb: No steaming but that’s okay, I had loads of fun with the polishing .

Well the owner would come by my office and ask me how the car was coming along I told him that he would be pleased with the end results, well the day came it had to leave my garage …well the final pictures:





Now mother nature finally cooperated and it was a gorgeous sunny day and I snapped and snapped picture after picture after picture, hope you enjoy:








The owner was kind enough to let me take my time taking pictures wile he inspected the vehicle under the sunlight:




























I was so happy with the exterior I almost forgot the interior:



Well that’s enough :giggle:






By the way, that’s the owner..all four of them :thumb: Oh that front grill, took me forever to polish by hand but it looks nice doesn’t it, well worth the efforts.








Owner taking a closer look.













Even my neighbor came out to take a look at the car :thumb:






Well that concludes this detail, hoped you guys enjoyed it I know I did every second of it, I detailed this vehicle through out a weeks time. I’d work on it after I’d get home from work and of course on the weekend, lots of fun :thumb: I also have a video that I'm going to post but I recently had to drop what I was working on to deal with some behind the scenes matters, so the videos will be posted later on :sorry:

 

Even my neighbor came out to take a look at the car :thumb:




Man you showed I lotta Love to that Car, Freat Job Carlos > :applause:

You just don't see cars like that anymore, absoluteley beautifull :headbang:

I just wish you wouldv'e spent a little more time documenting/pictures taking, come on man..."give us pics, give us pics, give us pics".....icture:

Where did you get that plastic stuff you put over the Convrt top? Nice :thumb:

 

I have to say Carlos, that is probably one of the best jobs I have ever seen done. Absolutely brilliant. When you look at the car, the lines are so crisp and sharp. Fantastic job! :applause2:

 

Fantastic... Your best detail yet... At least my favorite!!!

So water can be used as a lube for yellow Riccardo? Is this something new? Please enlighten me..

 

Sorry to > :hjacker: Carlos


Water is all I ever use :hmph:

 

Woooow, I don't think that car can look any better than that. Nice job man! :applause:

 

Stunning Carlos (currently speechless @ the amount of love that went into that "restoration") :mounty:

 

Looks amazing Carlos, that is pure automotive beauty/art, great job!

 

Great job Nica, it is always fun to work on cars like these.

 

absolutely stunning!
Nice one!

 

Superb correction! Sun shots FTW!

btw thats 1k for me, woo

 

Beautiful car, stunning job Carlos. I am also glad to see Im not the only one that wears slippers and socks lol

 

Carlos, you are the man! Rare vintage vehicle rejuvenated and covered with Vintage! By the way, that laser point wet sending you have done, was it actually necessary? I saw Todd from Bella Machina did a similar vehicle, and he wet sended it too...

 

Amazing job on a beautiful car! The panel you referred to between the windshield and the hood is the cowl.

 

Carlos;
Awesome job my friend !
I really enjoy ur work and the car and one of the best details from u
thanks for sharing:applause::applause:

 

That look unreal, when I saw the befores I at first thought those were the afters as the car looked to be in PERFECT shape when it rolled in, but you managed to make it even better. Stunning!

 

Thank you Ken, very much appreciated. I agree with you the vehicles lines are superb, every curve/twist gives character to this vehicle :thumb:

Glad you enjoyed it :chest: I have to admit I enjoyed my self with this one :woo: As for water for clay lub, I've been using water for quite some time now, it works just fine....but some vehicles it doesn't work so well. On some vehicles the clay doesn't pick anything up so then I either use ONR or a QD. I hardly ever use QD though, I'd rather use ONR but it's all personal preference :shrug:

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it and I put lots of extra care on this vehicle...I'm just glad the owner was happy with the end results :thumb:

Thank you very much, glad you enjoyed it eace:

I agree, there is something about the lines and curves on this vehicle that makes it stand out. I have to admit, you drive this vehicle on any street and you'll turn heads...I'm still blown a way by the age of the vehicle and how gorgeous it's body lines are talk about great designs :worship2:

:nod: loads of fun but some corners can be a challenge...all can be done with time and patience :graduation:

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it :hippie:

Hai congrats on the 1k post :thumb: Glad you enjoyed the detail eace:

Yea, I'm not a big fan of not wearing socks...I'm always wearing socks so what ever type of shoes or sandals I decide to wear they go with my socks :thumb:

Glad you enjoyed it super regarding the laser well here's the thing, I wanted an accurate reading so in order to get a very accurate reading the laser comes in handy. It comes in handy because with out the laser it's hard to know exactly where you took the reading before. You'd be surprised the differences the readings make if your just guessing where you last took the reading before. In the end you don't have to use the laser it's just that I was going for best accuracy reading as possible and the laser takes the guessing out of the equation and making for a more accurate reading. It's like taking reading before polishing and taking readings after, the only accurate way to take before and after readings is by knowing exactly where you took the readings before other wise your just guessing....well at least that's what I think, just my opinion though :shrug: Oh keep in mind I only did this because I wanted to know how much paint/clear coat wet sanding and compounding would remove. Using the laser through out the entire vehicle would take a bit of time but if time is not an issue the readings are very interesting, well I think so :shrug:

Ah that's what is is cowl, I knew it rimed with cow, thanks for letting me know and glad you enjoyed it eace:

 

Thank you billy glad you enjoyed it my friend, I would have to agree this is one of the best vehicles I've detailed this year...just loved all those curves on this vehicle :woo:

:nod: the vehicle looked fine when I got it but boy did this thing hide all it's imperfections well...well to the naked eye it does. Glad you enjoyed P1et and thank you for the feed back, very much appreciated eace:

 

Awesome work Nica!!

Plastic on the top like that is an idea I will have to steal... damn good idea.

 

Amazing results, just beautiful.

Carlos, I love your garage.