Reunited and it feels so good

Reunited and it feels so good … a song from 1980 by Peaches and Herb could also describe this Chevelle. At long last the chassis is once again reunited with the body.

First thing this morning I painted the firewall so it would have time to dry before Murphy Rod & Custom arrived at the shop that afternoon to help marry the chassis and body. The first two photos show the body masked for paint.

The next two photos, numbers three and four, show the firewall after the paint has been applied. It looks glossy in these photos, and if fact it looks glossy in person too, but the paint will flatten out some as it cures.

The fifth photo shows a loose nut behind the wheel that should be working but instead is goofing off. I hope Hugh doesn’t mind me power shifting his car like that.

The sixth photograph shows the red polyurethane body bushings in place, waiting for the body to be set upon the chassis. That was the only easy part of this whole job.

In the seventh picture the body is setting on the chassis but not yet attached. There are no pictures of the body actually being moved into place on the chassis because it was all hands on deck for that job. By enlisting the aide of a friend, serving as photographer for the event, it took all six of use to muscle the body in place. In case you didn’t know, let me clue you in on something. A 1965 Chevrolet Chevelle is made out of real metal. If you don’t believe me, just try to pick one up sometime.

Getting the body bushings into place, that was easy. Moving the body from the buck it was setting on to the chassis, while heavy, wasn’t particularly hard. But starting with picture eight and ending with picture ten … these three photographs are just a sample of the picture taken that document some of the  effort it took to get all the bolts into the mounts. To say we experienced some difficulties would be an understatement.

Kelly and Josh Murphy, the father and son team that make up Murphy Rod & Custom, performed the bulk of the work in getting the body attached while myself and my guys did all the pushing, pulling, standing on and prying of the body to get the holes to line up. Before we were done the running joke was, “Are you sure the body came off this chassis?”

In the end we did, finally, get all the bolts run home, but not without some heavy-duty mechanical leverage being applied to push and pull the chassis into position. Picture eleven, the last picture, shows that the once separate pieces are now, at last, a car again. It doesn’t look any different that it did two hours before when the body was just sitting on the chassis. But here at JMC AutoworX we sweat the little details, like bolting the body to the chassis, because our customers deserve only the very best.

Ready to go

This Hyundai Azera, a victim of falling debris on while on the road, is patched up and ready to go home. There is nary a trace of the scars left from the scrap metal banging and clattering off of the hood and bumper.

And that is just the way the customer wants it.

A clear improvement

The first of the week this Chevy Silverado arrived at the shop a sad looking sight. It was suffering from a bad case of Failus Pigmentosus  … also known as failing paint.

After sanding the roof to remove the dead paint, we then primed the entire top to give the paint something to latch onto.

The first two photos show me spraying the paint onto the roof of the truck. Long time readers of this site may have noticed in past posts that I use a unique system for reaching the tops of SUVs and vans … I stand on a bucket. But I like pickups because they have a built in ladder right in the back. Not as versatile as my bucket to be sure, but much more comfortable.

Pictures three and four show the top after the application of base coat. It looks a bit flat in these two photos because, well, it is flat. The base coat, the part of the trucks finish that gives it its color, always dries to a near flat finish. It is the clear coat the add the depth and shine that makes car finishes so pleasing to the eye.

The last three photos, numbers five, six and seven, show the truck after the clear is applied. As you can see the flat finish of the base coat is transformed into the dazzling finish the truck had when it left the factory.

But this time the paint will stay on the truck. I guarantee it.

Smooth bumper

With a little elbow grease, a bit of paint, and a smidgen of skill, the roughing up the bumper received in a parking lot is completely invisible and once again just as smooth as it was when new.

I think the old saying would be, “Smooth has a baby’s bumper.” Something like that.

Polished silver

The Hyundai Azera finally got its turn in the booth today, so we made the most of it. We first sealed the areas we primed during the repair process, then we applied the base coat.

The base coat, shown in the first two pictures, is the part of the painting process that gives the finish its color. It is applied in several thin coats to ensure full coverage without the risk of sags, runs or drips. The base coat dries to a almost flat finish … but that’s not a problem because the base coat’s sole purpose is to provide the color.

The clear coat, which is applied in a much thicker layer over the base coat, provides not only protection to the base coat underneath, it also provides the gloss or luster of the finish. Compare the third and fourth pictures to the first and second. Same car, same base coat, but a world of difference in the appearance. The difference? The application of the clear coat.

Where the finish was flat and drab with just the base coat, the clear make the paint sparkle like … well … freshly polished silver.

Topped off

Today we sanded all the dead and failing paint off the top of this Chevy Silverado. Chevy’s may be like a rock, but this factory applied paint sure wasn’t.

Now that the paint is, more or less, removed, we will prime the surface tomorrow and start the painting process. Normally I like to paint over paint since it leaves such a nice finish. But this paint was all but falling off the truck, and I didn’t want my new paint to fall off with it, so we are starting from scratch.

I want to make sure that this time the paint that is put on, stays on.

It’s like wrinkle cream for cars

Today we sanded the primer we put on this Azera yesterday. And tomorrow we will cover up these ugly blemishes so they fade away.

Oil of Olay … eat your heart out.

Just a scratch

The bumper on this Hyundai Sonata was scratched up in a minor parking lot bump. The owner was lucky, if you can call someone backing into you car lucky, in that the bumper was only scratched and therefore didn’t have to be replaced.

We sanded the scuffed place to smooth it out, put three or four coats of primer on it so we could sand it smoother still, and painted the whole kit and caboodle to match the car.

After the bumper had dried to the touch, we set it out in the sun so natures own heat lamp could finish drying the paint.

Well, why not? Bumpers like to sun bathe too.

It could have been worse

This Hyundai Azera some how managed to get out of a potentially bad situation without a lot of damage. The driver was following a truck when some scrap metal fell from the back, bounced on the road, and tumbled into the car.

The first two photos show the dents, dings and scrapes it received along the top of the hood. The windshield is also broken so it will have to be replaced as well.

The third photo is after we filled the minor dings with a bit of filler, sanded out the scuff marks and dabbed on the primer to seal the filler and make it ready for painting.

Coming through an ordeal like that with only bumps and bruises, easily repaired with a bit filler and some paint, and a broken windshield. I would say it could easily have been worse.

Had I been driving, it would have probably needed a new drivers seat too.

Zebra stripes

This Chevrolet Silverado has arrived at the shop for a little de-striping.

There are a lot of reasons that a customer might want to have the stripes removed from their car. It could be that they decided they didn’t like the stripes anymore. It could be that the stripes started falling off and the owner decided to remove the rest of the stripe rather than replace the missing part.

Or is could be that the truck never had stripes in the first place but only looks like it did because the paint is failing. I’m thinking this funky looking striping is the latter.

No problem a little sanding, priming and painting can’t fix up good as new.