Wayne Carini from Chasing Classic Cars gets a visit from Ivan Karstuff and Autogeek!

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Wayne Carini from Chasing Classic Cars gets a visit from Ivan Karstuff and Autogeek!

Last week Max, Ivan, Darlene and me took a trip to visit Wayne Carini at his real world working shop that you see on his TV show, Chasing Classic Cars. Here's the four of us standing in front of another authentic 1967 A.C. Cobra documented to be the fastest "original" A.C. Cobra after clocking 198 miles per hour.

From left to right...

Max, Darlene, Wayne and me...

Multi-Million Dollar Cars the norm for Wayne's shop...
Wayne has multi-million cars going through his shop everyday and Wayne asked me to spend some time with his painter and detailer on the art of polishing paint.

Here's a few pictures from the trip...

This is Wayne's classic car store, F40.com Motor Sports

While we were there Wayne and his production team were shooting new episodes for "Chasing Classic Cars".

Here's some of the cars in his show room, the A.C. Cobra is the real deal and a "Barn Find". Wayne sold this for a cool 2 million. While we were there he fired it up and took a child from the "Make a Wish" foundation for a ride! Wayne's pretty cool.

Also while we were there a car hauler arrived to drop off some recent cars cars from Wayne's adventures...

1932 Stutz DV 32
This is an all original 1932 Stutz DV 32 that Wayne bought out of Klamath Falls, Oregon. The paint appears to be original and in very worn condition. While I was at Wayne's shop, I taught his guys the Mike Phillips Method of restoring antique single stage paint on a 1954 all original Hudson Hornet and they are going to use these same techniques to restore the paint on this Stutz DV 32.

It actually runs and drives as you can see Wayne moving the car towards the shop.

Wayne opened the hood cowel so I could take a picture of the dual overhead cam engine...

The tires are all holding air...

Next off is a Dino Ferrari...

While a beautiful car, the paint is filled with swirls but I also worked with his team on proper machine polishing techniques to create a swirl-free, show car finish.

All Original 1954 Hudson Hornet
This is a 1954 Hudson Hornet that Wayne has been chasing since he was 16 years old, that's over 40 years that he's been chasing this one-owner car and his persistence finally paid off.

One of the things Wayne had me do while I was there was to show him my method for restoring antique, original single stage paint like on this Hudson Hornet. The paint is old, dry and brittle and what most "detailers" do is attack it with a compound and destroy the paint causing the owner to have to re-paint the car which is the last thing they want to do. Later I'll share some pictures of how this beauty came out...

1957 Corvette - NCRS Gold Certified
This is a NCRS Gold Certified 1957 Corvette that is certified to be 95% to 100% restored to "Typical Factory Production". While I was at Wayne's shop I also worked with Wayne's team on how to work on classics like this...

 

[57BORNTORUN]

Cool pics. I know from watching the show that he loves DINOS.:dblthumb2::buffing:

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Cool pics. I know from watching the show that he loves DINOS.:dblthumb2::buffing:

There were probably 4-5, maybe more that I didn't actually see, in various stages of restoration. Lots of eye-candy throughout his shops...


:dblthumb2:

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Very cool to see Mike.

 

[Finemess]

Super Sweetness.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Not done yet...

The finish on the 1957 Corvette was nice, but there was room for improvement to really perfect the paint so it would look deep, dark and black with a swirl free finish under any light conditions.

The first thing I needed to do was to check the paint to see if it was a single stage finish or a basecoat/clearcoat paint system.

Pinnacle Advanced Swirl Remover is white in color so I used a white microfiber applicator pad to do my testing...

Putting a little passion behind the pad...

Yep, you can see both embedded dirt coming off and out of the paint and black pigment, so now I know I'm working on likely lacquer or enamel paint.

Single stage black paint is usually the softest paint there is due to the pigment type and often the resin type, since this car is very valuable I'm following my own good advice and testing the least aggressive product to get the job done. In this case it's Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish with a black LC Finishing pad on a Porter Cable 7424XP.

Max is always happy to help out as I do the work part...

After buffing a section and then wiping the residue off...

I next inspect the paint using the Autogeek Swirl Finder Light. The results look much better but I opt to move onto to the swirl remover with a white LC foam polishing pad.

Max supervises...

Here you can see the black pigment coming off the car and building up on the face of my buffing pad. This is why it's important to clean your pads often. You can't just keep adding fresh product to the face of a pad like this...

Section by section, I moved around the car removing the swirls off the front clip...

Done with the first step but I have two more steps to go...

While I'm working on the Corvette, Wayne is giving Max a car-by-car tour of the cars in this shop...

More to come? Of course...

 

[Klasse Act]

AWESOME CORVETTE! He loves his Ferrari's for sure and it shows, no script needed there!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online

 

[Audi X2]

Wayne and his operation are the real deal. It was great to meet him at Detail Fest and now his detailer will will be able to make the cars look as they should!

 

[Dr_Pain]

WOW!! Eye candy? I would be in full diabetic coma.

Thanks for the pics icture:

I do have a silly question for you Mike. I see that you are wearing jeans. Ever had a mishap when leaning on a car polishing?

I would be scared to death to work on one of those precious antique cars and getting the metal rivets or better yet the metal fastening button to dig on the side, as I am leaning on the car. I tend to go all neurotic when working on cars, and wear my old scrubs....... and funny enough this is also the ONLY time I remove my wedding ring.

 

[CarAudiophile]

That's awesome! Long time watcher of the show!

 

[spiralout462]

That's awesome! I have watched every episode over the years. Can't wait for more Vette pics!

 

[cardaddy]

Great way to spend the day Mike.

Ya' know.... I was reading the post, scrolling down, and when I saw the Vette I was telling my wife, "It may be NCRS Top Flite but that cars paint needs help." :laughing:

Then lo and behold.... scroll down a bit farther and you're doing 'what you do'! :dblthumb2: Next time just stop by Atlanta and I'll take Max's place.

 

[OMRebel]

I do have a silly question for you Mike. I see that you are wearing jeans. Ever had a mishap when leaning on a car polishing?

I would be scared to death to work on one of those precious antique cars and getting the metal rivets or better yet the metal fastening button to dig on the side, as I am leaning on the car. I tend to go all neurotic when working on cars, and wear my old scrubs....... and funny enough this is also the ONLY time I remove my wedding ring.

That's a good question I've meant to ask other members that have a tendency to wear belts. One good thing the car wash instilled in me when I was younger was elastic shorts and no jewelry. I prefer to take the "least aggressive method" when it comes to clothing.

Awesome cars mike! You have all the fun.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[ihaveacamaro]

man those cars look awesome!!!

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

AWESOME CORVETTE! He loves his Ferrari's for sure and it shows, no script needed there!

Wayne is a walking encyclopedia of car knowledge. He also has Roger, a from champion car racer and engineer at the shop who seems to know just about everything about everything car related. He's also incredibly witty and funny..

I took this picture of Rodger when he was working on the brakes of this authentic Cobra...

Wayne and his operation are the real deal. It was great to meet him at Detail Fest and now his detailer will will be able to make the cars look as they should!

Very accurate. After spending time with Wayne, (we went out for dinner three nights in a row, mmm... good eating too...), I now know a lot more about his background, the background of his shop and how the show came to be. It's truly the real deal, no mock-up or drama like some car guy shows.

WOW!! Eye candy? I would be in full diabetic coma.


I do have a silly question for you Mike. I see that you are wearing jeans. Ever had a mishap when leaning on a car polishing?

Anytime I was working on the cars I had my shirt pulled out, not tucked in. I also had my belt remove as well as my watch and wedding ring. I actually made a special place on the table you see in the pictures with all the foam pads to place my watch and ring.

I've been doing this a long time and I'm very aware of "what not to do" when working on someone else's expensive "something". And even though I have an artificial leg, I'm very good at supporting my body when I lean over a car so that either I don't touch the car or if I do touch the car it's very lightly.

I also practice and teach others to knock out panels like the hood on classics ALL THE WAY TO Wax. This approach takes a little longer but if you polish the hood and then polish the sides of the fenders, and then move back to the hood and lean against the fenders you just polished you just undid your hard work. So instead, when working on classics, you knock out the roof, hood, and sometimes trunk lid all the way through the process and then tackle the vertical panels.

Good question, thank you for asking, this info might helps others that read this thread into the future...

You want to see a car with a HUGE hood, trunk lid and roof where I practiced this technique? Click on this thread...


HUGE HOOD - TRUNK LID AND ROOF

Great way to spend the day Mike.

Ya' know.... I was reading the post, scrolling down, and when I saw the Vette I was telling my wife, "It may be NCRS Top Flite but that cars paint needs help." :laughing:

Then lo and behold.... scroll down a bit farther and you're doing 'what you do'! :dblthumb2: Next time just stop by Atlanta and I'll take Max's place.

Wayne sat in on my class at Detail Fest and watched me teach a class on how to remove swirls on a classic 1987 Monte Carlo... here's a few pictures from that class...

Official 2013 Detail Fest Photos - Day 1

Here I'm showing Wayne Carina the before and after difference after removing swirls on just one side of the tape line using the Swirl Finder Light.

I also signed a copy of the first edition of my how-to book for him at SEMA and he told me he read it, so I'm thinking between the book, some links to the forum I've sent him for our Thursday Night Projects, and the live demo at Detail Fest on black paint I earned his trust to work on his cars.

He turned me loose on the Corvette, the Ferrari and the all original single stage paint on the 1954 Hudson Hornet without even flinching.

The paint on the 1957 Corvette was "good" but it wasn't in condition #1 or #2 as I share in my how-to book.

Page 37 - Paint Condition Categories


Pinnacle polishes and Pinnacle Souveran Wax easily restored the paint to show car quality.

That's a good question I've meant to ask other members that have a tendency to wear belts. One good thing the car wash instilled in me when I was younger was elastic shorts and no jewelry. I prefer to take the "least aggressive method" when it comes to clothing.

I do the same thing... in fact, in the very first video I ever shot, I start out introducing the video wearing black slacks and a black polo shirt and after introducing the video I look straight into the camera and something like,

When working on a cool car like this black 1960 Corvette you need to focus on the task at hand, it's all about how the car looks, not how you look. Hang tight while I go change...
​

Then when I come back on camera I'm wearing a Hanes well-worn t-shirt, Levis jean shorts, and Nike Air mid-top tennis shoes. In other words, I'm dressed soft, cool and casual and most impoortant... ready to go to work. That was the real deal, just like Wayne in his show...

Awesome cars mike! You have all the fun.

Thanks... I'm truly blessed and I never forget it...

man those cars look awesome!!!

I have more pictures of more cool cars than time permits me to share, posting pictures takes time, first you have to look at each picture and pick out the pictures that tell a story and are also in focus. The crop out the fluff, then resize to 800 pixels wide, then upload to the gallery and then insert into a thread and then add text. I probably have 500 pictures from this trip, so that's a lot of looking just to go through the pictures...

Thanks everyone for the comments...


:dblthumb2:

 

[Pinpoint_Precision]

Mike that's awesome. Love his show. I have Velocity channel. Do you know when they will air it this episode with you guys in it? I gotta to record it!

 

[Mike Calloway]

I love Wayne! You are the man Mike.

 

[RTexasF]

Certainly some hard work involved but what an adventure! I'm anxious to see the Hornet pictures.

 

[Mike PhillipsMike Phillips is verified member.]

Certainly some hard work involved but what an adventure! I'm anxious to see the Hornet pictures.

Here's a quickie thread I made to show the before and after pictures,


Wayne Carini 1954 Hudson Hornet Original Paint Restored by Mike Phillips

Will do the write-up as soon time permits. I have a write-up for the Ferrari F430 too...


Before we went to Wayne's shop the only power tools being used were a couple of rotary buffers...

Wayne sent me this camera picture yesterday showing Marius and Brandon finishing out another "real" A.C. Cobra using DA Polishers. Just to note, they loved the DA polishers and the Flex 3401 as additions to their rotary buffers and I don't think either guy will ever hand apply a wax after I showed them how to machine apply waxes...

:xyxthumbs:

 

[cardaddy]

Before we went to Wayne's shop the only power tools being used were a couple of rotary buffers...

Wayne sent me this camera picture yesterday showing Marius and Brandon finishing out another "real" A.C. Cobra using DA Polishers. Just to note, they loved the DA polishers and the Flex 3401 as additions to their rotary buffers and I don't think either guy will ever hand apply a wax after I showed them how to machine apply waxes...

:xyxthumbs:

Uhhhhh.... what is about 'old dogs' and 'new tricks'? :laughing:

Fantastic to know Wayne has 'seen the light'!:buffing: