[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by dawg

bah its a trailer queen
probly got 5 miles on the motor.
we all could do work like that if it isnt driven.

Maybe, maybe not. I just found out the owner of the truck owns a welding just about a mile from my brothers house! So I will be calling him tomorrow and getting some of the facts on the truck.

First off, don't knock "trailer queens" like it is a bad thing, like they don't deserve to be counted. Most trailer queens are only trailer queens for a portion of their life, then driven just like every other car.

Of course he hasn't hauled a load of gravel home or driven it thru a east coast winter. DUH!

But you are right, we could all do work like that if it wasn't driven. That is the whole point of this thread. But if we think we can't, then we don't get anywhere close. If we think we can, and look at our car a little different it can get a lot closer, be damned if it is driven or not.

There is ONE difference between if this truck was trailered there or driven there, how clean it is and if there are any chips in the paint. That is the ONLY difference, PERIOD. How perfect panels fit, or the subtle custom features have NOTHING what so ever to do with how perfect the paints condition or how clean those perfect little gaps are!

Brian

[cboy]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

...You have to WANT to find flaws! You have to be passionate about the WANT to find them.

Etch that on a tablet of stone and hang it on the wall of my garage. I've lost track of how many times I though I was spraying my "last" coat of primer on the sedan/delivery only to discover during block standing that there was yet another flaw or low spot to fill and re-shoot. And after many months of doing this over and over again, it gets dang frustrating.

But what I think Brian is saying here is that we need to look at those discoveries as a "gift" rather than a burden. As an opportunity rather than a frustration. Sure, we want to get DONE. But as Brian says, it's the journey that counts, not the destination.

My personal theory is I need to look hard for every flaw now...because I'm not very good at this body prep stuff and plenty of mistakes are going to sneak through undetected only to show up in the final product. So hopefully, with enough diligence, I'll end up with a paint job having only a few scattered flaws here and there...rather than dozens spread all over the car.

Now I just need to heed Brian's advice and learn to be HAPPY every time I find a flaw rather than scratch-my-eyes-out MISERABLE.

Anyhow...thanks for the inspiration Brian. It'll get be back out in the shop Monday morning with a better attitude.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by cboy

But what I think Brian is saying here is that we need to look at those discoveries as a "gift" rather than a burden. As an opportunity rather than a frustration.

By Jove I think he's got it! Dewey, you explained it better than I did. That is EXACTLY how you have to look at it.

Brian

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by Hippie

The only thing stopping me from doing a build like that is money, time, tools, talent and patience. Oh yeah, motivation and ambition.

me too but I'd rather drive mine and turn everyone's head,a show car simply mean its shown at shows like for instance a professional bodyman just needs to make his living doing body work,now we all know how many types and varing degrees of quaility they come in.That truck is in a completly differnt level that is as impractical as it is impressive,wheres the perfect 2by4s in the perfect bed?
it is a good example of quality work and what is possible with determination and talent

[carsavvycook]

[QUOTE=cboy]Etch that on a tablet of stone and hang it on the wall of my garage.

I agree, and I don't do body work

[But what I think Brian is saying here is that we need to look at those discoveries as a "gift" rather than a burden. As an opportunity rather than a frustration. Sure, we want to get DONE. But as Brian says, it's the journey that counts, not the destination.]

This needs to be considered no matter whatever you are doing. I call it "Attention to Detail", such as not checking all of the fluids, on every vehicle I work on.

[My personal theory is I need to look hard for every flaw now...because plenty of mistakes are going to sneak through undetected only to show up in the final product. So hopefully, with enough diligence,]

I'll start to pay more attention to detail.

[Now I just need to heed Brian's advice and learn to be HAPPY every time I find a flaw rather than scratch-my-eyes-out MISERABLE.]

Does'nt every mechanic, painter, cabinet maker, carpet layer, plumber, roofer, (catch my drift?) need to have this same attitude in no matter what you are doing?

[Anyhow...thanks for the inspiration Brian. It'll get be back out in the shop Monday morning with a better attitude.]

Me too

Stephen

My business Motto is "Quality and Honesty". I need to focus better on it!

[Camarofiend73]

I saw that truck at the show today- very clean

[deadbodyman]

Originally Posted by cboy

Etch that on a tablet of stone and hang it on the wall of my garage. I've lost track of how many times I though I was spraying my "last" coat of primer on the sedan/delivery only to discover during block standing that there was yet another flaw or low spot to fill and re-shoot. And after many months of doing this over and over again, it gets dang frustrating.

But what I think Brian is saying here is that we need to look at those discoveries as a "gift" rather than a burden. As an opportunity rather than a frustration. Sure, we want to get DONE. But as Brian says, it's the journey that counts, not the destination.

My personal theory is I need to look hard for every flaw now...because I'm not very good at this body prep stuff and plenty of mistakes are going to sneak through undetected only to show up in the final product. So hopefully, with enough diligence, I'll end up with a paint job having only a few scattered flaws here and there...rather than dozens spread all over the car.

Now I just need to heed Brian's advice and learn to be HAPPY every time I find a flaw rather than scratch-my-eyes-out MISERABLE.

Anyhow...thanks for the inspiration Brian. It'll get be back out in the shop Monday morning with a better attitude.

why is everybody so hung up on perfection?that ONLY comes with experence you'll get better. Do you want to drive that car or work on it forever ? I've been at this 35yrs and I'm still not perfect,hopefully I never will be,always strive to be better but dont loose site of the big picture,drive it you can always redo it again next year

[MARTINSR]

Everyone ISN'T hung up on perfection, take a look around, some people don't give a damn about it!

The thing is, IF you are after it, this truck is full of lessons, that's all.

And more importantly, I wanted to make clear that you don't need to be a high end shop, you DON'T need those years of experiance. All you need is a passion for what you are doing and you will do much better. You won't be perfect, but you will be much better. If you don't strive for perfection, what will you get?

It is all about what is inside of YOU, if you are cool with everything you do, rock on. If you are not, maybe something someone has said in this thread will fire you up.

Brian

[carsavvycook]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Everyone ISN'T hung up on perfection, take a look around, some people don't give a damn about it!

The thing is, IF you are after it, this truck is full of lessons, that's all.

And more importantly, I wanted to make clear that you don't need to be a high end shop, you DON'T need those years of experiance. All you need is a passion for what you are doing and you will do much better. You won't be perfect, but you will be much better. If you don't strive for perfection, what will you get?

It is all about what is inside of YOU, if you are cool with everything you do, rock on. If you are not, maybe something someone has said in this thread will fire you up.

Brian

I for one, forgot what I have always strived to be. I let outside pressures drag me down. This outside pressure has caused me to become lazy, and or careless.

I never thought, looking through the pictures of this Old Ford Truck, and the words of inspiration would inspire me to get back on track mentally.

This Old Ford Truck is not necessarily a desirable project for just anyone, and it just may not impress anyone with it's 'body style', but it makes you look, and critique it's every point, much like a first time customer looks at you, or how your employer looks at your work. I feel the pictures don't do it justice. Do You?

Thank You Friends.

[deadbodyman]

One of the hardest of my personel rod building rules:do what it takes to drive it,then make improvments.I dont know how many times I've seen someone waiting for a certain part say ,a posi rearend when a average rear will get them on the road the fun is driving them AND building them.Drive it around till you find the stuff you really want.same goes for your P&B work my advice to guys like cboy dont wait till the cars perfect it'll never be like that truck and if you finally do get it there you'll be to afraid to drive it and you'll have missed the boat. A very wise man once said "Get R Done"

[cboy]

Originally Posted by deadbodyman

...get them on the road...the fun is driving them AND building them.

I think your approach has merit but everyone's individual situation is quite different. A "one size fits all" mentality just doesn't fit the hot rod community all that well.

In my case it's not like I'm not on the road with a hot rod. This is my daily driver and weekend show car (May-Oct.)



And this one I hack around in when there's no rain or snow flying.



That means I have all the time in the world to finish THIS ONE to whatever level of perfection I can muster up. And like most rodders, that means investing TIME, not DOLLARS.



Sure, I could have shot a coat of flat black and put this car on the road about a year ago...but right or wrong, I thought it deserved much better than that. A lot of time and effort went into shaping and welding every panel on this thing so I felt it deserved a paint job that would be worthy of the labor and sweat already invested. And for me, with my limited skills and experience, that means a major investment of time and energy. That's a personal decision every rodder makes at every step of every build. Some shoot to just get it done...some shoot to get it done better...and some shoot get it done the very best they can. That's the joy of this sport...individuality.

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by deadbodyman

One of the hardest of my personel rod building rules:do what it takes to drive it,then make improvments.I dont know how many times I've seen someone waiting for a certain part say ,a posi rearend when a average rear will get them on the road the fun is driving them AND building them.Drive it around till you find the stuff you really want.same goes for your P&B work my advice to guys like cboy dont wait till the cars perfect it'll never be like that truck and if you finally do get it there you'll be to afraid to drive it and you'll have missed the boat. A very wise man once said "Get R Done"

Both that truck AND your "Get-R-done" can live in harmony! Even the same guy can do both! My Gran Sport, it is basically a "Get-R-done" if you compare it to that truck. Hell if you compare just about any car to that truck it is a "Get-R-Done"! But my Gran Sport, it's "just a car" and MILES from a "Show car". While at the same time I have built "Show cars" that could park next to that Ford and not look bad. They weren't at the same level, but close.

Somewhere there is a place for everyone of us. And somewhere is a place for every car. Just find where you want to be and do it.

Brian

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by carsavvycook

I for one, forgot what I have always strived to be. I let outside pressures drag me down. This outside pressure has caused me to become lazy, and or careless.

I never thought, looking through the pictures of this Old Ford Truck, and the words of inspiration would inspire me to get back on track mentally.

This Old Ford Truck is not necessarily a desirable project for just anyone, and it just may not impress anyone with it's 'body style', but it makes you look, and critique it's every point, much like a first time customer looks at you, or how your employer looks at your work. I feel the pictures don't do it justice. Do You?

Thank You Friends.

If you want to just "get the job done", you will do just that. If you want to be good at anything, you MUST have a passion for it. The cool thing is, you can LEARN how to have one! You can take a mundane task and create a passion for it if you WANT.

As an example, I have a task at work where I sync an estimate from the estimate program into the management program. In doing this there are a bunch of windows that pop up, one after another asking things like do I want to send messages to others in the network or do I want to "scrub" the est, do I want to calculate it, that sort of thing. Every time I would do this task it bugged me that I had to go thru all these SAME EXACT motions. One day for some reason I started playing a little game where I will try to put my cursor right in the exact spot that the "no" or "Yes" button appears on the next window that is going to pop up. That little thing makes that minute I used to spend everyday a little frustrated go by in a flash and now I have a little fun at it.

If you look at every task like that, you are going to grow passion for it, the passion will help you not only improve your quality of work, but help you enjoy it too!

Yesterday I did something that I haven't done in a number of years, I cut and buffed a paint job. I was putting it off and putting it off because of the WORK involved. When I get home from work, I would much rather do something less strenuous than something like that. Well, I started doing it, just a little test to see how it would come out. I found myself ENJOYING it and kept going until it was done. Why, because I remembered how much passion I had for this work. I was reminded how much I used to LOVE to cut and buff paint to perfection, removing every square inch of texture, door jambs and all. I just LOVED it. I have no plan on doing that much on this Gran Sport but just "kicking it up a notch" from where it was did an AMAZING job on this car. Everyone who walked up and looked at it couldn't believe how much better it looked. THAT is what I love about cutting and buffing, taking something rough making it smooth as glass, right there in front of our eyes, I LOVE doing it.

I created a passion for it years ago and never lost it. I did super high detail work years ago much like that truck but have't for years, that is why I love that truck so much, I know what it takes to do it and it gives me a tingle inside. Buffing out my Gran Sport yesterday "warmed" me a little bit.

Try it the next time you make love with the wife, ramp up the passion to make HER feel good.

Brian

[jetnow1]

What I notice most on this is that the truck- not everyones favorite vehicle-
stopped someone with Martin SR's eye in his tracks- the fact that the
quality was that high to catch his eye while walking by says volumes about
the vehicle. I may never be able to work to that level of perfection but
the fact it can be done makes me look at my car and say I can do a better
job one step at a time. Jim

[deadbodyman]

As usual were All right,I didnt know cboy had a rod to drive all ready and I thought he may have reached a point where he was tring to get his skills to a point where everyone else could appricate them.Now that I know differntly i'll save the words of encouragement for some young new comer who might really need a lift or a kick in the pants.My thoughts on rodding are just like the word suggests Rodding=driving a rod Rodder=someone that builds AND drives rods,Therefore if you dont know the feeling you get from driving you'll never build one.So get the first one done as quickly and cheaply as possible ,after that the rod bug will take care of the rest.You guys do remember your first ride in a rod dont you,what about the attention you got?Isnt that why you are still rodders?I cant imagine any other reasons to be a rodder,some of us have evolved into something that resembles an artist creating a work of art but that takes years and years of experance and mistakes BTW cboy I like your work and the paint work is nice