The Tampa Bay Austin Healey Club hosts an annual British Car Show held in Safety Harbor, FL. The 2018 Show will be held on October 27 so I side-stepped my ten-year maintenance project and gave some attention to cosmetic issues to get The Bloody Beast ready for the show.
I had clayed, polished and waxed The Beast not too long ago, so this time I just washed and waxed her. I always use Griot’s Garage Best of Show wax. I think it is a great product. Super shine and very little residue. I apply with an orbital buffer (also Griot’s Garage) and remove with a micro-fiber cloth.
Best of Show Wax
The brightwork was cleaned and polished with Meguiar’s All Metal Polish. It produces a great finish. I use it on the stainless steel grill, the chrome and stainless steel wire wheels and on the body chrome.
Meguiar’s All Metal Polysh
I like to use SprayWay Cleaner for the glass. You need to make sure the glass is completely dry after using the cleaner but if you do it results in a clean and streakless appearance.
SprayWay Glass Cleaner
In the interior I use Griot’s Garage interior cleaner on all of the vinyl surfaces and Lexol Leather Conditioner on the leather seats. I have used Lexol’s conditioner since the upholstery was new and it still looks that way! I wrapped up the interior with a good vacuuming.
Lexol Leather Conditioner
The tires were cleaned and then treated with Griot’s Tire Cleaner. This dressing provides a nice clean and smooth look without an “over-done” glossy shine.
Griots Vinyl & Rubber Dressing
The surfaces under the bonnet were in pretty good shape, but I used some of the Meguiar’s polish on the rocker cover, carb dashpots, and the aluminum radiator upper tank.
While under the bonnet I changed out the spark plugs. The used plugs were sootier than I like and I will address this issue later by examining the timing and carburetor richness. The plugs are gapped to .03″
NGK BP6ES Spark Plug
The Bloody Beast looked quite good for the show and her paint received many compliments. We brought home the Best in Class award. Not bad for a nine-year old restoration!
The Bloody Beast – 1960 AH BT7
The Bloody Beast – 1960 AH BT7