The Antique Apparatus Bay

06/02/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DH15zJfcU/?mibextid=wwXIfr

05/30/2026

We have been a little quiet on the page. Things will be ramping up here shortly. In the meantime here is an Ahrens Fox model M engine we pulled a couple of weeks ago.

05/09/2026

05/09/2026

It’s the weekend… and that means many of us are getting our rigs ready for some of the first musters of the season.

We’ve seen a lot of questions and posts lately about compounding, polishing ,and waxing antique apparatus, so we figured we’d share the method that has worked well for us. There are countless products and techniques out there, but this process has consistently given us great results on original single-stage paint such as acrylic enamel, alkyd enamel, lacquer, and urethane.

We trust Meguiar's products. They’ve been around since the early days of the automobile and continue to produce quality products that work extremely well on antique apparatus. One thing we really like about the Meguiar’s system is how simple and effective it is. The products are easy to understand, easy to pair with pads, and they consistently deliver great results without overcomplicating the process.

We also prefer using a D/A oscillator over a high-speed buffer. A D/A is far more forgiving on old paint, generates less heat, and greatly reduces the risk of burning edges or damaging thin original finishes. For antique apparatus preservation work, that added forgiveness is worth its weight in gold.

Our process:

• Start with a good wash and clay bar treatment.

• Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze #1 Professional Medium-Cut Cleaner

* Use with a red Meguiar’s pad
* Recommended cut for single-stage paints

• Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze #205 Ultra Finishing Polish

* Use with a yellow Meguiar’s pad

Meguiar’s M07 Show Car Glaze

Black Pad

* Helps restore that deep wet shine

Meguiar’s Ultimate Liquid Wax

* Apply by hand or with a black Meguiar’s pad for protection and final finish

There are definitely other ways to achieve good results, but this system has treated us well and has become our go-to approach for bringing tired paint back to life.

05/03/2026

We have been battling a stubborn brake problem on the 49. The passenger side duals randomly lock up during take off and very low speed. Sometimes it does it sometimes it doesn’t.

We are thinking a bad rubber line or wheel cylinder.

Have an idea or experience? Drop it in the comments!

04/23/2026

We dropped the rig off with Jose Pancho Magaña to have the bright work polished. You’ve heard the saying you’re going to polish through the paint. Well the evidence speaks for itself! 😂😂😂

04/21/2026

New tires have arrived. They don’t give these things away that’s for sure………for anyone looking to replace tires they’re only doing 1 run of 40X8s a year now. Plan accordingly.

04/18/2026

We will have this one running by the end of the weekend! 🤪😂

04/12/2026

Fresh grease going in….yes we over ran it to flush out the old grease.

04/12/2026

Spread the word! We will see you there!!!