[kenseth17]

that spent 20 minutes telling how great he was and how many show cars he had painted while I'm looking at the side of a truck wondering what type of brush he used.

Will never forget when I was just out of tech school and I went to the world of wheels in Green Bay. There was a vw van in the paint job was horrendous, all dry no gloss, and still could tell it had bad bodywork and a van that I think is ugly from the get go. I shook my head because of the fact on the side of this van was a bodyshop name and number and address, obviously advertising. I don't know if they thought it was a good job or ***? There were some not so great painters in school, but think there work would look great next to that thing. There are some pretty small shows, maybe the shows he was talking about were some car clubs get together and most of the kids rattle canned their car. Someone that is a decent painter and bodyman should know that there are a lot of others out there that are also and know there is always something to learn or mistakes can happen. If he feels the need to constantly toot his horn and not at least consider any suggestions, besides being annoying he probably isn't worth a crapola anyways. Anyone who has been painting for awhile knows there are changes in the way to use or do things, and you have to keep up on them. There are alot of strange people that are painters, as well as more then enough that think they are better then they are, but one who is modest and continues to learn is probably a good bet.

[lowROLLERchevy]

my dad is the same way, ill bring something over to him and say we have to get this to fit here and fix that, adjust that, drill that, rotate this and weld this on here for it to work right, is that possible ?

"yea, we can see what we can do"

45 min later he comes up out of the basement with a bunch of hand sawn, hand filed parts along with a piece he made on the lathe and the lil bracket he made to hold them in the right positions when i weld them, lol

anyone who likes to hear themselves talk is all talk (obvious, i know)

and im slowly turning into my father. im building turbo kits for friends and all i ever say is "yea, buy the parts and ill weld some mounts up and fab some tubing and whatever"

if found its better to keep your mouth shut and have the project turn out good, instead of running your mouth and then looking like a fool when stuff doesnt work out

[ChevyTruckGuy]

BarryK,
The funny thing is it apply to all jobs. After so many years its hard not to laugh when you interview people and they try so hard to act like they know what there doing, but makes great story telling. I worked at this one place and it was my first shop manager job and they would hire any Tom Dick and Harry to work. So after a short time of guy quiting and then fking stuff up I talk them in to letting me test possible employee. So a basic tool test and a couple thing that were made up tools. After that a practice test to see if they could do any of the thing they said they could but with a twist or to. Like setting up a welder with a couple metal plates and turn off the gas or change the setting or a torch with two oxygen bottle. or a stick welder with the lead switched or put out cutting glass in place of a welding helmet or have them set up some thing to paint and see if they could tell if it was ready to paint. I tellya I went through a lot of people and the best part was watching them fumble a round start sweating and some were brave enough to ask for help when know one was looking. I must say that took guts I wish I could have tape them. I guess I was laughing to much to think about that.
The book deal is a great Idea. I hope I make it to heaven.

Kinda got the Idea from a crazy shop teacher in high school always made you think after a while! In my electronic class he use to watch us build A project and get the cr-p shock out of us when we mess up and just laugh his *** off. Or the time he decide to have us all stand in a circle and run a low current through us with music going through us as well and crank it up and of course you can't let go and at first it scare the heck out of you. But he of course was just cracking up. I think he just enjoyed are incompetence. Found out later that the guy was a retired electrical engineer from NASA or JPL.
Must be where I got my funny from.

Craig

[baddbob]

The truth about paintwork is anyone with enough interest, basic skills, and common sense can do this work. The ones that continuously push for better quality and continue to learn will always put out better work IMO. I've worked with the talkers and the walk the walkers. Some painters never try for perfection-why?- lack of interest.

[Bob C]

I have several projects in my shop right now and almost all were started by someone else and brought here to redo or finish. I really don't like working on cars that have been started. You have no idea whats under all that mess until you get into it. In every case the owner found a cheaper price and is now paying for it. I priced one paint job for $5,000.00 and the guy found someone to do it for half that. Then he brought it here for a $8,000.00 strip and repaint.
Bob

[shine]

i have had to deal with that for the last 10 years. seems like 4 out of 5 have been somewhere else for several years and now i'm suppose to finish it. i found a way to deal with it. if i work on it we blast first before i agree to do the job. if they want me to save the bodywork or cut corners i send them away. they created the mess trying to get a deal. i really don't like working with someone that thinks it can be done for 3k. if they think your too high they will never be satisfied. i'd rather pass. too old for that and i don't need the practice. i'm the one who sets the price and does the job. i'm not interested in what someones nephew can do it for in his garage. take it to him.

[Bad Rat]

I run into that all the time Shine,, we just finished a 65 chevelle prostreet that the owner had the body work done by a want-a-be, and finally figured out that he was soaking him on the price,, so he brought it to us,, we had to completely redo ALL his work,, the body lines were terrable, had to fab new wheel tubs that he had glued in with caulking, didn't even come close to touching the back side of the Quarter panel,, there was 1 1/2 "s of bondo in the quarter panels, and huge rust holes filled up with paper towels and bondo.. and he had already paid this guy 6K$,, and was a bit upset when I told him it would cost him another 4$ to redo everything, so he was out 10K$ for the same work,, then he wants me to cut him a deal,, I told him the deal needed to be between him and the guy that screwed him in the first place,,

[shine]

on my web page theres a 37 ford pu. belongs to a dairy farmer named eddy pack. it was in a shop for 8 years before i got it. worst hack job i'd seen in a while. people still go to him because he's cheaper. go figure.

[MARTINSR]

The thing that blows me away the most is when a big name will get work, even when he does a bad job. I have seen a my share of "legends" shoddy work. I have a good friend that is (or should I say, WAS, because he has became sensive to the chemicals and hasn't painted in ten years because of it) and one time he was "touching up" a 50 Merc full custom that a VERY well known custom painter in the area did. This custom painter is on the "Hall of Fame" of both the Oakland Roadster show and I believe Darrell Starbirds Museum as well. The paint looked pretty nice (candy) but under the wheel wells, rockers, and the like it was not only "thin", it was bare plastic filler and metal! BARE metal and filler, not even primed. So my buddy did a masterful job of repairing this mess. I asked him nievely (sp?) why would anyone go to this guy when they could come to you and get a better job for less money? He said, "Because they couldn't put on their show sign that he painted it"

Brian

[BarryK]

There was two studies done over the last few years on automotive painters.

Conclusion:
A good painter is your worst employees and a general pain in the A++.
(I simplified their statement)

A good painter is an artist and that is why they are so hard manage.

There is a lot of truth to this and some of the funniest things you will hear is how shops interview the painter.

One shop close by has on the application list all paint guns and tips and what each gun is used for.
(Everyone better be a Sata and he better have at least two for each type of application)
He says if you only have three or four he will give you a chance to buy more after hired.

One shop says if the painter is out of town and no buddy knows him he calls all the bodymen and painters to the office and introduces them to the painter.
He says, he will hire the one that won't stand up to shake hands but if they all do, he hires the one with the least personality.
That way he knows hes got a good one.

One Restoration shop says the most important question I ask is "if you paint an allover how many runs will you have"?
"If the guy say none, he needs to be painting at a dealership matching factory orange peel"

[Bad Rat]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

The thing that blows me away the most is when a big name will get work, even when he does a bad job. I have seen a my share of "legends" shoddy work. I have a good friend that is (or should I say, WAS, because he has became sensive to the chemicals and hasn't painted in ten years because of it) and one time he was "touching up" a 50 Merc full custom that a VERY well known custom painter in the area did. This custom painter is on the "Hall of Fame" of both the Oakland Roadster show and I believe Darrell Starbirds Museum as well. The paint looked pretty nice (candy) but under the wheel wells, rockers, and the like it was not only "thin", it was bare plastic filler and metal! BARE metal and filler, not even primed. So my buddy did a masterful job of repairing this mess. I asked him nievely (sp?) why would anyone go to this guy when they could come to you and get a better job for less money? He said, "Because they couldn't put on their show sign that he painted it"

Brian

I think I might know which famous customizer you are talking about,, He is famous for his merc chops,, right??[ no names] I know a man here that had a custom 41 merc coupe built by him,, widened to fit a corvette chassis, way extensive body mods,, but when you stand back and look at it ,,the frenched in license box was WAY crooked, the front turn indicaters were glued in with clear silicone, messy job at that, the front frenched bumper was caulked with silicone,[ must of found a bargain on silicone] stainless trim was crooked,, many many flaws,, and this guy paid over 6 figures to have this mess built,, he was very unhappy,, was embaressed to show it,, he sold it on E/Bay

[MARTINSR]

Actually, that is not the guy, this guy as far as I know does mostly paint. At least that is what he is famous for.

But your guy sounds just as bad, it makes you want to cry. My brother got all freaked out when he was showing his car how these guys got the attention. Even American Rodder saif of his car "This well detailed little Buick deserved a better spot and the ticket buyer deserved a better looked at it".

But I wasn't mad, as I told my brother, those guys have been working their azzes of for YEARS putting cars in this show. They have made the promotor a lot of money, they have lost families, jobs, they are like the musicians who eat bolona on hand sandwiches (Metallica) for years, these builders have done that.

But you would think they would have learned something about detail by now.

When this painter was inducted into the hall of fame he had about ten cars in the main arena, the latest being the focal point. From behind the ropes I couldn't believe the texture under the clear! The dirt, poor taping of graphics, it was a mess.

Brian