Brian, Ray,........Thank you
Yes, you're right, I do care about this car, and I also care about doing things the right way
At present I don't know very much about bodywork at all. I've been on here for a little while quietly reading, and occasionally asking for assistance, but so far I'm yet to dive into any work myself (mainly due to time constraints from work)
My current thinking is that I'll continue to find another garage to do the tub and bonnet, but that I might be able to do some stuff on the frame myself
I know it's the detail that takes the time, and therefore the money. And whilst I don't have the skills to do the tub, I think I have got the eye for detail to do at least something to the frame
I think I could do a good job on the frame by smoothing the welds, spatter, and pitting, and could save myself some cash in the process
I think those jobs on the frame are time intensive rather than high skill level jobs
I would like to do these jobs myself, but only if I can do them properly
I don't know what primer was used after shotblasting
I can tell you it's grey and that it doesn't come off all that easily if you scratch at it
I would bet my life that the shotblasters didn't use epoxy on it though
If I could strip the chassis back to bare metal and apply a skim of filler to smooth things, then maybe apply some rattle primer (just for short term protection until it went to the bodyshop) I'd be happy to do that
If I had to epoxy it before doing anything like that I think I'd be best of just removing any spatter and just smoothing the welds
I'd like to do some more stuff on this car, but there are currently so many reasons not to. Time and skills being the main things I'm lacking
I'm going to do everything else on the car myself, but I think I'll have to leave the bodywork to someone else this time
I know for sure if I ever do another project I'll be doing the bodywork myself
I've had this car for quite a while and it's very important it's finished to a high standard
At this moment in time the finish is more important than doing it myself
I'm the sort of person that has to make sure all the light switches in my house are lined up the same way before I go to bed.....When I put a tool down I put it perpendicular to the item I'm working on.......I always put paper down on a desk or table in straight lines.....when I put things in my pockets I always put my phone in my left pocket and my wallet and keys in my right pocket.......I'm very obsessive about things like that, and I know it's not healthy
Because of this, I think if I did the bodywork myself I'd only be disappointed, as it wouldn't be as good as I'd want it to be
A lot of people have mentioned they think I'm a perfectionist......not in the sense that everything I do is perfect (far from it) but in the sense that I never see things as being 'good enough'.....things could always be better
I think if I did the work on my car I'd always be disappointed because I know it could have been so much better
This is why I think I should do the frame (or at least some of it) myself
I can happily spend hours sitting and smoothing things out that other people don't think are important
I think these very minute details are what most places don't do as they think they're time wasting or not important, but to me, those little details are the most important part of the job - it's what makes a job really stand out
I think I'm rambling and need to stop typing now
But I'm guessing I should maybe just do the smoothing and grinding for now and leave the rest for someone else
I would like to buy a compressor though
Maybe one day, once I've finished procrastinating