So it begins - TOMORROW

Sounds like your "perfectionist OCD" is causing you some pain and making a great paint job BETTER!
Awesome work as usual Jarrod.

Cannot wait to see this one complete! Sweet color and very nice work Jarrod!! And yes delete the rear wiper!!

Sweetmess! Lookin' good Jerrod.

Oh, I got a black wagon you can play with.....

Mike: John gets the last paint job for the group. It's time for me to do more for myself. I only get 1 go around in this life and I want to spend some of that time on me. LOL but true.

FYI: been sick since last Wednesday. This freaking cold is kicking my butt. I never get headaches and this sinus headache really kicks my butt

take care
Pete

That royally sucked, 6 days of that Flu/Bug. I'm not a med taker either, sadly my wife has had it for almost 2 weeks. So I got off easy.

Well I'm back on the wagon,... I'll post pic's of the hood lines later tonight.

Sorry sir!!

Ok as of tonight I now have some really nice lines on this hood.

Driver side only need 2 layers.



Passenger side needed 4 layers.

I need to change the date on my camera. LOL

Sweet

Well,.. I did a bunch more sanding this week and ground down the welds on the rear quarter in the jams so that is closer to being primed for the last time.
-Also I put another coat of fill on the hood just to make me happy. The hood should be in paint the next time I post picture's.
- I blocked sanded the driver side down again in hopes to put one last coat of primer down before paint (kind of gouged some of it trying too take that plastic wrap off)
-My plans are once it's all painted I will let it sit 10 days before buffing. Which will give me plenty of time to and put all the interior back together.

I will honestly say this wagon is going to be divine. The more I work on it the more I realize I need to be out of this industry. Can't make any money doing it with my mentality. Grant you this isn't a show car but willing to bet it will be better, and it will hold it's own against any paint job.

Thanks for the up dates and for the attention to detail. Sincerely can't wait to see the car when your done with it.

I will have to order a new personalized plate. Something like LAST1DUN

It's a bit sad, that you can't make a living doing what you like most. You're a rare breed my friend, in a world full of hasty people in shops without attention to detail.
Pete

THANKS PETE!

Dutch Pete wrote:

It's a bit sad, that you can't make a living doing what you like most. You're a rare breed my friend, in a world full of hasty people in shops without attention to detail.
Pete

That's because it's all about the money to them.

-I seriously love what I do, and to be honest I'll be lucky if I make $8hr on this wagon when done. That's no lie. There is so much unseen things that I run into that I don't post,.... I just fix it. Truth be told like every job I do, the customer would have never seen it.

-I tested this once,.. I hated this job I did and it royally sucked to my standard, and the customer loved it. It still bugged me for weeks after leaving.

So when it comes to all those other shops they would just add all the extra time to the bill. As you know they are in it to make money not friends.

I can't figure out why you can't make a decent living doing a good job. I go to lots of car shows, and every time I talk to someone who has a killer paint job the first thing they say is how much it cost, and that they were on a waiting list for the chance to get the work done by the guy they chose. I do painting myself, and have for years, only for myself. I know, better than most, of the incredible amount of time it takes to do it right. The last 3 overall jobs I've done are black, because I like to challenge myself, and as you know, black is a challenge. It sounds like you are afraid to charge what your services are worth, and that certainly frustrates you I'm sure. Last summer I was at a show in Pittsburgh (the Vintage Grand Prix) and talked to a guy my brother knows with a mid 50's Porsche 356 convertible. The car was basically clean (the owner said) before he started the restoration, and prep and paint set him back over $10,000. The car was absolutely flawless, but look how small a 356 is! If your work is that good, reach out to a market where people will pay for your perfection. The wagon crowd, while fun, sure doesn't have the deep pockets the vintage foreign crowd does. Besides, you could fit 3 old Porsche's in the same space as 1 wagon! Sorry for my rant, it's just sad to see someone who obviously loves what he does, and is good at it, be unhappy. Good luck, Mark.

I hear you Mark. I use to do insurance work and that pays really well. BUT I found I hated doing it because every vehicle that left looked like every other vehicle out there. No wow factor.

I love doing the older cars because of that wow factor.

Oh and if I lived in a town that had a population bigger than 5k maybe I could charge more. Not many high end vehicles around here. I try to charge accordingly, and give the customer what they want with a price they can handle. BUT BUT BUT - I realize I am an artist first (NOW), and that is my downfall. I try to stick to price given, BUT as I dig deeper into the job I always go further than I should treating the car as if I were getting paid $50 per hr. ALL MY FAULT. That is why I cannot do this anymore for others. Understand now.

Oh and another thing,... the only way I would paint anything again is at insurance rate price which is $4,500 for a sand and paint no bodywork. Yup just sand and paint.

I was getting paid $2,300 just to do a side of a vehicle. But like I said No Wow Factor so I lost interest. It was never about the money for me. Maybe I should change and make my customers numbers not people. I doubt it.

1993 Roady-man wrote:

Oh and another thing,... the only way I would paint anything again is at insurance rate price which is $4,500 for a sand and paint no bodywork. Yup just sand and paint.

I was getting paid $2,300 just to do a side of a vehicle. But like I said No Wow Factor so I lost interest. It was never about the money for me. Maybe I should change and make my customers numbers not people. I doubt it.

That's about what I am figuring on paying for my paint job plus the UNKNOWNS!Had this wagon for about 10 years and just cant imagine ever being without it

I guess I don't understand your mindset about making your customers numbers and not people. Just because you (or anyone) is successful at their job (i.e. making good money) doesn't make them a "bad" person. Do you think your doctor or dentist is a bad guy just because he makes alot more than you do? What I find really bad are those guys out there in the body field who claim to be professionals, and screw their customers by taking shortcuts. You know the kind-claim to weld in a patch, but just fill it with  mud, fix a panel instead of replacing it like they promised, etc. In the modern world we live in , the fact you live in a small town should mean nothing because you can expose yourself world wide if you choose to with the internet. Look at what happened here-people have traveled great distances to have their car painted by you.  I think if you took the time to put together a portfolio of your work, and took one of your best paint jobs to local shows, word of mouth would get you all the business you could handle. And, as to charging more than you initially quoted-so what. You were accustomed to supplements when you did insurance work, weren't you? Most people in the old car hobby understand that old damage unseen prior to you starting will pop up. Just like with insurance work-take pictures to document the new, unknown damage, give a price, and continue to work. Like I said in my first post, a really good honest body/paint guy is hard to find anywhere, so charge a price that lets you feed your family and do what you love. Sure, occasionally you'll eat a few bucks here and there, and help out a friend on occasion, but most of the time it should be a venture where you are in control and making money. By the way, full disclosure here, I'm a retired insurance appraiser, so I have been in more body shops than most. Being an honest, nice guy who does not screw people does not mean you need to go broke. I hope I've given you something to think about. All the best, Mark.

I guess I don't understand your mindset about making your customers numbers and not people. Just because you (or anyone) is successful at their job (i.e. making good money) doesn't make them a "bad" person. Do you think your doctor or dentist is a bad guy just because he makes alot more than you do? What I find really bad are those guys out there in the body field who claim to be professionals, and screw their customers by taking shortcuts. You know the kind-claim to weld in a patch, but just fill it with  mud, fix a panel instead of replacing it like they promised, etc. In the modern world we live in , the fact you live in a small town should mean nothing because you can expose yourself world wide if you choose to with the internet. Look at what happened here-people have traveled great distances to have their car painted by you.  I think if you took the time to put together a portfolio of your work, and took one of your best paint jobs to local shows, word of mouth would get you all the business you could handle. And, as to charging more than you initially quoted-so what. You were accustomed to supplements when you did insurance work, weren't you? Most people in the old car hobby understand that old damage unseen prior to you starting will pop up. Just like with insurance work-take pictures to document the new, unknown damage, give a price, and continue to work. Like I said in my first post, a really good honest body/paint guy is hard to find anywhere, so charge a price that lets you feed your family and do what you love. Sure, occasionally you'll eat a few bucks here and there, and help out a friend on occasion, but most of the time it should be a venture where you are in control and making money. By the way, full disclosure here, I'm a retired insurance appraiser, so I have been in more body shops than most. Being an honest, nice guy who does not screw people does not mean you need to go broke. I hope I've given you something to think about. All the best, Mark.

I understand COMPLETELY where your coming from. Honesty 33 years now of doing stuff for others has finally taken it's toll, thinking of me now.

Sorry there is no updates, but last week life sucker punched me.

Upside (now that things settled,) I'm back on the wagon.

Anything new to report? Would love to see some progress pictures if you have them

Morning John,

Just want to let you know things are pretty much at a stand still. This cold weather and negative degree wind-chill is keeping my shop cool. Can't lay paint on anything. I've put off doing repairs to shop for the past 4 years, and I'm paying for it now. This past month has been brutal. My double wide is no better, and I'm beating my head against the wall trying to keep them both warm.

I know this is not what you want to hear but that is what is happening over here. As it is now, I had to got to work for somebody else last week just to make some money.

Sorry, but it is what it is.

Certainly can't paint in conditions as described. I sincerely appreciate the update and sympathise with you. This Artic freeze sure does suck...I'm dealing with a broken pipe in my laundry room and a rupture in the main supply line from the well. The laundry room issue stinks...but will be chump change to repair in comparison to fixing the main line. I have to dig up 40 feet of pipe, which is buried 4 to 6 feel below frozen ground...Can't wait to receive the invoice from the back hoe operator and the plumper! Oh and did I mention this is all under the brand new deck and patterned concrete walkway that was installed this summer

Try to stay warm, do whatever you have to do to look after yourself and the family. The Wagon has been gone for so long now that a wait of a couple more months really makes no difference...particularly if it means that it will be done right.

Folks in the northeast are being beaten senseless with the cold and Snow.

Thanks for your understanding John it's been rough. And yes your wagon is in great hands. It will be will look awesome when done.

94Woody: this has been our coldest winter ever. Lots of -20 weather and with wind chill -45. My place sits across from an open lot and that wind seems to whip right through my poor shop.

So today I go in shop, and age has taken it's toll yet again. My air compressor has a hole at the bottom. It rusted through. And my heat shut off. It's only 25 degree's in there. Upside I got the heat up and running again so that's good. And last week I sealed off 2 of my doors and used that spray-able foam to seal them shut again. Also been shoving rags everywhere to cut down on drafts.

So looking for the good in the bad,..... I guess a small hole and not an exploding compressor is the good. Because i've seen video's of them explode before, from being rusted out.

Also spending more time with Val, since she had her surgery last week, and it went good. She's still a little sore and moving slowly. She out for 2 weeks.

I'm not complaining here because I can't change what has happened or the weather just a little annoyed that I'm getting these set backs more often. Which is partly my fault do to neglecting my shop. But always busy and not much time for repairs. Well I hope every dealing with bad weather is doing fine.

Updates will be posted Saturday. Praying to god that this is the last incident of my black cloud issues. FYI I hit a dam deer with the wife's van, and that needed to be fixed. But anyways, back at wagon again. more paint will be applied this week and it's going back together.

Life can be rough but i's worth it.

Glad your back at it! Sorry to hear about the van...I thought I was the only one with my very own personal black cloud.

I think all this crap we go through, is to either strength us, or just challenge us. You know,.. to show us what we can withstand.

Sorry for no update but Wednesday morning I had more troubles at the house and I've been working on that since then. I tell you I should just rebuilt my house. It truly sucks. My only bath/shower had a leak and it went unnoticed because of where it was and now the floor has started to heave because these house only use particle board as flooring (it sucks). Need to replace flooring. In order to fix it I have to rebuild my other bathroom, that had issues awhile back. Life can be tough, and boy is it putting pressure on me. Spending money I don't have. "CHARGE IT" oh well that is what's happening here. I'll get back on the wagon as soon as I get my bathrooms fixed.

Update: this baby is going to be sweet. Going to be hard to see it go, when it does. I feel so so blessed to have this talent, and that I am able to brings these vehicle back to there former glory.

Only pix you will ever see of this is when it is completely done. Soon.

thread is worthless with out pictures

Ok one tease. Remember this was that fucked up quarter lots of block sanding went into this baby.

Done in 3 weeks?

I'm hoping I'm down to just the minor little things by next weekend. Still need to finish up the cosmetics on the rear bumper. I still have to paint the following items: front and rear bumper, door handles, door spears, lower moldings, and wheel well moldings. Then install them, and she should be good to go. John may not be picking this up until after WF due to prior commitments. Also if I need any extra parts for this he can bring them with him to WF so I can install them. Like roof moldings, and other things we run into.

Had to show you more. Todays agenda is to put second round of clear on the hood, get tail lights looking like new, and get all the small piece's ready for paint for tomorrow. I'm going to hate so see this one leave.

Sweet ! I can only dream of my wagon getting this kind of attention . You are a artist my friend .

Thanks GSBULLDOG,

Well,.. I dug out all the moldings, mirrors and handles today and prepped them for paint for tomorrow. Then by the weekend this baby is going to be looking really good. It's going to be an all paint work tomorrow kind of day tomorrow, including hood and tail lights.

Me likey no belt moldings. Jeff

Looks fantastic Sir! Cant wait to see it when its done. Thanks for the new pictures.

bamalongroof wrote:

Me likey no belt moldings. Jeff

4 spear moldings will be going back on.

Now on a side note, I had a delivery guy here today from Watertown, and as he looked a the wagon, he said:

" I deliver to tons of body shops from watertown to Malone and there is nobody out there that takes this much pride in painting a car like you"  

I said thank you. It made me feel really good.

My wife gets exasperated having to answer questions all the time about the Orange car,..
people love it,...

phantom 309 wrote:

My wife gets exasperated having to answer questions all the time about the Orange car,..
people love it,...

I should make another one for this area. LOL

need a lemon twist yellow

Yellow would be bold.

Ok So my rims showed up, and I couldn't resist setting one on John Wagon.



I also sanded and clear coated the taillights. I left them outside to dry and it was so dam hot they solvent popped a little but much better than before.

Swwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeettttttttttttt! I approve.

Like the tail lights and love the rims! Although if I ran those I would have to do the rear disc brake mod.

When are we going to get a picture of the SLP hood? I'm dying here waiting to see it