[Bob C]

Did you see the blue Linclon welder truck that was built on one of the tv shows? It was at the NSRA shows. Not good
Bob

[jcclark]

Originally Posted by ckucia

I worry about things nobody (generally) is going to notice except me.
Blissful ignorance has its benefits.

Boy isn't that the truth.
My wife just shakes her head when I show her a flaw and start redoing
my own work. The famous line always follows.
"nobody will notice it but you"
I've heard it 100 times, she doesn't even say it anymore. She gave up.
Because its "ME" I've got to please, and even when the customer says
it's acceptable, there's always someone else that will notice it and
it reflects back on me. I've got to be happy with it or I'll quit

[shine]

something to remember , many of the show jobs you see are cheap home done jobs. just because it's at a show or the owner tell you he paid big bucks dont make it so. i caught one of the aholes at one of my shows. he went on and on how he paid big bucks and got screwed. but i knew the real deal. he got it ready and talked a young guy into just shooting it for him. then blamed the painter for all of it.

[baddbob]

The term restoration is always open for opinion, perfect restorations would include lacquer and enamel paints, and actually some products that aren't even available today. The owner is responsible for determining to what degree the restoration will be. Personally I like details but don't like poor fitting wavy panels and dull looking paint and like to think I'm perfecting the fit and finish to a degree the original designers had actually hoped for.

[BarryK]

I agree Bob and i think the term restoration with some that really don't know turned the term into dull bad paint.

Any good restoration the paint will be better then factory and glossy, the door gaps on a 69 camaro or Mustang will be perfect and they were not that way from the factory.

Having done many vettes including the fulie I brought up, every gap was made perfect and the base was cleared , wet-sanded and re-cleared slick as can be or any street rod job but the original color Roman red was used of course. Only the small spots of over spray in the areas that were required were carefully done to spec.
Knowing vettes that model would back then have been worth $20,000 less if the doors were blocked straight and to day you could take off $50,000.
Like the guy from Ohio that purchased mine said, the paint and gaps are better then we put out but your blocking and taping needs help.

He sure was a lot less rude the next day after he researched it.

Also shinny paint nor a base clear is a deduction under any of the major point rules today. Now under the survivor class in vetts a unrubbed lacquer may edge out a base clear if the lacquer is sprayed right.
But the survivor class is a class in its own.

[ckucia]

Originally Posted by jcclark

"nobody will notice it but you"

I wish I had a dime for every time someone told me that, but its a matter of personal pride for me, whether its the house, the car, or anything else I do.

I figure that if I can't look back at a job I did and know I did it right, then I may as well just hire someone else to do an adequate job and spend the extra time watching TV.

[mrinvicta]

After reading some of these post I see where some say keep it with the original look. That's fine, but some cars are totally awful. There are waves that the manufacturer didn't put in. If you look at cars from the 40's, 50's & 60's that were never touched, the body panels are straight (NO WAVES). The manufacturer didn't put these in...........bad bodymen did. And what about the guy who sands without a block..........finger ripples galore. These were not factory imperfections. When I see this kind of workmanship, I just walk by that car, and believe me, there are many at some big shows. These are cars that someone paid to have some expert do. I find more & more people don't even recognize bad bodywork. I just do it for a hobby on my cars, but before I color that car, those panels have to be perfect, and it's alot of work that's rewarding.......

[shoddy_f-body]

Back to the blue Mustang on Overhaulin... Notice that they welded the new front clip on it, THEN put it on the frame machine to pull the new front clip into shape? Back asswards!

[Brian_B]

Well...after reading this thread I understand some of the rough looking cars. Those that are totally restored to factory specs seem to have an excuse. They want them that way. I never knew that.





What about those that are customized though? They should be perfect and they are not. Most are far from it. You can look in my 2006 f-100 supernationals pics and see just how bad some are.


http://s64.photobucket.com/albums/h163/Brian_B_1956/

[Bryan59EC]

I wasn't gonna reply to this but , Brian B made a very good point.

I did NOT want my 59 to be any straighter or have the doors fit better than
they did when new.
And the tops of those fins/wings----'bout as flat as the Pismo Dunes.
I used 2 59s for parts and the doors/tailgate did not line up for beans on any of 'em.

But, I can understand a body/paint guy wanting perfection. This person, in a sense, signs everything he does. I'm sure he would not want his name on a less than perfect job.

My 66 Elky-----factory fit and finish-----Blea!!!
I have no intention of making it perfect, perhaps a bit better, not perfect.
All these minor factory imperfections----add a bit of character

But then----the 59 and the 66 are driven pretty regularly.

Bryan

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by jcclark

Boy isn't that the truth.
My wife just shakes her head when I show her a flaw and start redoing
my own work. The famous line always follows.
"nobody will notice it but you"
I've heard it 100 times, she doesn't even say it anymore. She gave up.
Because its "ME" I've got to please, and even when the customer says
it's acceptable, there's always someone else that will notice it and
it reflects back on me. I've got to be happy with it or I'll quit

THAT is what detailing is. And THAT is what most of the big boys miss, well sometimes. First off, many have learned what detail is, they know how to get the most bang for the buck, but it stops there. The real difference in cars is DETAIL. It is not how much money is thrown at it, it is DETAIL. Detail is free, most anyone can do it, but most don't. What you are doing is NOT "only for you" it is DETAIL, and a well detailed car is like a beautiful woman, you don't have to take her clothes off to know what is under it. That well detailed car "looks" as if you could take the upholstry out and the car will be well detailed under it, understand what I mean?

You just can't go wrong with detail.

Brian

[BarryK]

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

THAT is what detailing is. And THAT is what most of the big boys miss, well sometimes. Brian

That is funny, One of those big boys and his wife spent the night with us
last night as they flew in to look at a car I found for sale.
He has two full time detailers and they spend an average of 7-10 days per car and that is there only job. The head detailer was a professional painter before so not cheap help.

A guy up in Mi is building a car and spent almost two weeks just detailing the axle and frame after he had shot three coats of clear on it and wet-sanded it with 600 and shot three more coats.
Plus between primer sandings and base sanding the owner spends about 30 minutes with a magnify glass before the painter can proceed.
I know this because he calls me a couple times a week.
No Brian you won't see this car at the Burgerking monthly drive-in show but it will be at the majors and first one is Cobo Hall.

The competition is so competitive at any of the major shows it is just impossible for most of us to compete anymore or I should say, we that do it as we have time after work and weekends.

If your so much better you should build a car to show and make them all look bad.
I'm man enough to say I can no longer compete.

[adtkart]

This could go on forever. The fact is that I have never seen a perfect car! Everyone can talk about perfection and detail all they want. The important thing is that the owner is happy with it!

I know of a truck in this area that has one of the ugliest paint jobs I have seen. The orange peel should make Florida happy. It has flames painted over the peel. The body work looks like it was done by a blind guy with no seeing eye dog. The guy that owns it thinks he has a real gem. That's what matters, not what I think of it!

Unfortunately, as Barry pointed out, it is unlikely that someone like me could even compete in the BIG shows anymore. My customers are happy with the work, and show it off all the time. As long as they are happy, I am almost happy.

Aaron

[shine]

the most important reason for these cars to be less than perfect has been over looked here. very few people want to pony up the money to do them. these kind of jobs don't come out of body shops period. it takes the better part of a year to do one unless you have a sizable crew working on them. a good painter will do the best he can with what he has to work with. this is a business and must be run that way. if you have a 150 hr bid on paint you cant spend 300 hrs on it. i've been at this all my life and have had the privilege to know some damn good painters. when we were young we gave it away just to show our stuff but as time went on we had to get real and make a living. a top shelf body rehab cost a min of 25k today. most young guys fail because they try to do this kind of work for 5k and cant make any money to keep the doors open. an empty shop cost less to run than one full of cheap paint jobs. i'm kinda like ole barry. blow smoke up my butt and i'll blow smoke rings saying " show me "

[mrinvicta]

Shine, you summed it up pretty good.........................but, I think what started this thread is the work coming out of those "high dollar" shops is not up to par. These are very expensive paint shops that are doing less than perfect work, even though they are getting the big bucks to do it. The problem is they can't do it, because they don't know how. That's the problem.....................