Progress Not Perfection

[Mr9146]

As most of you know by now, my car has been in bodyshop HELL for the past I-don't-know-how-many months. Finally, after far too long, my car has color.

Now, I don't have any pictures of the car with color, but I do have a few of the in-between stage. I'll follow them up with a horrible story:

[Mr9146]

A couple more:

[Mr9146]

Horrible story:

During the final seconds of the final prep as the car was being masked the bodyman noticed that the primer was lifting on the roof. A little bit of poking around revealed that the prep wasn't sticking.

The roof was masked and the rest of the car was shot with color; everything above the rain gutters needs to go down to bare metal and start over.

Last weekend I saw the roof in bare metal - the previous body shop, after they stripped the roof, failed to spray etching primer and the car developed a bit of surface oxidation (so minor that calling it rust doesn't even count). Obviously, the primer won't stick to rust so ...

I don't even want to go into detail about how I feel about the situation. Suffice it to say that I am !@#%@#%@#$%$&%$&^%*^&#%^@#$!@#%@%^%$&#$&%^!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On a more positive note, the Dalmation Blue looks freaking MEAN MEAN MEAN!

[Eric911S]

Marco: That is one of the reasons I don't paint cars! All that prep then you have to take it all off again. I have a 1970 S that will be redone sometime and it traveled all around the world with a navy guy. It has at least 4 coats of paint on it. The last time it was painted was in the orient somewhere? I think it will have to go down to bare metal all over the car just to see what is there. I never rush my paint guy and tell him to use the best supplies. I will even tell him to phone me so I can look at the car before primer and paint work. Painters are used to going fast so they get paid more. The trick is to slow them down and check there work. Hope this helps. Thanks Eric

[adam912]

Yeah, what Eric said. I spent the last 2 years stripping my '66, learning how to bang out all the old badly repaired spots, welding the rusty spots I bondo'd up 20 years ago, got it all smooth to the best of my abilities (I'm now an experienced amateur with 2 years experience!), delivered it to the painter with express instructions to TAKE HIS TIME and fix everything that I didn't get perfect.

So he did. The car sat for 2 weeks while he worked on everything but my car. In his defense, he worked every weekend getting stuff out. But now it's mid last week, I leave for a 2 week business trip this coming Thursday, he leaves for vacation this last Sunday. So he preps the car on Friday, does a bit of remedial body work and shoots the jambs that night, Saturday he shoots the car. I looked at it yesterday. 95% perfect. But he was in such a rush to get done so he could go on vacation, there's a ripple showing on the right rear flank, and on the bottom edges of the rear bumpers, the paint is very thin and rough.

So goes the old saying: If you don't take the time to do it right the first time, then there's always time to do it over.

So..back I go this morning, to talk to the painter's son (he's a better painter than his dad anyway) . Feh.

Adam912.Out.

[Mr9146]

Yeah, Eric, I definitely hear you on that one. When I first got this project going I had a deadline in mind - I quickly realized it was unrealistic.

However, I can't say that I rushed anyone. I've been very patient and the only thing I tell the bodyman now is, "If you have ANY questions or need ANYTHING - including a beer - don't hesitate to call me. Just take your time and do it right."

All of the problems that I've had with this project stem from the fact that I've had to go through 2 separate body shops, the first of which was an absolute cluster f**k. So, that's 2 shops using 2 different materials <-- never a good thing.

Also, the current shop has had to undo 99% of what the first shop did.

It's no surprise that there've been problems, but it's the end result that matters most.

[YTNUKLR]

Marco-we have similar projects, mine's an Albert Blau 70E Coupe sitting out front of TRE...going to paint as soon as I can afford it ...

Can I ask who you are using for paint/body? Mine doesn't need much bodywork, mainly paint, and after this thread, maybe I don't want your recommendation...at least not the first guys you used.. feel free to email me privately if you don't want to post.

sorry we never got to meet up over the summer! soon enough we'll catch up and chat .

-scott

[boba]

Marco,
I feel your pain and frustration. Good painters are all over the place but great body men and painters are rare. The thing is most of us don't go thru this often enough to have personal knoweldge of the prep workmanship. The finshed paint may look good, but if the prep was not done well the job will not hold up over time. All you can do is follow the progress thru the whole process. I know, I go to the paint shop every week at least, and I never push just look, ask questions, show interest. The good news is that I have found a young artist. I hope your guy turns out to be one as well.
Bob