DETAILING THE GREEN HORNET 1966 IMPERIAL FOR FUN AND PROFIT
Over the last few decades I've gone to hundreds of vintage vehicle auctions and I've never left one without an empty feeling ... an incredible car got away.
These are always vehicles that you reflect on after the fact.
Hence, I never took a direct picture of the car in question because it was not only lurking on the border of my subconscious...it was also on the border of the digital images.
The latest miss was a 1966 Imperial-yup, a Green Hornet-mobile, and it went for peanuts.
In most cases these are cars that pros will overlook because they're not mainstream. In fact, bystanders will label some of them as boring and others just weird.
No problem. I'm not a Coors (lethally mainstream) Light guy either .
The biggest reason that this potential star car sank at auction was its presentation-the Impy looked like it was just dragged out of Uncle Zeke's dusty old tractor shed where it had sat since the Nixon administration.
The paint was lightly oxidized but the car was solid and really looked rust free. Apparently Uncle Zeke had garaged it for a few years then parked it when his raging senility took over. Whoever put the Imperial through this auction had clearly tried to fix a rear window issue. Then he took a nap and didn't even bother to put a door panel back.
This tells me that the guy stole the car from Zeke (or his estate) so any money was found money. But he could have done so much better with a basic detailing.
A benefit that comes from working in the world of old iron is meeting experts in every facet of the hobby and the detail guy in my world is Walter Cooledge. He's run Diablo Detail since disco was a musical force-he was the right guy to consult about this unloved Imperial.
I asked him about the paint first-not because I'm insightful and well informed, but because that's what I noticed first about this old luxury barge. It was a gold-greenish hue and that struck a chord with Walter.
Oxidation isn't color blind as Walter says "a lot depends on the color, red is the worst -it'll last about a year, pale green-gold is pretty good-it'll last about 2 years if its kept out of the sun. White is the best".
Walter approaches paint like a body man. He reports that, "you start with an aggressive compound and aggressive rubbing. It's a messy, messy job". The initial compound has a fairly strong acidic composition to cut through the years of neglect, As Walter says, "you have to use aggressive stuff then move up to a final grade. It's a lot like moving from 600 grit sandpaper to 2000".
The car had a crease in the door that caught my eye. Walter recommended a dent shop for that although his shop "can push it out and make it look a lot better". We both agreed that leaving it "as is" cost the seller on the block. It shouted out "I don't even care enough to do a minor cosmetic repair". Under the lights you pay for that attitude.
The final push on the paint involves a polish and high speed buffing followed by wax-this is time consuming because as Walter says, "you have to do this at least 3 times and often up to 5".
But the end result is a 1966 Imperial that looks far more youthful under the glare of the auction lights.
The interior is another issue because you just can't hit it with a high-powered cleaner. As Walter says, "you'll suck up that old cloth and carpet in chunks-same with headliners. Vinyl should be fine". If the material is old and brittle all Walter can do is "a light cleaning by hand". Basically he treats the material with kid gloves because if "it's old it'll end up in the machine".
Most non-vinyl headliners are brittle so they are also gently cleaned with soap and water. As for the dash, Walter doesn't go for the fake "too shiny" look. These cars came from the factory with a low luster sheen-that's the direction that Walter likes to head. He cuts his cleaning compound to reflect this look.
Same thing with tires and rubber hoses-Walter likes them to look real world real-not Hollywood real. Good advice-tires that nearly glow in the dark elicit only one thought in my opinion. Fake.
Chrome and stainless trim are 2 separate issues for 1 reason-chrome parts such as bumpers will survive the commercial acid cleaning compound to remove tarnish and rust-stainless and aluminum will turn white.
After cleaning the bumpers Walter adds that they "get a coat of polish-that takes lots of time and a coat of polish because light rock chips tend to rust so a wax protects them. I can also add a paint sealant so they should last a little longer than wax alone".
The stainless trim is done by hand with less aggressive cleaning compounds and it too is polished. Walter points out that "scratches will still show but it will look better".
The engine compartment is another big area. Walter can do a basic detailing or a far more extensive job that involves new paint for the valve covers, firewall and inner fenders. For the Imperial, he would recommend a thorough cleaning of the whole compartment with a focus on the visible areas like hoses and valve covers. Forget about the paint gun-this baby is going to auction at the low end of the scale.
The end of the process is found at the end of the car-in the trunk area. Typically Walter likes to yank everything out, pull the plugs and wash the trunk area down. Again he takes time to assess whether the carpet will disintegrate under a power wash because fistfights with customers are just bad PR.
Walter explains that "you can take detailing as far as you want, it really depends on what you want to spend. He can put a vehicle on a lift and detail the undercarriage as well but like he says over and over, "how much do you want to spend?'
In this case, he believes that spending 4-600 dollars on this undervalued Imperial would have added between 1-2000 dollars to the sale price. In this case that would have doubled the price of this soon to be Green Hornet movie car classic.
This is clearly a scenario where not spending time or money on this survivor was a huge mistake-similar to cheaping out on a cab home after a 250 dollar drunk and ending up in police custody.
It makes no sense to me or The Green Hornet.
Jerry Sutherland @mystarcollectorcar.com
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