Started picking up body and paint side jobs. Reason I put this in the other section is my first post is for an 89 f350 lol. Kid ran his dually through a barb wire fence. On top of that it had one of those 1990s custom paint jobs .....you know the ones that involved gallons of bondo with way too much hardener along with self disintegrating clear coat? Lol. Gave him a price to do the hood, fender, cowl vent and front valance we could both live with and he dropped the hood and vent this weekend. He IS a teenager so he told me he mixed a pint of paint but turned out to be half a pint. So I'll have to sand and do a couple more coats on the hood. But I was at least able to get a glossy view of how well I sanded out the hood. It got the bulk of the scratches
I'm thinkin about buying, fixing up and reselling rider mowers- most people cant fix 'em and when needed in spring, shops are so busy they cant get 'em in so they buy a new one at Home Depot or whatever. Then put old one out for free or take to scrap yard. Many times only thing wrong is carb...
Steel mill mechanical maintenance is my side gig. Well really just way too much overtime on my real job.
Easier to paint with a few of these cheap trestles . Less dust too and the neighbours cat can,t walk across.
Great job. I am trying to rebuild an old car from my cousin these days too. It’s been a mix of frustration and fun, but definitely worth it. Right now I’m just waiting on some parts from am autoparts—hopefully they arrive soon so I can get back to it. Once everything is in place and the car is running smoothly again, I’ll definitely be happy to share the results. It’s kind of a passion project, and seeing it come together piece by piece is really rewarding
Have you considered hanging weights on the underside? Plastic milk jugs filled with water suspended by bungies. A few gallons of water should weigh enough to hold the hood firmly on the saw horses.
I had considered tent stakes. But honestly I'd still be itchy about that. I do plan on putting plastic under it before I finish painting it. When I do the fender I'll probably string it up on my cherry picker like I did on the doors of his brother's truck lol. Oh yeah I forgot to mention his dad bought another truck I painted and gave to his brother. 94 f350 regular cab. Did a LOT of work to that truck. Fixed the hood, welded rust in the fenders, new grill, new doors, reupholstered seat, interior swap, clutch, front driveshaft, etc etc. was the truck my boss used to feed cows. So needless to say his brother was already a fan of my work lol. When the brother saw my 53 he really started hanging on every word lol
I need to start doing this in California, California has banned or is going to ban at the end of this year I think all lawn tractors 25 horsepower or under...
I had a zero turn dealership for years. The number one problem with mowers is poor fuel. For some reason, if you tell a customer he has dirty fuel, they get offended, like you are telling them they stink or something! I kept a five gallon glass bottle in my shop that I drained their gas in , just to show them! Mowers sell goo$ in the Spring and early Summer, not so much the rest of the year! Bones
Well update on my initial post. No progress since as he just got me more paint and the weather hasn't allowed more work. But he did give me a third of the money we agreed on saying as he made more he'd give me more. Without asking. While most customers that wouldn't seem like anything spectacular he happens to be a teenage kid. While most young guys I've dealt with aren't dishonest you typically have to remind them about paying. So definitely a mark in his favor lol. He also works at O'Reilly and NEVER hassles me about returns, warrantees, or ordering oddball parts. Which with my fleet I order a lot of lol. Also another kid that actually used to be my paint guy called me up about fixing a 2012 Toyota hood and painting it. One look and I told him he'd be better off replacing it ...to which he told me no problem as he could get a new one for $120.... cheaper than it'd cost at my discount rate to fix the hood. And when we started talking prices he explained it was for his employer and needed it fairly fast. And as all the decent shops were backlogged several months I could name my price. Ended up telling him $100 plus materials. Also he told me anything leftover is mine ...which is handy because we'll be using the same line of paint as I use on my stuff lol
I had a the funnest "Side Hustle" ever...a lifetime of collecting, restoring and selling vintage toys. For 20+ years I was on Ebay and sold over a quarter million $ worth of toys.. Had to use 3 diff Ebay sites/names to avoid exceeding the $20K yearly max.. Easily paid for all my hot rod builds. Also, I posted about 200 of my Japan Tin Toys in "Antiquated" forum from the middle of page 2 to page 7. { VINTAGE TIN } | Page 2 | The H.A.M.B.
Current side job is paused till I get a piston a cylinder kit this week lol. Apparently I ran the little compressor that could a bit too hard Roflmao
She still hasn't gotten a job. So aside from a few odd parts not far lol. Her getting a job was one of the stipulations
Jobs for kids under 18 are getting tough to find these days. No one wants to hire them, too many restrictions are placed on employers for anyone under 18. Its nothing like it was when we were teenagers.
Gene: I remember days at the seedy Phillips 66 hangout station, we couldn't always remember which guy was the one working and on duty.
this is just a joke thread???? right??? Zebra painting a car hood lay'n in the dirt?? doesn't seem like the client list would be very big...
You would be surprised to discover how many people would be happy to have their car all one color. The car being differing shades, and maybe not super shinny, really means nothing to many. Many don't even care so much if their car's body isn't smooth or straight, just being one color, and not having big rust holes or major dents, may make it a great ride from their perspective. When perfection is not a requirement, the cost to have something done becomes more important. Once you step out of the world of stuck up car people, normal people are not so picky about the perfection of their transportation's finish is. There are more "normal people" then there are stuck up car people. The decent appearance of the car from 20' away is all that matters to many "normal people." A $2,000 job that looks good from 20' away is much better then a $5,000 job that looks good up close. They will happily spend that extra $3,000 on other things.
Reading not your strong point? Like the part of what I posted you quoted where I said I wasn't done painting it?
I used to do on-site inboard boat winterizing and shrink wrapping for a side hustle. I would winterize and shrink anything, but doing inboards on site is a rarity so I had a ton of customers. Had a little tank I made out of a 50g drum that I'd fill with antifreeze. Attached a pump and a hose to it, removed the water pickup in the boat and attached the hose, placed the drum under the exhaust, so when you start the boat it cycles the antifreeze thru non stop. Run the boat till thermostat opens, put some stabil in, take the battery out, done. It was a pretty slick little gig! Used to make an extra 15-20k a year, but every fall I sure worked my arse off. Too old now, and make enough at work it's no longer needed. Still do my own boats tho, of course.
The Jalopy Journal
