Run what you brung - Use what you have -Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

Run what you brung - Use what you have -Mike Phillips


I think due credit is give to Cale Yarborough for the quote,

Run what you brung


It was a saying made popular in the early days of racing, back when you drove your race car to the track and raced it the same way you drove it there. Street tires, pump gas etc.

People would say...

Run what you brung


Of course now days, all forms of racing has gone high dollar and all cars are trailered to the track and every component of any form of race car is highly specialized.


In my life, I've borrowed the analogy of run what you brung but my version goes like this,


Use what you have


And the context of what I mean is sometimes I have a project to push through and I don't have the perfect car or boat or fill-in-the blank that I would LIKE to have for the project so I use what I have.

The bigger picture being is sometimes you (and specifically me), we have to simply use what's available at the time if we want to push through a project on the time schedule before us.

One example is the car I used in this article.


The Secret to Removing Oxidation and Restoring a Show Car Finish to Antique Single Stage Paints




I NEVER wanted to use what I consider an ugly car and I never wanted to use a car with an original single stage metallic paint job. I wanted to use a 1959 Cadillac with a chalky oxidized pink single stage paint job, NON-metallic. But that car didn't work out so I used what I had.

As of today, that thread has,

257 Replies
441,265 Views

That's a lot when you consider the majority of people living today DON'T own a car with single stage paint.


In a few moments I'm going to post some pictures of the boat that arrived here today for our boat class this weekend. It wasn't until it arrived here and I moved it into the garage and then put the SCANGRIP Sunmatch light on it that I discovered areas on the boat that have been repaired.

I inspect the boat in much the same way I inspect a car using the VIF or Vehicle Inspection Form I created and started sharing in March of 2013

Mike Phillips VIF or Vehicle Inspection Form


As of today, this thread has,

2,650 Replies
261,186 Views

That's a LOT of replies.



In fact, I'm going to try to create a Boat Inspection Form or BIF ASAP just for this class.


While I was let down that this boat has repairs, I called the owner and notified him of what I discovered, (I also took pictures to document the damage is pre-existing), and he told me he is well aware of the repairs and at some time in the future he's going to have the boat painted.

He then said to have at it and don't worry about any issues arising from the repairs. He went on to say he's a HUGE fan of TRAINING and incoperates into his own business for his own employees.

So I've changed my mind, I going to...

Use what I have


Heck it's already in the garage ready to go. But more important is now I can teach the class the importance of

First inspecting the boat
Second taking pictures and documenting the damage or repaired areas BEFORE working on the boat
Contacting the owner and notifying them of the issues before working on the boat


Sometimes the world will hand you lemons and it's your job to turn them into lemonaid.


Use what you have...

[axel06]

Thank you Mike very informative

[dlc95]

Used this in the drum world many, MANY times!

Hard rock set on jazz drums? Ok!

Use someone else's drums? Ok!

[Whitewater25]

My wife says that same thing when I want to build a new rod,get a new reel or try a new car care product from AG.

[Mike Phillips]

Used this in the drum world many, MANY times!

Hard rock set on jazz drums? Ok!

Use someone else's drums? Ok!

Ha ha.... that's funny...

[Farmallluvr]

One of the places I worked had a Lincoln identical to that,he sold it at Auborn I believe.
I think it's a 76 but not sure,the last time I cleaned it was 19 years ago

[oneheadlite]

And here I thought "Use what you have" was regarding the products you have on the shelf versus choosing a car to demo on.

As a hobbyist, it's very easy on here to get caught up in whichever products that are all the rage being discussed on the forums. Can't count how many things I've bought being fairly certain I couldn't detail without them, only to later realize my growing list of redundancies.

I've finally gotten the brakes on that habit (mostly. Dang sales... ), and have made my focus learning to get the most out of the quality products I've bought here. Mainly, it's finding the time to use them!!!

Quality soaps/cleaners? Check.
Well trusted mechanical/chemical decontamination products? Check.
Varying levels of cut from a line with good abrasive technology? Check.
Multiple LSP choices pulled from many trusted reviews? Check.
Quality pads, towels, and multiple light sources? Check.

Now where is that free time...