Sorry guys, this is gonna be a long post !!
Have you ever been on the fence about doing something, not doing it and then regretting it later ? Thats where Im at today.
Some of you folks have been watching the slow progress being made on my wagon. Last week I did the wiper motor and all the stuff associated with the cowl. DONE. And it looks okay.
The past few weeks Ive been doing a ton of stuff around the house because my son was getting married. They asked us if we could have a big BBQ at the house since neither one of them wanted a big $$$ reception. They would rather use the money down the road for a house which was a great idea. So, the car went on the back burner.
Today I went back out to the garage and started to clean up the frame. When I first did the work I used SEM Hot Rod Black on the chassis and most of the front suspension. I wound up using rattle can semi gloss black on some of the steering components just because I was lazy the day I was painting them. Stupid idea #1.
Right after I had everything back together I wound up tearing the meniscus in my right knee and I had to have surgery. It was getting cold and the wagon was on stands in my driveway. I figured there was no way I could get the 81 moved in my garage and the wagon back down on the ground and pushed inside so I covered the front end with a blue poly tarp. Stupid idea #2.
Im sure you guys can imagine what things looked like after the car was left outside through a NY Winter with the poly tarp over it. EVERYTHING sprayed with rattle can paint had a light coat of rust on it. Maybe I should have used an epoxy primer first but I used Duplicolor primer. Thats correct, rattle can primer. under the same brand top coat. It did not hold up well at all. I painted the new KYB shocks with their Ford Gray and they look like theyve been sitting in a lake for a year. Stupid idea #3.
Just before the wagon went into the body shop I was contemplating trying to somehow wrap the whole front end with something to keep it clean while it was in there. Since the steering column was out I thought it would be a pain in the *ss for the guys in the shop to move the car around so I just said screw it. Didnt bother covering anything. I really thought since they saw everything so spotless they would have covered stuff up when they were putting things back together and spraying sh*t. Thinking someone else gave a sh*t about all of my time and work was stupid idea #4.
I was out there on my back for a couple of hours today trying to clean up the frame. Its not going well. I tried cleaners, 2 different types of wax and grease remover, thinner. Some of the dust came off but I can see the control arms and springs have a crap load of overspray on them. ITS EVERYWHERE !!!! I think its a combination of primer, base, and clear. It looks like *ss and nothings coming off. All of the steering components except the box have a light coat of rust. Shocks have to come out. And for some reason (Im thinking it was the idiots at the shop) theres a whole lot of chips in the paint on the rails. They werent there before.
So now my OCD has kicked in. This week Im going to move stuff around in the garage so I have some room around the wagon. Im going to cover the 81 down to the ground so nothing will screw that one up. Then Im going to take the whole front end back apart and do it all over again. Im hoping the humidity lessens a bit so I can get it done quickly. I really hate this sh*t. If I didnt like cars so much I would just give up and get a different hobby.
End of pathetic rant.
Have you ever been on the fence about doing something, not doing it and then regretting it later ? Thats where Im at today.
Some of you folks have been watching the slow progress being made on my wagon. Last week I did the wiper motor and all the stuff associated with the cowl. DONE. And it looks okay.
The past few weeks Ive been doing a ton of stuff around the house because my son was getting married. They asked us if we could have a big BBQ at the house since neither one of them wanted a big $$$ reception. They would rather use the money down the road for a house which was a great idea. So, the car went on the back burner.
Today I went back out to the garage and started to clean up the frame. When I first did the work I used SEM Hot Rod Black on the chassis and most of the front suspension. I wound up using rattle can semi gloss black on some of the steering components just because I was lazy the day I was painting them. Stupid idea #1.
Right after I had everything back together I wound up tearing the meniscus in my right knee and I had to have surgery. It was getting cold and the wagon was on stands in my driveway. I figured there was no way I could get the 81 moved in my garage and the wagon back down on the ground and pushed inside so I covered the front end with a blue poly tarp. Stupid idea #2.
Im sure you guys can imagine what things looked like after the car was left outside through a NY Winter with the poly tarp over it. EVERYTHING sprayed with rattle can paint had a light coat of rust on it. Maybe I should have used an epoxy primer first but I used Duplicolor primer. Thats correct, rattle can primer. under the same brand top coat. It did not hold up well at all. I painted the new KYB shocks with their Ford Gray and they look like theyve been sitting in a lake for a year. Stupid idea #3.
Just before the wagon went into the body shop I was contemplating trying to somehow wrap the whole front end with something to keep it clean while it was in there. Since the steering column was out I thought it would be a pain in the *ss for the guys in the shop to move the car around so I just said screw it. Didnt bother covering anything. I really thought since they saw everything so spotless they would have covered stuff up when they were putting things back together and spraying sh*t. Thinking someone else gave a sh*t about all of my time and work was stupid idea #4.
I was out there on my back for a couple of hours today trying to clean up the frame. Its not going well. I tried cleaners, 2 different types of wax and grease remover, thinner. Some of the dust came off but I can see the control arms and springs have a crap load of overspray on them. ITS EVERYWHERE !!!! I think its a combination of primer, base, and clear. It looks like *ss and nothings coming off. All of the steering components except the box have a light coat of rust. Shocks have to come out. And for some reason (Im thinking it was the idiots at the shop) theres a whole lot of chips in the paint on the rails. They werent there before.
So now my OCD has kicked in. This week Im going to move stuff around in the garage so I have some room around the wagon. Im going to cover the 81 down to the ground so nothing will screw that one up. Then Im going to take the whole front end back apart and do it all over again. Im hoping the humidity lessens a bit so I can get it done quickly. I really hate this sh*t. If I didnt like cars so much I would just give up and get a different hobby.
End of pathetic rant.
