Let’s get to work

Do to an over-site on my part, yesterday’s We’re closed for the holiday post has been up all day when we were in fact open for business. I noticed this fact late this afternoon, and made a mental note to myself to make sure to post another entry after the holiday the next time letting everyone know we were open … so to not confuse potential customers.

But since it was late in the afternoon I decided not to publish a new post stating we were open for business … after all there was only a couple of hours to go in the day and I would  be posting pictures of today’s work later anyway.

However, the camera that contains all the pictures I took today, went home with Jordan. So no pictures. What plan are we on now? Plan C? OK, plan C …

I hope everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day holiday. I certainly did, but now it is time to get back to work. JMC AutoworX is open for business to help you with your automotive repair and restoration needs. 

There … I posted we were open today after all … to help cut down on the confusion, ya know.

JMC AutoworX is closed

JMC AutoworX is closed today in observance of Memorial Day. We will reopen tomorrow to serve you.

Enjoy your holiday!

JMC AutoworX will be closed

JMC AutoworX will be closed Monday, May 28^th in observance of Memorial Day. We will reopen Tuesday, May 29^th to serve you.

Mustangs of Burlington car show

Don’t forget … the Mustangs of Burlington car show is this weekend, May 19^th, at the Holly Hill. JMC AutoworX will be there with the JMC AutoworX Karmann Ghia as well as the debut show of Cassie and Karl’s fantastic 1969 Mustang Mach I.

Hope to see you there.

Click here for directions to the mall.

Timeless Cruizers Car Show

This weekend, May 12^th, is the 12^th annual Timeless Cruizer Car Show in Efland, North Carolina. JMC AutoworX will be there with the JMC AutoworX Karmann Ghia along with hundreds of other beautiful classic cars. This is one of the biggest events in the area and you won’t want to miss it.

Click here for directions to the event. Click here to visit Timeless Cruizers website.

Let’s wrap this up

Creative without strategy is called “art.” Creative with strategy is called “advertising.” … Jef I. Richards

In the rough and tumble, cut-throat world of business, getting recognized is half the battle. Over the past year or so I have been toiling away on that. I’ve created this humble blog you are so generously reading. I have started to become a sponsor of some of the local car shows and cruise ins. And I have been fortunate … business has been steadily growing.

Now I am adding another arrow to my advertising quiver. My shop truck, a very nice but nearly invisible Toyota Tundra, is no longer quite so nondescript. A splash of color, some graphics, a small lift and a standout wheel and tire package, and my shop truck has become a rolling bill-board.

I have had the JMC AutoworX 1960 Karmann Ghia for some time now, but I can’t always take it around to show it off. Take today for example. Cold and wet … not the best weather for driving a car with no top. But now, even with the Ghia ensconced in the garage, the message is still going out.

The first picture shows the truck before the transformation. A great truck to be sure, but it is lost in a sea of other vehicles on the road. The next three photos show the truck as it stands today. Not quite so easy to miss now, eh?

The graphic shows a typical auto painters paint gun spraying down the side of the truck in electric blue bands. Behind the blue is a honeycomb pattern over a black high-tech looking background. Overlaying all that is my logo, a bit about what I do, and around back is the website. I even through in a QR code just to show how hip I am.

The truck came out better than I imagined it would … but I think I might have to give up my aspirations to be a bank robber. My get away vehicle … it won’t be hard to remember now.

I hope.

Her spot in the sun

This is Roxie … the shop dog. Her job is to get in the way, eat part of everyone’s lunch, greet customers, and generally provide companionship and entertainment around the shop.

Today I noticed she had gone missing from the shop … but on my next trip from the office to the shop I found her. She had found a bit of egg-crate foam rubber from somewhere and had piled up on it in the sun beaming through the window.

In this photo she looks slightly sleepy, but happier than I will ever be. I don’t believe in reincarnation, but if it turns out to be true … I want to come back as a dog.

Hope to see you there

JMC AutoworX is once again a proud sponsor of the annual Mustangs of Burlington Charity Car Show. JMC AutoworX will be premiering Cassie & Karl’s fabulous 1969 Ford Mustang Mach I at the event. Trust me … if you like Mustangs, this is a car you will want to see.

The show is May 19, 2012 from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm at the Burlington Square/Holly Hill Mall in Burlington North Carolina. For directions to the mall, click here. If you are interested in showing a car, you can download an entry form here.

The show is open to all makes and models, so come on down, see some great looking Mustangs, along with a slew of classic cars of all makes and models. If you do make it to the show, stop by the JMC AutoworX and say hello. I hope to see you there.

Glossary of terms

I throw a lot of terms around on this site. Primer, sealer, blocking … it can all be very confusing. To help those who don’t do this every day, I am providing a handy definition guide to help everyone understand the terminology. I will also post these in the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) section for future reference.

 

Acrylic (Enamel) (Paint): A common type of paint used for automotive finishes. Not as durable as a urethane enamel, acrylic enamels can be polished to a high gloss finish like a lacquer paint.

Base Coat: This is the actual pigmented color that covers your car. I frequently refer to this as the color layer in this blog for clarity.

Blend(ing): A technique for matching old paint to new. Blending feathers the newly applied paint into the existing paint so the eye cannot detect a change in color if one exists.

Block: A flexible object around which sandpaper is wrapped. The block prevents the introduction of imperfections into the surface caused by hand sanding and allows the sandpaper to remove more material from high spots while skimming over low spots, producing a smooth and even surface.

Blocking: The process of using a block while sanding.

Body Filler: A product that dries to a hard surface suitable for sanding and shaping. Body filler is designed for smoothing and filling of shallow dents, not for major repairs.

Booth: See Paint Booth.

Buffer: A high-speed tool used to apply and remove polishing compound. See Polishing.

Candy: A thinned base coat applied over the regular base coat to produce a deeper, richer color.

Catalyst: An ingredient that causes a chemical reaction by interacting with the resins of the paint allowing it to cure .

Clear Coat: The final coating applied over the base coat to protect the finish and provide the gloss.

Enamel (Paint): A general term for paints that dry to a hard, durable finish. Acrylic enamels and urethane enamels, along with hardware store type spray paints are all enamel paint.

Epoxy Primer: An undercoat  that can be applied over etching primer or bare metal to seal the body from moisture and provide a barrier to damage, such as rock chips and scratches.

Etching Primer: An undercoat that is applied directly to bare metal. The etching primer bonds directly to the metal surface to provide rust protection and adhesion to the following layers. The etching primer and epoxy primer work well  together as a single unit.

Filler: See Body Filler.

Flake: See Metal Flake.

Gloss: The luster or shininess of paints and coatings are generally classified as the gloss. Common definitions are flat, semi-gloss, or gloss; the latter having the highest reflecting ability.

High Solids Primer: A product used to remove the tiny imperfections from cars. Typically used under the most demanding finish, such as our High Performance Finish, a high solids primer provides the smoothest base possible for the base coat and clear coat. It functions in the same capacity as body filler, but is used over the entire car and is applied as a spray.

Lacquer (Paint): A type of paint characterized by fast drying times and the ability to be polished to a rich and beautiful gloss. Poor durability and chemical resistance has led to their replacement by enamel paint.

Long Blocking: See Blocking.

Metal Flake: Tiny bits of various colored flakes that can be added to the base coat to give extra sparkle to the paint. Metallic paints get their name from the inclusion of metal flakes.

Metal Work: A general terms for heavy metal repairs, such as cutting out rusty areas and replacing them with new sheet metal.

Paint: A general term for the various undercoats, base coats and clears that taken together forms the finish on your car.

Paint Booth: An environmental control chamber for the application of various sprayed substances that make up the paint on your car.

Paint Gun: A tool used by painters to apply sprayable substances to a vehicle. A paint gun is typically powered by cleaned and dried compressed air.

Pigment(s): The substances that are mixed into the base coat to give it its color.

Polish: The act of using a high speed buffer along with various polishing compounds to increase the luster of a paint finish. This is typically the final step of painting a car.

Polishing Compound(s): Substances that contain ultra-fine abrasives used to restore or increase the luster of a paint finish. Polishing compounds are available in various coarseness’s depending on the amount of abrasion needed.

Primer: A general term for an undercoat that is applied to seal and protect the metal or plastic before the application of the sealer and paint. 

Sanding: A general term for the use of sandpaper for smoothing, cleaning and the removal of imperfections. See Blocking.

Sealer: An undercoat that is applied over all previous layers before the base coat is applied. The sealer fills any tiny sanding scratches and provides a consistent color base in one of seven shades of gray. The sealer and base coat  work together as a unit to provide the color for your car paint.

Slick Sand: See High Solids Primer.

Shoot: A slang term for using a air powered paint gun to apply the various undercoats, base coats and clears. Typically would be used as in, “I have to go shoot this car.”

Tack: To remove any residual dust with a tack cloth.

Tack Cloth: A lint free cloth impregnated with a chemical that leaves the cloths slightly tacky. A tack cloth wiped over a surface will cause any dust or loose particles to adhere to the cloth so it is removed from the surface.

Trim Out: The act of applying an primers, sealer and paint to the part or parts of a body panel that cannot be reached after assembly.

Two Stage (Paint): A paint system in which the color is applied as a base coat followed by a clear coat to provide gloss and protection.

Undercoat: Any of the primers and sealers that are applied before the base coat.

Urethane (Enamel) (Paint): A type of paint used in most automotive finishes.  Urethane paints are very durable and require the use of a catalyst.

Wet Sand(ing): Sanding of a surface while the surface is wet. The water provides lubricating properties to prevent the removal of too much material and washes away sanding dust so that the effects of the sanding process can be seen.

Wanna have some fun?

This idea came to me as I was staring at a photo of a piece of a car, and I was trying to recognize what car it was. The sad part was that I had just taken the photo a few hours earlier, but it had been one of those days. Anyway, it occurred to me that would be a pretty good game, trying to guess a make and model of a car from a very ambiguous photograph.

Since it sounded like fun, I created a page and started the game, available at the link to the right, to give people a chance to play for some fabulous prizes. Ok, maybe fabulous is a bit of an overstatement, but prizes nonetheless.

All the rules are available on the game page, but basically the game works like this. Each month a picture of a bit of a car will be posted. Guess the make, model and year to be entered into a drawing for a prize. At the end of the month, a picture of the car, along with the winner’s name, will be revealed. Then the game starts over with a new picture the next month.

Since it is nearly the end of January, the first photo will run through the end of February so people actually have time to see it and play, ya know.

Simple, and hopefully, fun.