Pads:
--Lake Country foam pads
--3M Wool Pad Twisted
Rubber
--Chemical Guys Fade2Black
Undercarraige
--Chemical Guys Bare Bones
Metal Polishing
--Nuvite S(finish), G6(Smart Abrasive)
--Ultra Plush Detailing Microfiber Towels
--Milwauke HD Polisher 5440 0-2800 RPM
--Cyclo Twin head Dual Orbital
Tape, lots of tape... And towels.
From a distance, not much to notice, as usual.
(First time out of the garage in a year)
The hood must be over 6' long!
Strange spots in/on paint. Evidence of an incomplete polishing with buffer shimmer.
Reflection of blue truck is quite muddled. (Orangepeel in clearcoat)
Notice 5 lug bolts. The factory knockoffs are retained and functional.
Non-factory headers.. This motor roars at an idle!
A true 3 SU carb'd straight 6. Around 285hp.
Pre-polish on fender.
Swirl/scratches removed.
It is a bit difficult to see this with these photos, but look back and tell me, does the paint reflect well, or does it all appear a bit muddled? The photo below is after compounding the left side, nothing on the right. Dust from compounding is at the top.
The left side is much clearer than the right (difficult to see here)
Take a moment to view how clear the light is on the left side. This is after the prior complete removal of swirl/scratches.
The visible scratches are after a heavy compounding to re-level the clearcoat.
Even still, the light on the left is far clearer than the one on the right.
Need to wash to remove the compounding dust
The issue is that polishing out the swirls wasn't the solution.
The clearcoat has shrunk back after this body-off restoration over a 4 year sit.
Even with a perfectly smooth, swirl/scratch free surface it just doesn't reflect well (at all).
The decision was made to make this a 3 full day detail and re-level the surface.
These photos do not show the dilemma but I assure you that when this job is done the photos and video will astound.
The bumps and valleys from the orange peel are removed at this stage and it is time to remove
the wool pad/compounding scratches. (Next full day)
After washing.
Amazing car, with a completely converted suspension, a post-oiler with a 2qt capacity, triple SU carbs, header.
It
is
one of the most beautiful cars ever created.
2nd video, after washing and taping off. Notice how muddled the reflections are of the light source.
End of a long day after compounding. Initial polishing didn't net proper results after trial on hood and 1 fender.
(Work in progress)
3 long days of work in Atherton, California in one of the nicest garages ever. Air conditioned, lots of headroom and workspace.
During the initial paint process the restorer encountered an unknown serious issue
and explained to the owner
that he needed to strip the paint and reshoot it.
For the most part this paintjob is incredible, with the several heavy coats of clear on top.
For the detailer though, it is one of the most difficult jobs as any single line or other top defect on the clear reflects deeply.
I wouldn't take a guess on the cost to restore this incredible Cobra Killer, but it is certainly one of the nicest
Jaguar XKE's I have ever seen, including concours d'elegance vehicles at Laguna Seca, Sears Point or San Francisco events
I have attended through the years.
1967 Jaguar XKE (Restored) 
