Wednesday 28 March 2012

January 2012

January - These things take time and I know that you cant rush a good job, but will the jalopy ever escape from the paint shop and come on back home. I wait in eager anticipation.

This month would turn out to be the busiest, hardest, and in some cases the most frustrating time the jalopy and I had spent together since I brought her home.

Jerry

1st January
Hopefully this week the body shop guys should finish the realignment and body work on the Jalopy. I am hopeful that the old gal will go to the paint shop this weekend and will be reassembled next week. With any hope and a little luck I might get her back the following weekend. Now I have the road ahead for building the bed and all that will be entailed with that little undertaking. Although I am excited about the thought of being finished, the ordeal seems mighty huge at the moment.

2nd January
This is the poor girl nearly naked. Doors off, rear of cab removed and the bed long gone. This is where the fun began, the door hinge holes were drilled, dowel rods glued into them and re-drilled and later doors re-hung.

We have worked the cowl, fenders and by now the hood should be completed. I was amazed at the amount of dings, dents and other imperfections all over this truck. There was bondo almost everywhere on top of the metal. There still is because the areas where I sanded, I was only trying to take out the dents without taking everything off down to bare metal (to save myself some money). The paint had runs and blemishes everywhere…it was unbelievable. Just by block-sanding we were able to make remarkable headway and make the finish look so much nicer. It will look 100% better when painted.

I’m ready for this phase to be finished so I can get the old gal back into my own garage




Not even the hood escaped without a bandage. Both sides needed filler where probably someone opened the hood and let it fall which created a dent the entire length of the hood.


At this angle you can see where the “bend” in the metal was.  Both sides of the hood had received the same impact.  At least they were the same!  You can also see the inner fender with about a ton of Bondo.  Fortunately most of this was sanded off but it does give you an appreciation of the amount of work that goes into a restoration.  I think one ton of Bondo was used and only about 16 ounces were left on the finished truck.  The rest was sanded off and is lying on the floor and in my lungs (yes I wore a breathing mask).


  Still wearing the hood because it was easier to keep the same curvature with it on the truck.

4th January
Welding the upper and lower sections of the cab, matching the body with the doors. 


The doors are now mounted on the old jalopy (temporarily right now) and the alignment was nearly complete as of last night. They are still working toward the goal of finishing the body work by weeks end and having it ready for the paint booth. If nothing weird happens, I should get a shiny new truck back sometime over the next 7-10 days


Grinding the weld where the cab was reattached, as you can see from the sparks flying. They will putty that spot, sand and smooth it and then put the back panel on. They are very close to priming the entire truck and then I can come by and sand the primer to get it as smooth as a baby's butt all around and then off to the paint shop.


The door realigned. You can see the area where the cab panel was cut, welded together again and how nicely the door aligns like it should. The bottom of the doors were in bad shape after we began sanding her down and they took more hours to fix than anything else.

5thJanuary
The doors are re-hung with new screws and/or bolts and nuts into the body. I seriously doubt they will ever become loose and sag again. The body was cut just behind the door (on the body of the cab) to allow the cab to be lowered and thus re-align the doors. We suspect whomever reworked the truck probably did the metal work at one location and the carpenter did his thing somewhere else and then installed them together. We suspect this because it was quite evident that nothing was considered as far as alignment and the two pieces never matched correctly. The cabinetry is amazingly well done. The body work looked like they were either is a terrible rush to finish, or maybe the carpenter was so slow that by the time the body person got the truck that he didn't have time to do it properly. There was body putty almost every square inch of the old gal, which is fine but they didn't properly sand it down and when they painted her, they didn't care about paint runs or divots or waves in the paint or body. All in all they just didn't take the time necessary to have done a more complete job. I thought they were probably getting it ready to drive in a parade or something like that and they had to meet a deadline. I believe the deadline made them cut a lot of corners.

I ordered (from Gary Wallace), a pair of door stoppers (that prevent the door from swinging too far forward in case the wind catches it or whatever). I discovered that when the interior was redone that they either did not have the arm that prevents the over extension of the door or just didn't want it installed because there is no indication that one was ever put on the truck. So, I will have to do some modification of my own and get these things installed. I also talked to Gary about the front tyre/wheel situation and he is looking and trying to find a couple of larger wheels. His son is getting into the antique car/truck business and will probably take over from Gary when he retires. If I can't find larger wheels then like I told him, it isn't like I can't drive the truck now...so if I don't locate the 6 bolt wheels it won't prevent me from being a travelling man...however it does complicate the spare tyre issue.


The ‘real’ body man.  He was so particular that sometimes I wanted to shout, “hurry up the meter is running.”  Now that the jalopy is finished and home again I can look back and be thankful that he was so tireless and faithful to his trade. 


6th January
Oh my, I hope those rear fenders are someone else’s and not mine!  Give me a slice of ham, two pieces of bread as I already have the Swiss cheese.  I thought we were going to have them sandblasted to save us some work.  I see $$$$$$$.  Yikes!  Another set back!

Repeat after me, “ditto, ditto, and ditto.”


Repeat after me, “ditto, ditto, and ditto.”


Repeat after me, “ditto, ditto, and ditto.”


9th January
It takes time to do everything the right way! They are methodical and attentive to the smallest detail...which also makes the hours tick by rather quickly. The same owner is also the painter that is going to paint the jalopy I found out last week. He takes it to a paint shop rather than paint it in the body shop. I've seen some of his work and it looks very nice.

I will be glad when it is done and proud to drive it, but it is giving the wallet a hiding. I spent all day Saturday over there sanding and sanding, doing some of the menial work . I have had more work done than originally planned so anything I can do will help in both time and cost.

12th January
I am very anxious to see the body primed and then moved on to the paint shop. I have no idea how long after she is painted that they will take to get her back together again but now I see it dragging on for at least another week minimum. 


OMG, I think they are actually going to prime it!  Either that or they have a rotten sense of color…or is that their attempt at humor.  I don’t think the colors really go together!  (just kidding)


Notice that while the dust was flying, they covered the motor so that all of those horses were not getting covered.  Very thoughtful indeed.  Thank you D.J.


Geez it is dark AGAIN, how long have we been at this today?  Guess what?  She is taped and ready for primer.


Oh my, that is about as naked as you can get.  Patience Jerry, she will soon be one color


13th January
Moved to another part of the shop for primer.  Is this really going to happen or are we going to just talk about it?  Ha, ha.


And???????


The next series is of the truck all one colour...a grayish colour. It is an elastic material to help smooth out the entire body from little dents and dings, scratch marks and so on.


One color again but still drying.  Heck, I’ll take her like she is.  Waiter, check please!


Oh yes, the hood, let’s make sure it get the same treatment.  All those ribs, what a job of sanding.  I’m still tired just thinking about it.

I could look at her all day.  I know what you are thinking…it’s only primer but to me it is “but she is finally one color again and soooooooo many hours of sanding.”





14th January
The gal getting her face painted…and all the rest. This is the primer stage, all taped off and getting three coats of primer on the entire body (kind of a butterscotch colour), which we did this morning.


Many, many hours of sanding with 320 and then a felt pad are ahead to remove any shiny spots to get her ready for eventual finish paint.


Ghost rider in the sky.  Hey, who the heck is choosing the color schemes?  Wow, I can feel the end coming.


Make sure we get everything covered with that stuff!


16th January
 Its morning and the gloves are off.  Well, maybe not the gloves but at least the paper is off and it looks like a truck again.


Butterscotch pudding anyone?



I’ve got to do what?  Scotch pad the whole thing?  AGAIN?


21st January
Ha, ha, I talked D.J. into working on the hood (and all those ribs).  I have the makings of a manager in me.


Yes, let’s get all of the pieces done, scotch pad buffed and laid out like cord-wood



 
25th January
We brought the old bed back to the shop from my house to make sure everything lines up and especially the gas tank filler neck has to fir perfectly. Old Jerry is going to use each piece of plywood as a template and the gas cap hole has to be just right so he can cut the new, white oak exactly right and the hole will line up or there could be serious trouble.


29th January
The jalopy didn't get painted this week. We are now talking maybe Monday evening for the base green colour on the body. If that happens, I have been invited to watch (it is at another shop that has a paint booth). If it does happen then Tuesday it should get the trim, fenders, etc. painted black. Hold your breath!

31st January
Well the jalopy still sits in the shop and I don't know if its going to get its paint bath today or not. There's evidently more to do. Its getting to that frustrating stage. There are still a lot of little things left to do before it can make the little trip to the paint house. It is very frustrating but I know it is the little things that make the big things all work. When it is all done and the jalopy is parked in my own garage again, I will give a big sigh of relief.


Washing all of the dust off…(they say), so that it can go to the paint shop.  I am thinking they are lying just to keep my mouth shut!  Ha, ha.


It is funny, every time they need to start her up to move her, D.J. has to call me to do it.  Seeing him stand beside the truck makes you realize there was no way possible to fold him up and tuck him inside the cab with those long legs.  Hummmmm, maybe it isn’t too late to make a convertible out of it.

What the…?  What room is this?  A paint booth, are you kidding me?  Yahoo!


Huh, you’re going to cover her is plastic?  I thought we were painting it?


I think I hate plastic.  What is left to paint?  It costs how much to paint a vehicle…what paint and where?  All I see is paper and plastic.

Plastic on the frame.  They are doing it right.  Also, they wiped the entire surface down with an alcohol type of liquid (smelled like alcohol to me).  The wipe-down happened between each coat.  You can’t see me but I was wiping and taking pictures the whole time.  Is that my heart beating so loud or is there a tornado coming?  No, I’m not excited.  It is close to 10:00 PM.



All parts and pieces get the same treatment.  Man, this is a lot of work.  Who knew?

Dang it, give me the paint sprayer and let’s get some green on this gal.


AT LAST I SEE GREEN AND IT IS GOING ON THE JALOPY.  Who is the alien in there with her?  I’m shooting this picture through the port hole of the paint booth.

I believe Steve put three coats of green on her.  I cannot tell you how beautiful new paint is.  All the dust, the sanding, the sanding (oh, I said that already), the filling, the ugly undercoat, ugly primer, the sanding (sorry), and now this beautiful butterfly coming out of its cocoon.  Unbelievable.


There are no words to describe this!


Wow is the only thing that comes to mind.


Footnote:  The recipe to obtain this beautiful color included the following colors in differing amounts.  Green, blue, yellow LF, black, yellow LF (again), STR White, clear and reducer.  I was able to watch Steve (the alien) mix the paint.  Who would have thunk you could mix all of that and come up with such a stunningly beautiful green.



                                  

1 comment:

  1. G'day Jerry, Mate you should be so proud and happy to own that lovely truck... Great job indeed, the end result is FANTASTIC :) Cheers Grant

    PS the blog is a great bit of work also..

    ReplyDelete