Concours Corner January 2016

The final event of Concours 2015 was the annual ID Signs Workshop. This year’s workshop was a change from previous years focus on Winter Preparation to professional product demonstration and a Do It Yourself (DIY) session. We wish to thank Jose, Patty and Max DeLaCruz for hosting us and providing a great lunch.
Danny Grenier of AUTO-CHEM came to our workshop to make a presentation on techniques for using various automotive detailing products. His company is in the industrial and commercial cleaning and preservation chemical business and they make a line of automotive cleaning and preserving products. Although he used his company’s products for the demonstrations, the techniques demonstrated are applicable for using products from other vendors. A good share of the time was spent discussing various types of Quick Detail and waterless wash and wax products. Quick Detailers are usually less concentrated and are meant to be used on a relatively clean surface.  They are sprayed (misted) onto an area of the car body then wiped with a clean dry cloth (either cotton or micro-fiber) and polished dry with a second clean dry cloth. This is best done one door or body panel at a time until the car is finished. Typical use would be at a car show after a short drive to the event on a good weather day. The waterless wash and wax type of products are meant for use on a car that needs a wash job, but due to weather conditions or water restrictions it cannot be done. The product is much more concentrated and is applied more liberally. It is also necessary to clean the application cloths after each section of the car being polished. The product is applied liberally to the body panel and also to the surface of the application cloth. The body panel is gone over using the the wetted side of the application cloth. Once the panel is clean, then it is polished until dry with a second clean cloth. Before starting on the next panel it is necessary to either clean the first application cloth by brushing vigorously with a dry scrub brush or replace it with a clean cloth. The purpose of the scrub brush is to clean all of the dirt and grime off of the cloth to prevent it from scratching the paint on the next panel to be cleaned. Most of us would be very leery about using waterless wash and wax  products on our prized Porsches, but Danny’s demonstration showed the proper technique can provide good results. Auto-Chem Products can be purchased at their Web site.
The DIY part of the workshop helped four members with detailing problems. Rich Bigliano, Kevin Fitzimmons, Jared Krueger and Pete Traphagen all brought their 911s. We were able to help out road debris, cabriolet soft top problems, wax collected on plastic and swirls in paint problems. Unfortunately we were unable to help with what appeared to be a significant shopping cart paint gouge in the passenger door of a silver turbo. We referred the owner to Paterek Brothers to see if they could improve the door appearance without completely repainting the door.
To close out the 2015 Concours Season Championship and Mulhern Awards were presented at the annual Holiday Party:
First Place in Expert Class went to Akemi Kane.
First Place in Novice Class went to Bruce and Ellen Hays.
The Mulhern Trophy was presented to Jeff Ervin based on his active participation over the years.

This is the beginning of a new Season for the NNJR Concours Group. The events for the first three months of the year are locked in and are the same as last year:
For January, Jerry Manna will lead the body shop event at Milan Auto Painters in Clifton on Saturday January 16.
February will be the “Dent Man Event” at Flemington Porsche on Saturday February 20. This will be an opportunity to get minor “dings” repaired using the paintless technique performed by NNJR friend Bill Rockford for a heavily discounted price.
March will be the regular “Gathering of the Faithful” again hosted by John Vogt at High Marques. Topics will be Event plans for the rest of the year and Concours Judges refresher session.
The rest of the year will be filled with interesting Concours and related workshops including: the Welcome to the Club Event; The Zone 1 Concours in May and the New Hope Auto Show in August.
Also the Porsche Parade with its premier National level Concours will be very accessible to Northern New Jersey Folks. For 2016 it is scheduled for June 18- 26 at the Jay Peak Ski Resort in Northern Vermont.
On November 22, we attended the Fall Zone 1 Presidents meeting. A significant part of the meeting was focused on Zone 1 events scheduled during 2016. The New York Metro Region is hosting the Zone 1 Concours & Rally for 2016. The Metro Region reported the scheduled status as follows:
The Dates are May 13-15
The host hotel will be the Westbury Holiday Inn, Long Island, NY
The Concours site will be the at the Old Westbury Garden on Saturday May 14
The rally will offer either TSD or Gimmick on Sunday May 15
The contracts have been signed with both the hotel and Old Westbury Garden for the dates.
Murray Kane and Jeff McFadyen have been appointed Zone 1 Concours and Rally Chairs for 2016 and are currently working with Metro-PCA to ensure participants will have a great event.