Projects Does the HAMB really need another shoebox build thread?

Love this attention to detail!

 

Looking good Andrew. Great work!

 

the Dash pieces look great to me. Screw the details brother. Get that thing roadworthy for Steel n Motion 2016!!!

 

Andrew, good meeting you at Steel in Motion. How about doing those dash panels in stainless and polishing?

Larry

 

Just joined, just read this. Awesome. Looking forward to seeing it somewhere in Ontario when I travel to various shows.

 

WOW! I wish I could do sheet metal work like that.That is something to see.How come you have to be away from the garage for 3 weeks?

 

Are you OK? Any updates?

 

I'm ok, thanks for asking. The shoebox has left the building.

 

any idea when she's coming back?

 

So the house is done and now its garage renovation going on?

 

Who said anything about coming back?

That's a good question actually.

I sent it off to a body shop to straighten my shitty bodywork and get it ready for paint, about 2 months ago. There it sits. The guys with money jump the line, and low budget schmucks like me wait. And wait.

 

Whew. Scared me there for a sec. I'm seriously considering doing the same with mine since those are the two pieces of the build I have absolutely 0 experience with (I've never even welded before).

 

Hey, Critch and Big A !... Back when I was an employer, I would sometimes find myself in a dilemma when interviewing for air conditioning service technicians. I would have some applicants who seemed to have what it takes (it would take a few pages to describe that) but were low on or had no experience in some of the things we worked on ..... So the questions would come up "what experience do you have?".. So how do you balance the fact that a very smart guy with initiative but has no experience? Well, I gave a number of young men the chance to GAIN experience. That's the only way anybody GETS experience - is by rolling up one's sleeves and JUST DO IT. If that person doesn't do as well as he/she (or I) would want them to do, then they have learned something. So they do it over, or the next time, they do it better. So here's the lesson, guys. So I am low on funds too. NO WAY could/would I turn my baby over to someone else to do body work (I NEVER did any body work before).. I welded a few things when I was in High School (50 years ago - equivalent to zero experience), but I fully understood that if I were to build my ideal car, I'd be doing lots of welding and learn body work and learn painting techniques. So I bought a $99 Harbor Freight welder, bought some paint, and thousands of other things and dove into every aspect of building my car. YES, I have watched hundreds of YouTubes on "how to......", and learned what it takes to do whatever I'd like to do. I have not spent one single dime to pay anybody else to do anything on my car (except for Leo Machine in South Austin who did the machining/balancing, etc. on my engine block and heads - but I built the engine from scratch after that). The only other person to even touch my car is a neighbor who I call on from time to time to help pick up heavy objects or other "two person" jobs.

So here's the deal....Big A----go get your car back and buy some body putty and body working hammer and anvils and do your own work. You will be much more proud of your ride if you can say "I did all the body work and painted the car myself". And Critch.. go buy a welder and before you know it, you will be a welder.

By the way, one of the guys I hired was a carpet layer, but wanted to be an A/C mechanic. Two years later he was Vice President of my little company. The guy turned out to be an amazing asset to my success.

So get out there and DO IT! You don't HAVE to pay for anything you don't want to. If you screw something up, do it over again till ya get it right.

So that's my preaching for the day.. time to get out there and continue sanding/polishing the passenger side front fender. Check out my site.

 

Andrew, what you're relating here is a big problem with many shops who are taking on the type of work you're trying to get done. Here's a story about another person with the same problem:
An old guy here in town who is well into his 80s that I have known since I was a teenager (Damn, that was a long time ago, LOL) had a son just a very few years younger than me. The son was the "apple of his eye", and Daddy pretty much got him anything in reason, and some not so reasonable such as an OT then brand new Camaro Z28 in '68.
The son kept that car (OT I know, but the car is pertinent the story, and could have just as well have been a Deuce coupe if that's what his son had wanted) and it finally, for lack of attention went down to the point he put it away with the intent of someday doing a restoration.
Son had diabetes, and didn't take proper care of himself. Just didn't seem to care after his beautiful wife left him and took their daughter with her. He died here a couple years ago due to complications from his diabetes.
The old man decided to finance a numbers correct restoration of the OT Z28 to give to his granddaughter, Danny's daughter. And due to some astute real estate dealings in years past, he had the cash to pay for the work.
Friend of mine did the work on the mechanical stuff, all the way to finding the parts to keep it all just like OEM.
Then the Z28 was turned over to a shop nearby that specializes in high dollar restoration work, and about $50-60K has been paid to the shop.
Work is being done, but at a snail's pace. Back last Winter they said they should be finished by April, but they still aren't finished, and the shop has been expanded to more than double it's size during that time, and still taking on more jobs.
Point being that I think these shops have a hard time turning down work when it is offered a job and just take on more than they can do. Plus, at least here in GA, most of the guys who are good at this know that they are in demand anywhere they go, and will pick up and leave at the drop of a hat. And, as I'm sure you know, high employee turnover will disrupt any business's output.
I don't know the solution, and it is a problem I sympathize with you on.

 

I hear ya brother. There's a great build thread on the HAMB about a guy with not a lot of experience who buys a car that turns out to be a pile of crap, so he decides to jump in and learn and do it himself. The guy doesn't really have any car buddies around to help, so he spends 5 and a half years cutting, grinding, welding, watching youtube videos and feeling his way along, gaining a little confidence and some skills, working alone in his small garage. Rust repair, panel replacement, custom body modifications, fabrication. They guy didn't know how to weld, so he took a couple of courses; didn't own a lot of tools or have a lot of money, so he scrounged and waited for sales, and he made some caveman tools that got the job done. Along the way, the guy managed to turn an old field car that most sane people would have crushed into something that won't be an award winner, but should be pretty decently cool and a semi-respectable custom. Remains to be seen, the build thread is still going, slowly, 27 pages and counting. Check it out for yourself, it's called "Does the HAMB really need another shoebox build thread".

I have several paint guns, but I don't have a booth. I found a friend-of-a-friend who does good work and was willing to cut me a decent deal, so him and his guys are doing the fine-tuning and prep. I may or may not go in and spray it myself.

It's taking longer than expected, but I understand the fast/good/cheap rule, and I need it good and cheap. I'm using the time to recharge my attitude and see if I can muster the energy to finish this car. I was finding it hard to even walk into the garage, even harder to do any meaningful work when I did. I should have the car back in a week or a month or whenever, and I can get into doing the interior, glass, wiring etc... stuff that isn't bodywork.

 

Well,i am not the fastest builder either.I guess someone has noticed that..
But this is supposed to be fun,not a stress causing pain in the ass.
My receipt for avoiding the "combat fatigue" is to have a minor side projects now and then.
I hope you'll get your motivation back and i am sure you will,when the car is back from the bodyshop.

 

hahah! Best response! Right from the second sentence, I knew where you were headed.
And I absolutely get what you mean. I've been having trouble finding motivation and time to get back out to the garage and working on the truck again. Sometimes if you have the ability to farm out a job that you just can't bring yourself to do, then it gets the ball rolling and you back on track. You can have some fun this summer, and when the body is ready, you might just be so jacked up on how it looks, that you find that extra wind to get you onto the home stretch.

 

Big A,

thanks for the kickass thread and congrats on all of the great work you have done!

imo you could easily put a quality paint job on that car yourself...hell I thought you were done with the bodywork anyway... looked damn straight to me- based on your previous pics.

hang in there and good luck!

 

good answer brother...
'shit just don't happen', and 'if it was easy everyone would do it'.....quotes from Josh. I tell myself that and realize it all takes time/money/and the want to finish stuff.

 

The Sock Fuckers always do it the hard way.



-W

 

From what you have done so far I cannot imagine you couldnt do the finish body work! That being said,I sure can understand not wanting to do it! (I hate sandpaper).Please keep us posted on how it goes.

 

Consistency, means a lot.

 

The pros can make it straighter than I can. It'll still be a 20 footer, but at least it shouldn't be a 50 footer. They also have a lot more experience getting the gaps right and aligning some of the things I was struggling with. After all this time and work I want it to look as good as possible.

'49 Ford Coupe, I had a look a the photos on your site, you're doing a really nice job. That is going to be a beautiful car.

I appreciate the comments and the encouragement gents. I'll keep you posted. I'm looking forward to getting into doing the reassembly and interior etc. That might feel like progress.

 

Thanks for the complement, Big A.....

 

So how is it going? Any updates?

 

Do the rest of the Sock Fuckers need to come up there and explain to this body shop guy as to how it's done in GA?

 

Before it snows!

 

Don't be pussys about the snow......
we could all make SFCC snow angles

 

Uh.........I think ya meant.........."Angels"............just sayin'...............