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"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." Damn, what a sleepy-ass thread...
Long story, no happy ending in sight. Can we just delete this one? Thanks...
Hummm... I can't help but wonder what my grandfather would think of all this. He had the Crosley dealership on 8th Street in Riverside, California. Normal kids my age had a sandbox or a swing, etc. Not me. I had a Crosley to play with. This ain't that exact Crosley (that one's restored and still in the family), but it is the same exact year 'n' model. This one's for a ______ who happened to notice another racecar I'd pounded, painted 'n' flamed at the drags. One thing led to another, and well, here we go again...
This is how it arrived, really rough 'n' really rusty, in spraycan primer with a silicone tire dressin' applied to the entire body. Sure, we'll strip it anyway, but I didn't really even want it in the shop with all that goo on it.
After much patchin', poundin', etc. There's been a lot done by this point, and we've had some trouble with it too. Early on this seemed to be a good candidate for Rust Bullet. It's funny how much they don't tell ya now that Carl (they had a really good rep at one time) is gone. Followin' the fine print on the can to the letter led straight to disasterous adhesion failure. We know how to use this stuff now, but we sure had to learn it all the hard way -- wasted material and wasted time.
We know that you guys know how to read the mud in the pitcher above. Yes, this car will be wavy, but it's a racecar (runs in the low tens), and ya certainly ain't gunna git a good look at the bodywork near the big end -- not at a hunnerd 'n' thirty some miles per hour.
Prime Time! Since then (yesternight), there's been some seam sealin' done, and as soon as I can pry my butt outta this chair, it's time for final sandin'. We're kickin' in anythin' we can from jobs gone buy and it's lookin' like it'll 'ave to be, a dark blue DBC base, and trad color flames as a distraction from all the massagin' the body ain't gittin'. We've only got a week to git this one finished, so I better go now.
To be continued...
Last edited by RottenRodney; 01-04-2010 at 09:13 PM.
"Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..." Damn, what a sleepy-ass thread...
Now that is a cool rig. It looks like it should have wings and a propeller.
Well, actually he does when he's awake. Them there ears was made for flyin', and that waggley tail works fairly well as a pusher prop...Originally Posted by Len
Here's a little more...
Usin' up a bunch o' ol' stuff on this one. That's DP-74-LF (past its expiration date for sure) as a non-sandin' sealer. It's workin', but don't git me started on that, okay? All things considered, I'm pleased that it looks this good. Color tomarrow! I wonder if anyone here'll remember the... You'll see.
RR
I love the way you have it masked to the floor, I'm going to try that on this Porsche I'm painting this week. I've been masking so that the paper extends down but I haven't attached it to the floor. That looks like the way to do it.
That Crosley brings back some memories. In 1965 I was in the Navy stationed in Pensacola, Florida. A buddy of mine had a stock Crosley station wagon that we used to ride around in. The car has some "issues". The starter wouldn't work most of the time so we'd push start it by hand. Also had a slow radiator leak so we'd have to add water or it would overheat. We're riding around out in the boonies and about out of gas so we pull into this gas station. Back then all the gas stations were full service. We pull up to the gas pump and tell the guy we need some gas and he could also add some water to the radiator. We didn't shut the engine off because of the starting issue. The guy finishes with the gas and start pouring water into the radiator spout, dumps too much water too fast and it overflows out the radiator. The fan kicks the overflow water into the distributor and kills the engine. Naturally it wouldn't crank with the starter so we ask the gas station guy to give us a push to start the car. The gas station attendant looks like he's half in the bag from booze but we didn't think it was that big of a deal. He starts his wrecker and proceeds to push start the crosley. We get up to about 20 miles an hour pop the clutch and the car starts right up. We wave the wrecker off and instead of backing off the drunk idiot in the wrecker tromps on the gas pedal. The crosley slides sideways, rolls over a couple times and ends up back on its wheels. I'm in the passenger seat (which wasn't even bolted to the floor) with me bouncing off of the roof, the driver, the door etc. I hurt my back but at 18 years old I just shook it off. The wrecker driver instead of taking responsibility turns into a belligerant drunk and drives off. Me and the driver push start the thing again and for the most part blew off the whole incident. I didn't realize until about ten years later that I had done some permanent damage to my back. Gotta lover those Crosleys. I still think they a cool cars. along with the Nash Metropolitan and the Henry J.
Nice car, with that front axel it looks like a cross between a PT Cruiser and a Plymouth Prowler
Bob K
Len, the maskin' paper skirt is just a little thing that Mrs. Rotten 'n' I do to protect a car's underpinnin's -- 'specially if it's painted 'n' perty down under. There is one thing to be conscious of though; the slickness o' the paper enables any dry overspray to cruise around in turbulence, say if it was basecoat, it could be a problem. The true hot tip might be the 'Paint This Side' plastic stuff, but as long as ya know about it, things can be done.
Phil, that's a great Crosley story. My dad would relate. As a youngster, he broke his back (body cast 'n' all) in a Crosley-related incident.
Here's a few more shots o' what's what.
Are we havin' fun still? Mmmm...
Just somethin' I found while digglin' 'round in a lesser-traveled area of the cabinetry. I remember what I was workin' on (it still ain't done), as well as where I was when I bought it -- back in 1994. If I'd had access to a jackhammer, I'd 'ave started the agitation process with one. Hard as a rock it were, and in retroflect; it shouldn't 'ave been used. However, somehow it seemed appropriate for the task at hand today -- and it may 'ave saved our asses from dragstrip paint critics who'd focus on the bodywork (or lack of it) had it gone a darker color.
As soon as I'd started sprayin' the shit I used to be so fond of, I noticed that I could smell it loud 'n' clear, right through the slightly stale charcoal filters. Not much longer after that, I could taste it too. This'll be the very last time.
Of course there are ordinarily latex gloves involved, but it was fairly warm in the shop today (99 degrees 'round 50), and the gloves fill up with sweat to the point where it'll spill out over a roof, cowl, or hood, so I pretty much had to peel one off 'n' continue. Workin' this way really takes me back.
Last edited by RottenRodney; 10-20-2009 at 10:01 AM.
Our real spraybooth will be located behind the big doorway on the far right. It ain't quite finished yet, we're in a depression or somethin', so it's gotta wait, but still, we gotta work. We do still 'ave full access to the fancy facility where I'd spent the last fourteen or so years, booth 'n' all, and I still make use of all that when a job demands it, but this ain't one o' them occasions, and this certainly ain't one o' them jobs. At times like these, the poor ol' body stall makes an okay (just okay) makeshift spraybooth, sorta.
Well, y'all kinda git the idea...
The owner / operator is comin' to pick 'er up tomorrow. I haven't even told him what color it is. We'll try to capture his facial expression from the other side o' the electric door as it rolls up.
We do plan to flame the poo out of it, and maybe some woodgrain, but it'll 'ave to wait 'til the next visit. The car wants to go racin' soon, and I'd rather 'ave a little time to 'create'. The switch from the original basecoat / clearcoat plan to single stage Imron will allow us that tiny bit o' luxury -- well, I figger it will anyway...
To be contined, but a little later on...
UPDATE: We're done.
RR
Last edited by RottenRodney; 01-04-2010 at 09:16 PM.
that is BADASS!
