Cincinnati - Ault Park Concours d'Elegance

[jecoutant]

I met some of the selection committee members last fall at the local Cars and Coffee and they encouraged me to enter the car.  I did not think much about it as my car is not a "concours" level car.  This spring I asked if they had any 1800's entered as it is the 50th year.  Yea, yea I know Jaguar XKE is getting all the attention for their anniversary.   So at the last minute I sent an email to the committee and they accepted my car.  Now I need to do some Robyn level detail work to get ready.

http://www.ohioconcours.com/

So I started the spring tune up (oil, etc).  Decided also to change the anti-freeze as it had been 4 years (which is why you should keep a log book).  So in removing the bottem hose, I discoverd the side rail had become un-soldered so I removed the radiator.  Took it to the local shop.  They cleaned and pressure tested and found a small leak.  So they will take off the top tank, rod out, and re-solder everthing.  Meanwhile time to replace some hoses and clean the engine compartment before I start on the body.  Interior was done this spring when I got the re-covered seats from Don, which are really nice by the way.

Last thing I thought about doing was making new cardboard liners for the trunk.  I have the original on the firewall with the jack handle but do not have the sides and back.   Anyone have some pictures, drawings??  Tony?

[jecoutant]

It was a great weekend for the concours and related activities.  On Saturday, I entered the countryside tour which went about 40 miles north to a site where a collection of old fire engines is.  Really it was the the storage and workshop.  Several old restored engines but many rescued ones in poor to bad condition. 



That's me sandwiched between Ferraris, 2 250's on the left.   One observation, Ferrari was a featured marque on the weekend and tons showed up for the show including all the newer models.  However none of them ran the tour, in fact I don't know if then even drove to the Concours.   The two 250's on the left were driven down from Chicago by their owners, ran the tour, were in the Concours, and drove home.  Old Ferrari owners love and drive their cars.  New Ferrari owners are art collectors afraid to drive their cars for the fear their value will decrease (in my opinion).  Sad in a way.

Sunday was beautiful.  This show benefits Juvenile Arthritis and it was great attendance was up 25%.  As I said, a lot of great cars, especially the big cars from the depression era.  Also Indy cars, Jag XKE's, and Ferraris.



This Ferrari 250 GT Europa won it's class.  You can see the similar Italian design influence in the front end.

 

The silver Jag Mark V saloon on the left of my car won the class.  A beautiful concours level restoration to the last detail done by the owner, not farmed out so my hat is off to him.

Next show, the Cincinnati British Car Club show.   ( I know, I know but they have a class for European cars and I consider it a great parking spot while I look at the other cars.

[Anthony D'Agostino]

John,

Sorry, with late response, as i should visit the GSVSA site more often, i'll try to send you pics when i get a chance for the trunk cardboard. There might be a vendor out there who is selling such, but i can't remember right now who that is.

Tony

[jecoutant]

Tony, no problem.  Based on memory (which may not be the best), I constructed some panels before the concours.  As you realize, just being cardboard, those of us who rescued 1800s which had a hard life, the cardboard was often missing.  Not hard to find replacement material in a place like Michaels crafts but a guess as to shape, especially on the sides.  Be interesting to see how close I came.

[PaulGraz]

John - looked like a great event!  Thanks for the pics!

[gmentzel]

Your car looks great in the pictures; your paint finish shines better than the Ferraris. Nice job in the trunk compartment, very clean look. I was thinking of using black felt and attaching with spray trim adhesive when I get to that stage with my car.

[jecoutant]

You can blame the shine on Robyn who converted me from the Dark Side to Zaino  .

[gmentzel]

I'm going to assume that it's not the original paint on the car and it has a base coat clear coat paint job. If not, I'm even more impressed with how good it looks.

[PaulGraz]

You can blame the shine on Robyn who converted me from the Dark Side to Zaino  .

Gary:

http://www.zainostore.com/

The stuff is made by a guy in Howell and sold locally through Shore Motorsports in Toms River.  It's not cheap, but the results are amazing.  Robyn uses it on her car which is NOT basecoat/clearcoat and it looks pretty damn good.  The more you use it the more shine you build up.  Works best on darker colors.

[Anthony D'Agostino]

John,

I will be showing the 1800E tommorow here in Clark, NJ! For the Boy Scout Troop at the high School, so my trunk will be empty and I'll take a few pics and send them over to you, I also checked one of the Volvo vendors VP autoparts in SC, they list under trunk 3 pieces of cardboard for the 1800E. Not sure if its the sides they are offering or the pieces on the trunk lid. Its worth a call to them.

Tony   

[jecoutant]

Gary,

Yes, it is a basecoat (acrylic enamel) with clear coat done in '88 when I first restored the car.  It has lasted a long time but starting to show it's age with stone chips, etc (I drive it).  Since I have taken auto restoration classes and started doing my own painting, I see some of the issues with the paint.  Clearly it was not wet sanded and polished (few dust spots, some slight orange peal on the lower parts).   However, a good job, since the painter just shot the clearcoat and that was it.   I certainly can't do that  .   However my instructor can.  He says to be a good paint guy in a commercial operation and make money yourself, you have to be good to minimize the amount of work you need to do but also have a good quality product.    I think I am more at the paint for 3 hours and wet sand for 30  .

[gmentzel]

John,


I worked in a body shop for eight years after school, with the last two years painting everyday. I did a lot of cars, trucks, and a lot of custom work on hot rods, race cars and race boats. When your car was cleared, was it Imron ?  If so, that would account for the shine and how long it's lasted. Imron was the hottest paint from the late seventies through the eighties and a lot of shops cleared over older paint jobs to give them a new look. I did a lot of Imron and always say, I hope it doesn't catch up to me, since it was some really nasty stuff.

With painting a car, 75% of the finished product is in the prep work, with body work, sanding, metal prep, priming, sealing, cleaning, etc... You instructor is correct, in a production shop, any imperfections in the paint application takes a lot of correction time and in some cases, having to do it all again. With the cost of materials, painters need to limit their mistakes. With new urethane paints, you need to do all your sanding and polishing the following day, or it gets too hard to do anything with.

Material costs have gone through the roof, just in my primers, I've got close to $350, at body shop cost. With all my body materials and paint, I'll be into over $1,000.   

[jecoutant]

Gary,

Not sure what it was it was cleared with.   I agree on material cost.  I also get body shop prices (as student) but even so working on my project car, the Miata, I had over $300 in materials, $110 for a quart of the paint alone.  That was only for the trunk and rear quarters.

Did some looking at Imron.  Read the MSDS at DuPont web site.   A polyurethane which means isocyanates which indeed are dangerous.  Hopefully you escaped any serious issues.

John

[Ian F]

  Robyn uses it on her car which is NOT basecoat/clearcoat and it looks pretty damn good. 

We actually found out from Dave in York when he did the rust repair that the paint is a basecoat/clearcoat.

Great pics, John!

[jecoutant]

Sort of a last note on this thread, all the pictures of the cars from the show have been published on the Concours web site
http://www.ohioconcours.com/gallerylist.asp?txt_year=2011
Look for the Volvo in the the class - Collector Foreign, 1946-1975

Enjoy