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Frustrated with my lack of a car!

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jmwuva05

jmwuva05

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I have finished all my mechanicals, peripherals, upholstery and yet I am still waiting on my body to be sprayed. The guy I was going to have paint the car has had a lot of back problems and showed no signs of starting anytime soon. I finsihed stripping the body way back in february. I finally found someone else who is going to try to work me in two weeks from now. I sure hope it works out. Luckily it is warm down here so maybe I can get a test drive in before the end of fall.
 
I have two very good friends who are bodymen. That being said, they breath too many paint fumes. Again, that being said, couple that with a man with a bad back sounds like a problem. Hopefully, your project is moving forward again and will be completed to your satisfaction.
 
That I have down. I believe it requires a certain level of trust (if you have others do it) and a lot of patience to get a panel to look correct. If I have to work a panel to a great extent, I usually "test" my work with a can of black spray paint to see if anything shows before I shoot- it's a lot cheaper to to find your imperfections with a 4 dollar can of spray paint than it is with a gallon of Chromabase/Chromaclear. It does require a lot of block sanding and on older cars (and especially MG's) a good primer surfacer and a little filler (although most gets sanded off) gets things to look true and straight.

I worked in a body shop part time for a while when I was in the military and learned the rights and the wrongs on how to do something correct. We pumped out bondo filled late model cars with Korean made body panels for used car lots, but we done a lot of classics that we took a lot of pride in getting done correctly, so I learned both sides of the coin. It's a case of that you get what you pay for- and the most important thing is that its a good idea to see someones work before you commit to making the expenditure.
 
I do understand that a good job takes a lot of time. The first guy I had lined up has painted 2 old dodge cars for my dad in the past. Extrodinary jobs and he really likes doing classics. He just cant get over his back problems and told me it would be best to try the new guy I have lined up. He does really good work as well. I may have been a little ambitious hoping to have it all done by this summer as I bought it late last october. I guess some of the guys on this forum have taken up to two years or longer huh. I suppose I was a little lucky in that my engine had been rebuilt in the 90's and the trans as well cutting out a lot of hard work.
 
I've had my Bugeye now for 1.5 years, and it's up on blocks still in my garage. Maybe it will be running by Spring.

Patience is key here with these little cars. Good luck with your body work.
 
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