This posting is one in a series. If you have not yet read the earlier postings in the series, you’ll need to, as this posting won’t make much sense without having done so! Just do a search using the word “SLURP”.
In my last posting I described how Red lost over 1000 pounds (most of it temporarily only) during one work session, as we removed the front bodywork, engine, transmission, radiator, core support, and front axle, along with a number of smaller items.
My intent at that point had been to remove the steering box, then stop the disassembly, make the upgrades to Red’s new engine, install the new engine and new transmission, and reassemble all that we had removed.
Then we got thinking . . .
This is how Red looked after we took off the steering box:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/JimGnitecki/Coursecorrection-Redprepsforpaintra.jpgThis was my first time working on a vehicle this old and simple. I asked Randy how close we were at this point to having ALL the bodywork off for bodywork and painting – IF I could get a body work and paint deal I could actually fund right now.
Randy’s reply got me seriously thinking – he said we needed maybe another evening or two to have everything off and ready for transport to a body shop.
So, next day, I called my friend David Horner at Restoration Specialties, who has told me he would be willing to do the body and paint work, and asked him for a price, so I would know whether this is something I could fund now or have to wait until later. David, being the really nice guy he is, told me is just finishing a SEMA-bound car, and would be pleased to do Red right afterward, himself personally, for a price that goes well beyond being a good friend, and right into that territory called “an offer you simply cannot refuse”.
To put things in perspective, David making this offer is like Michaelangelo saying to you that he’ll take a few days off from painting the Sistine Chapel and come over to paint your fixer-upper ceilings for you, because he knows you need some help.
David’s shop does some VERY high end street rod and show car work. For example, David’s team is currently finishing up its portion of the work on a 69 Hemi Charger so special that Chip Foos is involved and the car will be on display at the Chrysler Corporation display at SEMA. That car is currently the subject of a lot of competition by different venders wanting rights to display it. This is a car that David personally is painting. Those from the Fanatics group that came along a couple of weekends ago when we toured David’s shop, saw both the car and the Hemi engine that makes its large engine compartment seem so small, and caught the fact that David’s guys managed to fit rack and pinion steering into it despite the obvious obstacles.
THIS is the man and the shop that will be making Red’s body presentable again. Can you imagine being in better hands?
So, now we are temporarily redirecting our efforts, away from the engine prep (the Phoenix tranny got misplaced in a warehouse temporarily by the trucking company while they waited out a storm, anyway, and just arrived today at David’s shop). I’m scraping, dissolving, and vacuuming off 53 years of accumulated greasy muck from the chassis front end. I end each session totally caked in greasy dirt that only solvent will remove (ooooh,it feels so goooood). In the meantime, Randy pulled the entire interior contents except the seat and gas tank last evening, and has the cargo box bodywork totally unfastened and ready to lift off.
Here’s a photo of the cab after last night’s session:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/JimGnitecki/Coursecorrection-Redprepsforpaintca.jpgSince I am literally transportationless now (I am SERIOUS when I say Red is my sole daily driver), David is waiting to hear from me when we are ready, and then he will send a shop trailer over for the bodywork. On an old truck like Red, this is easy to do. The heaviest individual part is the cab, and that is WELL under the 500 pounds that it weighs with everything IN it. I suspect two men can lift it, but just in case, we have the forklift attachment still on the John Deere tractor. Remember that Red weighed about 3260 before disassembly began, and the engine, tranny, and chassis alone amount to over 2000 pounds, so the body work is something less than 1250 TOTAL with all installed accessories. Another advantage of a SIMPLE vehicle.
I’ve ordered all new fender mounting replaceables (e.g. welting, bolts, cowl to fender gasket set, bolts) and cab mount replaceables, as well as new rubber pads for the core support and rubber sealing strips for the hood to cowl.
Randy is pretty detail oriented and pointed out that there are two spare tire support beams behind the rear axle that we can now probably remove for another slight weight reduction (every pounds helps) and a cleaner appearance:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/JimGnitecki/Coursecorrection-Redprepsforpaintsp.jpgWe also yanked off the FOUR rear lamps (2 brake/running and 2 signal) off the cargo box, and have a pair of LED lamps coming that will be all-in-one on each side, giving the tailgate area a MUCH cleaner look. Here is what the cargo box looks like with the clunky lights removed:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/JimGnitecki/Coursecorrection-Redprepsforpaintre.jpgThe painted chains will be replaced by inexpensive but lovely and durable stainless steel ones.
Randy will separate the steering column from the steering box, and we will send the column, along with the gearshift column assembly, to David with the body parts, as the steering and gearshift columns both need to end up body colored:
http://i252.photobucket.com/albums/hh16/JimGnitecki/Coursecorrection-Redprepsforpaintst.jpgAlso, if you look again at the inside of the cab, you will see that a prior owner (probably the original Colorado ranch family) had cut up the center of the dash (grill and under ignition key) to accommodate what we are guessing were short range radios used on the ranch (looks like Red had up to 3 antennas at one point!). The last owner, Carter, had bought an entire new dash to replace the cut up one, but Randy has examined that spare dash and said it was improperly cut when removed from its host vehicle, so we’ll need to ask David to cut the center grill section out of it ONLY, and weld that into Red’s current dash, so we end up with that center grill area that is needed to HIDE the duct outlets for the stealth air conditioning we will install later. Not wanting to take advantage of David’s friendship, I’m going to make sure I pay him extra to do that repair.
I am totally pumped at this point. Yes, there have been some surprises along the way that have added cost (front engine accessory drive on an LS engine is the next big challenge – SSR and Corvette owners pay attention!). But, I have been rescued along the way by good friends like Randy, Greg at Phoenix Transmission, and now David at Restoration Specialties.
I can’t begin to tell you how neat it is that David is going to be doing Red’s body and paint. It’s not just the skill he brings to the job, although that is fantastic – it goes well beyond that. David has been a supporter of this crazy idea right from the start, and I KNOW how hard he works keeping his business successful and his team busy. He is there not only every day, including a few hours each Saturday, but he also acts as BOTH general manager and precision painter, because the standards for most of his projects are simply that high. He has a wonderful wife. Michele, who comes by every Saturday around 1pm to “collect” David so he doesn’t work truly ridiculous hours, and an office manager, Stormy, who keeps track of what’s going on. Being the owner of a business in a field as tough as car restoration and street rodding is not as easy as some folks appear to think it is. So, when David made the offer he did to me, I KNOW that was being a truly great friend. I appreciate it.
Jim G
