Pictures from Operation Comfort - Autogeek in San Antonio, Texas

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Pictures from Operation Comfort - Autogeek in San Antonio, Texas

Max and I returned late Friday night, so today I did my best to go through all the pictures taken on multiple different cameras and put together and article that shares our experience from our trip to the Lonesome Dove Rance to help out Operation Comfort's Automotivation Program.


Here's a shot as you approach the Automotivation Facilities, this is a functioning ranch with lots of cattle and land but they've converted this one building over to automotive use only. There's a repair area, a paint booth and prep area and then plenty of sections for car projects.






Out back there's hay being stored out of the weather... just to the right side of the hay are a few classic cars and I'll post pictures of these later...





In the section where my class will be is an A.C. Cobra replica being built by Veterans in the Automotivation Program. The Cobra was obtained from a grant provided by USAA and necessary parts were donated by local area Cobra clubs here in Texas.







On Wednesday while setting up I snagged some shots of Bruno Massel working with Veterans to get the brand new engine fired up and running in their Weapons Carrier Project, which will be on display at SEMA

From this point of view, my back is to the A.C. Cobra and I'm shooting across to another section where the Weapons Carrier is being worked on.




Here's Jeff Abbot from Painless Performance Products dialing-in the fuel system.













Here's Bruno talking with Chris who lost his leg during his tour of duty in Iraq









In the background you can see Max watching as I moved around the back to get some behind the scenes pictures...



This is Benjamin, he was all over the place, wherever the action was he was there to help out...

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Continued...


Here's Benjamin check out the engine in-between test firing...






Custom tilt steering column...



Beefed up suspension system...



After they dialed-in the engine they sprayed the inside of the bed...







Time for a test drive with Chris at the wheel and Bruno riding shotgun...





And away they go... engine sounded real healthy!

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Continued...

While we were there we had plenty of time to talk shop with all the guys...

Benjamin and me...



Benjamin was fun to work with and a little further down this thread you'll see where he really took to machine polishing after the detailing class...



Gary...



Showing Bruno and Benjamin how a Paint Thickness Gauge works...



Had a chance to talk with Bruno, he's as hardcore of a "Car Guy" as you can meet...



This poster was hanging in the break room...



1969 Camaro project getting ready for paint...






Max had his laptop setup in the shop so I shared the AutogeekOnline.net discussion forum with all the guys...



Going over the flow of the class with Matt...



Talking about Bruno's race car, you can check it out here... BrunoMasselRacing.com


Drives his own race car which is a 2009 Carbon Fiber Chevrolet Cobalt with a Chevrolet ECOtec 2.2L DOHC 4-cylinder built by GM Powertrain in Wixom, MI

A few specs...

• Horsepower: 1400+ @ maximum boost

• Weight: Minimum weight 2230lbs.

• Performance: 6.86 @ 200 mph in the 1/4mile

Here's a few pictures... more on his website...

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Continued...


Thursday was the day for Autogeek's Detailing 101 and 102 classes...

Everything is set up to show both car detailing, which includes how to use detailing clay to remove above surface bonded contaminants and then remove swirls, scratches and water spots by machine including machine application and removal of wax.

After the detailing session, we moved on to wetsanding, (dampsanding), fresh paint to remove orange peel and then how to use a rotary buffer to remove your sanding marks and then restore a high gloss, show car finish








We started out talking about how to evaluate the condition of the paint as this will help us to determine which products, pads and tools we'll need to restore the paint to show car quality.

Benjamin was kind enough to allow us to use his car for the class...










We started off learning how to inspect the paint with your clean hand and followed this by using "The Baggie Test".



Benjamin was never shy, he was always eager to be the first for everything!



Our inspection indicated that there were above surface bonded contaminants so next up we clayed the paint using Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay and Pinnacle Clay Lube.



A quick demonstration and then everyone was encouraged to try their hand and claying...



Next we learned how to inspect for swirls and scratches using the Brinkmann Xenon Flashlight also called the Swirl Finder Light.




There were plenty of swirls in the paint so it's time to break out the Porter Cable 7424XP and the Cyclo Polisher



The first lesson to learn when using a DA style polisher is to never turn the machine on until the pad is in contact with the paint, otherwise you can sling splatter all over the car and yourself...




Next up was tips and techniques for using the Porter Cable 7424XP




Benjamin was ready, willing and able to test out the Porter Cable 7424XP




I used a microfiber towel to give everyone an idea of how large of an area to tackle at one time...




A little hands-on training flattens out the learning curve and helps a person to master the tool and the process much faster than working alone...








Next up Travis wanted to try out the Porter Cable 7424XP, Travis has experience using a rotary but the smaller, easier to use DA Polisher was new to him.




It took him about 30 seconds to master the correct techniques for removing swirls and he was buffing like a Pro!







Learning how far off the paint to hold the Swirl Finder Light to inspect the results...



Success... the swirls were removed and we were on our way to a show car finish...

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Continued...

After the session on how to detail cars, since they have their own paint mixing room and paint booth and paint cars as a part of their Automotivation Program, we went over how to dampsand the paint flat to remove orange peel and then how to use a rotary buffer to remover the sanding marks and restore gloss.

Somehow we didn't get any pictures of the guys machine dampsanding but we sanded down one half of the hood that Rob had painted the day before using #1500 Unigrit Sanding Discs followed by #3000 Unigrit Foam Finishing Discs.




Next we went over how to use a rotary buffer with a wool pad and an aggressive compound to remove the sanding marks. After that we used a rotary buffer with a foam polishing pad and a finishing polish to maximize gloss and remove any swirls left by the wool cutting pad.



Then for the last step we used the Porter Cable 7424XP to re-polish to ensure that all swirls were removed and a true, swirl-free, show car finish was created that would hold up to even the closest inspection...






After that we wrapped up the class and certificates were signed and awarded... from left to right...

DJ, Gerard, Travis, Gary, Mike, Kevin, Benjamin and Bruno





Travis...



DJ...





Rob...



Gary...



Bruno wanted an honorary certificate and it was my pleasure to sign one for him...

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

Continued...


Max and I would like to say thank you to Rob and his Jacob for painting the hood for our class! You did a great job and we really appreciate it.






A shout out and thank you to Billy who took a lot of our pictures and worked so hard to make sure everything was in place throughout this project.






And remember I said to look further down this thread for some more pictures of Benjamin?

After the class he took right after polishing the rest of his car... I think he found his new passion and he's very good at it...











We'd like to thank Janis Roznowski, the Director and Founder for Operation Comfort for letting Max, myself and everyone from Autogeek plus our forum members and customers for putting this together and allowing us to be a part of it.


Max and Janis Roznowski


Max and Margo Perez


Max and I were both thoroughly impressed with all the Veterans and everyone else involved with Operation Comfort's Automotivation Program.

It's a great cause and we're blessed to be involved with so many wonderful people.

[Mike.Phillips@Autogeek]

I have a few more pictures that I'll add on Monday...

[FastZR1]

Wow Mike... thanks for sharing all the photos. It makes me happy to see you guys doing so much for these veterans. They look so happy and I know it takes a lot of work from a lot of people to pull off these things. Good job.

[CEE DOG]

I really appreciate you guys sharing this with us. Looks like a great group of people. I would have learned a lot hanging around there. Thanks for taking the time to post all the pictures and tell the storys Mike.






"No one could make a greater mistake then he who did nothing because he could do little" - Edmund Burke

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke

[Joe@Superior Shine]

Love it!!