Thinking about a new paint job. Part Three.

In the interest of full disclosure the information and photos I'm sharing are from this shop's website. I have been a satisfied customer since they painted my '70 Mustang. I have been impressed by their work, their website, and their customer service. This is a full range, collision and paint shop. They do all levels of paint work and restoration. Looking at the website you'll see many examples of their handiwork. There are many high dollar cars such as Mercedes, BMW and Cadillac. Of course the only car you'd really care about would be your own!

A  bare metal re-spray is the gold standard of paint jobs.

If you're going to do it, do it right. That quarter panel had to come off.

I'm just relating my own experiences and impressions as a customer. I'm not a paid spokesperson, and I don't have any ties, financial, family, or friends connected with this establishment. I do not have any specific permission to use these materials, however you could access all this just by clicking on their website. I do appreciate their excellent website that offers so much useful information. Think of this as just a customer referral.

I went by the shop to inquire about a possible respray of my '96 Mustang. I'm considering just an exterior repaint in the original color, Laser Red metallic. This would be the easiest, quickest  and cheapest choice. There wouldn't be a need to paint door jambs, trunk or hood. My car could use some extra surface preparation since there are some small oxidized areas that are rough, and would need to be smoothed out. There are also a couple of small dings here and there.

It's obvious that you won't get a good job if this problem is not addressed.

All it takes is the proper surface preparation.

This area of oxidation is visibly rough because the customer chose to omit the necessary
sanding and sealing prior to painting.

This would probably be the most satisfactory route as any areas that were not masked completely would only betray the original red paint.

Unfortunately I have this thing for Highland Green Mustangs. This was not a popular color when the 67-68 era Mustangs were new. That awful lime green, (since reintroduced) was much more common. Even my '70 coupe was originally that hue. The first factory "Bullitt homage" Mustang was built on the New Edge SN 95 face lift. Ford also offered a forest green for his model which is also very nice, but was chosen by few buyers.

To be honest, it's much easier to buy a car that is already in a color that you want. Especially if you are buying a brand new car, though there aren't always a lot of choices. I've only bought five new vehicles and I've only been able to find one available in a color that I really wanted.

I suppose that I could just sell my Mustang and buy a Bullitt model, but I like my car, and I don't want to spend all that money. Why not just change my car's color?

I was considering a color change, and I checked their website and saw that a color change was one of their advertised specialties.

However there are going to be increased costs. First is to add 100.00 to whatever level paint you're choosing.

Then add painting under the hood and trunk for an additional 200.00, each.

It looks like they do a thorough job masking.
This is a later model Mercedes, you know.
Later model is still 20 years old!

Door jambs are an additional 150.00 each.

You can see that the sill plate is masked off.
I guess that the owner didn't want to drive a purple Benz?

The weatherstrip/seal and window are completely masked.
Sure beats the old newspaper that I use.

So the increased cost is 800 bucks even on their cheapest re-spray.  There is obviously a lot of extra labor involved.

The shop manager told me that they will not paint inner fenders or firewalls. They will paint the fender flange under the hood, he said that I could mask the bolts if I wanted to.

Even with the extra cost work, there still might be some areas where the original color would be noticeable. Their website clearly advises customers that they have to determine their comfort zone with the results. Which cannot be guaranteed to be perfect. The higher levels of paint and prep will result in a better job, but the customer has to decide if they will be satisfied with the results. There are going to areas that can not be effectively painted over.

Some cars have black inner fender wells and firewalls and some have body color. The inside of the trunk is another area, for example.

They had a Suzuki Samurai that had been color changed from Pink (actually faded mauve)  to silver, parked out front.

The out side of the body and the door jambs came out very well, but because it's an old type truck there is still a lot of painted metal in the cabin. Which was still pink of course. I would break out the rattle can and paint that black or whatever color is similar to the existing interior color.

Here's a gallery of color change vehicles featured on their website.

Back to my own situation.

I have been considering a color change from the current Laser Red to Highland Green. That's a rough one, as any missed spots will be glaringly apparent. Although green against red does look pretty good... on a Christmas card!

It's not that I hate red, but I really want another green Mustang. I like my car, I would just prefer another color. In a way, it's not that big a deal. Even if it doesn't look like a Concours level job it would look fine from the outside.  It would destroy the originality of the car, but honestly, it's not like it's a rare Corvette "Gold" survivor. Plenty of Mustangs like mine out there.

If I really wanted it done right, the doors would have to come off. Blowing apart the entire car can be done, but not at anything like a reasonable cost.

Let's take a closer look at where the trouble spots would be on my car.

Starting with the door jambs. They would mask off the interior of the car with plastic sheeting.
They will mask the weatherstrip and door cards, you can see the process in the earlier pictures.  Here's where there could be a trouble spot. There are two areas of red on both sides of the weatherstrip. The weatherstrip/door seals would have to be completely masked off. Since rubber doesn't maintain a firm edge, any movement of the rubber post painting will expose the underlying red. It's certain that rubber will shrink and shift as it continues to age. The best course would be to remove and replace with a new seal after painting. More expense, but easily done.

The outside door edge. This is the area that will be seen all the time.
If imperfections in this area would bother you, maybe you should reconsider.

I would do a lot of cleaning before I brought the car to the shop.
Realistically they aren't going to spend hours cleaning this, but I can.

The front edge of the door opening has to deal with the hinge mechanism. This would have to be scrupulously cleaned and carefully sanded. That black rubber flex conduit would need to be carefully masked, or removed.  The door sill plate would be masked or removed and ideally the door card should be removed. Any caked on dirt that is painted over will someday flake off again exposing the red paint. If the doors were removed than these problem areas could be better addressed. However this increases the cost.

Removing the seal would be the first step.
It could use a new one anyway.

Here we have the trunk opening. The seal can easily be removed and replaced later. The black panel above the tail lamp can probably be effectively masked. The underside of the trunk lid can easily be painted. However the red paint on the interior of the trunk will be visible.

Next, we look under the hood. This is where certain areas just can't be easily repainted by the owner. However if you wanted to disassemble all the components and mask and paint, go ahead.

I try to keep my car clean.

Here's another real problem area. The front fender flange and bolts. These bolts appear to have been painted body color. My preference would be to replace and mask the bolts prior to painting as well as remove and replace the hood bumpers. The radiator support and inner fenders would have to remain red, unless I was to paint them black.

Okay, it's bit dirtier  here.

Finally you can see that the firewall is painted body color.  The left side of the firewall is partially covered by the a/c housing and there are various black painted braces and bits attached. However you can still see the red.

Have I come to any conclusions? I think that I'll stretch this series out to one more installment!

Maybe I'm not really a car guy. Part One.

His resume is long and impressive.

Whether I am or not,  Pat Ganahl definitely is. I highly recommend that you visit his website. patganahl.com.

Now, back to my story.

Am I really a car guy?

I think that I am, I feel like one, at least most of the time. I still read everything that I can get my hands on about cars. I still spend hour after hour on line, looking at cars on CL.

My introduction to Rockabilly and Rat Rods.

Last week I was driving my '96 Mustang GT with the windows down listening to my Rhino early '50's automotive related music. I enjoy this early Rock and Rockabilly music, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, being one of my favorites. I like early classic hot rods, Kustoms, muscle cars, and the like.

It crossed my mind that someone might have heard my music and thought, "What's up with the old man in the Mustang listening to the Stray Cats?"  Not that I was really worried about what anyone would think, but it just raised "some questions for my own consideration" as I drove along.

As I said before, I like, and have owned lots of vintage cars. Several Cadillacs from the mid 50's through 1970. Rivieras from 1966 to 1971, a '66 and '70 Mustang, even a '22 Dodge that I was trying to build into a hot rod.  I even currently own a 1951 Jaguar sedan.

While I still like old cars, I don't know if I really still want to own another one.

There are lots of compromises that have to be made in owning and driving a vintage car as opposed to a modern vehicle.

I might appreciate a cut down Ford shoebox but I'd probably rather drive a new Aviator!

I could say that I've been there, done that. True enough, except that I've never built a really nice car.

I've fixed up quite a few cars, but never completely restored or really built a hot rod or custom.

I have rebuilt a couple of motorcycles. Even built a real chopper.

Is there a car that I really, really wanted, that I finally bought and regret letting it go?

Hard to say because when I let it go it was to buy another car that I was anticipating.

Turning the clock back, Hmmm...

My first car was a '66 Mustang, which I didn't even want to buy in the first place. No regrets over selling that.

I replaced that with a '64 Cadillac convertible, which I really did want. Unfortunately I was dumb enough to sell it to some guy off the street who offered me 500 bucks for it. That was three times what I paid for it.

Why did I sell my '70 Coupe de Ville? Oh, I wanted a car with better gas mileage (?!) So I replaced it with a two year old Pontiac Astre coupe. (Think Chevy Vega! At least it had a 5 speed!)  At the time  I thought that I might be going back to college full time for the next few years and wanted a car that I wouldn't have to mess with, and to save money on gas. That Astre only lasted a couple of years until ...

I found my '57 Sedan de Ville on a used car lot on Mission Blvd. in Hayward. This was one that I really wanted and that I kept for several years. I only let this one go because the dealer at the consignment lot really wanted it, and took it as a trade on my dream car, a three year old '77 Coupe de Ville.

Glory Days!

This was the one that I had dreamed about and ached for, I really loved this car. I kept it for another four years. I sold it because I got a good job down in L.A. and I was afraid that it might breakdown on the frenzied weekend trips I squeezed in to return home.  I didn't want to get in trouble at work. I was newly married when I took that job in L.A.

So I bought my first new car. A '84 Mercury Cougar. My Wife liked it better than the T Bird. I thought that a new car was a better bet than a three year old El Dorado. That would have been the '79 to '85 downsized models.

Would I want another Cougar. No.

As a married man and stepfather I knew that it couldn't always be all about me. My Wife needed a reliable car to drive to work.  So my car lust had to cool way down.

Besides, I still had my Harley. Actually, two Harleys. ( Maybe I still did think that it should be all about me!)

A new Dodge minivan replaced the Cougar. We added a new Civic SI coupe (really nice).  We bought a house and I still managed to hold onto my Sportster. The Hog had to go. Another minivan followed, but to be truthful I like minivans.

Thinking back to my high school and junior college days the opportunity to own what are now considered classic cars were occasionally open to me.  Let's see.

I found a '55 El Dorado convertible on the back row of a run down used car lot in Alameda. Only 199.00! It was complete and running, with just a big dent in the quarter panel behind the driver's door.  Did I buy it? Nope.

How about a series Two Jaguar XKE roadster that a guy was selling in the parking lot of my J.C.? He was only asking a grand, but, "who would be crazy enough to buy a Jaguar?" Besides, a grand was a lot of money at the time, 1974--75. Most of my vehicular purchases were well under a grand. Three to five hundred bucks would usually do the trick. I bet he would have taken less!

There was a '40 Ford coupe for sale in the local classifieds for 750.00. Nope. Too old.

My neighbor down the street was a (now) well known car customizer, Ron Dunn. He had a first gen Corvette ( wire baskets over the headlamps) for sale on his lawn for I think 400.00. He also had a chimpanzee that he kept in the bathroom at his time! It's no wonder that my neighbors weren't too happy with car guys.

Why didn't I buy any of these cars? Good question.

Probably because at the time to me they were just old cars that would need a lot of work. I was already driving a series of old cars of my own. My '66 Mustang, '64 Caddy, '66 Lincoln, 70 Coupe de Ville, and '57 Cadillac.

Besides, I was really into motorcycles and was intent on working my way up to my first Harley Davidson. Four wheels move the body, two wheels move the soul, yada yada yada.

Sometimes you can have
it all.

Another honest question is why didn't I hold onto any of those cool old cars that I already owned?

Because, " Maybe ... I'm not really a car guy???" (offered somewhat timidly)

No, it's because no matter how cool those cars were, they were still just  old cars.

And.. maybe because I had always been a motorcycle guy,  especially back then.

Of course I always had some kind of car, usually something that I liked, but not always something really special.  As I entered my early Thirties the prospect of constantly working on, or rebuilding any vehicle, had  lost it's appeal to me. My life had gotten quite a bit busier. Just holding on to that Sportster was a triumph of it's own.

Or so it appeared.

It really did look this cool.

I bought that bike new in 1977. It was the XLCR Cafe Racer. I rode it stock for a couple of years, It wasn't really practical or especially comfortable to ride on long trips. Though it did look good!

I started modifying it in preparation of a long Summertime trip. Mods continued over the next years.  Eventually the styling traces of the CR were lost. It just looked almost like a regular Sportster with a larger tank. I'd added saddlebags, first leather, than later HD compact hard bags, a Drag Specialties "Quick Bob" gas tank, a compact HD windshield, custom seat, buckhorn bars, sissy bar, and highway pegs. The motor got an S&S air cleaner, staggered dual pipes, electronic ignition, add on oil filter and thermostatically controlled oil cooler. A halogen headlight element improved lighting.

This was with the 3.5 gallon "King Sportster" tank.
On the road in the Badlands of South Dakota

It was a comfortable, useful, and adaptable highway tourer, which was what I used it for. I rode it on my long around the country trip.

Several years later I added a Rifle fairing, Lowrider drag bars with risers,  genuine Krauser saddle cases, a chrome XLH siamese exhaust and OEM Ham Can air cleaner. Now the bike resembled a BMW R100RS.

Sorta, but more than you might think.

The problem with running a windshield or fairing on a Harley Sportster is that the motor is very noisy. The exhaust was well controlled but the mechanical clatter became unsettling. I pulled these latest additions and returned it to an earlier configuration.

I wish that I had a photo of my Sportster in it's Euro Touring livery. Unfortunately I seldom took photos in those days.

A  road bike deserves to be ridden.
So I did.

So what is this point of this digression into my cycling days?

Besides self aggrandizement?

I owned that  Sportster from 1977 to 1997, twenty years. That has been the longest that I've ever owned any vehicle, of any type.  It was also used continuously throughout that period. It was never tucked under a tarp in the back of the garage.

Over the years I got kind of tired of it. I had bought a nice stripped down '81 Electra Glide back in '83 which I kept for three years. I sold it to contribute to the down payment for my first house.  My buddy Rick was single, he bought a Sportster of his own in '81. So we were riding partners on Sportsters. We had previously owned Honda Fours before this.

That was special. ( Do you remember "the Church Lady?" )

Then he started buying himself a new Road King every few years. Boy, did my old Sporty seem kinda weak compared to those. And cramped, and slow.

So the moral to this part of the story is that even if you manage to hold onto something for a long time, you might find that it doesn't satisfy you in the same way like it did.

So how do those car guys hold onto their cars for 20, 30 or 40 years or more?

I wish I knew!

That's what I''l discuss next installment.

Thinking about a new paint job. Part Two.

Those were the Days!

Adventures in "Cheap Paint!"

The best option is to preserve what you have. Sometimes though, you would like to jump start the appeal of your car with some new color.

Ol'  Earl, gone but not forgotten.

I have had some experience with "budget" repaints in the not too distant past. I've even dealt with Ol' Earl myself

I've repeatedly written that I had been stuck in the "if I can't have the job done right, than I won't do it at all!" mind set. For the most part during all my automotive life I've only had a few cars with paint that looked really bad.

What changed my mind was when my Brother in Law had his old 4x4 Chevy truck painted at a local production paint shop. He had found an old coupon that they honored because it didn't have an expiration date! It was just a cheap basic white respray, but it tied all the previously differed colored body parts into a somewhat orange peeled cohesive whole.

I'm not talking about Chip Foose quality but it made quite an improvement in the appearance of the truck. This really made a lasting impression on me.

My first repaint experiences were with spray cans and motorcycles.

There was a definite learning curve but after three of four bikes the results were more than satisfactory. My last two paint jobs on my Sportster came out quite well.  I decided to paint my Sportster in a two tone red and white finish like a '57 model. Careful prep, sanding and application gave professional results. My last paint job was a charcoal metallic lacquer finish with clear coat.  I wet sanded and rubbed out the finish, and it came out fantastic. I added some stick on black and grey pinstripes and it looked as good as a pro job.

One thing I learned from this experience. If someone is checking out your bike and comments on how good the paint looks, don't tell them that you did it with a spray can. Just tell them one of your Buddies is a painter and did it as a favor. If you tell them that you did it with a spray bomb they'll start picking it apart looking for imperfections. I had a well known local custom painter paint my Sportster the first time and even that job wasn't perfect!

Could you paint and entire car with spray cans?

Yes you could. Prep is the same for any paint. Lacquer is the easiest to shoot because any runs, sags, bugs, dirt etc. can be sanded out and touched up easily. Getting consistent  paint coverage would be the problem, as well as the problem of the cans all matching each other, color wise. Spray bomb primer jobs are pretty popular. It's easy to blend the different ares into each other with final sanding.

How long would the paint hold up before it started to fade? That would be the biggest variable. Old cars are often parked at the curb or driveway. They would be exposed to a lot of sun and environmental damage such as tree sap and bird crap. Financially would it be viable?

I've used Rustoleum 2X paint with primer spray successfully on several projects. It sells at Walmart for about four dollars a can.

Doing some quick guesstimates, I'll figure at least five cans per side and another eleven for the roof, hood and trunk. That's a total of twenty one cans. Not counting door jambs and trunk. At four bucks a can that's only 84.00 even with tax that should be less than 100.00. Double that for two coats. Of course incidentals like sandpaper, masking tape, respirator masks, and whatever would add a bit. I'm just throwing out numbers, it might take twice that much for one coat depending on the car. You could just paint  a couple of panels at one time, masking off the rest of the car to protect it from overspray.  This would also alleviate the fatigue that would be sure to set in. Believe me, your trigger finger will get tired! Once you learn how to lay it down wet enough to shine, but dry enough not to run and sag, you'll have it made. You could do it in a weekend.

Depending on where you live it might not be legal to spray your car by any means at home. Of course spray paint is legal to buy and use, however, sometimes painting cars is specifically excluded. Although most cities will let you spray file cabinets and gym lockers. Of course you can spray houses and fences, but you're using latex, which does not have that aromatic quality. As long as your neighbors are cool with it, I think you could spray bomb at least one car a year.  Maybe. It could be like painting forty gym lockers!

I've seen several videos on this subject and I'll offer the same advice I offered earlier. If you paint it with spray bombs just tell people that you got the cheapest level job at Maaco, they'll believe you!

So much for that.

I'm not going to open up the can of worms of using actual spray equipment to spray your car at home. Years ago it was done routinely in garages, driveways, and even backyards. Lacquer or enamel. The modern catalyzed paints are extremely TOXIC!!!!! They should never be sprayed outside of an actual paint booth. The proper safety equipment has to be used by the painter. One single exposure to the fumes or the absorption of the materials through the skin can result in serious long lasting damage to your body. You could be liable for damages and injuries sustained by your neighbors or other third parties.  Do not attempt it. Just let a shop do it.

My experience with production paint shops has been pretty positive.

The term "production paint shops"  is the name you can apply to those low buck, crank 'em out, paint over the spiders,  franchise chain outfits. Earl Scheib and Maaco are two local names that come to mind, though Ol' Earl is now long gone.

My '66 Ford F250 was the first victim, uh prospect.

When I bought this truck I knew that the paint was old and faded but the body was straight
with only a couple of small dings (which I wasn't planning on filling ) and minor rusty spots that I was just going to paint over with POR15.

The truck had been a U Haul service truck in a previous life and it was still a faded orange red color over white. My Wife didn't like the two tone as much as I did. I assured her that the truck would only spend one week in our drive way in that state.

I prepped the truck by cleaning, stripping some of the nameplates, headlight rings, and front bumper. I used compressed air to blow out the dirt under the hood and under the fenders. This is important because the spray gun will blow out the dirt into the air and into your paint job. You'll be surprised by how much dirt is hiding under the hood! I then  painted over the rust spots.  There was a side spear molding that  knew I wasn't going to able to remove without damaging it. So I just taped it off carefully before I dropped it off at the shop. Three days later I picked it up. I had chosen Viper red as the body color and the bed was sprayed with Earl's own black bed coating. Once I took it home I spray canned the rear bumper matte black and reattached the bits and pieces. I had polished all the chrome bits and the front bumper and resprayed the white wheels.

The paint was glossy bright red. It looked pretty nice to me, especially in contrast with the black bed. It was just an exterior respray but the door jambs and interior still looked red enough.

Come on! That's a good looking truck!

I think the total bill was under 700.00 dollars. The bed spray was a bill.

Believe it or not, I found that white door trim panel and frowning
zippered pocket at Pick and Pull.
As you can see, the interior door frame looks like a match.

My second experience with Earl was with the '97 Acura CL that I had bought for my Son after high school.  He had gotten into a wreck and damaged the front end. I let him drive it like that for a while.  I  even hooked up some new front turn signals since the bumper cover was missing. The hood was buckled and so was the right front fender. The car had been lowered and I knew that it was just going to be a cop magnet in that condition. Getting stopped a lot is not going to end well, so being the soft touch that I am, I bought my Son a really nice three year old Acura TSX. It was the most second most expensive car that I have ever bought. I'm an indulgent Dad, so what. Like I told my Wife, he doesn't need a nice car when he's forty, he needs it now! He still has that car. Anyway, the old Acura CL was now mine!

I had been looking for replacement parts for the CL at Pick and Pull and on Craig's List. There was some parts offered up on CL while my Son still had the car down south at school with him, so I passed at the time.

Once I had the CL back at home I just parked it. You didn't think that I was going to drive it in that condition, did you?

I was keeping an eye out for replacement panels but they just weren't there.

Six months later the earlier parts offering was repeated on CL. I've done the same thing relisting items that hadn't sold earlier, so I had secretly hoped that would happen. This time I responded and bought the parts from a tuner shop in Redwood City. I brought them home, straightened out the underlying supporting parts and bolted them on. A little more tweaking and they looked pretty good. The "shut lines" were as good as they were going to get. Except that the body parts  were glossy black, while the rest of the car was a metallic gray.

Another trip to Earl and the hood, fender, and bumper were now a very close match to the original paint. I wish that I had taken some pictures of the car. Now it didn't look like a wreck and I enjoyed driving it. Especially after I switched  out the lowering springs. I had offered them on CL as a straight across trade for stock springs, and some kid made the deal. It was a win - win in my eyes.

I kept the CL for a year or so, until I got the urge to have another big old Detroit cruiser. Actually Flint Michigan, as it was a '66 Buick Riviera.  That's another story that I'll share at a later date.

The point is that it was better to fix the damage and match the paint, than to drive around in a wreck. It wasn't done perfectly, but it was done cheaply. And the main point is that it was done. I don't remember the actual amount but I think it was under four hundred dollars to do the panels.

The third times the charm.

I'd had so much success with Earl Scheib that I thought that I would do it all again.

This time I thought that I would find a good car, cheap. Fix what it needed, have it painted, and flip it like the pros! Gas Monkey's got nothing on me!

Since I was in my Datsun business at this time, what better than an early Z? I found a '72 240Z at a tow yard. It started up and looked good. On the downside it was equipped with an automatic transmission. It was straight, with only a little rust in the dog legs and left rear wheel arch. The hood had been backed up into and the peak was flattened but I could handle that. The paint was a very faded silver, but that wasn't of importance.

I'll digress and discuss my plans for world domination or at least my attempt to corner the beat Z market.  I did make some mistakes, learn from them.

I had thought for a while that I might buy Zs that needed work, and with my stash of parts and free labor I might be able to fix, flip, and profit. It wasn't to be.

First off there were some hidden fees that had to be paid. Even though it was out of the DMV system they found two previous uncompleted transfers. They charged me for the incomplete transfer fees, then they charged me for the penalties on the last three years. Then add in new registration and use fees.  So much for a bargain transfer. Well at least there wasn't going to be any smog test fees.

The system works. In my case long range durability is unknown.

I did all the body repairs using some patch panels and Eastwood's rivet and glue system of attachment. I used POR putty to repair the damaged wheel arch and painted all the repairs inside and out with POR paint.  I fixed the hood by pulling out the dent with a slide hammer, then used bondo to smooth things out. I used a few cans of spray primer, did some sanding and delivered it to Earl Scheib for a new coat of vivid blue paint, Viper blue. It was a nice color with metallic elements. The original color had been silver with a black interior. I slipped on a used set of sheepskin seat covers and it was done.

Wouldn't you know it, the paint was laid on very smooth and glossy. Even the body repairs looked good. It was a great color choice. I eagerly listed it on Craig's List. The market wasn't paying much for old Zs at this time, 510s were actually more in demand. I finally did manage to sell it and wonder of wonders, I managed to break even. How come this doesn't happen on TV?

So much for flipping.

Well, at least I was satisfied with the paint job!

This just leaves my '70 Mustang to discuss. I have covered this in detail in previous posts. I did the prep work, stripping all the bits and pieces. I sanded and filled some of the dents with bondo. I had bought the car painted in two tone primer, blue and dark gray. I did some more sanding and sprayed the areas with rattle can primer, mixing brands when the auto store ran out of the brand I was using. This is a definite no-no.


This is a series of before painting pictures. I'd done the prep work the best that I could or at least wanted to!

Not the different color primers.

One of the nice things about the paint shop that I used was that they had a wide selection of standard colors and could match any factory or custom color. I wanted a Bullitt Mustang so I had them paint it Highland green.  It came out pretty good. I later used some Duplicolor spray cans to paint the door jambs. You can read my posts where I built the custom front and rear grilles.

Overall, I was quite happy with the job. It was smooth and shiny. But it couldn't hide the sins of it's past. Certain patches and lines became visible under the new paint that hadn't been visible under it's splotches of primer. The shop person told me that when a car comes in with so many different types of paint, bondo, and rattle can primer, there's no telling what will happen when the final paint is sprayed on. That's why I chose to have them lay down an all over base coat as a primer coat, to help blend in the different areas. It appears to have helped.  Overall, a ten footer!

Now these are the pictures of how it looked when I picked it up.

You can see how shiny the paint is.

It stayed shiny during the two years that I had it.

I kept it waxed and under a cover. That really helps.
Now tell me why I sold this car!

You also have to curb your expectations. This was my fourth production shop paint job. This particular shop appears to do better quality work than Ol' Earl, but they aren't magicians. Still my experience was good enough to have me consider a repaint of my '96 Mustang.

I like it in red, but I would love it in Highland green. Could the shop do a color change? They advertise that they specialize in it. I even went by the shop to discuss it. More about that in a future post.

Looking backwards to find a way forward.

 

I read this book as a high school freshman back in 1969-70.

My best memories of freshman year don't concern school activities. I was a not a popular rah-rah kind of guy. I didn't have a bunch of chums or even a girlfriend. That would take quite a few more years!

What was important to me was that I was fast approaching the time that I would be able to get a learner's permit. Then I'd get my driver's license when I turned 16. After that, it was inevitable that I'd get a car or maybe a motorcycle of my very own. Things were looking good, it was just a matter of time!

I was always very interested in the mechanical side of motor vehicles. I knew that to afford a car or bike I'd have to be able to maintain and fix it. I wouldn't have the money to pay someone to do that for me. Besides, I didn't want to have anybody else do the work that I could learn to do myself.

I'd always loved reading. Mostly books from the library. That's where I learned everything that I knew about dinosaurs!  I didn't read a lot of magazines at the time, as I'd already outgrown comic books.

There was a drug store on the corner of MacArthur Blvd. and Fruitvale Ave. Like most pharmacies they also sold pocket books and magazines. My bus stop was on that corner and sometimes If I was running a little early I'd have the time to drop in and check out the magazine rack. I remember that I bought my first hot rod magazines sometime in 1968, the beginning of my 8th grade year.

One was an issue of an East Coast based Hot Rodding magazine, I wish that I could remember the name.  The other was a special Hot Rod pictorial issue. Nothing but page after page of full color photographs. Some of which ended up on my bedroom wall.

A couple years later when I found that copy of Tex Smith's book in the library I was immediately drawn to the cover. It displayed a group of classic hot rods. What's interesting to note is that traditional cars from the thirties were only thirty to forty years old at the time. Old but not ancient.

The late 1960's was the time of declining popularity of classic hot rods and customs as the muscle car movement was in full swing.

Feeling nostalgic to reconnect with my automotive enthusiast roots and trying to define my new direction, I recently sought out a copy of Fixing up Old Cars.  The book is of course, concerned with fixing up cars from the immediate post war period, although cars hadn't really changed that much between the 40's to early 1960's. These were still very basic cars.

It was nice to reconnect with some of those adolescent emotions. I never really thought that I would buy a Pre-War vintage car.  My interest was already on 1950's and later cars.


Peterson Publishing company, parent company of Hot Rod magazine would release annual and special editions. These soft cover specials were often on specific subjects or the Hot Rod Year Book.

One was the complete Ford book.

Check out that '40 on the cover.

This was the first special that I bought. I learned all about early Fords. There was discussion of restoration vs. hot rodding. The editors saw the value to both, but realized that their readers would usually start with a pretty rough car and build it as a hot rod. The ideal was not to destroy a good, intact, original car.

That '36 Ford custom is what grabbed my attention

There were Hot Rod magazine yearbooks.

They reviewed the years events like the Street Rod and Street Machine Nationals. There was also some coverage on the early days of the Van movement. There was an interesting article on improving the fuel economy of your street machine. The price of gas skyrocketed in the early 1970's. Most older cars got dismal mileage. However there was a way to improve that number. Also included was full build up of a custom '36 Ford coupe.

Lots of topics displayed on the cover.

This issue wasn't as interesting to me. There was a  complete build up of a T bucket. Not really my cup of tea.

The ABC's of engine swapping from start to finish. Of course it included a gallery of successful swaps.

What young gearhead hasn't dreamed of an engine swap?

This issue is even better, modified Street Machines!

I had lost my original copy but found a replacement at a swap meet.

This is probably my favorite issue, as it had a little of everything. Late model hot rodding was where I thought that I would be. There were some gloriously painted cars in this edition.

It isn't as dull as you'd think.

I was eager to not only learn the basics but to develop a much deeper understanding of automotive engineering. I found this book to be very useful to that aim.

No hot rods on this cover!

This book dealt with the systematic refurbishment and restoration of every area of a vintage car. I was interested in buying and maintaining an old Cadillac at the time. It included considerations on the selection of your project car as well as the mechanical aspects.

I've still got my copy somewhere!

For as much as I was deeply interested in cars, my actual experience was with motorcycles. This issue had a very interesting comparison of 500 cc "touring bikes." My future Kawasaki Mach Three was included in the comparison test.

The XR750 was such a beautiful engine.

What caught my eye on this cover was the blurb about hopping up a Honda 305, which I currently rode. The article covered boring out the motor and installing a high performance camshaft. I found that intriguing but remembered my Dad's wise admonishment "If you want a faster bike, just buy a faster bike!" He was right, I was intent on working my way up to a Harley.

I bought this as an impressionable 60+ year old.

I found this book  while doing the antique store circuit with my Wife. Up in Eugene Oregon last Summer. Besides the buyer's guide of current models there is an unexpected article on chopper building. That was an unexpected extra.

This was included in a collection of magazines
given me by my Brother in Law.

There were usually special paint and bodywork issues in most automotive magazines. This special, edited by Pat Ganahl, was much more comprehensive and detailed. It covers every subject area. However the days of spray painting your car in the driveway or backyard have pretty much passed us by.

I think that it was the Merc that got to me.

These are  just some of the surviving copies that still make up my library. There are even more that are on my shelf buy not included in this pictorial. Some were intensely interesting to me, others not so much. But it didn't matter.

I devoured then all.

I bought and read many of these editions throughout and after my high school years. Some I even managed to hold onto over the years. They were always present in my memory and since then while cruising automotive swap meets I've managed to locate and buy replacements for the copies that I had lost over the years.

Looking back  I remember when I read these. I was already a gearhead by then. By the time that I graduated high school I'd already had five motorcycles. I'm not counting the time I rode my Dad's Honda 50 to school in the beginning of my sophomore year. I only did that once!  I bought my own Honda CB160 twin, then my brother's CB77 305 Superhawk, which I built into a chopper! ( He moved on to a Mach Three !) That was followed by a Kawasaki 650TT twin, a Suzuki X6 Hustler cafe racer, and finally a Kawasaki 500cc Mach Three triple of my own. I still didn't have a car yet. I couldn't afford a car and a bike! Besides, I could always borrow one of my Dad's cars when needed. My Dad was always supportive and was cool with that.

I was still very interested in old cars though, old cars being pre-war cars. I was also interested in post war models like the '40 Ford. Cars of the 1950's and 1960's were especially in my wheelhouse. These were usually just thought of as "used" cars. There was about a forty year spread in what interested me. Back in 1973 a '32 ford was only forty years old.

I imagined or fantasized about the kind of car that I would someday own, work on, and drive. It made for a lot of daydreaming.

I'd see a feature on a hot rodded  '57 Thunderbird with a big block Chevy swapped in.

The owner/builder would often be a clean cut older guy. This particular car was the culmination of his years of  automotive experience.

Would I be like that guy?

I really didn't know, I was just getting started.

What kind of cars would I be involved with? My personal interaction with cars would have to wait a bit.

As it turned out my 20's were primarily involved with motorcycles. Except for a '66 Mustang, '64 Cadillac, '66 Lincoln, 70 Coupe de Ville and '76 Pontiac Astre? Maybe I had more involvement with cars than I remembered!

I was working my way up the motorcycling ladder, in displacement, and prestige.

My emphasis was always on riding, no matter what kind or size bike that I had.

I rode my motorcycles everywhere all the time.

Cars were always a secondary concern. Except that now, motorcycling is just a memory.

Well, now The future has arrived. Now I'm one of those pot bellied graybeards I used to see in the magazines. While I have certainly enjoyed this little stroll down memory lane, I can't avoid the question. Am I still the gearhead that I was back in those days?

Is anyone the same that they were forty five years ago? Probably not, but can I find the enthusiasm to fix up my little stable of cars, or is it time to thin the herd?

We'll see, it's only a matter of time!