Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Brooklands body upkeep

Shout out to other Brookland’s owners…I’m the (2nd I think) owner of #6 of the 50 Brooklands run. Purchased via online auction in USA. Previous owner had it listed via an agent so I cannot correspond with him. Apparently it was part of a collection of vehicles being liquidated due to advanced age or health of owner (or he got tired of trying to maintain it LOL). Had 628 miles on it when I got it so it’s just getting broken in.

Looking for advice on maintaining the aluminum…rubbing our wear marks etc. Would any USA owners reply with advice on what products to use. I’ve tried Mothers aluminum polish sparingly….it helps but leaves some faint haze/swirl marks. The previous owner had vinyl appliqué applied for better visibility. I may change it eventually but will probably always keep the bonnet and boot semi covered for vis since I live in the southern CA desert.

Any and all advice greatly appreciated!

Will

[img]https://photos.app.goo.gl/MsHy8kKmF3DjM7NZ7[/img]

Congrats - and a pretty interesting color / natural body combination.

Took the liberty of displaying your photo directly Will.



Great looking car and good call retaining the high vis bonnet/hood - I added yellow flashes to front of mudguards when I had mine. Watch out for those Brooklands cans though, they have a reputation for splitting at the pipe inlets.

Nice photo...

Will,
I'm glad you decided to take my advice and join TM. This lot should be able to help you. I use mothers polish on my ali bonnet & cowl. & then wax it.

Nice looking Will.

You have found the correct place for info on these little fun machines.

Congrats on the purchase Will! I too am in SoCal and if you’d ever like to meet up pm me. I’ll try my best here to tell you what I’ve been doing on mine. There’s really not much more to do to keep it looking good vs clear coated painted panel. It’s just a different set of polishes/pads vs what’s used on paint.

I’m gonna assume your surface looked liked mine with many very light swirl marks. Here’s what mine looked like before I got going:



The single deeper scratch that’s just to the left of the light isn’t going to get fixed with the process I’m outlining below. It would require some additional steps that’s beyond the scope of this.

And here’s what it looked like after I was done…a mirror:




I’ve learned long ago that people look at most at the top 2/3rds of a car. The bottom 1/3rd could look ‘dirty’ and only the pixel peeper types would notice. Up to you who you are and what kind of effort you’ll put into that bottom 1/3rd.

Here’s what you’re gonna need:
1. Garage or other indoor space with lots of light. While the sun is a perfect light source, don’t recommend doing this outside as various contaminants/dust can land on the panel and it will be a constant battle not introducing scratches due to this.

2. A dual-action (DA) polisher. They’re also called random orbit polishers. I personally have 2. One with 6” backing plate which is used to do the bulk of the polishing, and one with a smaller head to do all the tight spots. I have a Griots G9 with a 6” plate and an SPTA cordless mini which has 1” and 2” plates. Lots of personal preference for this and none really are ‘wrong’. You just want to stay away from a rotary polisher as they’re not forgiving and one could do damage if they don’t know what they’re doing. A DA polisher is very user friendly and it’s very difficult to do any damage with one.

Here’s link to Griots

Here’s link to SPTA

3. Polishing pads. You’re gonna want to use soft foam pads. These are typically called finishing pads. I don’t think how soft it is is ultimately going to matter or which particular brand. I went with a black finishing pad from Lake Country for the 6” and used the yellow pad included in the SPTA kit.

4. Polish. Now this is absolutely key! You must use Nuvite Nushine IIS. It’s the stuff they use on polished aluminum airplanes and airstreams. I believe I bought the smallest size and have a lot leftover. It’s pretty pricey but it’s the only stuff I found to work. I spoke with them first and they’re the ones who gave me a process to work with that I fine tuned.

5. White cotton flannel cloth. You must use this and it must be brand new. Not something you’ve got lying around the house. I bought it by the yard at Walmart. Probably could get at any crafts store.

6. Painters tape. Used to mask off areas that polisher shouldn’t touch.

7. Drop cloth. Splatter will fly while polishing. You don’t want it to land on an already polished surface. Bought a cheap thin plastic one at Home Depot for like $5.

8. N95 sealed respirator (not a COVID mask as these don’t typically seal well enough), eye protection, and gloves. Fine particles are created when polishing and you don’t want to inhale this stuff or get it in eyes.

Ok, onto the process.

1. It helps to have a lift to adjust height to make it comfortable. If you don’t have one just take your time and take breaks as bending over while polishing can be physically demanding.



2. Get the metal clean. I use a detailer spray with several microfiber towels to do this. I’ve never used water to wash the Morgan. Only have used detailer spray. Pick your favorite brand.

3. Mask off areas which shouldn’t get polished with painters tape.

4. Cut several pieces of cotton flannel cloth to size to fit on pad. I can’t remember how many, but several will be used. I ended up not attaching the flannel to pad, just placed it onto pad and by placing some pressure onto the polisher the flannel mostly would stay on while polishing. Here’s what it’s going to look like:





5. Using a clean gloved finger, place small dabs of Nushine IIS about 6” apart. A little goes a long way. If you’re using a new cotton flannel, you may need some more of the Nushine to load up the flannel a bit.

6. Polish in small sections. Maybe 2ft x 2ft. Set the polisher to a slow speed. I used speed 2 on the Griots, 3 on the SPTA. You will want to go in a cross-hatched pattern. Starting in the lower-left go up to top then shift over half a pad width to the right and go down to the bottom then shift over half a pad width to the right and go up to the top and repeat till you get to the end; then go left all the way across and shift a half a pad width up or down as appropriate and repeat till you get to the end. This is one pass. Do 5 passes or as many as you see needed. Do about 25% overlap with other polished 2ft x 2ft sections. Each pass should probably take about a minute. Put like 5-10lbs pressure on polisher head with your hand. Shouldn’t need much force on the head. The polish and flannel will turn black as you do this. Make sure there is enough of the polish so that the entire area actually gets polished.

7. Once polished you need to clean the polish off. Use a completely new clean piece of the cotton flannel for each section and place it onto the pad and use the polisher to polish the remaining polish away, again at slow speed (speed 2 in the Griots case). You may need more than one new piece of cotton flannel. Removing polish is a key step so when in doubt use additional clean pieces of cotton flannel. It should look like a mirror at this point. If it doesn’t, you may need to spend a little more time polishing.

8. The foam pad will start to get loaded up with used polish at some point. You’ll need to clean it off or can buy multiple pads to avoid doing so.

Good luck and happy polishing! Feel free to reach out with any questions.

Here’s some pics of mine after:

Stunning Socalm3w you can come & polish my bonnet anytime.
I was recommended mothers polish by Krazy Horse but will look into your recommendation.