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It's enough to make a grown man weep

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drambuie

drambuie

Jedi Warrior
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I decided to bring my all original 1967 Healey BJ8 to the local self serve car wash. To power wash the underside and wheel wells... mmmmmmm lets see! Ahhh, This super soap thing sounds good. After all, The british car festival in chicago is to be held september 11, And i want my original British racing green paint nice and spiffy for this upcoming event! I put my money in, turn the little knob to super soap! Im thinking this should do the trick, after all i want my healey to stand out from the crowd, yeser re bob.... I begin to spray the underside and wheel wells, Hey what the heck! Do the whole car while im at it! After all i want to preserve this Great piece of vintage car history! All of a sudden the white super soap suds are turning green! And to my shock my original british racing green paint is begining to run down my body panels into the floor drain.... I quickly turn that little black knob off super soap and on to finish rinse! Too late... green streeks are running down all my body panels and in some spots down to the primer.... In full panic i race home and this old tv hair dye ad keeps screaming at me.. Im gonna wash that grey right out of your hair... Well my healey now is 3 shades lighter and has tie die look to it, and is a flat military green now! Kind of like the old british spitfires war birds. All i need is machine gun on the bonnet and im all set! I dunno know if to laugh or cry! Moral of the story to fellow keepers of vintage history! Don't ever let me wash your car. mmmmm I wonder if can get a job with the historical car restorer.
 
Hey Drambuie,

In the first place; "its not your fault"
Nobody is to expect such an effect, is it ?
Do they have any warning outside or in a leaflet ?

I would recommend to see a lawyer, just to be sure about your rights

Hans
 
Drambuie,
Tell us more about the last paint job. When was it done, what type of paint was used? Was it ever washed before? Did you apply any cleaner to the car besides the sprayer suds?
Was there any kind of warning (really small print) posted anywhere?
Was there an attendant there?
I wonder if someone dumped the wrong solvent into the suds bucket?
If it did that to the paint, what did it do to your skin and lungs?
Sounds like a good time to document everything and find a good attorney.
rich
:cowboy:
 
I agree. I can't imagine that 'soap' would do such a thing to any paint job, never mind a vintage car. Something doesn't smell right.
 
judow said:
I agree. I can't imagine that 'soap' would do such a thing to any paint job, never mind a vintage car. Something doesn't smell right.
Click to expand...
My understanding about car wash soaps, particuary these types, is that the same soap is used for everything and the only difference is in the concentration of it. A good friend told me this as he once checked into buying a do-it-yourself carwash.
Patrick
 
Hey Drambuie,
Man, I feel your pain ! Like the other guys have said, maybe something besides soap got into that system. Know they have tire cleaner setting and I think engine clean setting, maybe one of those mixtures did it ? Can't imagine what would turn paint into tie dye unless it had some kind of solvent in it. Regardless that is truly awful. Hope you said something to the attendant if there even was one around or called the owner, etc. Years ago I took a brand new BMW through one of the automatic type - never to repeat again - and the small stick that dropped down to hit your car hood and signal the big rolling brushes to come down to clean the car, well it was supposed to have a nice non non marring (sp?) piece on the end and guess what, it didn't ! Put a nice scratch from front to rear on the entire car. Fortunately the car wash insurance company paid to repaint but she was never the same after that !!! Hope you get some relief from the car wash owner. Let us all know what happens.
Condolences,
Mike
 
I'm sorry to hear this. Some kind of solvent harmful to lacquer must have got on your paint surface. The car wash operator may claim he has had no other complaints, but it's possible newer basecoat/clearcoat paints are tougher than the old stuff. I would contact your insurance carrier and let them fight it out with the car wash. Another thing, you should factor into your loss diminution in value of your original paint car. Even with a new paint job, your car won't be worth what it was with original paint. Make sure the insurance company compensates you for that loss.

Maybe this will make you feel better:

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judow said:
I agree. I can't imagine that 'soap' would do such a thing to any paint job, never mind a vintage car. Something doesn't smell right.
Click to expand...

Well unfortunately it will do just that.
On current single stage paints it will turn the paint almost white.
Fortunately here you can re polish he paint and wax then wax it.
On the old original lacquer paints it raises Cain .
However in some cases A wash using vinegar in the water clears it up.
No it does not produce any odor it just ticks you off. OH !!! happened to me on the way to an international meet a few years ago---Keoke-- :laugh:
 
Hey Keoke, are you talking water based single stage or solvent based?
 
At the risk of not being popular , what the heck were you thinking? You took a car with its original paint to a car wash and sprayed the paint with their soap? A soap that's formulated to get the most dirt grime and grit off a modern finish the quickest way possible? I'm not picking on you , cause I've done plenty of things that sounded like a great idea at the time but didn't quite work out that way, more later... Dishwashing detergent probably isn't as harsh as what you soaked your Healey in and I'd never wash a car with dishwashing detergent ! That soap extracted all of the oils and pigments from your lacquer because it is so porous, a modern catalysed finish is like having a plastic liner on the outside. Man , I really feel bad for you. I agree , make an insurance claim with your carrier , that's what you have the policy for. I know for a fact that someone like Hagerty does not pay for diminished value however. Kevin
 
elrey said:
Hey Keoke, are you talking water based single stage or solvent based?
Click to expand...

Solvent based Polyurethane
 
Lacquer is delicate, even plain water can cause spotting. Bummer, sorry it happened. I would be interested in seeing before /after pictures.
 
Hi All,

I hear a lot of talk that the original paint on the Healey was Lacquer. As far as I remember, my original paint was an English enamel and not lacquer. Whether enamel or lacquer, most of the original paint colors had a high fade rate (my reason for choosing Old English White) and low-medium reflectivity and were repainted with lacquer as that was the common body shop paint of the time.

Drambuie, I can appreciate the pain you’re experiencing. Even though the Healey’s paint was not the best, it’s a shame when you loose the value and originality you worked so heard to retain. I see concourse cars with high deep color and shine and think to myself, Healey would have loved to have offered a car of that quality … but didn’t.

Hope you find a way to reverse the damage. As a thought, does anyone have a contact at a paint manufacturer (i.e. DuPont, etc) to solicit their advice.

Ray (64BJ8P1)
 
You could of course make an insurance claim then leave the tie-dye appearance and move to a hip(pie) place like Oregon where it would be appreciated :wall:
rich
 
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